.^ r 



The list contains 450 species and varieties and with the exception 

 of those marked with an asterisk they were allfound in Lake Quin- 

 sigamond. By adding these all of the aquatic plants in the County 

 so far as known are represented. The arrangement of species fol- 

 lows that of Gray's Manual, 6th edition, for the higher plants ; that 

 of Allen for the Characeae ; Lesquereau and James for the mosses, 

 and Wolle for the Algae. 



Some of the species recorded here appear to be common to Lake 

 Quinsigamond alone although the greater majority of them have 

 been observed by us in many other ponds in Massachusetts. So far, 

 however, as I am aware no list of fresh water Algae possessing any 

 degree of completeness has been published in Massachusetts and for 

 this reason a list of these it is hoped will be of some interest as well 

 as value to botanists. In short, amateur botanists as a rule neglect 

 all forms of water plants, as can be seen by consulting our local 

 floras. It would appear that the Algae have received more attention 

 of late years by the bacteriologists connected with our State Board 

 of Health, inasmuch as the presence of these organisms is now 

 believed to possess some economic importance. 



The Flora of Middlesex County appears to be the only one that 

 has included any of the fresh water Algae peculiar to our Massa- 

 chusetts lakes and streams. 



In this work issued by Dame and Collins there is given a total of 

 204 species and varieties, some 50 of which are either salt water 

 species or common to salt water marshes thus bringing the purely 

 fresh water species down to about 150. With the exception of the 

 desmids in this list, of which there are about 80 species representing 

 those determined by Dr. Lagerheim, all of the fresh water Algae 

 were taken from Dr. Farlow's herbarium. In the absence of exten- 

 sive studies of our fresh water Algae throughout Massachusetts it is 

 not possible therefore to make comparisons of the algal flora of the 

 different regions. That characteristic differences exist in the flora 

 of our ponds and streams is evident to those who have paid some 

 attention to collecting. We have similar environmental factors to 

 deal with in considering an aquatic flora as we have in a land 

 flora. The nature of the soil which constitutes the lake or pond 

 bottom is variable both in its mechanical and chemical composition, 

 and the chemical composition of the water is by no means the same 

 for different localities. Chemical analysis has shown that the 



