PART I. 



The Living Flora of West Virginia 



By C. F. MILLSPAUGH 



The State of West Virginia comprises about 24,170 square 

 miles of territory lying between 37°3o' and 40°3o' north latitude, 

 and o°45' and 5°3o' west longitude from Washington. Its out- 

 line of varied boundaries has become a synonym for irregularity, 

 as a glance at the accompanying map will show ; it might also 

 comprise the topography, suggesting as it does an immense field 

 over which a gigantic plow has left a confused maze of deep and 

 irregular furrows. This topographical condition is mainly due 

 to the great number of mountain ranges and a vast network of 

 rapid streams, that, rising in the higher altitudes of the eastern 

 and southern borders, pass in varied and tortuous courses through 

 the State, to augment the Ohio on the west and northwest, and 

 the Potomac on the northeast. 



Along the low, as well as the lofty mountain ranges, there is 

 comparatively little tableland, and in the wedge-like valleys there 

 is a like absence of extensive bottoms, except along Tygarfs 

 \^alley River in Randolph County, the Great Kanawha and the 

 Ohio. Although there are many mountain glades, some nearly 

 dry and others swampy, plainly indicating their late occupancy by 

 small lakes, there is today neither pond nor lake within the 

 limits of the State, and very little if any stagnant water. 



As the major portion of the State lies west of the Allegha- 

 nies, the climate is much like that of western Pennsylvania, par- 

 taking little indeed of that southern atmosphere that we are 

 wont to associate with the name Virginia. 



The prevailing soil of the hills and valleys is stiff clay, and 

 sandy and clayey alluvium, over which there is in general but 



