276 Judge Logie on the Flora of Hamilton. 



ARTICLE XIX.— On the Flora of Hamilton and its vicinity. 

 By Judge Logie. 



{Read to the Botanical Society of Canada ; Kingston, 28th March, 1861.) 



There are probably few places in Canada where the study of 

 Botany can be prosecuted with greater advantage than in the 

 neighbourhood of Hamilton, or where the botanist will be more 

 amply rewarded for his labours, by the number and variety of 

 plants he will be able to collect. 



The climate at the head of Lake Ontario, and particularly of 

 the strip of land lying between the high table land or mountain 

 as it is called, in rear of the city of Hamilton, and extending 

 from the Niagara River round the head of the lake as far as Wel- 

 Hngton Square, is milder than the climate of most other parts of 

 the Province. The peach and some of the other more tender 

 kinds of fruit, grow and thrive there, and many trees and plants 

 not to be found in the colder parts of the Province are indige- 

 nous. Among these I may mention the black walnut, ( Juglans 

 nigra,) a large and handsome tree. Few of a large size are now 

 to be found in the neighbourhood of Hamilton, though in a smaller 

 form it is common ; it is found also in the low rich lands of some 

 of the western townships, but does not, so far as I can learn, extend 

 to the east much beyond Hamilton. The tulip tree, (Lirioden- 

 dron tuUpifera,) is also found in several places in the neighbour- 

 hood of Hamilton : there are two large trees near the Railway Sta- 

 tion, and last summer I found a very large tree having a diameter 

 of nearly five feet, in the township of Glanford, some miles to the 

 south of Hamilton. I have not heard of its being found in Can- 

 ada, except near Hamilton and towards the Niagara River. The 

 American plane tree or button wood, {Platanus occidentalis,) is 

 said to be the largest North American tree except the Wellingtonia 

 gigantea of California ; none of those that I have seen, however, 

 are so large as the tulip tree I have mentioned, or the large pine 

 and walnut trees I have seen. The sweet chestnut, (Castanea 

 vesca,) is very abundant, particularly on the hill sides in the 

 neighbourhood of Ancaster, some miles to the west of Hamilton, 

 The flowering dogwood (^Cornus florida,) is common in the same 

 locality, and in various other places. The Sassafras officinale is 

 also common in the neighbourhood of Ancaster, in East Flam- 

 borough, on Prince's Island, and other places. In addition to 



