2^0. 4. J DRLMMOND — BOTANICAL NOTES, 217 



BOTANICAL AND GEOLOGICAL NOTES. 

 By a. T. Drummond. 



OWL'S HEAD, LAKE MEMPHRAMAGOG. 



The floras of the Canadian mountain summits have not as yet 

 received much attention. This is largely due to the almost ia- 

 accessibility of the mountains of the Lower St. Lawrence, espe-^ 

 cially of the north shore, where a rich harvest of semi-Arctic 

 vegetation may be expected. The opening of the Intercolonial 

 Railway will give better access to those on the south shore, and 

 will, it is to be hoped, lead some of our naturalists, who have 

 the opportunities, to visit them. 



The flora of Owl's Head, one of the outliers of the Green 

 Mountain range, I refer to here, not because it includes any 

 characteristic plants but because it may be regarded as a type of 

 ithe vegetation of the lesser peaks throughout Ontario and Quebec. 

 The base of the mountain on the eastern side is washed by the 

 waters of Lake Memphramagog. Here, at a height of 756 feet 

 above the sea level — an elevation greater than that of Lake 

 Superior — is a fair representation of the general New England 

 flora, and it recalled to memory excursions made years ago among 

 the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence. Precipitous moss- 

 grown rocks, their moist, tree-shaded sides tenanted here and 

 there by tufts of little spleenworts (^Aspleniuni Trichomanes, L.), 

 rise from the water's edge; and on the numerous ledges in often 

 scanty soil and thence up the mountain side, more or less every- 

 where found, are red, mountain and sugar maples interspersed 

 with aspens, beech trees and spruce. In the lake here are some 

 of our more common fresh water shells as Anodonta cataracta, 

 Say, Margaritana undnlata^ Lea, Unio complanatus, Sol., Sphce- 

 .rium sulcatum. Lam., and Fdludina decisa, Say. In the course 

 of the ascent up the little valleys and glens through which the 

 mountain path winds there is not mucli change in the aspect of 

 the flora until the summit is reached. The woods of any eastern 

 Ontario township would present much the same appearance* 

 £ven among the Lichens there is nothing to indicate the small- 

 est change of elevation. 



There is one peculiarity observable among these little organ- 

 isms, the Lichens, worthy of a place here, and it is a peculiarity 



