IOWA AOADEMY OF SCIENCES. 135 



plants but sparsely represented in our Iowa flora. With 

 few exceptions they are found only in favored localities. 



It will surely add to the value of our knowledge of distri- 

 bution by giving the ferns found in western Wisconsin 

 and sutheastern Minnesota, a region that has many of the 

 peculiarities of northeastern Iowa. 



One of us has collected in the region of La Crosse and 

 southeastern Minnesota, since 1883. This collection, pre- 

 vious to the fire, was almost a complete one. While some 

 specimens were saved, most were lost. The general ecolog- 

 ical phases of the regioii for southeastern Minnesota have 

 been given by Prof. W. A. Wheeler*. Pammelfand Greene:^: 

 have referred to the general character of the region in two 

 short notes. 



In a general way the numerous small streams. La Crosse, 

 Mormon Coule, Bad Axe, and Black River intersect the 

 hills and How into the Mississippi from the east. The 

 Iloot River and Pine Creek How into the Mississippi from 

 the west, while the Kickapoo flows into the Wisconsin. 

 On the banks of the thickly wooded blufi:'s of the Mississ- 

 ippi, bold rocky ledges arise quite abruptly, in many places, 

 from the flood-plain. The lower portions of these ledges 

 are made up of sandstone, the upper being capped with the 

 magnesium limestone. A few lichens, Arabis lijrata,P(}(> 

 roNiprcssa and some sedges, are found on the limestone, but 

 this region is poor in ferns; the only species occurring is 

 Pel /(tea afropnrpHrca. However,in the shady gullies and thick 

 timbered groves reaching the escarpments, a luxuriant 

 growth of Aspteniuiii FeJir-foem'uia, C jistopter is frag ills, Os- 

 munda Claijfonia, Adifoifiun pedafiu}!, Oiioclea Struthiopteris 

 and Pieris aquilina occur. In the moist gullies, especially in 

 the vicinity of springs, and small, running brooks, 

 Cystojjteris hulbifera is common. The ridges beyond and 

 above the limestone outcrops are thickly wooded with 

 Quercus alba, Quercus rubra, Popidus treniuloides and Prutms 

 Americana. Here the common brake {Pteris aquilina) is 



* A contribution to the knowledge of the flora of Southeastern Minnesota. Minn. 

 Bot. Studies. 2: 353-416. pi. 2I-J7. 1900. 



T Botanizing in Western Wisconsin. Plant World. 1 : 1.54. 1898. 

 1 Wisconsin Field Notes. Plant World. 2: : 7. 1885). 



