FLORA OF MITCHELL COUNTY 



FLORA MAY TUTTLE 



From the time that I opened my eyes on the beauties of our glor- 

 ious prairies, down in that little log cabin in Delaware county, I 

 have been deeply interested in the flora of our state. Years ago the 

 unbroken prairies were one gorgeous flower garden. The wild lily, 

 the painted cup, fireweed, ironweed and blazing star vied with the 

 golden glory of the sunflower and the golden rod. Some of these 

 have so nearly become extinct that every bit of unbroken prairie is 

 sacred ground. 



My interest in Mitchell county dates back to March, 1878, and I 

 have never ceased to search for treasures on my tramps over the 

 county. 



A large part of the data gathered has been in the vicinity of 

 Osage, but I have always made it a point to study every locality, and 

 with this conclusion, that Osage township, is typical of the rest of 

 the county. Here we have river, creek, pasture, waste ground, 

 bluffs, a very little low ground, sandy soil and bayous, each clothed 

 with its own typical verdure. 



Some of the localities given after the names of the specimens 

 found are purely local and therefore need a word of explanation. 



The "Old Farm" is known to geologists as the Gable farm in 

 Calvin's Geology of Mitchell County. Two years of my childhood 

 were spent here and I shall never forget the delicate, fragrant 

 beauty of the banks of Sugar creek in the springtime, when they 

 were covered with the blue, pink and purple-tinted Hepaticas, our 

 Mayflower. Here, too, grew Adam and Eve in conjugal bliss, the 

 bloodroot, spring beauty, blue phlox and wild geranium, each in its 

 time and place. The road to school for a quarter of a mile lay 

 through dense woods, now long since cut down, and sister and I 

 dreamed dreams and lived wonderful stories as our weary feet 

 plodded home from school. The dark green of the oaks, the trail- 

 ing virgin's bower and wild grape, or the crimson shades of the 

 maples in autumn, made an artist of one little girl and a naturalist 

 of the other. 



