ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY MANUAL 1 
shaded the ground. At this time, too, the forest floor has on 
it few larger leafy plants and hence the smaller spring plants 
are not submerged by their taller neighbors. Under such con- 
ditions the vernal plants open their petals and expand their 
leaves, and many of them ripen their seeds before the taller 
plants come into leaf. 
There is another group of early flowers, growing where the 
soil is thinly spread over the rocks, which, because they find 
that only in spring is there enough water, come up early, flower 
quickly in spring and spend the dry summer as resting bulbs 
or dry seeds. In this group are the little draba, the small white 
forget-me-not, the purple oxalis, and the nodding wild onion. 
SUMMER AND AUTUMN FOREST FLOWERS 
As the expanding leaves of the forest shade its floor, the 
flowers of the late spring and summer appear. These are plants 
with broad thin leaves that thrive in the shade. They grow 
taller, completely carpet the forest floor, and quite conceal the 
early spring flowers. To this group belong the May apple 
with its broad umbrella leaves, the baneberry and the blue 
cohosh, the yellow celandine poppy, the waterleaf, the purple 
wild geranium and the blue Virginia cowslip. Besides, there 
are the wild parsnip and its many relatives, including the yellow 
pimpernells, the white sweet cicely, the honeworts and the 
sanicles. There are also scores of other broad-leaved shade 
plants that crowd one another in the cool depth of the forest. 
At the same time, the ferns expand and claim a portion of 
the forest’s shade. There are the shield and Christmas ferns 
on the hillsides and the spleenworts and delicate maidenhairs of 
the deep woods, while in the moister spots the interrupted and 
cinnamon ferns may be found. 
As the summer advances, another group of flowers appears. 
It includes the asters, goldenrods, thoroughworts, white snake- 
root and wood sunflowers, all of which belong to the great 
Composite family. About the same time, the tall American 
bellflower opens its blue blossoms and the yellow flowers of 
the false foxgloves appear. During all these months many less 
common flowers will be found to enrich the seasonal succession 
of bloom. 
Prairie flowers.—On the grasslands the problem of light 
is much different than in the forest. There is no midsummer 
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