PAPERS ON BIOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE 61 



SOME PLANTS OF THE BOIS FORT INDIAN RES- 

 ERVATION AND VICINITY IN MINNESOTA 



Prof. Albert B. Reagan, Kayenta, Arizona 

 The Bois Fort Indian Reservation, containing 107,519.43 

 acres, is situated 140 miles northwest of Duluth, Minnesota, 

 and 38 miles south of Fort Frances, Ontario. It surrounds a 

 beautiful sheet of shallow water of three-fourths of a town- 

 ship in area, known as Nett Lake. Its land is variable 

 in condition of soil and possible fertility. One-half of it is 

 swamp and is known to the Indians as "muskeg" land. The 

 non-swamp eastern part is composed of rock ridges of the 

 Couchiching formation, flanked with clay land covered with 

 pine and hardwood forest trees. The western part, which 

 is not covered with swamp, is a sandy region. Nett Lake 

 and its tributary streams occupy the east-central part of 

 the reservation and the Little Fork and Nett rivers cross 

 it. The swamp areas are in the jungle state. The dry land 

 is still heavily timbered where not already logged, while 

 wild rice gi'ows in the shallow lake so that it looks like a 

 vast wheat field in summer. As is seen, the region is prac- 

 tically in the virgin state. The same might be said of the 

 region extending southward and eastward to Duluth and 

 Lake Superior and northward to the Arctic Ocean, much 

 of which is composed of lakes and swamps. 



The tribal timber of the reservation was cut prior to 1909 

 when the writer became agent of the resen'e, and the indi- 

 vidual Indian timber is being logged off now (1921). The 

 individual pine timber was estimated at 17,000,000 feet B. 

 M. and the pulp wood into millions of cords. 



Below are some of the plants of the region that were 

 identified by the writer as time would permit while he was 

 in charge of the agency there. 



R-\NUNCUL-\CE.\E (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 

 Genus Ranunculus. 

 Ranunculus affinis, R. Br. common. 

 Ranunculus affinis, var. validus. Gray. Often seen. 



Genus Caltha, L. Marsh Marigold. 

 Caltha palustris, L. Common. 



Genus Aquilegia, Toum. Columbine. 

 AquUegia canadensis. L. Wild Columbine. Found eveiywhere. 



