PAPERS ON BIOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE §9 



Genus Lvularia, L. Bellwort. 

 Vvularia perfoliata, L, Occasionally seen. 

 Lvularia grand: flora, Smith. Seen in the rich woods. 



JUNC\CE.\E. RUSH FAMILY. 

 Genus Juncus, Toum. Rush. Bog-rush. 

 Juncui stygius, L. Common around lakes. This plant is used in weaving 

 mats. *It also holds quite a place in the myths of the Ojibwa. 



TiPHACEAE. CATTAIL FA>nLY. 

 Genus Typha, Toum. Cat-tail. 

 Typha latifolia, L. Common Cat-tail. The flags of this plant are used 

 much in mat weaving.* 



•The Bois Fort Indians have several varieties of mats. These are made from 

 rushes, from cedar bark and from the broad blades of the cat-tail flag. Some 

 of the mats are woven coarse, others fine ; they are from six to fifteen feet in 

 length and about a yard in width, and are used for bedding and house and 

 floor coverings. 



.\RACEAE. ARUM FA^^LY. 

 Genus Arisaema. Martinus. Indian Turnip. Dragon Arum. 

 Arisaema triphyllum. Torr. Indian Turnip. Jack in the Pulpit. A very 

 common plant and much used as medicine by the natives. 



LYCOPODIACEAE. CLUB MOSS FAMILY. 

 Genus Lycopodium, L. Qub-Moss. 

 Lycopodium lucidulum, Michx. Common. 

 -^ Lycopodium selago, L. \ ery common. 



The mosses are abundant in this region, many species, no doubt, being rep- 

 resented. The trees hang with it and the swampy areas are covered with it. 

 Moreover the peat of the region is composed for the most part of moss rushes 

 and flags.* 

 •The following plants were seen but not identified: 



Reindeer Moss (Tripe Roche. i The writer was told that this moss was 

 eaten by the Indians in the old times, also that moose feed on it. 



Wuab-es-see-pin i Ojibwa name.i This plant resembles the potato. It grows 

 in wet ground. It is mealy when boiled. It is even now occasionally eaten 

 by the natives who eat it with a relish. 



Stitch-auc-waub-es-see-pin i Ojibwa name, i This is a similar plant to the last 

 named above. It is found throughout the region. It is used as a food by the 

 natives, being boiled. 



GRAMINE-\E. GRASS FA>nLY. 

 Genus Setaria, Beauv. Bristly Foxtail Grass. 

 Seturia glauca, Beauv. A common pest. 



Genus Zizania, Gronov. \^'ater or Indian Rice. 



Zizania aquatica, L. Indian Rice. Water Oats. This is the most import- 

 ant wild food plant in the region. It grows along the swampy borders of 

 streams and in the shallow water of the numerous small lakes of the region 

 from the Great Lakes on westward throughout Minnesota to the Red River 

 valley in that state and on northward into Canada. It belongs to the grass 

 family. It is an annual: flowers monoecious: the staminate and pistillate are 

 both in l-flowered spikelets in the same panicle. Glumes 2. substended by a 

 small cartilaginous ring, herbaceous-membranaceous, convex, awnless in the 

 sterile, the lower one tipped with a straight awn in the fertile spikelets. Palet, 

 none. Stamens 6. Stigmas pencil-form. A large reed-like water-grass. Spike- 

 lets jointed upon the club-shaped pedicels, very deciduous. Culms 3 to 9 feet 

 high: leaves flat. 2 to 4 feet long land lie flat on the water when they first 

 emerge; later they stand erect and finally decline at the tips*. Unear lanceo- 

 late; lower branches are of the ample pyramidal panicle staminate. spreading; 

 the upper erect, pistillate; lower glume long awned. rough; styles distinct; 

 grain linear, slender, 6" long. 



