206 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



have in common.) Here on the thin soil of the plateau 

 is an association of black oak, with a few bnrr oaks about 

 the margin, and bracken fern and xerophytic herbs un- 

 der the trees. At the edge of the cliff, and along pre- 

 carious footholds on its sides, where the steep drop to- 

 ward the river comes, are white pine, arbor vitae and 

 juniper, w^itli mountain holly, shadbush, blue-berry and 

 huckleberry, harebell, wild lily-of-the-valley and poly- 

 pody. On the inland slopes, where talus has accumu- 

 lated against the sides, come red and white oaks and 

 witch-hazel, shading magnificent ferneries and beds of 

 mesophytic spring flowers. At the foot, on the river 

 terrace, is a mixed hardwood growth, ranging from white 

 oak and sugar maple through elm, linden and Kentucky 

 coffee tree to soft maple and willow at the water's edge. 

 On an exposed shoulder of the plateau, where weathered 

 sand has gathered, are bunch grasses, euphorbia and 

 xerophytic composites and legumes. And it all lies with- 

 in a radius of less than two city blocks. Even the dunes 

 cannot equal this. 



All this wealth of botanical possibilities is practically 

 untouched. Griggs (5) has worked out the botany of 

 the Sugar Grove region pretty thoroughly. Pepoon (6) 

 in 1919 presented a plea before this society for the 

 creation of a state park at Apple River. Cowles (7) has 

 a brief section on botany in the bulletin of the Chicago 

 Geographic Society on the Starved Rock state park. 

 There are brief statements, mostly mere paragraphs, by 

 various authors on the Iowa canyons in a report of the 

 Iowa State Board of Conservation (8). Aside from some 

 popular articles, that is about all there is in print. Dur- 

 ing the spring and summer of 1921, at the suggestion 

 of Doctor Cowles, I spent a great deal of time at Starved 

 Rock, but what I have to say is still im werden, and I 

 do not feel that my data more than scratch the surface. 



When it is recalled that there are dozens of such can- 

 yons, big and little, each with its own story to tell and 

 none complete until all are complete, do you wonder 

 that I send up a Macedonian cry for help ? Here is bot- 

 anizing, interesting, profitable, worth while as contribu- 

 tory data in the solution of a problem of continental 



