15 



PAPERS. 



NATIVE TREES OF MORGAN COUNTY. 



Isabel S. Smith. 



I\Iy real paper is a list of the native trees of ^Morgan county, 

 which I shall be glad to give to any interested in local dendrol- 

 ogy. My purpose in appearing before you is to call attention 

 to it. Little can be said about the trees which would be new 

 to an audience of this character. 



Morgan county embraces quite a range of prairie conditions 

 — the northwestern corner of it is bordered by the Illinois 

 River. Here we find a sandy soil which gives in spots dune 

 conditions, as may be seen from the growth of the Opuntia 

 and Viola pedata there. Near Chapin large sandstone rocks 

 crop out, while most of the county has a rich clay and humus 

 soil. There is consequently a large variety of trees. The 

 timber is along the watercourses, Mauvaiseterre Creek and 

 Indian Creek being the chief streams, aside from the river. 



As may be seen by the maps of the government survey of 

 1819, the forest extended along the streams, stretching out 

 from them on each side a distance of from two to three miles. 

 The timber has been largely cut off, the patches that remain 

 not being more than one-eighth of a mile deep as a rule. 

 Settlers usually made their homes along the streams. It 

 was well for them to be near the streams for stock, and it 

 was really easier to clear the forest and remove the roots of 

 the trees than to get rid of the tough knotweed which lay 

 just underneath the prairie soil, its rhizomes being often sev- 

 eral inches in diameter. ]\Iagnificent trees were cut down by 

 these early settlers and fashioned into their rude homes and 

 farm buildings. I have accurate authority for the statement 

 that a Quercus macrocarpa which was cut down was six feet 

 in diameter and that eleven hundred and forty-two rings were 

 counted in the sawed stump. Such were the trees of iMorgan 



