35 



Indiana, where this plant grows by the thousand, that one can 

 hardly believe the testimony of his eyes, and we must needs 

 look twice and handle to be convinced. Parnassia is always in 

 evidence and flourishes. On some cliffs, notably one on Clear 

 Creek, Gentiana crinita fairly covers the damp face of the rock 

 and makes a most beatutiful showing in October. This plant, 

 however, is very local, and is not a generally present cliff spe- 

 cies. Why it should have adopted the one locality is a hard 

 problem. There are scattering plants of a number of other 

 species, but the ones named are characteristic. 



The dry exposed cliffs have a covering of crustaceous lichens, 

 and a few higher forms that give a marked aspect to the plant 

 life. Peilaea atropurpurea grows most luxuriantly and adds 

 much to the beauty of the massive rocky front. Campanula 

 rotundifolia abounds and shows abundantly its round root 

 leaves, so commonly lacking in the form growing on the clay 

 banks of Michigan and Indiana. Solidago Uexicatilis and 

 memoralis are frequent and showy in late summer. These dry 

 cliffs, however, are the barren areas, comparatively, and large 

 stretches are utterly devoid of plant life. 



The cliffs that have such an overhang as to shut out much 

 of the light, and in particular the gorge-like side ravines with 

 vertical sides, almost dark at midday, have a peculiar flora, 

 that nowhere else is found, or that appears much abated in lux- 

 uriance. These cliffs are generally damp, but rarely drip, the 

 moisture being the general result of the lack of heat. The 

 overhang in some places amounts toi 20 to 25 feet, and it goes 

 without saying that direct sunshine never enters. The charac- 

 teristic plant is Sullivantia Sullivantii, which is excessively 

 abundant, almost covering the rock in most places, and in June 

 made daintily beautiful by its tiny but numerous white blos- 

 soms. Delayed blooms appear as late as mid-August. Here 

 and there Zygadenus degans will be found, but in the lighter 

 parts of the cliffs. It is not, however, exclusive in its choice 

 of a home as are the other plants named above. Taxus is 

 exceedingly common on all such rocks and adds much to the 

 beauty of the scene. On ledges an occasional Jeffersonia diphylla 



