Observations on the geographical Compal of the Sugar Grove 
flora 
ROBERT F. GRIGGS 
The Sugar Grove area is one of those places which are sometimes 
found where the botanical interest of a large region may be said - 
to come to a focus. Not only do the plant associations, both 
upland and lowland, characteristic of eastern Ohio reach their 
climax here as nowhere else but about one plant in eight of the ° 
native flora, nearly one hundred and twenty in all, reaches here the 
edge of its range. These include species stretching away in every 
direction, north, south, east, and west. A study of the ranges of 
these plants shows that the area is the key to an understanding of 
the plant geography of Ohio. 
This region is a narrow strip of very rough and rugged sand-" 
stone country extending from near the town of Sugar Grove, 
Fairfield Co., Ohio, southward for about twenty miles to the 
canyon of Queer Creek east of South Bloomingville, Hocking Co. 
Its position is roughly indicated by an ellipse in FIGURES I, 2. 
It is located at the end of the long lobe of the Alleghenian floral 
area which Merriam’st map shows stretching into northeastern 
Ohio, a location which of itself marks it as an interesting region. 
It has been long known as an exceedingly rich collecting ground 
and contains an unusual number of: rare plants not found else- 
where in Ohio. 
In most of the published work on plant geography the area 
considered is divided into zones which are plotted on the map. 
Although the boundary lines of the zones are always difficult to 
settle, this method reaches results satisfactory to the geographer, 
who is primarily interested in subdividing the area of the earth. 
Not so however to the botanist, who is interested in plants rather 
* Contribution from the Botanical Laboratory of the Ohio State University 
No. 75. 
t Merriam, C. Hart. Life zones and crop zones. U. S. Dept. Agr. Biol. Sur- 
vey Bull. ro. 1898. 
487 
