Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 117 



THE FLORA OF LAKE MAXINKUCKEE AND 



VICINITY 



INTRODUCTION 



In the beginning of the investigations it was intended to limit 

 the botanical studies to the aquatic species of plants and those in- 

 habiting the marsh ground immediately about the lake. It was 

 thought that no attention should be given to the purely terrestrial 

 species. But as the work progressed the difficulty of drawing any 

 hard and fast lines between aquatic species and land species became 

 increasingly difficult. And the segregation of the species which 

 bear a relation to the life of the lake as distinguished from those 

 which bear no such relation, became quite difficult, if not indeed, 

 impossible. Species of herbs, shrubs and trees, which at first 

 thought would not be considered as, by any possibility, exerting 

 any influence on the fishes or other animals of the lake, were found 

 upon investigation really to sustain very important relations to the 

 lake and its inhabitants. 



This compelled us to make our studies more and more inclusive 

 until finally it became evident that all species of phanerogams 

 should be included. This we have done. We have not only listed 

 all the species determined as belonging to Lake Maxinkuckee and 

 its catchment basin, but we have embodied in the report many of 

 our observations regarding the abundance, distribution, and habits 

 of the various species. 



In order to emphasize the importance of the strictly aquatic 

 species it was thought best to treat them in a separate chapter, 

 and in a special way. This we have done even at the risk of some 

 repetition. 



The relation of the plants of the land to the lake, in the matter 

 of the trees furnishing a mass of leaves to the lake bottom, pre- 

 venting erosion, etc., has already been referred to. In addition to 

 this there are intimate relations of the land flora to the soil and 

 topography which make a consideration of them necessary to a com- 

 plete understanding of the lake. 



During the survey of the lake an attempt was made to obtain 

 a complete series of herbarium specimens of the various species 

 of plants growing therein, and the work thus started, it was the 

 most natural thing in the world to collect also along the shore and 

 farther back from the water's edge. Many hundred specimens 

 representing most of the species were collected and deposited in 

 the United States National Herbarium. 



Collections in the country around the lake were made when 

 other work permitted, but all seasons of the year were not as fully 



