42 The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XIX, No. 1, 



likewise in good condition. Here and there are also clumps of 

 Mare's tail (Hippurus vulgaris). The first and last are appar- 

 ently spreading merely by vegetative means, but there are many 

 seedlings of Menyanthes on the bare surface round about, 

 which give every indication of establishing themselves. 



BOGS PRACTICALLY DESTROYED. 



The ring of buckbean was formerly surrounded by a Sphag- 

 num bog or tundra. This, like all the bogs, was practically 

 exterminated by the eruption. Sphagnum, and the plants 

 associated with it, are of such weak growth that they were not 



Photograph by R. F. Griggs 

 A CARPET OF HORSETAIL IN A FORMER BOG. 



Many of the old bog areas have come up in a pure stand of Equisetum arvense 



which has kept the ash from blowing away and serves as a 



"nurse" for seedlings of other plants. 



able to pierce the ashy blanket. Where only two or three 

 inches of ash remained on the bog plants, they were apparently 

 as hopelessly buried as when covered ten times as deeply. Only 

 here and there, where the Sphagnum occupied a steep bank 

 which was quickly cleared of ash, did it survive. The fate of 

 such buried bog areas is one of the most interesting problems 

 in connection with the revegetation of the country. Bog and 

 tundra are so abundantly developed in all northern countries, 

 that it is to be supposed that they are favored by climatic con- 

 ditions, and hence their return may be expected in the Katmai 

 district. There are not enough bog plants left, however, to 

 reseed the areas so that in any event the general return of bog 

 conditions must be long delayed. 



