PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 67 



and then going over a hill and for a quarter of a mile beyond. How- 

 ever, I might, in this connection, say that another road leading from 

 Farmington goes over a narrow hogback partly covered with timber 

 where there has been considerable erosion. The hogback contains an 

 abundance of white oak, shellbark hickory and on the slope some bass- 

 wood, ash, etc. 



The 100 acres to be included in this park area contain a lake of about 

 30 or 40 acres. It is a comparatively wide valley probably formed by 

 an ancient stream now diverted, that emptied into the Des Moines a 

 quarter of a mile below the dam on the lake. The depth of this water 

 in the lake is nowhere much more than four feet and at the present time 

 has only a few open places. The rest is filled with lotus or chinquapin, 

 a most beautiful sight. Thousands of the flowers were in bloom, the 

 large creamy white flowers making a wonderful sight. Probably nowhere 

 in Iowa can one behold so large a field of this lotus. It is probably also 

 one of the few places where it occurs along the Des Moines as far north, 

 west of the Mississippi river. It occurs in the sloughs of the Mississippi 

 as far north as Wisconsin and Minnesota. The species may have been 

 planted here by the Indians who used the tubers for food. There were 

 a few cattails and arrowhead. I noted the following plants on the border 

 of the lake: Scirpus, Aster sp, Solidago sp. The adjacent land rises 

 rather abruptly and is of the Memphis silt loam type of soil. There is 

 also occasionally an outcrop of sandstone. The adjacent region is large- 

 ly covered with a second growth of timber. The trees are mostly second 

 growth, although a few of the original trees are still standing, especially 

 the white oak. We note here also that the black walnut and honey locust 

 grow on the upland. Species were noted of all the oaks native to Iowa 

 except two, namely, the pin oak (Quercus palustris) and barren oak 

 (Q. ellipsoidalis), the red oak (Q. rubra), quercitron oak (Q. velutina), 

 white oak (Q. alba), swamp white oak (Q. plantanoides), chestnut oak 

 (Q. acuminata), bur oak (Q. macrocarpa), two hickories shell bark (Q. 

 ovata) and pignut (G. cordiformis), black walnut (Juglans nigra), but- 

 ternut (J. cinerea), white ash (Fraxinus americana), green ash (F. lan- 

 ceolata) are common. In the bottom near the Des Moines the black 

 maple (Acer nigrum), soft maple (A. saccharnium), box elder (A. ne- 

 gundo), cottonwood (Populus deltoidea), hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), 

 white or American elm (Ulmus americana), slippery elm (U. fulva), honey 

 locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), black locust (Robinia Pseudo-Acacia) in- 

 troduced, the sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), basswood (Tilia ameri- 

 cana), the river birch (Betula nigra), on the Des Moines sand bar willow 

 (Salix fluviatile and S. Nigra and S. amygdaloides), an abundance of red 

 bud (Cercis canadensis), hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) and mulberry 

 (Morus rubra), hophorn beam, choke cherry (Prunus virginiana), black 

 cherry (P. serotina). Of the shrubs the following were noted: Buck bush 

 (Symphoricarpus orbiculatus), dew berry (Rhuus nigrobaccus), some rose, 

 probably (Rosa blanda), sweet briar rose (Rosa rubiginosa), grape 

 (Vitis vulpina), dogwood (Cornus asperifolia), hazel brush ( Cory lus amer- 

 icana). I did not note many herbaceous plants in bloom. Ruellia ciliosa, 

 Monarda fistulosa, Potentilla canadensis, Anemone virginiana, Polygon- 



