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APPENDIX B. 



Catalogue of plants collected by Mr. Charles Geyer, under the direction 

 of Mr. I. N. Nicollet, during his exploration of the region between the 

 Mississippi and Missouri rivers : By Professor John Torrey, M. D. 



The country over which this collection of plants has been made, is de- 

 scribed by Mr. Nicollet, in the report that accompanies his map. It lies 

 between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, embracing two extensive 

 tracts : — 



1. The Coteau des Prairies, and the Mississippi and the Missouri val- 

 leys; consisting of prairies throughout, interspersed with woods and lakes, 

 and the soil of which is alternately sandy, gravelly, or clayey, in the 

 character of an erratic deposite. Its elevation above the sea is from 1,000 

 to 2,000 feet, and it extends from the 39th to beyond the 48th degree of 

 north latitude. 



3. The extensive basin of the riviere Jacques, or Tchansan-san river of 

 the Sioux, and the prolongation of the Coteau des Prairies, north of the 

 Shayen-oju that empties into the Red river of the North. The basin of the 

 riviere Jacques is a vast prairie, situated between the Coteau des Prairies 

 and the Coteau du Missouri, and is from sixty to eighty miles west of the 

 former. It is sparingly wooded, and its level above the sea is from 1,200 

 to 1,400 feet, or nearly 600 feet lower than the twoCoteaux between which 

 it lies. The northeastern portion is a region of salinas, including the great 

 salt lake called Mini-wakan, or Devil's lake, together with all the head- 

 waters of the rivers that empty into the Red river of the North, on its west 

 side. The soil is sandy in every part, and the timber is found only along 

 the water-courses and borders of the lakes. 



It is well to remark, that there are two Shayen rivers — one emptying in- 

 to the Red river of the North, and properly named Shayen-oju; the other 

 pouring its waters into the Missouri a little below the 45th degree, and is 

 called by the French, without any adjunct, Shayen river. It is the Wash- 

 tey, or Good river of the Sionx. But, in reference to the habitale of the 

 plants mentioned in the catalogue, they have been priri,cipally collected 

 within the region of the former river. 



As an additional remark, it maybe stated that what, in Mr. Geyer's notes, 

 are designated as "slate-hills," "naked, arid, and argillaceous hills," of the 

 Upper Missouri, are more properly reported by Mr. Nicollet as belonging to 

 the cretaceous formation, and consist principally of calcareous marl and 

 plastic clays. 



Finally, although this collection is not sufficiently extensive, owing to 

 the loss of a large portion of it between the rapids of the Des Moines and 

 St. Louis, to justify any general views of the distribution of the principal 

 families of plants in the region explored by Mr. Nicollet, its catalogue will, 

 nevertheless, 1 trust, be a valuable contribution to the geographical distri- 

 bution of American plants, as well as for the number of new species it adds 

 to our flora. 



