BEAL ON MICHIGAN FLORA. 15 



beauty, for, instead of being 'a straggling shrub, or low tree' (Gray)? it 

 rises, often 50-60 feet, straight and symmetrical. All through this region 

 Pinus Strobus is the prevailing species and furnishes most of the lumber, 

 but P. resinosa is frequent as far south as Clare county, and occurs sp.ir- 

 ingly in the northern part of Isabella county, which appears to be its 

 southern limit. 



"Such is the general character of the sylva down to about latitude 415. 

 but in the western part of the State, owing perhaps to moister climate, or 

 to favorable soil, hemlock spruce is more abundant, and reaches much 

 farther south, nearly or quite to the Indiana line, and the same is true of 

 white pine. 



"The flora of the deep pine woods is interesting, though rather monot- 

 onous. Very little undergrowth is found, and their gloomy recesses 

 nourish only such plants as love thick shade. Here the club-mosses 

 (Lycopodiums) find a congenial home, and flourish luxuriantly, while 

 Clintonia borealis covers the ground. The great round-leaved orchid 

 (Habenaria orbiculata) , with its tall, greenish spike and twin leaves close 

 to the earth, is also frequent and striking. We shall also meet MitchcUa 

 repenSj Maianthemum Canadense, Trillium grandiflorum, perhaps, and a 

 few ferns, particularly Asplenium Filix-fcemina and Phegopteris Dryop- 

 teris. Other species occur, of course, but not so abundantly. In more 

 open places, and on ridges, we meet Rhus aromatica and Comptonia along 

 with wintergreen (Gaultheria) and trailing arbutus (Epigcva), and are 

 often fortunate enough to find the wax- white, fragrant flower of Monescs 

 uniflora, or Polygala paucifolia, hiding its shining leaves under a wealth 

 of showy pink blossoms. 



"The floral treasures of the pine region lie, however, in its swamps and 

 lake borders rather than in the deep woods. Therein grows Linncea 

 borealis in all its delicate beauty, carpeting the ground, and close at hand, 

 the odd, brown-purple flower of Cypripedium acaule and the small yellow 

 blossom of its water-loving relative C. parviflorum. In such swamps, or 

 within a stone's throw of them, may be found many other plants of equal 

 interest, such as Medeola Virginica, Ledum latifolium , Andromeda Poll- 

 folia f Kalmia glauca, Lonicera oblongifolia, Cardamine pratensis, Ger- 

 ardia aspera, Mitella nuda, Eriophorum vaginatum, etc. On lake mar- 

 gins we shall find Lysimachia and ttie blue Pontederia and more rarely, 

 Nesoea and Eleoclwris quadrangulata. The lake itself, most likely, will 

 be full of Nymphaea, Nuphar, Utricularias, and a world of Potamoge- 

 tons and similar water weeds. Shrubby Vacciniums line the bluffs, and 

 here and there gleam the white trunks of paper birches against the dark 

 background of pines. 



"In the thick-pine country, where the lumberman's ax has let in the 

 sunlight, new plants spring up freely. Here, Primus Pennsylvania and 

 poplars are frequent, and the blackberry is omnipresent. Aralia hispida 

 and Physalis lanceolata are also peculiar to such land, and in August 

 Gnaphalium decurrens may be seen whitening thousands of acres. 



"One seldom beholds a drearier sight than a dead and deserted 

 lumber region. The valuable trees were all felled years ago, and the lum- 

 berman moved on to fresh spoils, leaving behind an inextricably confused 

 mass of tree tops, broken logs, and uprooted trunks. Blackberry canes 

 spring up everywhere, forming a tangled thicket, and a few scattering 

 poplars, birches, and cherries serve for arboreal life, above which tower 

 the dead pines, bleached in the weather and blackened by fire, destitute of 



