16 FLORA OF MICHIGAN. 



of oak (oak openings) are frequent, and always very desirable for farming 

 purposes. 



" Marshes densely covered with tamarack are common in this part of 

 the State, and nourish in their thick shade such plants as Drosera 

 rotundifolia, Sarracenia purpurea, Rhus venenaia, Ribes rubrum, Chio- 

 genes hispidula, Salix Candida, Similacina trifolia, Pogonia ophiogloss- 

 oides and Calopogon pulchettus, Arbor-vitse, red cedar and black spruce 

 are comparatively rare. 



"A similar tract of soil and timber occurs in the upper end of the pen- 

 insula, north of a line drawn from Thunder bay west to the head of Grand 

 Traverse bay. This is commonly known as the "Traverse region," and 

 has a flora much like that we have just described, with the exception that 

 some of the southern species disappear, and northern ones begin to take 

 their place, or if found growing further south, here first become frequent. 

 Deep forests of hemlock and yellow birch (B. lutea) mixed with a fine, 

 tall growth of striped maple (A. Pennsylvanicum) are frequent, having 

 underneath a tangled growth of Taxus baccata, var. Canadensis, and under 

 all a carpet of Lycopodium annotinum. Alternating with these are .sandy 

 plains covered with a dense growth of Vacciniums, yielding a great abund- 

 ance of fruit. Sugar maples and basswood are also abundant in this 

 region, and reach an immense size. In fact, it would be difficult to find 

 finer groves of maple in any part of the State. 



" The pine country proper lies between the two tracts we have described, 

 and embraces about 15,000 square miles. It is composed largely of sand 

 hills and plains, either scantily furnished with vegetation, or densely cov- 

 ered with pine forest. Argillaceous tracts wooded with beech and maple 

 also occur, like oases in a desert; and swamps abound, with the usual low- 

 land timber. Forests of hemlock spruce are frequent, and there are occa- 

 sional ridges of oak. Birch (B. lutea) also begins to be a common forest 

 tree, and attains a large size. The usual timber of the barrens is Jack 

 Pine (P. Banksiana). Climatic and other influences have combined to 

 produce groves composed entirely of this species of large size and of great 

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

 rises, often 50-60 seet, 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 spar- 

 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 43, 

 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, ancl the same is true of 

 white pine. 



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

 onous. Yery 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 Mitchella 

 repens, Maianthemum Canadense, Trillium grandiflorum, perhaps, and a 

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

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



