FLORA OF THE GRAND FALLS CHERT 
BARRENS.* 
ERNEST J. PALMER. 
Several years ago while botanizing near Joplin, Mis- 
souri,; | came upon an interesting locality in the valley 
of Turkey Creek where several plants were growing that 
Thad not noted or collected previously in the vicinity, and 
subsequent visits to the same spot have been rewarded 
by: the discovery of a number of other uncommon species. 
At this point, on the north side of the creek, just west 
of the Girard branch of the Frisco Railway, along the 
Joplin-Belleville wagon road, the erosion of the stream 
has laid bare a massive bed of chert or flint, the rugged 
but generally horizontal surface of which forms the floor 
of the valley over an area of several acres. The thin 
layer of rich soil gathered in the local depressions of the 
rock, subjected to sharply contrasted conditions in regard 
to moisture at different seasons of the year, serves to 
support a flora in many respects peculiar and interesting. 
Some time later, having extended my explorations to 
Shoal Creek in the northern part of Newton County, I 
was surprised to find much more extensive outcrops of 
the same chert formation, upon which a number of the 
peculiar plants collected at the Turkey Creek locality, 
several miles north in Jasper County, were growing un- 
der practically identical conditions. This was in the 
vicinity of Reding’s Mill, about four miles south of Jop- 
lin. On both sides of the stream, near the bridge that 
spans it at that point, the chert is well exposed and good 
examples of the barrens may be seen. During the past 
few years I have made several trips to this region, ex- 
ploring the barrens on both sides of the creek as far 
* Presented by title to The Academy of Science of St. Louis, November 
21, 1910. 
(97) 
