42 



JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



great light on our Canadian flora, but even it, as the author on 

 several occasions remarks in its pages, is woefully deficient as 

 regards the flora occupying the region along Lake Erie, in which, no 

 doubt, there are many varieties still to be brought to view. 



One of the earliest explorers to leave any special notes on the 

 vegetation of the Lake Erie district, was the famous Franciscan 

 monk, Father Hennepin, who accompanied LaSalle on his voyages, 

 extending from 1679 ^o 1682. Hennepin explored the country 

 through the region of the St. Lawrence and great lakes, westward 

 into Wisconsin, where he was carried as a captive by the Indians. 

 He appears to have made no collections, n^ r did he give any special 

 account of the botany of these regions, but on more than one 

 occasion he speaks of the prevalence of walnut, chestnut and plum 

 trees about Lake Erie. 



Following Hennepin, the Jesuit, Charlevoix, who reached 

 Quebec in 1720, travelled by way of the St. Lawrence and great 

 lakes and thence descended the Mississippi. His journals contain 

 some notes of interest, and he speaks particularly of the fine timber 

 in the Erie region, mentioning the white and red oaks {Quercus 

 alba and Quercus rubra) and three kinds of walnut, two of which, 

 from his description, evidently are the butternut and one of the hick- 

 ories. 



Peter Kalm, a pupil and correspondent of Linnaeus, in 1749; 

 Frederick Pursh, the celebrated author of the " Flora Araericae Septen- 

 trionalis," in 1806 ; Michaux, the younger, in 1807 ; and Drummond 

 and Douglas, distinguished botanical explorers, about fifteen or 

 eighteen years later made expeditions to the Niagara River and 

 eastern end of Lake Erie, but can hardly be said to have explored 

 any of its northern shore. The result of their labors was recorded 

 in Hooker's Flora. 



The first real investigators of the Flora of this district were Mr. 

 Goldie and Drs. Todd, Maclagan and Ni^hol, and they have re- 

 corded many interesting plants, some of which have not since been 

 seen. Professor Macoun has explored to a limited extent the Nia- 

 gara Peninsula, Pelee Island and the country along Lake Erie west- 

 ward from that point and up the Detroit River ; while, personally, I 

 have examined the districts about Point aux Pins and Point Pelee. 

 Mr. David F. Day, President of the Buffalo Natural History Soci- 

 ety, has carefully explored the Canadian side of the Niagara River 



