Wheeler: FLORA OF SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA. 359 
Creek valleys.—The valleys of the creeks present an entirely 
different aspect from the river valley. The creeks have their 
own well-defined channels to which they hold almost the year 
round. High waters never last for any great period of time. 
Those which are caused by the melting of the snows in the 
spring generally last from about noon to sun-down while those 
which are supplied by the heavy June showers generally rise 
and fall during the night or very early morning. The damage 
done to vegetation is almost restricted to the floods of the sum- 
mer months. They come in the season of most rapid growth 
and destroy a large part of the season’s growth with which they 
come in contact. The areas inundated by these floods are never 
very extensive compared to those along the river. At most 
points along the valleys the gradual rise of the land from the 
creeks to the bluffs is sufficient to prevent the formation of 
ponds and lakes by the rise of the water. The alluvial soils 
deposited on the flats do not dry up until late in the summer and 
so have very little growth besides coarse weeds. They are 
often cultivated but there is always the danger of the crops 
being destroyed by high water. Most of the best cultivated 
fields in the valleys are on the table lands adjacent to the foot 
of the bluffs. They are generally fertile, are protected from 
high water and hard winds and are not in a position to wash to 
any great extent. The steep banks on the north edges of the 
table lands are generally wooded and bear the richest and 
greatest variety of plants that can be found anywhere in this 
region. The table lands are often very sharply marked off 
from the creek bottoms and steep bluffs. Towards the heads of 
the creeks the table lands disappear and there is a gradual rise 
from the creeks to the bluffs. 
The water vegetation of the creek valleys is almost entirely 
limited to the cold water plants of the springs and small streams. 
There are very few ponds or marshes to contain still water 
forms. 
The vegetation of the land may be divided into that of the 
wet meadow, moist woods and mesophytic field. The wet mea- 
dow is about on a level with the banks of the creeks. It never 
becomes very dry and on the lower places shows some of the 
characters of a marsh. The vegetation of the moist woods 
is well shown on the wooded banks bordering the table lands. 
Moist woods often cover some of the protected table lands and 
