1900 | FLORA OF THE WHITE LAKE REGION 421 
timbered region which lay above the level of the waters and con- 
tested the ground with the wind-driven sand until the dunes by 
the lake shore, becoming covered and fixed, formed a barrier 
against further encroachment. The surface sand washed up by 
the waves of the lake is now piled up on the shore dunes which 
tend to become higher as long as the tree covering remains as a 
protection. The study of the flora of such a region is important 
since it shows the kinds of vegetation which have this ability. 
White lake is about five miles long by one to two miles 
wide, its deepest part being eighty or more feet. It is an expan- 
sion of White river. At the entrance of the river into the lake 
are two villages, Whitehall on the south side and Montague on 
the north. At the present outlet into Lake Michigan is Sylvan 
beach, a collection of summer residences, and another, Michil- 
linda, lies just south on the Michigan shore. South of Michil- 
linda are two similar but much smaller lakes, Duck lake and 
- Muskrat lake. The latter is little more than a pond without a 
visible outlet at present, whose surplus waters must make their 
way into Lake Michigan by seeping through the sand. The 
surroundings and flora of these were likewise examined. Lying 
in the midst of a dune formation their shores are everywhere 
sandy. The region as a whole isa sandy plain with low ridges 
of sand more or less parallel, having a north and south trend, 
Moving or active dunes occur at the southwest side of White 
lake and by the shore of Lake Michigan. One of these lies 
between the old outlet of White lake and the lake shore. The 
natural outlet has been superseded by a short cut into Lake 
Michigan at Sylvan beach. The original outlet had been 
crowded northward by drifting sand, and ran parallel with the 
shore of the large lake for nearly a mile before the water escaped. 
This is now silted up by sand and the old outlet is a lagoon 
Opening into White lake at its inner end. 
Though this dune formation rests on a base of clay the ne 
lying clay rarely appears in sight either by the shores a ¢ 
small lakes or the contiguous shore of Lake Michigan. Sylvan 
beach is on a sand covered hill of drift clay, and there are low 
