54 



SCIENCE. 



FN. S. Vol. YIII. No. 184. 



ganized in 1892, and its work has been directed 

 to the collecting of sijecimens and observations 

 for a series of reports in which the floral cover- 

 ing of the State should be treated from the 

 phytogeographical standpoint and for a series 

 of monographs of the flora of Nebraska. A be- 

 ginning has been made by the publication of 

 three parts of the flora of the State, and the 

 present work is the first part of the first series. 

 The authors realize that so much yet remains 

 to be done in many directions that a complete 

 phytogeography of the State will be impossible 

 for many years to come, but the work of the 

 survey has progressed far enough to enable 

 them to present the general facts of its phyto- 

 geography in an adequate manner and to deal 

 with details in many of the more important 

 subjects. 



The writings of the German phytogeogra- 

 phers have been the chief source of inspiration, 

 especially the Plant Geography of Germany, by 

 Dr. Oscar Drude. It is only in recent years 

 that this subject has become a distinct depart- 

 ment of botanical knowledge, and with the ex- 

 ception of certain observations conducted by 

 Professor MacMillan in Minnesota, this is the 

 first attempt to conduct a botanical survey of 

 any State in this manner. It is, therefore, of 

 special interest and deserving of more than 

 passing mention, as even a hasty review of the 

 table of contents will be convincing proof of 

 the broad scope of this work and shows the 

 amount of preliminary preparation which it 

 represents. 



In the introduction the authors give a brief 

 outline of the scope of their subject, and state 

 that much of their terminology is new, having 

 been translated from the German or newly 

 coined to meet special necessities. The history 

 of the botanical exploration of Nebraska is 

 briefly given and a list of works consulted fills 

 several pages, including many local lists and 

 contributions to the State flora by Dr. Bessey 

 and his students. 



The subject is treated in five chapters, the 

 first dealing with the physiography, geology 

 and meteorology of the State. There is little 

 rock exposed, the soil being of unusual depth, 

 but in the southeastern part of. the State the 

 geological formations are Carboniferous, while 



the rest is Cretaceous and Tertiary. The 

 climate is extremely hot in summer and mild in 

 winter. Meteorological tables are given to show 

 the temperature and rainfall for 1896. 



The second chapter deals with statistics of 

 regional limitations, showing that the four re- 

 gions which occur in the State are the wooded 

 blulf and meadow land region, the prairie re- 

 gion, the sand-hill region and the foot-hill re- 

 gion, and that of all these the proportions 

 occurring in the State are only a small part of 

 the same regions in adjacent States. Tables 

 of species peculiar to each region are given. 

 In the third chapter the difierent forms of vege- 

 tation are considered under the heading of woody 

 plants and herbs, and the various habits and 

 devices of each for protection and reproduction 

 are considered in relation to their place of 

 growth. Size, duration, means of reproduc- 

 tion and dissemination and protective devices 

 are all important factors in the distribution of 

 plants. According to the last report of the 

 Botanical Survey there are 3,196 species in the 

 flora of the State, of which 1,717 are crypto- 

 gams, the myxomycetes not being included. 

 The number of trees is 58 ; shrubs, 33 ; bushes, 

 32 ; climbers, 13. A comparison of the flora of 

 the State shows that 90 per cent, of the plants 

 are herbaceous, there being but little forest. In 

 New Jersey the percentage is 86, in Spain 83, 

 and Germany 89. Herbs are less stable in 

 their distribution than woody plants and their 

 migrations are frequent. The herbacous plants 

 are considered in groups as perennials, bien- 

 nials, annuals, aquatics, parasites and thallo- 

 phytes. Of the perennial herbs, those forming 

 rosettes include 27 species, those forming mats 

 18, succulent plants adapted to high alpine or 

 desert regions number 10 species ; creepers 

 and climbers include 35 species ; turf-builders 

 include 44 sod grasses and 49 bunch grasses ; of 

 plants with perennial rootstocks the number is 

 472, comprising the largest number of herba- 

 ceous plants, not including 37 bulbous or tuber- 

 ous species and 16 ferns. Of biennial herbs the 

 flora includes 59 species and annuals 197. 

 Water plants are not as common, there being 

 12 floating plants, 31 submerged and 45 am- 

 phibious species in the State, and of parasitic 

 species 14, exclusive of 3 species of saprophytes. 



