62 



latter were never reported east of central Nebraska prior to 

 Gleason's work. 



In the spring of 1934 the writer visited a section of the sandy 

 bluff overlooking the Illinois valley six miles north of the city 

 of Manito. Associated with plants such as Opuntia Rafinesquii, 

 Phlox bifida and others of the bunch-grass association, there 

 were found many specimens of Actinea herbacea (Greene) 

 Robinson. Hitherto, Actinea herbacea has only been found at 

 Joliet, Illinois, and in Ottawa County, Ohio. Cowles (3) consid- 

 ered it a relative of A . acaulis, a pioneer xerophyte in the Rocky 

 Mountain region which probably migrated eastward during a 

 dry postglacial period. 



The origin of the sand in this locality can be traced back to 

 early postglacial times when the Kankakee Torrent (4) was at 

 its height. The flood waters carried large quantities of outwash 

 material in the form of sand and gravel and deposited it in the 

 Illinois valley south of the Bloomington moraine. This was 

 followed by a migration of plants from several directions, some 

 remaining permanently in the sand barrens while others dis- 

 appeared due to changes in environmental conditions. Whether 

 Actinea herbacea is a survivor of early postglacial times or 

 whether it is a newcomer in this locality, is difficult to say. Since 

 the area in which it was found was not large, it could easily have 

 been overlooked by former investigators. Perhaps it is found in 

 other localities and the accompanying photograph may be of 

 service to other workers in the identification of the plant. 



Manual Training High School 

 Peoria, Illinois 



Bibliography 



(1) McDonald, F. E., A Sand Dune Flora of Central Illinois. Plant World 



3: 101-103. 1900. 



(2) Gleason, H. A., A Botanical Survey of the Illinois River Valley Sand Re- 



gion. Bull. Illinois State Lab. Xat. History 7: 149-194. 1907. 



(3) Cowles, H. C, The Succession Point of View in Floristics. Proc. Inter- 



national Congress of Plant Sciences Ithaca. 1: 687-691. 1926. 



(4) Ekblaw, G. E., and Athy, L. F., Glacial Kankakee Torrent in Northeastern 



Illinois. Bull. Geol. Soc. America 36: 417-428. 1925. 



