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NOTES ON THE FLORA OF LAKE LABISH, OREGON 



By J. C. Nelson 



The collector who undertakes to make a regional map of his 

 district to show the zonal distr bution of its flora, finds his efforts 

 baffled sooner or later by the presence of areas which show a wide 

 departure from the normal conditions to be looked for in the 

 territory. It is to be expected that changes in the geological 

 horizon will be accompanied by corresponding changes in the 

 flora ; even slight variations of soil or surface-contour will mean a 

 similar change in the plant-life. Few regions of any extent will 

 maintain uniform conditions throughout; and especially in the 

 West, where the geologic processes have been more abrupt and 

 violent than in the East, the unexpected is always likely to hap- 

 pen. I can still recall how in my early collecting in northern 

 Kentucky the local flora was modified by the presence of the 

 terminal moraine of the glacial period, which crosses the Ohio 

 River at many points, and extends several miles inland. Many 

 species that were common on these deposits were never found in 

 the unglaciated area in immediate contact, and showed no dis- 

 position to extend their range, although no obstacle existed be- 

 yond the change of soil-content. Clay, loam, sand, rocks and 

 humus each have their appropriate flora; the degree of moisture, 

 of sunlight and of cultivation all have their effect, and the study 

 of any local flora soon becomes a question of topography. 



We have here in Marion County, Oregon, an area that well 

 illustrates the difficulty of making a regional catalogue. Oc- 

 curring as it does without warning, in the midst of totally dif- 

 ferent surface conditions, it presents some very interesting prob- 

 lems, and deserves closer study than it has hitherto received. 

 The area in question is locally known as Lake Labish (a corrup- 

 tion of "la biche," probably given by the early French-Canadian 

 settlers on account of the abundance of deer in this section), 

 but is no longer a lake in the usual meaning of the term. It is 

 a long narrow depression, extending in a general southwesterly 

 direction for about ten miles, from a point on Pudding River 



