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which are scattered sparsely over the eastern part of the area. 
The shrubs also are most abundant eastward. One of them is 
a willow, Salix tristis, and two are oaks, Quercus ilicifolia and 
Q. prinoides; and nearly all grow less than knee-high. The 
commonest herb is Andropogon scoparius, a grass which is said 
to be also common on some of the western prairies. The her- 
baceous vegetation, which is almost the only vegetation between 
Hicksville and Hempstead, with the exception of one ubiquitous 
shrub, Pieris Mariana, covers the ground pretty closely except 
in the most gravelly areas, is nearly all perennial, and averages 
about a foot in height. 
Although the prairie vegetation grows in comparatively dry 
and sour soil, and gets about all the sunshine and wind there is 
in those parts, it exhibits no extreme xerophytic adaptions. 
A good many species, including several of the most abundant 
Fic. 4. About a mile east of Garden City, looking eastward. Salix tristis in 
foreground. Sept. 29, 1909. 
ones, have decidedly canescent foliage, and about half as many 
are glaucous, so that the whole landscape has rather a grayish 
tint. A large proportion of the species have very narrow leaves, 
but there are no succulents, and very few evergreens. On the 
other hand there are of course no very large or thin leaves. 
