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Most of the trees and shrubs bloom in spring and most of the 
herbs in late summer. Most of the woody plants and about 
one sixth of the species of herbs are wind pollinated. Most of 
the colored flowers are either white, yellow or purplish, and none 
of them are very large or noticeably odoriferous. Wind is 
naturally the chief agent of dissemination, but the scarcity of 
Fic. 5. Scene near northeastern corner of the plain, about half way between 
Hicksville and Syosset, looking approximately ESE. The trees are Quercus mary- 
landica. Oct. 20, 1907. 
berries and the complete absence of burs, in a region so accessible 
to birds and mammals, is a little surprising. 
The dry prairies just described cover something like 99 per 
cent of the area. The principal stream in the Plains is East 
Meadow Brook, which begins gradually, at an indefinite point 
varying with the wetness of the season, in one of the valleys about 
three miles east of Mineola and Garden City, flows nearly due 
south, and enters the woods about a mile from its source. Next 
in importance is Hempstead Brook, which flows right through 
the town of Hempstead. It takes its rise in a narrow strip of 
meadow just above the town, and its dry valley can be traced 
for a few miles to the northward. Still farther west there are 
one or two smaller streams similarly situated and bordered 
originally by similar vegetation, but now considerably encroached 
