354 STATE HOBTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



Mrsutissima and others; in the Northwestern are found Astragalus loti- 

 florus, Yucca glauca, MerioUx serrulata, Spiesia Lamberti, Penstemon 

 grandiflorus, and other similar species ; in the Southeastern we find 

 Leitneria Floridana, \Fraxinus Americana profunda, Nyssa unifiora, 

 Trachelospermum difforme and a hundred others ; in the Southwestern, 

 Sapindus marginatus, Acacia filiculoides, Toxylon pomiferum, Eobinia 

 pseudacacia and others. The first is clearly the flora of the North- 

 eastern United States. The next is representative of the flora of the 

 plains to the west and northwest. The third is closely related to that 

 of the Southern states ; the last partakes of the flora of the South- 

 west. 



After a careful and comprehensive study of our woody plants, we 

 find ourselves confronted with a problem that has puzzled many scien- 

 tific men, and has never been satisfactorily settled ; and that is, what 

 are the characteristics of our Flora, and whither is it tending? At 

 the first glance this may not appear very clear to many of my readers, 

 but the full force of the proposition will be seen when I state it thus : 

 what species have we in this State ? From whence came they? Are 

 they stationary, or are they moving in any direction? If in any direc- 

 tion, then in what direction ? If in some particular direction, then 

 why ? At this point I fiud myself confronting alternates of opinion 

 which have been advanced by scientific men at various times, and 

 which may continue to be opinions for all time. On the one hand we 

 know this : that the elevation of the State is from the southeast to the 

 north and northwest; all the streams flow south and southeast ; a few 

 unimportant only flow west, and none north ! The wind is from the 

 north, or some quarter of the north, in the fall and winter when all 

 kinds of seeds and fruits are ripe. Many seed-eating birds and ani- 

 imals migrate regularly from the north to the south in the fall and win- 

 ter. Does it not seem very natural for plants and seeds to follow the 

 declivity of the land from a high elevation to a lower? How much 

 more easy it is for plants and seeds to drift down the streams toward 

 the south and southeast, than up? In the fall, when the lighter seeds 

 are ripe, whence can they go, except where the north wind blows 

 them? The migratory birds and animals eat many kinds of seeds, and 

 then carry them to the south, where they are deposited, and what 

 choice have they but to grow there? 



On the other hand, we know that certain trees follow the streams 

 northwest beyond our limits. All the State is of alluvial character, 

 except a small part near the Ozark region. The prairie region was at 

 one time more extensive than it is now, as it is well-known that the 

 forests are gradually encroaching upon it. The Ozark region only a 



