574 METASPERMAE OF THE MINNESOTA VALLEY. 
Tail county and sparingly into Dakota. On the south it is 
bounded by the high land of the Coteau des Prairies. The 
greater portion of the basin consists of rolling prairies inter- 
sected by numerous sluggish streams, but along the northern 
edge and in a considerable part of the far northwestern and 
the eastern and southeastern areas the basin includes the 
characteristic hills of a terminal or median moraine, and for 
the most part these hills are clothed with growths of hard- 
wood timber. The Minnesota valley lies outside of the great 
lake belt of the state, which runs just north of its border, but 
a large number of lakes are found within its limits. These 
lakes are most abundant in the far northwestern, eastern and 
southeastern portions of the basin and are least abundant in 
the western, central western and southwestern portions. 
Distribution of forest and prairie. The streams of the 
basin are generally wooded along their courses and the great 
gorge of the river is heavily timbered as far up as Montevideo. 
The northern bluffs are much more sparsely clothed with forest 
than the southern and for long distances between Mankato 
and Montevideo are either altogether bare of timber or but 
scantily covered in comparison with the bluffs across 
the river. The headwater regions of the Pomme de 
Terre and Chippewa rivers are wooded and the northern 
edge of the basin shows frequent incursions of the northern 
forest belt. The only coniferous tree which reaches the valley 
is the larch or tamarack—Larixz americana—and only a few of 
the characteristic tamarack swamps occur in the valley. The 
northeastern and eastern portions of the valley are within the 
limits of the hardwood forest. Such portions of the basin as 
lie in the counties of Hennepin, Carver, Scott, Rice, Le Sueur 
and Sibley are for the most part timbered and a part of the 
area in Blue Earth, Waseca and Nicollet counties belongs to 
the same forest belt. This belt extends somewhat more than 
ten miles southwest of Mankato and up the Le Sueur river be- 
yond Waseca. It gradually fades out into the prairie regions 
south and west. 
Such being the general distribution of forest and prairie it 
is apparent that the various intermediate conditions will pre- 
vail along the demarcation lines between the two main plant 
physiognomic formations. Meadows, marshes, swamps and 
bogs are not infrequent, being especially abundant in the bot- 
tomland of the main stream in that portion lying between 
Mankato and Fort Snelling. In the prairies of the valley 
