STRUCTURE OF THE FORMATION 69 



peduncle. The plant is a perennial. Only a few specimens 

 of Onosmodium molle were found within the prairie. Unless 

 several stems grow from the perennial root, as is usually the 

 case, these shaggy plants with greenish white clustered flow- 

 ers pass unnoticed. 



Psoralea esculenta is noted as a sparse plant on the slopes 

 of Great ridge and to a limited extent on low prairies. The 

 plant body, which is clothed with white villous hairs, hardly 

 contrasts with its densely flowered spikes of grayish-blue 

 flowers. This peculiarity, with the solitary habit of the 

 plant and the overtopping facies, renders it quite obscure. 

 P. esculenta is perennial by means of large tubers. During 

 July the stem becomes freed from the caudex and rolls about 

 over the prairies, thus disseminating the seeds. Delphinium 

 carolinianum is recorded at one location in rather low prai- 

 ries. The appearance of the slender, showy racemes of white 

 flowers indicates the close of the vernal and the beginning of 

 the estiva] period. The individuals are not numerous enough 

 to contribute to the general aspect. From various observa- 

 tions made, the bumble bee appears to attend to pollination, 

 which is in general similar to that of Baptisia iracteata. 

 When ripe the follicles open at the top, thus allowing the 

 seeds to scatter gradually. Tuberous clustered roots render 

 the larkspur perennial. Agrostis hiemalis occurs only now 

 and then in meadows, especially where the formation is some- 

 what open. Unless abundant, the fine, hair-like bunches are 

 hardly noticeable. The plant is perennial by means of rosette- 

 like tufts of crowded linear leaves which pass the winter 

 nicely. During early summer the lax panicles containing the 

 ripened seeds are rolled about by the wind. 



Galium tinctorum is a weak stemmed, much branching, 

 rootstalk plant frequenting wet meadows and ravines, where 

 it forms a layer beneath the tall facies. At times Cralium 

 becomes controlling in small areas, in which case it develops 

 an almost impenetrable carpet. This bedstraw is of little 

 prominence in the formation from any standpoint. Anemone 



