The Flora of the Cayuga Lake Basin 9 



the southern border of the drainage basin of Lake Ontario and the St. 

 Lawrence River. The region thus has a general slope toward the north. 

 Cayuga Lake lies near the geographical center of the State, and is 

 about centrally located in the lake region of which it forms a part. In 

 this position it extends in a north-and-south direction. The lake is one 

 of the two largest in the series, and is 61.3 kilometers (38.1 miles) long. 

 Its maximum breadth is 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles), though through most 

 of its length it is only about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide. Like the 

 other finger lakes, it is thus extremely long and narrow, and it has charac- 

 teristically straight shores and is almost free from islands. In altitude 

 it is the lowest of these lakes, its height above sea level being 115 meters 

 (380 feet). 



The drainage basin of Cayuga Lake as herein limited at the outlet 

 end extends from the village of Westbury on the north to North Spencer 

 on the south, and has a maximum length of about 114.5 kilometers (71 

 miles). At the northern end the basin is comparatively narrow, being 

 only about 19.3 kilometers (12 miles) wide at Cayuga; but southward the 

 width increases until near the southern end of the lake it is about 51.4 

 kilometers (32 miles). This widest part extends from near Cayuta Lake 

 on the west to the Cortland marl ponds on the east. The drainage area 

 lies in the counties of Cayuga, Cortland, Tompkins, Tioga, Schuyler, 

 Seneca, and Wayne. Tompkins County is almost wholly contained within 

 its limits, but only small parts of the counties of Cortland, Tioga, Schuyler. 

 and Wayne fall within the basin. The southern border of the basin is on 

 the watershed between the St. Lawrence and Susquehanna River systems. 



At the northern end, where the lake basin fades into the great Ontario 

 plain, an arbitrary limit has been established. Again, as in Dudley's Flora, 

 the somewhat independent region of the West Junius ponds is included, 

 and several miles of territory to the north of Montezuma are also added in 

 order that the Flora may cover all of the region between Cayuga Lake and 

 the immediate drainage area of the Lake Ontario shore. The present 

 work is planned to include all vascular plants growing spontaneously within 

 the limits outlined above, and also those of the watershed marshes and 

 ponds. 



EXPLANATION OF THE CATALOG 



While the catalog in general is self-explanatory, a few details may need 

 further explanation. Specific and varietal names, when heading the treat- 

 ment of that species or variety, are printed in bold-faced type if the plant 

 is native about Ithaca or in this general part of the country. If the plant 

 is an immigrant from some other country or from a distant part of this 

 country, light-faced small capitals are used. Such plants, when first 

 entering the region and not yet established, are said to be advcntive; 

 when brought in by man in other than accidental ways, they are Intro- 



