It is to be doubted whether either the elder or the younger 

 Michaux visited the neighborhood of the great cataract, and it is 

 certain that the enterprising spirit of Pursh brought him no nearer 

 than the site of the present city of Elmira. Nuttall, who 

 botanized near the Falls sometime previous to the year 1818, men- 

 tions but one plant, Utricidaria comuta, as found by him in their 

 vicinity. Torrey doubtless visited the region — possibly was 

 familiar with it — yet, in his Flora of the State of New York, 

 published in the year 1843, of the 1,511 species of plants, which he 

 described, only fifteen are attributed to Niagara, and none of these, 

 upon his own authority. In the Flora of North America, of 

 Torrey and Gray, published in 1838-1842, Niagara is mentioned 

 as a station only five times. 



The labors of later botanists have been far more useful in the 

 preparation of the list. The MS. journals of the Hon. George W. 

 Clinton, while engaged in his arduous labors upon the botany of 

 Buffalo and its vicinity, have proved of the greatest value ; and the 

 " Flore Ganadienne " of Abbe Provancher and the " Catalogue of 

 Canadian Plants " of Professor Macoun, the learned and indefati- 

 gable botanist of the Canadian Geological Survey, and the 

 " Canadian Filicinece" the joint work of Professor Macoun and 

 Dr. Burgess, of London, Ontario, have been of important service. 



Wherever use has been made of these or of other authorities due 

 acknowledgment of the obligation appears in the list. 



The geology of Niagara Falls, as related to the flora, demands 

 at this place some brief attention. On either side of the river, at 

 a distance not very constant, glacial clays appear. At Clifton they 

 form a considerable elevation. With them, in places, also appear 

 the usual gravel drift of the same period. These make up the 

 soil of the adjacent country. But, as Hall and Lyell long ago 

 pointed out, the evidence is complete that the river once stood at a 

 very considerable height above its present rocky boundaries. At 

 Chippewa, in Prospect park and at other places, the gravel deposits 

 of the river, made whilst it was occupying its higher level, are still 

 to be seen. But before the river formed its present bed in the 

 gorge below the cataract, it cut through and carried away some 

 portion of its former deposit, leaving, as it subsided, a terrace, on 

 either side, still easily traced. This gravel deposit, once extending 

 continuously across the present river, covered all of what is now 

 Goat Island. It is characterized by a great abundance of fresh- 



