MOSELEY. 



25 



the islands as well as the mainland. That they have 

 reached the islands mainly through man's agency is 

 shown by the fact that those islands which have the 

 most extensive commerce have the greatest variety of 

 weeds. Green Island, being still wild, may be left out 

 of consideration, but the greater part of Rattlesnake is 

 cultivated, and there many kinds of weeds grow with a 

 luxuriance that tries the patience of the owner. Yet 

 there are fourteen kinds of weeds that grow on all four 

 of the other islands, which are not to be found on 

 Rattlesnake, without counting a number that need a 

 damper soil than there prevails. Not only are most of 

 these fourteen common on all the islands that enjoy 

 much commerce, but among them are included a 

 number of the most abundant weeds in this part of 

 North America. The list is as follows: Lepidium 

 virginicum, Abutilon avicennas, Melilotus alba, Medi- 

 cago lupulina, Bidens frondosa, Sonchus asper, Xan- 

 thium canadense var. echinatum, Marrubium vulgare, 

 Amarantus albus, Amarantus blitoides, Acalypha 

 virginica, Juncus tenuis, Bromus secalinus, Panicum 

 sanguinale. Why are these species, elsewhere so 

 abundant, not represented on Rattlesnake Island? For 

 many years the island has been cultivated and the con- 

 ditions suitable to the growth of these fourteen kinds 

 of weeds, most of which have abounded for many years 

 all around Lake Erie, but the island has been the abode 

 of only a single family and its commerce, therefore very 

 limited, and the seeds have not found any way to 

 reach the island, or, if they floated to it, no way to get 

 up onto soil where they could grow. 



If a large portion of the plants on the islands have 

 reached them in ways which may be called accidental 

 and not by means that may be seen operating in the 

 present century, then we ought to find deficiencies in the 

 flora of certain islands due to the failure of certain 

 species to reach them. Some plants that are well 



