water or raised somewhat above it. The upper surface of these 

 leaves is of the most exquisitely shaded, velvety green, with which 

 the much lighter shade of the under side contrasts in a most 

 pleasing manner. Iu the fall the flowers give place to the huge 

 conical seed cases, holding in cup-like depressions on the flat up- 

 per surface acorn-like seeds, which, in days gone by, furnished an 

 important article of food to the Indians. Not infrequently small 

 flocks of ducks are seen leisurely filing in graceful curves in and 

 out of this lily forest, and more rarely a solitary blue or white 

 heron stands dreamily gazing into the water, or lazily wings his 

 way to the distant wood. But few song-birds are found in mid- 

 summer in the immediate vicinity of the large ponds, though more 

 common a little way from them, and often the silence is almost as 

 complete here as in the great forests, the only sounds, perhaps, 

 being the harsh call of a hawk or the sudden splash of a water rat 

 or large turtle. If a knoll or other elevated position can be gained 

 a wild scene often lies before the observer. All around him as far 

 as the eye can reach lies the seemingly boundless sea of waving 

 grass, the undulating surface only interrupted now and then by 

 rounded clumps of the glossy-leaved button-bush (Cephalanthus), 

 or more rarely by the tall form of a cotton-wood or other tree, 

 while in the far distance the sky meets the moving surface, or a 

 belt of trees forms a dark wall which limits the view, except where 

 there are breaks through which are glimpses of the same billowy 

 expanse stretching on and on indefinitely. 



The state of Illinois extends from north to south over three 

 hundred and eighty miles, and for this reason would naturally be 

 expected to produce a very varied flora, as it certainly does both 

 as to tree and herb. 



In one of his works Humboldt mentions the tropical appearance 

 of the forests of the Mississippi valley, due to the frequent occur- 

 rence of pinnate-leaved trees, and the palmate-leaved trees add 

 greatly to the same effect. 



In many of the forests there is a very noticeable absence of the 

 higher cryptogams, such as ferns, club-mosses and mosses. Occa- 

 sionally a great profusion of these plants is seen, but often one 

 may ride for hours through rich, damp woods without seeing alto- 

 gether more ferns than could easily be held in the hand, and the 

 bright, rich green of mossy bank or moss-covered rock or log is not 



