THE BOTANY OF THE DISTRICT. 



607 



The drift deposits, which, in their varying character in different parts, give such a striking feature to 

 northwestern scenery, are always clothed with a characteristic vegetation. Thus, on the gravelly ridges 

 of the Upper St. Peter's, which in their main development go to form that singular character of scenery 

 known as the "Coteau des Prairies," dividing the tributaries of the Upper Mississippi from those of the 

 Missouri, we invariably meet with many or all of the following grouped plants, viz., Gastilleja Sessiliflora, 

 Psoralea esculenta , (Enothera serrulata, Oxytropis Lamberti, Lygodesmia juncea, Bouteloua oligostacliya , 

 and others less fixed. 



To the eastward, the corresponding water-shed between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, furnishes a 

 growth of Pinus Banhsiana, with an associated undergrowth of Vaccinium tenellum, Gauliheria pro- 

 cumbens, Lycopodiam, etc. The two deposits thus furnishing as marked a contrast in their vegetation, 

 as in their geographical position or geological features. 



These points, with others that may be illustrated from the accompanying list, show that there is a very 

 observable relationship between the Flora of a country and its geology. 



But it is farther to be observed that botany, from its peculiar intermediate position, connected and 

 dependent, alike for all its varied features, both on the atmosphere and soil, is called to maintain corre- 

 sponding relations to each ; being at the same time subject to the modifying influence of atmospheric 

 conditions and variations of soil. Thus called to supply such varying indications, it must necessarily be 

 less intimate in its connexion with any one ; variety in this, as in every case, must be at the expense 

 of definiteness. 



An interesting illustration of this fact is to be noticed on the shores of Lake Superior, where we meet 

 with a singular blending of Littoral and Alpine plants : thus we find Lathy rus maritimus (Beach-pea'), 

 and Hudsonia ericoides, common to the Atlantic sea-beach, and intimately connected with a similarity of 

 soil; and side by side with these, Potentilla tridentata and Olastonia rangiferina, peculiar to Alpine and 

 Arctic regions, in connexion with a similarity of climate. Such instances might be multiplied, all show- 

 ing that the true province of botany, as a branch of physical geography, is with its own proper knowledge, 

 to combine that varied information, that cannot be otherwise gleaned from any one department of Natural 

 History. 



It is this view, no doubt, that gives to the botany of a new country its chief interest, and makes a swiVe 

 of native plants valuable portable indices of the country they inhabit, of its agricultural capacities, climate, 

 and external features, affording a ready means of comparison or contrast with other countries. May they 

 not, when enlarged experience has traced with more accuracy these relations, and especially when we 

 keep in view the principle so much insisted on in geology, viz., to depend more on the grouping of spe- 

 cimens, and drawing nice distinctions, than in isolated examples, — may they not take the same rank to 

 agriculture that fossils do to geology ? 



This principle always has been in general application. By it the farmer naturally judges of the fer- 

 tility or barrenness of unploughed fields, while to an experienced botanist, a complete suite of the plants 

 of any country would convey a greater amount of interesting general information, and impart more defi- 

 nite notions of a country, than can be drawn from any single source. 



The Indian uses, economical and medicinal, of the plants observed, are made a special item in my 

 instructions, and on this point some interesting and unexpected facts have been noted. This is particu- 

 larly true of the native articles of diet, nearly all of which I have been enabled to refer to their scientific 

 place, in connexion with the Indian name in most common use, and a brief enumeration of their uses. 



There is one fact in this connexion that has struck me as a matter of much interest, and I briefly 

 advert to it here. Of the native vegetable productions of this region, several of the most useful in an 

 economic or commercial point of view are connected with those features of country which seem least 

 desirable. Thus the excellent cranberry occupies its irreclaimable marshes; the delicious huckleberry 

 its barren ridges ; while the staple wild rice edges its innumerable lakes. The suggestion might be carried 

 further, but these will be sufficient to draw forth an obvious inference. 



With regard to the medicinal articles used, my information is less important, due not so much to the 

 nature of the subject as the difficulty of obtaining accurate information. Medicine, in the mind of the 

 Indian, is always connected with superstitious observances, and is inseparably blended with his religious 

 notions. The efficacy of the simplest remedies are attributed to some supernatural agency, and, as a con- 

 sequence, more credit is given to the manner of administering, or unmeaning ceremonies connected with 



