64 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Scirpus pu/ngms and S. lacustris , growing in wide stretches over the low sandbar 
and in the shallow lagoon behind the bar. The old rootstocks of these species of 
Scirpus can be seen everywhere in 6 to 9 inches of water, forming a network over 
the sand. In the lagoon, with Scirpus pungens , grows JVaias flexilis robusta. long 
and slender, while in the shallow water on the exposed bar the dwarf form of JV. 
flexilis , previously found in similar places in Put-in Bay, is not uncommon. 
On the east side of the channel the number and kinds of plants is greater, in spite 
of the fact that the prevailing winds drive the waves against the shore. The probable 
reason is that these waves have washed a great deal of mud to that side, making more 
favorable soil for the growth of the plants. Vallisneria occupies the deeper parts on 
the east side of the channel as well as on the west, growing in 6 to 7 feet of water, 
but is present also among the other species in shallower places. Toward the land from 
the Vallisneria are the Potamogetons , P. zostercefolius , P. pectinatus, P. lonchites , 
and P. perfoliatus richardsonii, with Heteranthera graminea occupying the ground 
in 3 to 5 feet of water and occasionally in the shallower places. In 1 to 2.5 feet 
of water, among the Scirpus lacustris and S. pungens , Myriophyllum , JVaias, and 
Elodea are the principal species, but, as already remarked, the forms common in 
deeper water also frequently occupy this ground. In some places along this shore 
the Scirpus is mixed with Zizania aquatica , and on the sandy bank Scirpus pungens 
shares the ground with Equisetum robustum. 
The sandbar which protects the channel entrance is large and is covered with 
water varying in depth from 6 inches to 2 or 3 feet. Scirpus pungens grows in 
many places on the most exposed situations in water up to a foot deep. Beyond the 
Scirpus , in places exposed to the heaviest surf during storms and where the water is 
6 to 12 inches deep, I found scattered tufts of Potamogeton heterophyll/as. The form 
is the same as that growing abundantly on the bar at Gibraltar Island, where it was 
found in fruit, but no fruiting specimens were found at East Harbor. In neither 
case did it have floating leaves, the plants growing in tufts with many branches 
coming out from near the base of the stem. This is the form which Dr. Morong 
named var. longipedunculatus. 
Character of the vegetation up the channel. — A short distance from the entrance 
the channel divides, one branch going east, the other west; the latter again divides, 
one branch turning southwest, the other continuing in a westerly direction. With 
slight exceptions a description of the vegetation along the eastern branch will apply 
to this entire swamp region. 
Just where the channel turns toward the east is a sandy beach covered with 2 
feet or less of water, and here grow two forms of JVaias , JV. flxxilis robusta and the 
dwarf form of JV. flexilis , besides several species of Characece , which are more 
abundant here than elsewhere in the swamp. In an area not over 200 feet long by 10 
wide I found four species of JVitella and four of Ohara, all of low, compact habit, 
though in other locations plants of some of the same species grow long and of open 
habit. JVitella subglomerata and JVitella polyglochin grow in clusters a few inches 
across and as many high, while JV. temdssima and JV. batrachosperma grow in about 1 
foot of water with their branches spread out flat on the sand. Cliara frag ilis grows 
with close, compact habit; Ohara contraria and its variety subinermis are here low, 
delicate plants, growing in the shallower places; Ohara coronata has a habit different 
from that of the same species in the deep, quiet pools, being stocky, with short 
