FLORA OF THE LEDGE'S 
79 
seventh edition/ and the nomenclature of this manual has been 
used throughout. This list is incomplete in some respects, due 
to the limitations of the season when this study was undertaken. 
THE OHARAOTER OF THE FLORA. 
It is evident from the appended catalogue that this area pos- 
sesses a flora typical of a forested region or of a region until 
recently covered with woodland. Originally all or nearly all 
of this area was wooded. It would seem that the northern 
limit of the unshaded part of the map represents approxi- 
mately the northern extension of the former encroaching forest 
belt. Along the roadside just north of this line are some rem- 
nants of such prairie grasses as Spartina Michauxii Hitch, 
which have not been found within the area in question. That 
the forest once extended to this line is shown by the presence 
of tree stumps over much of the area. The stump of a bur oak 
growing near a clump in this vicinity showed sixty-one annual 
rings. Residents of the district also attest that practically all 
this land was once wooded. Of course the wooded area is now 
confined to the rough land near the river and- along the steep 
slopes of the ravines adjacent. 
The catalogue indicates the somewhat anomalous character 
of the vegetation of the region. For instance, Moms riihra L. 
and Viburnum Lent ago L., which are plentiful just outside the 
tract to the westward, have not yet been found within ‘‘The 
Ledges.’’ Aesculus glabra var. arguta (Buckley) Robinson, 
while plentiful at Frazer near Boone, and along Honey creek 
about three miles to the northwest where conditions are some- 
what similar, has not been found at ‘ ‘ The Ledges. ’ ’ Anemonella 
thalictroides L. is abundant on the bluffs along the Skunk river 
in Story county, but it has not been collected at “The Ledges.” 
Galtha palustris L. covers the marshy southern hank of the Des 
Moines river to the west of “The Ledges,” but the writer has 
been unable to find it within the area in question. 
“The Ledges” may be said to be characterized by the presence 
of Cladonia sylvaiica, Polytrichum commune, Camptosorus rhizo- 
phyllus, Poly podium vulgar e, Woodsia obtusa, Trillium nivale, 
Mitella diphylla, Juniperus virginiana, Dirca palustris, Lathy - 
rus ochroleucus, Physocarpus opulifolius, Prunus pennsylvan- 
ica, and Rhamnus lanceolata. 
