NOTES ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF MIDSUMMER BEE 
PEANTS IN THE MISSISSIPPI ZONE 
OF CLAYTON COUNTY 
ADA HAYDEN 
With intent to determine (1) what plants were available to 
bees in late summer, (2) how these plants were located with 
reference to water reservoirs and (3) which of these plants were 
most valuable to the bee, some observations were made in Clayton 
county, Iowa, August 20 to September 9, 1919. The vicinity of 
McGregor, Beulah, Garnavillo, Guttenberg, Clayton, Prairie-du- 
Chien, and some of the adjacent islands of the Mississippi about 
McGregor were visited. Since the water supply is related to the 
topography and the distribution of plants is relative to both these 
factors, the geology and topography should be kept in mind. 
Topography . — This county has a variant topography and in- 
cludes many geologic formations. The highest elevation is 1,185 
feet on the divide between Turkey and Yellow rivers, tributaries 
of the Mississippi, which bounds this county on the east. Accord- 
ing to Norton, in the southeast section of the county lies an area 
of Iowan drift where old valleys have been filled and the surface 
has assumed an aspect of gradual sags and swells. The older 
drift is said to contribute little to topographic influence. The 
topography of the county outside of the Iowan drift plain is that 
of the driftless area. It has been subject to long continued and 
deep erosion. The northern tier of townships and a belt about 
eight miles wide along Mississippi river lie within this driftless 
area. The ancient base plain of erosion to which this area has 
been reduced has been elevated to about 1000 feet above sea level. 
Subsequent erosion by numerous streams and their tributaries has 
deeply carved this region, forming a network of narrow valleys. 
Geology . — The Pleistocene deposits include the loess, the Iowan 
drift, the Kansan drift and the Nebraskan drift. Along the high 
precipitous escarpments of the Mississippi where the older rock 
strata are exposed may be seen the St. Croix sandstone, one of 
the oldest rocks of Paleozoic times, (Figs. 13 and 14) and next 
to it the Prairie-du-Chien limestone followed by the St. Peter 
sandstone and the Galena-Platteville limestone and dolomite. In 
these rocks the numerous springs of Clayton county have their 
