SEDGES OF HENRY COUNTY. 
BY JOHN THEODORE BUCHHOLZ. 
Henry County lies in the southeastern part of Iowa, in one of the 
most fertile sections of the state. Tt has an area of 432 square miles or 
rather open prairie, except the borders of the streams, which were origin- 
ally fringed with native forests. 
The Skunk River with its tributaries drains the whole county. It 
enters the county near the northwest corner, a few miles south of Way- 
land. Thence, it wends its way southward mostly on the other side of 
the border line to within a few miles north, of Rome, where it resumes 
its southeasterly course. After making a bend toward the northeast, it 
deviates little from its general diagonal course through the south half 
of the county. In the upper part of this section of its course, it flows 
through an old pre-glacial valley which it abandons a short distance 
south of Rome. From this place, to the point at which it leaves the 
county, it occupies a newer, narrower and less eroded valley. 
This newer part of the valley near Oakland Mills and east along the 
river bottom contains many lowlands both open and wooded, which were 
visited at different times. Many of the swamp and lowland species of 
the sedges are found here. 
Big Cedar Creek is the; largest tributary to the Skunk River within 
the limits of the county. It enters near the southwest corner of Salem 
township, and after making a few turns, enters the “ Grand Valley. ” 
Here it receives the waters of the Little Cedar Creek and flows meander- 
ingly northward until it joins the Skunk River near Rome. 
Big Creek is the second largest tributary. It drains the open prairies 
of the north central part of the county. It arises just beyond the borders 
of Canaan township, flows westward until within a few miles northwest 
of Mt. Pleasant, when it turns south,, and a little later, southeast. Here 
it flows parallel to the Skunk River about ten miles, joining the latter 
three miles west of Lowell. The headwaters of Big Creek are within 
ten miles of its mouth, and yet .this winding stream has a length of 
more than seventy miles. Big Creek is a comparatively new stream. 
Its channel has been carved since the Kansan drift spread over this 
area. 
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