A SURVEY OF THE LARGER AQUATIC PLANTS OF 
LAKE MENDOTA 1 
R. H. Denniston 
Notes from the Biological Laboratory of the Wisconsin Geological and 
Natural History Survey. XVI. 
The work included in this report was done during the month 
of August, 1912, for the Wisconsin Geological and Natural His¬ 
tory Survey. The purpose of the investigation was to ascertain 
the location and the distribution of the various species of the 
larger plants growing in the lake at this season of the year. 
Lake Mendota, located at Madison, Wisconsin, covers an area 
of 15.2 square miles and has a shore line of about 22 miles. It 
is irregularly oval in shape, the east end being considerably larger. 
The length is about six miles and the width about four miles. 
There are five main points of land which project into the lake, 
namely, Picnic Point (station 1), Second Point (station 5), Far- 
well’s Point (station 22), Governor’s Island (station 26), and 
Maple Bluff (station 29). There are a number of small bays 
with marshy shores, and two of considerable size, University Bay 
(station 40) and Catfish Bay (station 20). The former is sup¬ 
plied by a small creek from the University grounds, the second 
by the Catfish River and Six Mile Creek. At a number of sta¬ 
tions, as at Maple Bluff, Eagle Heights, Fox’s Bluff (station 19), 
and Baskerville’s Landing (station 11), the shore is precipitous 
and rocky and the bottom slopes off abruptly. 
The work was carried on in a small launch and the plants were 
gathered with a close-toothed iron rake, with an extensible handle 
6 meters long. At most stations, vascular plants were not found 
1 This survey was made in cooperation with the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, 
and the results are published with the permission of the Commissioner of 
Fisheries. 
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