A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF THE LARGER AQUATIC 
PLANTS OF GREEN LAKE, WISCONSIN^ 
H. W. Rickett 
Notes from the Biological Laboratory of the Wisconsin Geological and Nat¬ 
ural History Survey. XXII. 
Introduction 
In the summer of 1921 a survey was made of Green Lake, Wis¬ 
consin, with a view to the estimation of the amount of large aquatic 
plants produced by this body of water. This report embodies the 
results of the investigation. Besides the gross quantitative data, 
the study also furnished information on the distribution of various 
plants, their depth relations, and the vegetation of different parts 
of the lake. 
A similar report has already been made (3) on Lake Mendota. 
The methods used and the nature of the information obtained in 
the study presently to be described were in general the same as 
those in the previous case. 
The work was done for the Wisconsin Geological and Natural 
History Survey, under the supervision of Professor Chancey 
Juday. For assistance in identifying several of the plants col¬ 
lected, I am indebted to Dr. E. A. Baird, Dr. R. H. Denniston, Dr. 
G. M. Smith, and Dr. G. E. Nichols. For much assistance in col¬ 
lecting, I wish to thank Professor Juday and Mr. L. E. Noland. 
Description of Lake 
Green Lake is a roughly oval body of water, seven and one-half 
miles in length and from one to two miles broad. It is 66 meters 
deep at its west end,—^by far the greatest depth recorded for any 
Wisconsin lake. The east end is somewhat shallower. Its waters 
are cool, clear (compared, for instance, with those of Mendota), 
and of the bright tint which gives the lake its name. The color of 
^ This investigation was made in cooperation with the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, and 
the results are published with the permission of the Commissioner of Fisheries. 
