NATURAL HISTORY VSALLE COUNTY ILL PART 1. I. W. HUETT. LIBRARY Af^^ ILL Aki«8fe9WVEY FLORA LA SALLEN5IS —BY— JOHN W. HUETT. OTTAWA, ILL., FAIR-DEALER PRINT, 1897. ESSAY TOWARD A NATURAL HISTORY —OF— LA SALLE COUNTY, ILL. PART I— BOTANY, FLORA LA SALLENSIS JOHN W. HUETT. OTTAWA, ILL., PAIR-DEALER PRINT, 1897. ERRATA. PAGE. LINE, 2 2 bottom. 9 Coal 11. 19 9 bottom. 21 111. list 21 '• " 21 .. .. 23 9 bottom. 23 4 27 7 28 2d col. 42 4 top. 42 12 " 43 1 43 3 '• 43 15 bottom. 43 5 46 5 top. 46 11 bottom. 48 4 56 4 top. B7 17 bottom. 74 14 75 6 top. 76 10 •• 77 3 '• 78 13 bottom 80 5 top. 83 13 •• 83 17 83 4 bottom. H5 5 " 96 15 top. 96 19 96 L bottom. 98 16 top. 102 15 1(14 4 104 7 •• 105 Hi 107 11 bottom. 10!) 13 top. 112 1 115 14 bottom . 120 19 top. Period after corner. 2-4 ft. for 2-4 iu. 3d col. Put Trenton just above St. Peters. 2d col In dry for in wet. Hepatica acutiloba and drop aentitoba. Cornuti for cormuti. Cymbalaria for cymbadaria. Strike out commas after Liriodendron and Magnolia. Strike out sep. before pinnalifid. Short for sharp. Mid-rid for third rib. arid form for join. Kanunculaceae. Acrid for acridi. Erase closes. Caroliniana. bottom. Nemorosa for Anemorosa, Scape for seape, and in other places. Erase R. bottom. .Fh. for ,1. and Hydrastis for Hyradis. Put Nymphaea before A. Abutilon for abutiton. Perennis for pereusis. Miter-wort for Miller- wort. Palustris for palustsis. Sempervivum. Me 1 astom aceae . Coloratura. Kafenesquie. Mollugo for Mollego. Umbel liferae. bottom. Mitchella should follow Houstonia page S5. Strike out bell-shaped Frondosa for frondasa. Cernua for Cornua. Cotula for cot. Arvensis forarvensic. Anagallis for Angnllis. A for H. A for Y. Anoema for anoena. CouvolvTjlaceae for Oouvol. v Kra.se the D. before Petunia. Conophi/110 for coopopholis. Anychia capillacea 5. Monilifera for manil. Hedeoma pulegioides. Pennyroyal. Branching, hairy. 10 to IS in.: leaves long-ovate, petiolate slightly serrate. Dry fields. Should foliow Melissa p. 114. lly a mixing of manuscript Hesperis to Viola was omitted at the proper place on page .">! and wili be found on pages 133-6. 50 £.7 73 ^1 M-.l e— PREFACE. THIS little volume, the first part of a more extensive work on the Natural History of La Salie county, has been prepared and published for the purpose of making the results of the author's studies and observations accessible to all who are interested in these subjects. It was begun some years ago, then abandoned and resumed at the earnest persuasion of Proi. R. Williams, to be again dropped for a time and completed under unfavorable and discouraging cir- cumstances and but for the kindness and encouragement of a few real friends would never have been completed. This bootc is designed to be a complete catalogue of the plants of La Salle county, including the Filices or Ferns. The Mosses, Liver- worts, Lichens or Fungi, as far as we are familiar with them, will be given in Part II, Part I having already greatly exceeded the limits assigned to it. Part II will also contain articles on the Geology, Min- eralogy, Zoology in its various departments, Physical Geography, etc., and together they will present as full a presentation of the natural history of the county as is at present possible. To Prof. Rinaldo Williams of Streator, Prof. Henry L. Boltwood of Evanston.and Mr. Charles F. Johnson of Freeport, late of Mar- seilles, we are under many obligations for advice and aid; also to Messrs. John F. Nash, C. B Chapman, L. A. Williams, J. L. Thomas, Giles Roberts, Shaw & Hickling, Kneussl Bros., Charles A. Williams, late of this city, now of Chicago, and last but by no means least Rev. H. H. Gregg, Jr., and Rev. J. P. Hiester of Farm Ridge, for many favors. We regret that there are many typographical errors but the more important of these are noted in the Errata and others are so obvious as to need no comment. Tne first catalogue of the plants of La Salle county was prepared by Prof. R. Williams and published in Baldwin's History of La Salle county in 1877, pp. 48(5— 502 inc., giving the names of 592 plants be- longing to 101 orders. A second was published in the Ottawa Repub- lican by Prof Boltwood 1883—4, giving the names of 7(52 species and varieties; a third was published by Mr. C. F. Johnson about 1895 giving the names of (565 species and varieties, and. this volume gives about 1,030 species and varieties belonging to 340 orders. Gray's Manual (5th Ed. describes 3,157 species belonging to 853 orders. The Hora of La Salle county therefore is about one third that of the Unite d States north of the south line of Tennessee and east of the 100th Meridian. WEEDS. We presume that it is not necessary for us to tell the farmer that it does not pay him to raise weeds. We will give a list of those we consider worst: COMMON NAME. Ambrosia Sev. Spe. Horseweed, Ragweed. Xanthium strumarium, Cocklebur. Bidens Sev. Spe. Spanish Needles, etc. Arctium lappa, Burdock. Cnicus Sev. Spe. Thistle. Cynaglossum officinale, Beggar ticks. Echinospermum Virginicum Beggar lice. Convolvulus sepium, Morning glory. • Ipomoea panduratus, Morning glory. Ipomoea hederacea Morning glory. Chenopodiaceae Sev. Spe. Pigweed, Lamb's quarter. Rumex Sev. Spe. Dock. Amarantus Sev. Spe. Hogweed, Redroot. Polygonaceae Sev. Spe., Smartweed. Asclepias Sev. Spe. Milkweed. Apocynum androsemifolium Milkweed. Euphorbia Sev. Spe. Milkweed. Of these, Convolvulus sepium. Ipomoea pandur- atus, Asclepias and Apocynum spread by their roots as well as by seeds aud the same is true of one species of Cnicus, arvensis, the Canada thistle, and these plants are difficult to exterminate, but if kept cut down below the surface they at length die and this is probably the easiest and cheapest way to get rid of them. The others, if kept from forming seed will, in two or three years, give up the contest and, while care will be necessary to prevent them from returning, they will give little trouble. Mere cutting will not suffice however for most of those in our list will, when cut close to the ground, immediately send out shoots and flower, and perfect seed before the close of the season, it maturing much more rapidly on these shoots than on the undisturbed plant. flora %a INTRODUCTION. Iva Salle County is situated in the northwestern quarter of the State of Illinois, between the parallels of lattitude of 40 deg1., 54 min. and 41 deg1., 48 min. N. and the meridians of 88 deg1. 35 min., 89 deg1. 10 min. W. .of Greenwich, the latitude of the northern part of the State of California, the parallel of 41 deg1. crossing- that state north of Reading1; Tuscarosa, Nevada; Og-den and Huntsville, Utah; Cheyenne and Laramie City, Wyoming1; Sidney, Central City and Omaha, Nebraska; Council Bluffs, Indianola and Os- kaloosa, Iowa; Kewanee, Morris and Kankakee, Illinois; North Judson, Warsaw and Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Defiance, Fostoria, Norwalk, Akron, Young's- town, Ohio; Wilkesbarre and Williamsport, Pennsyl- vania; the north part of New Jersey; Peekskill, New York, and New Haven, Connecticut; Braga, Portugal; Zamora and Barcelona, Spain; Porto Vecchio, Corsica; Viletri and Campobosso, Italy; Durazzo, Monastir, Seria and Sinope, Turkey; Nukha, S. E. of Tfliis, Russia; Tashkent. Russia; Chengfte, China, and the extreme north part of the island of Hondo, Japan, and 2 BOTANY OF L,A SAL,LE COUNTY. the meridian of Ottawa is nearly that of Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Paris, Tennessee; and the mouth of the Mis- sissippi river, and wholly west of South America, while to the north it runs very near Oshkosh, Wiscon- sin, and Houghton, Michigan. It thus lies in latitude in that belt of lands which in Europe and Asia is occupied by nations which seem to have passed their meridian, and have passed into the lengthening shadows of life's ebb and evening-. Not a first-class power of the Old World lies in this region, and it is somewhat curious that the most progressive of them all, Japan, is the farthest east. The County is rectangular in form, with a smaller rectangle attached near the southwest corner. It is six townships long- by five wide, or roug-hly approxi- mates a length of thirty-six miles from north to south, and a breadth of about thirty miles from east to west. The small rectangle is about twelve miles from north to south, making the extreme length of the County forty-eight miles, and the breadth six miles, the rect- angle containing two full townships. The area of the County would thus be that of thirty-two townships, or 1,152 square miles, but several of the townships contain less than thirty-six square miles, and the total area is about 1,132 square miles, or less by about eight per cent, than Rhode Island, more than half the area of Delaware, and less than one-fourth that of Connecticut. Surface. The surface is a high, rolling prairie, with narrow tracts of timber bordering the streams, having an elevation of m«»re than 800 feet obove the ocean near the northwest corner, of 484 feet in the Illinois valley at Ottawa, and of 752 feet at Ransom. In the southeast corner, (see table of elevations) it is cut into four sections by the deep, narrow valleys of BOTANY OF I, A SALLE COUNTY. 3 the Illinois, Fox and Big1 Vermillion rivers. These sections are of very unequal size, that east of the Fox and north of the Illinois being1 the smallest, while the northwest and southeast sections are much larger than the southwestern one. These sections differ in some points, depending- upon the geological structure of the country. We will therefore take a brief survey of the g-eology of the county. Geology. Beginning* at the north line of the state we find thick beds of a grayish yellow, rather soft limestone (the same as quarried at Joliet), called the Niag-ara limestone because it is of the same ag-e (it contains the same fossils) as that forming- the upper part of the precipice over which the Niag-ara river flows at the Falls. It appears at Osweg-o, Kendall County, on the Fox River Valley Division of the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Railway. It dips, sinks, toward the south and near the north line of I/a Salle County the carboniferous beds, often called coal meas- ures appear as a thin bed, thickening- as we g-o south. A little north of Ottawa coal is found, and this forma- tion is not more than twenty feet thick. Going- south it still thickens and, at Streator, is 210 feet thick, while at La 'Salle it is much thicker. Coal is seldom found more than a mile and a half north of the north bluff of the Illinois valley, but except the floor of the valley from Ottawa west, it covers all the County to the south. Over much of this area, much more than half, but one bed of coal exists, but about Streator two workable beds are found and at L/a Salle three. The coal beds are desig-nated by numbers from the lowest upward, the lowest, and consequently the old- est, being numbered I. This does not occur in the County. Numbers II, III, IV, V, VI. VII, VIII, 4 BOTANY OF L,A SAL,LE COUNTY. IX and X, or representatives of them, are found within our territory, and II, VII and VIII are mined; III is a double bed, twenty inches of coal, each bed ten inches thick; IV is a bed of poor coal; VII, the great Streator bed; VIII is found in Deer Park township and at L/a Salle, aud IX and X are shales; X a very thin poor cool found about Iva SaHe; V is a black slate. Coals III and IV about one-third the way from Stteator to lya Salle change to black slates, and are found . every where in the banks of streams, and in borings. They are remarkable for their regu- lar thickness and for splitting int6 large thin sheets. Bed VI is represented by shales more or less bitumi- nous. The coal measures are made up of beds of fire clays, shales or clay slates; of various colors, sand- stones, generally soft, often highly charged with bisulphide of iron (pyrite, fool's gold, sulphur, &c.) which, decomposing in the presence of moisture and air, causes the rock to crumble and renders it useless for any purpose. This is not always the case how- ever, there being some of these sandstones which withstand the atmospheric agencies and are not splii up1 ^ frost, The coal measures also contain in the west part of our 'field, thick beds of magnesian' limestone as well as Some thin ones of argillaceous and some of highly arenacous limestones, but they are of limited extent and local importance as surface rocks. '.yl Resting? on the coal, measures we find what seems at fist sight a, confused mass of clays, sands and g-ravels and of .almost eyery possible combination of them with here and there considerable masses of rock^ and these such as are not found here in beds, and they are always more or less rounded, sometimes very smooth.' The gravel is very largely limestone and as most pieces BOTANY OF L,A SALLE COUNTY. 5 furnish a fossil or two, there is no difficulty in tracing* it to its source. It is unquestionably Niagara lime- stone which has been broken up, the fragments some- what rounded and smoothed and moved from some other locality to the places where we now find it, for when we bore a deep well in this region we find no traces of the Niagara limestone, but we do find strata that belong below it — far below it. Hence we are led to the conclusion that the Niagara never existed here. But where did the hard, dark or light rocks, for they are of many colors ,come from? The nearest point at which we find any trace of them is about seventy-five miles north of the south line of Wisconsin and for the original home of others we must go to the south shore of Lake Superior. But if they came from these distant places how did they get here? We know of but two methods. They might be rolled onward by waters or borne from their native beds by ice in the form of glaciers, and that the gravels were transposed by water and the blocks by ice we think substantially established. If we suppose the country about Hud- son's Bay to be covered by ice several hundred feet thich and remember that ice is as amenable to pressure as wet clay, we can readily understand that the weight of the superincumbent matter would tend to force the ice, as it were, to flow out around the bottom and that the greater the depth over the buried region the greater the force causing the outflow and the far- ther it would extend and this force might be so great as to cause the ice to reach out in long streams as gla- ciers and even sufficient to force it up and over consid- able hills. It would of course flow through valleys and low lands until these were all filled up. When one of these streams encountered a ridg-e it would pile up against it, slowly climb it and as it went down the 6 BOTANY OF L,A SAL,LE COUNTY. farther side wolud tear off blocks of rock which would be either rolled or pushed before it, frozen into it and borne along- with it. Thus it would grind and plane down the face of the reg-ion over which it moved, tearing- out great blocks of rock from their beds, crushing- and breaking- these into smaller masses and grinding- the smaller frag-ments into powder. Besides its grinding- action on the rocks over which it traveled would form a great quantity of very fine material such as would g-o to make clay. Now this is just what has happened and we conclude that there must have been a time when a larg-e tract of country to the north of Michig-an and Wisconsin was covered by an immense deposit of ice, We will now consider the strata beolow the coal measures. We should have below the coal measures some beds called the Sub Carboniferous, but they do not exist; then the Devonian and we find nothing- of it; below it the Silurian upper and lower, but we find no upper Silurian— the -Niag-ara belong-s to that— and we have but little of the lower Silurian. We find in a few places a gray, or yellowish gray, hard, half crys- talline limestone which the fossils prove to be the Trenton limestone, a member of the lower Silurian group. It occurrs on Covel Creek, a half a mile from its mouth. About a mile and a half west of the court house, Ottawa, near the east line of La Salle township on the C. R. I. & P. R. R., near the villag-e of Troy Grove, along- the Big- Vermillion river from Lowell to Deer Park Canyon at intervals and in a few pls.ces on the Fox river. Below it lies a soft, friable, g-enerally lig-ht colored, often white, sandstone known as the St. Peter's Sandstone, which is g-enerally rap- idly wasted awray by the weather. It is larg-ely com- posed of pure silica, This is the upper member of the BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. 7 upper Cambrian. This rock forms the bluffs of the Fox river and those of the Illinois from a mile west of Ottawa to Utica Below the St. Peters Sandstone we find five or six feet of a very porous, yellowish, arenaceous limestone and below a series of bedded, blue, hard, argilla- ceous limestones, the representatives of the calciferous sand rock of New York. It occurs in the river bottom at Utica and in the north bluff west of Utica for about two miles. It is the well known cement rock from which hydraulic cement a water lime is made. It will be seen from a reference to the tabular view on the next pa^e that the geologic series of the state is marked by the absence of many members and that of La Salle County is still more brief than that of the state. But the reader who would know more on this subject we must refer to the article "Geology" in Part II of this work where these questions are con- sidered. Prom the variety of rocks of such widely different ages, it is at once apparent that we must have a great variety of soils, clay, sand, with or without lime and magnesia, and these materials mixed in every possible proportion, with iron, sulphur, gypsum, for this is found all through the coal measures, with or without water and here and there considerable quantities of peat thrown in and some salt and we have the ingredi- ents of an almost endless variety of soil sand accommo- dations for plants of very diverse characters and re- quirements. Nor is this all. The low-lying sheltered nooks of the great valleys are never visited by the ex- treme cold of the high and more exposed prairies and offer a safe retreat for the more delicate of nature's beutiful children. 8 BOTANY OF I a a a S . c8 co o 3 O — ^ ft,., 03 « o 10 BOTANY OF IvA SAL,L,E COUNTY. The St. Peter's Sandstone is -a soft friable rock, some areas composed of almost pure quartz, in other places containing1 considerable extraneous matter. Its weathering1, and it gives way to the action of air and water very rapidly, gives rise to beds of white, almost pure sand. The Trenton limestone is less obdurate than the calciferous and has contributed considerable calcareous matters to the soils where it is exposed, The coal measures are made up of limestones, shales, clays and sandstones, the latter often carrying- much pyrite-bisulphide of iron. The same is true of some of the clays also and some of them contain a considerable quantity of gypsum crystals—the Selenite of the min- eralogist. These carboniferous clays form a most in- tractible soil and require years of exposure to prepare them for sustaining1 vegetation of any kind. We may thus expect to find a great variety of soils in the county for the debris of each of the formations mentioned above is mixed in an infinite variety of pro- portions with each of the others as well as with the waste of the drift clays, loams and sands, and these occur in situations where they are saturated with water the year round, where only moderately moisten- ed and where they retain but Jittle water. Besides all this mixture and the consequent variety of soils there are some limited deposits of peat, adding1 another and a very diverse element to the already extensive list. Climate. The climate is a decidedly continental one, that is it is noted for its rapid and extensive changes. The thermometer in summer often rises above 90 deg1. and sometimes to 100 deg1. or more and in winter often sinks to 25 or 30 deg1. and even lower. BOTANY OF LA SAL,IvE COUNTY. 11 The writer has seen a change of from 20 deg. to -5 deg. in two and a half hours and from 22 to -15 deg. in six and a half hours and from half past two p. m. to 7 a. m. the change was from 22 deg. to -22 deg. a range of 44 deg. in sixteen and a half hours. The changes from cold to warm are almost as rapid and range over 25 deg. or more from 6 a. m. to 3 p. m. The result is a summer with many excessively hot, sultry days, the heat being greater than at New Orleans at the same time and much more oppressive, for there, there is generally a fresh, breeze blowing and the nights are cool and one can sleep very comfortably, while in L/a Salle County there is often little or no wind and the nights are as close and stifling as the days, and a win- ter with many days as cold as at Minneapolis. The valleys of the Illinois, Pox and Big Vermillion being from 150 to 240 feet below the level of the prairie are warmer and in sheltered nooks, one there often finds plants, especially, Sambucus pubescens, putting forth buds two or three weeks earlier than they do on the adjacent highland and blooming much earlier, and hence some plants are confined to these places, which seem especially calculated for their ac- commodation. It should be noticed, however, that the lower parts of the prairies are always the first to show the effects of frost, the highest points being generally the last to become brown and sere from its assaults. We have seen the cotton plant, Gossypium herbaceum, in Farm Ridge township long after the cornfields were brown and ice as thick as window glass had formed more than once on the pools of the lower country, lying on either side of the ridge. It is also to be observed that fruit trees on the ridge and near the bluffs bear more regnlarly than those on the lower lands. The valleys 12 BOTANY OF L,A SAL,LE COUNTY. often escape frosts which devastate the prairies from being- sheltered by excessive fogs, which in the autumn are very frequent and not altogether unknown in the spring. The winds of summer are largely from the south- west or some point near it, with some from the south- east and an occasional breeze from the northwest and northeast. The southwest winds are often dry and warm and very unpleasant, but during the winter they are our most chilly winds, at least for the first day or half day of their continuance. Northeast winds are very common in April and May and are generally damp and chilly. Northwest winds are common but not pervailing winds through the winter and while cold are often as dry and take up moisture with as much avidity as the southwester of summer. We have then a very changeable climate with ex- tremes of heat and cold and during most of the year rapid evaporation, the dry atmosphere sucking up moisture with great rapidity, drying up the ground and checking the growth of vegetation and sometimes rendering abortive all the farmers' eiforts to secure a crop. Such a climate seems to require some more reg- ular supply of water than our rains furnish and we believe irrigation would be found profitable and once introduced would come rapidly into favor. We have made no comparison of the mean annual temperature of Ottawa and other places because such a comparison' is to the last degree misleading and de- lusive, Let one reflect for a moment on what mean annual temperature means. Suppose we have two places of which the mean annual temperature is 50 deg. What does this tell us about their climate? Nothing whatever! These figures would seem to indicate that they had the same or similar climates. But if we take BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 13 the mean of the six warmer months and that of the six colder months to obtain our mean, we may have for the first 80 deg. and for the latter 20 deg-., for 80 plus 20 divided by 2 equals 50; or we may have 70 plus 30 divided by 2 equals 50; or 60 plus 40 divided by 2 equals 50; or 50 plus 50 divided bv 2 equals 50. Of these the first would indicate a warm summer and a cold winter, the last a very equable climate, or very little if any difference between summer and winter. Such comparisons are therefore the sheerest humbug-, making- things appear alike which have no possible re- semblance and conveying- totally false ideas. Besides they neglect other very important elements of climate —moisture and its distribution through the year. If we take the monthly . means of temperature for the year we g-et a better idea of the climate of a region, but these will be to no little extent modified by local causes and must be reg-arded as only approximately correct for places even a short distance from the place of observation. Especially is this true of the table of temperature given below, for Ottawa is but 484 feet above the Gulf of Mexico, while some points in the northwest corner of the county reach an altitude of over 800 feet, and many points are 700 to 750 feet above sea-level, We are able to check the Ottawa observations, made for the United States Weather Bureau, by a series kept at Farm Ridg-e, ten miles southwest of Ottawa on a hig-h ridg-e, not less than 700 ft. above sea-level, but with a less accurate thermometer and with lesc* attention to the time of observation, as they were made with no intention of publishing- them. In the following table we g-ive the hig-hest and low- est temperature for e°ch month, instead of the mean temperature. 14 BOTANY OF LA SAL,LE COUNTY. Monthly temperature for the years as given from the observations made by Dr. J. O. Harris, for U. S. Weather Bureau, at Ottawa: MONTH. 1870 1872 1887 1888 1890 | 1891 January 54 0 57 -3 62 2 87 33 93 96 105 55 104 60 99 55 90 49 74 34 88 26 58 -9 40 -13 44 -13 64 14 74 32 88 42 86 53 98 58 89 58 93 47 55 25 60 19 58 8 52 -26 54 6 46 -21 46 -20 60 0 83 20 84 36 93 50 93 56 95 50 80 34 76 32 76 16 55 12 61 0 67 -11 64 -1 82 17 90 32 98 44 102 48 101 44 90 34 80 28 70 23 56 10 56 15 54 3 63 6 82 23 80 31 95 54 98 49 96 46 91 41 85 21 63 8 50 12 February . ... March 61 12 82 22 89 51 93 54 99 60 94 50 89 34 80 18 67 -4 52 -14 April May June July August ... < . . September October November : . . . December Mean 51 62 25.41 47.73 '39.42 48.44 28.76 48.44 30.81 51.96 32.16 49 00 46.12 Rainfall in inches A careful examination of the above table will give one a better idea of temperature prevailing- at Otta- wa than would many pag-es of description. It will be seen that the mean annual temperature does not vary much, but that the components from which it is derived differ considerably from year to year. Warmest and coldest day of several years, and date of first and last frost: 1882: Coldest day, Dec. 7, -13; warmest, June 30, 76 deg-. at sunrise. Last frost, May 2, 30 deg-. 1883: Coldest, Jan, 23, -22; warmest, Aug-. 19, 70 degf. at sunrise, 88 deg-. at 2: P. M., 99 deg-. at 3:40 p. M. Last frost, April 29, 30 deg-.; first frost, Sept. 9, 35 de-The first column for each month gives the temper- ature at Farm Ridg-e at, or near, sunrise; the second, that at Ottawa, at 7:00 A. M. The difference in ele- vation of the two stations is not less -than 200 feet. The distance in an air line is about nine and one-half miles S. S. W. from Ottawa. • Rain Fall. The total rainfall for the year 1894 was 27.70 inches, for 1893 it was 31.04, while during- 1887 it was 29.7, for 1878 it was 18.73 only, As a rule the latter part of winter and the spring- are wet, the summer and fall dry. There is usually an abun- dance of rain until the last of May of middle or June, 16 BOTANY OF L,A SAL,LE COUNTY. then very little until October or November. Besides the rains— thunder showers—of the spring- and summer are generally local, being1 often confined to narrow strips of country, so that the moisture is very unevenly distributed. We have records of rainfall for Ottawa only. Rainfall for each month of the year given from ob- servations of Dr. J. O. Harris, Ottawa, 111: MONTH. 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 January 1.80 1.91 1.94 2.36 1.45 2.20 2.38 February 1.88 1.16 1.40 2.28 1.52 3.03 1.58 March 3.70 1.77 3.33 2.56 2.70 3.30 2.57 April .39 1.23 244 1.87 3.96 3.56 5.23 1.51 May 1.08 5.30 4.36 3.99 1.84 13.09 1.35 4.01 June 1.96 2.01 4.61 6.87 3.99 10.56 2.49 3.03 July 1.17 3.58 5.67 .34 4.45 4.92 1.02 0.80 August 3.06 1,77 2.00 2.72 5.11 .81 .77 1 75 September October 2.77 2.86 .60 2.71 3.92 1.51 2.48 3.89 127 .56 2.56 .63 2.29 1.10 7.18 1.63 November. ... December Total. 2.17 3.33 18.73 3.58 222 30.47 312 180 3427 2.06 .27 31.16 4.75 1.74 35,07 2.48 1.84 45.08 5.50 2.16 31,04 2.07 1.19 27.70 The country six to eight miles north of Ottawa fre- quently has heavy showers in the summer when no rain falls at Ottawa. At times showers seem to follow the Illinois valley, and often one seems to divide west of the Big Vermilion and one part of it to go along the Illinois, the other to keep south of the ridge east of the Big Vermillion. The country south of the Illinois river and for 3 or 4 miles north of it seems to receive less rain and to suffer more from drought than that farther north and cyclones have visited no parts of the county except the extreme northern in Meriden and ICarl townships. Hailstorms are not common. On one occasion much harm was done vegetation to the west of the Big Ver- million and twice we have seen the tracks of destruc- tive hail storms in Northville township. The rainfall during thunder storms is sometimes ex- cessive and causes tremendous floods in the small streams, which are sometimes swollen to 10,000 times BOTANY OF LA SAI^E COUNTY. 17 their ordinary dimension. In June, 1897, we saw where a stream ordinarily a foot wide and three inches deep had been 20 rods wide and on an average 3^ feet deep, with a current of not less than six miles per hour. Such storms do great damage by furrow- ing the ploughed fields and carrying- away most of the loose earth, in some places washing- out plants, in others hopelessly burying- them. Besides bridg-es are swept away, fences destroyed and fields covered with masses of floodwood. Such storms do not occur every year, but seem to become more frequent and de- structive. This probably arises from the cutting1 off of timber, the drainag-e of ponds and sloug-hs, and of all low, wet tracts of land by which means the water, instead of collecting- in the low places as it once did and soaking- into the ground, now rushes into the near- est stream to swell its volume and increase its destruc- tive power. While draining- may be a blessing-, it may be a curse and productive of more damag-e than g-ood. Such work must be intelligently executed to be productive of g-ood and the intelligence has not always been mani- fest in the execution. We cannot in this connection tod strong-ly call at- tention to the evil effects of cutting- off the forest from the lands along- our streams. And here it will be best to state a few g-eneral principles. I. Reg-ions covered with forest receive no more rain than districts destitute of trees. Other conditions: distance from the sea, elevation and direction of pre- vailing- winds being- the same. II. Destruction of forest does not diminish rainfall. III. Destruction of forest does facilitate the escape of water, tends to produce floods and to destroy spring's. 18 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. /• IV. Clothing- a region with forest tends to diminish floods, to create ponds and swamps to prevent exten- sive washing- of slopes and to diminish landslides. For those who think, the above proposil ions require no argument, (but all men do not think,) we will therefore say, the land of a forest is covered each autumn with a layer of leaves and rubbi«h forming- a cloak as it were that absorbs and holds much water, retards its flow over the surface and checks and regu- lates evaporation; hence streams do not rise so fast in a wooded region as in a naked one. The roots of the trees bind the soil together, resist washing, and tend to prevent furrowing. Already the effects of the removal of the forest may be seen in the excessive washing of the denuded bluffs, extensive landslides, the sudden rise of streams during heavy falls of rain. In the meantime these lands pro- duce little pasture and are of little value for agricul- ture, as they are usually parched by droug-ht for two or three months of the year and the surface is then dust, the vegetation brown and dry. , With proper care these timbered tracts might be made a source of regular income from their yield of timber, a purpose for which they are well fitted while as pasture or farming land they have little value, not that grain and g-rass will not grow on them but that they cannot be depended upon to produce crops unless a supply of water can be made sure and this involves irrigation and considerable expense at the outset, besides protection from washing during heavy rains and landslides during wet seasons and in spring. Tables of elevation of principal points in La Salle County, most of these \Vere obtained directly from the Chief Engineer of the railway on whose line the place is located. BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. 19 C.B. &Q. R. R C. R. 1. &P, K. R. A., T. & S. Fe R. R. Sheridan .... 591 ft. 644.4 635.4 525.5 542.9 484.4 602.4 652.8 644.3 621.9 639.6 650.6 467.4 702.2 702.2 TRAL. 860ft. 758 725 675 52? 562 671 714 711 722 777 Sene.:a .. 520 ft. 494 488 482 465 469 471' L,TON. 631 ft 631 744 686 650 669,7 635 Kinsman 654,88 ft. 705 16 Sheridan June. Serena Marseilles Ottawa Streator 624.57 . 624.83 62996 VVedron. Utica Daytoa Ottawa La Salle Peru Eureka ... ... Long Point ... 939.01 . 640.65 671.67 Hitt Spring Valley.. De Pue Grand Ridge .. Richards CHICAGO & A Streator Minonk 751.06 Streator C. & N. W DeKalb . R. R. 896 ft 816 696 Kangley Tioona La Salle Peru Earlville ILLINOIS CEJS Bureau Siding. M endota Smithsdale Ulackstone Nevada Shabbona — Earlville Homer G'irfield 689 Dinimick Muuster Spring Valley 685 Oglesty The highest north part of feet above the .point in the county Meriden township, Gulf of Mecxico. is in the over 860 Tonica .' . Lostant Woncna Rutland Minonk Distribution of Plants. From what has been said of the diversity of soils and the physical charac- teristics of La Salle County, the reader will not be surprised when we claim for it a very extensive flora, nor wonder that some plants are confined to a very limited area, for plants have as distinct likes and dis- likes as have human beings, or it may be nearer the truth to say, that some require one element for their support, others another. Some flourish best in a soil rich in lime, others prefer sand, and still others a mix- ture of the two. Some flourish only in wet lands, others in wet regions. Yet making- due allow- ance for all these differences some are not found where we should confidently look for them; while some occur and appear to be vigorous and healthy where one would not expect to meet with them. Many are found but sparingly and several are restricted to very narrow bounds For instance, we have found Orchis Spectablis at only one place and heard of its being- found in another; of Osmunda regalis we have seen 20 BOTANY OF IvA SALLE COUNTY. ' three plants and these are all within an 80 acre lot; Habernaria— Plantanthera of Wood—Psycodes two or three times and in widely separated localities. Good- yera pubescens in two widely separated localities; Antigrainma rhizophylla — walking- fern --at three places; Poterium canadiense--Sanguisorba Wood— at one place; Cypripedium we have found south of the Illinois river only; Gentiana crinita in but four places; Nymphia odorata three localities. This list might be greatly extended, but the above will suffice to show how strangely plants are distributed. About two miles west of the court house at Ottawa is a tract of land presenting- a great variety of soil rang-ing- from naked sandstone through loose sand to a peat bog- and having- extending across it a bed of lime- stone. Parts of it are very wet, others are dry, and here we find a flora altogether different from that of any other tract known to us. Again, several plants flourish south of the Illinois river, which either are not found at all or very sparingly, north of the river as Quercup imbricaria, Gillenia stipulacea, &c. Many plants once common are becoming scarce. Among these may be mentioned Spiranthes cernua, and S. gracilis, Cypripedium pubescens, C. spectabile, Jeffersonia diphylla, the L/iatri, once very common, Orchis spectabile aud the Gentians. In some sections of the country, especially where hogs have run at large and where sheep have been pastured for some years nearly all the flowering plants have vanished and the woods have for the botanist a lonely and deserted aspect. To many plants— the L/iatri— cultivation means death, while the more hardy Silphii, if not benefited, are at least not exterminated by the cultivator's efforts. Oxalis violacea holds its own however much the soil BOTANY OF LA SALrL,E COUNTY. 21 is stirred, but the Orchids soon disappear when dis- turbed. It is probable that a few years will suffice to destroy some of our most beautiful flowering- plants — the Liatri, Castilleia, Gentian. It is much to be re- 'gretted that a small tract of land in its natural state could not have been reserved as a park and the native plants g-iven a home secure from the snout of the hog-, the teeth of the sheep, and from fire and the ploug-h. To coming- g-enerations many of them will be thing's of which they have no idea except as it is g-athered from books and poor pictures. If we compare our flora with that of a part of north- ern Ohio, lying- near Cleveland, we shall find much that is similar as the following- list will show. The dash indicates that the plant is wanting-. Illinois. Ohio. Climatis Virgin! ana Vioraa Auirnone Oaroliniana Virginiana Oylindraca Pensylvaniea Nemorosa. rare Thalictroiiles Hopatica vEntitoba Acutiloba Thai ctrum Dioeum Cormuti Ranunculus Muttifldus Cymbadaria A'bortivus Far.icularis Repens Recur vatus Myosurus Minimus Caltna Pa.ustris Aquilegia Ganadensis Delphinum Tricorne. rare Actea Soicata Var Alba . Liriodedron Tulipifera. not native and rare Asimina Triloba Menispermum Canadense Berberis Vulgaris Jeffenonla Diphylla Podophyllum Peltatum Triloba Rare Native, common, It will thus be seen that most of our ranunculaceae are found there, but that several plants conspicuous here are wanting- in. that reg-ion. Among- the Violacea 22 BOTANY OF LA SAL,IvE COUNTY. lauceolata, pedata and hastata are wanting1, while blanda, rostrata and cucullata are abundant. Among- Compositae the Iviatrii and Kuhnia are wanting- as also Rudibeckia, except hirta and that has been intro- duced from the west and several species of Solidago, Helianthus, and several other genera are wanting- or represented by one or two species only. Fifty miles west of Cleveland the Flora underg-oes a great chang-e. The Liatrii appear, Ipomea panduratus flourishes and many otrer plants common to the prairies are found. The northwest corner of Indiana presents a flora very different from either ours or that of north- ern Ohio. As compared with either it is rich in Ericaceae and is more like that of Marquette, Michi- g-an, than either of those mentioned. The difference extends to forest trees and also to Cryptogams. In the Michigan and Indiana districts ferns are few and mosses are scarce. Our district has more ferns than northern Ohio, but here Osmunda reg-alis is but seldom seen, there it is found in every swampy tract, while Asplenium, Adiantum, Onoclea, Pteris are as common as they are here, but Antigramma and Pellea are not seen and WoodwTardia not found here, flourishes in peat bogs there. Among- forest trees northern Ohio has all which are to be found here and in addition to those, the beech, fagus ferruginea, liriodendron, tulipifera, castanea vesca, nyssa multiflora, magnolia, acumminata, but some species of the oak, e. g. quercus imbricaria are unknown to its flora, while alba and macrocarpa are common to both regions. The above are but a few examples of the differences to be observed between the flora of reg-ions lying- in almost the same lattitude and not far distant one from the other, or lying- in nearly the same long-itude as does BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 23 the Marquette region of Michigan and Northern Indi- ana, yet one 3 deg. farther north than the other. A Few Words of Explanation. A plant is made up of root, stem, leaves, flowers and fruit. The root is that part by which it holds itself in the ground or is attached to other plants, for some plants live on others and do not send roots into the ground. Roots are the thread like fibres which penetrate the ground. They extend themselves by pushing out from the end. A potato, a carrot, a beet, a turnip, an onion are not roots, but forms of stems. The roots in each case are the little threads which extend from the potato, carrot, onion, &c, into the ground. The more extensive are the roots of a plant the greater the area of soil from which it draws its food supply. If the plant is a perennial the roots become hard and woody near the stem and keep pushing out farther and farther year by year. These hard, woody roots are always soft and spongy at the end and this is the part that advances and it is these tender ends that are, as it were, the mouths of the plant. When they are broken off the roots which remain cannot gather food until these broken ends are repaired by new ones being formed and for this reason, when we remove a plant its growth is generally checked for a time, be- cause it cannot collect food, unless we have taken great care to save the roots from damage and put them back into a good position in the ground and to press the earth firmly and closely about them. The stem is that part of the plant that appears above ground in most cases, but not always. For the potato is an underground stem, the top is but the branches of the stem. So with many other plants stems generally branch or divide and bear leaves, flowers and fruit. 24 BOTANY OF L,A SALLE COUNTY. Leaves are flat, thin, g-enerally green bodies attached to the stem or branches of the plant. They vary won- derfully in shape, size»and color. We will consider a few of the many forms of leaf. If it is made up of one piece or part, like that of the apple, plum, sunflower, beet, dandelion; &c, it is a sim- ple leaf. If made up of two or more pieces or parts like the leaf of the rose, pea, clover, potato, tomato, bean, locust, hickory and many others, it is called a com- pound leaf . If of three pieces like the clover, bean, &c, it is trifoliate. If of five or six pieces and shaped like the hand it is palmately foliate. If of several leaves arranged on both sides a stem as in the rose, pea, locust, it is pinnate. Pinnate leaves may be made up of an odd or an even number of leaflets; if of an odd number there is a leaf at the end of the stem, as in the walnut, hickory, tomato; if of an even number the stem ends abruptly or is continued, as in the pea, in a tendril, by which the plant sustains itself. A leaf that is widest at the apex or outer end and tapers gradually to the base so as to be wedg-e-shape, is called cuneate. Leaves which are wider than long, and shaped like a kidney, are called reniform. A leaf that is diamond shaped is called rhomboid. A leaf having- more than three sides is polygonal. If shaped like a violin or fiddle, it is panduriform. If cut and toothed, seppinnatifid leaf has a larg-e lobe at the apex, it is lyrate. If the margin of a leaf is made up of small curves, it is sinuate; if of short, regular curves, forming' low, BOTANY OF I, A SALLE COUNTY. 25 rounded teeth, it is crenate; if the curves are long- and g-entle, it is wavy. If the teeth point backward, they are repand; if not near tog-ether, but with space between them, they are distant. Leaves which are deeply cut or notched, as the oak, are called lobed. If the edg-e of a leaf is straig-ht without notches or curves it is called entire, as the bean, pea. If toothed like a saw it is serrate, as the rose. If the notches are larg-e it is toothed, as the elm. If there are two sets of notches one finer than the other it is doubly serrate. If shaped like an eg-g-, the stem at the larg-e end, ovate. If shaped like an eg-g-, the stem at the small end obovate. If widest at the outer end spatulate If rounded at the ends and long-er than wide, oval or oblong-. If very narrow in proportion to width, linear as most grasses. If long-, narrow, stiff and sharp pointed, ensiform, as the blue flag-. If the stem is near the middle of an entire leaf it is said to be peltiate as the nasturtium, Leaves may be smooth having- no hair or down on their surface. Hairy, clothed with hairs, more or less numerous. Wooly " soft, sharp, white hairs. Downy " very soft, short, matted hairs. Roug-h, having- a rough feel to the hand like the elm. Prickly, clothed with stiff, sharp, sting-ing- hairs or prickles. Leaves may be thin like those of the locust and bass wood. 26 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. Thick, like the plantain, beet. Fleshy, like the purslane and live forever. Stiff, like those of the beech, ironwood, and elm. The leaf is made up of two parts the stem and blade. The blade is the broad, green part. The edge of the leaf is the margin, the outer end the apex, the part next the stem the base; the upper side, the upper surface the lower side, the lower surface. The two surfaces are frequently very unlike. They may be of very different colors, one may be smooth, the other rough, &c; both sides of the leaf should be looked at. The flower is made up of four pa,rts, the calyx, corolla, stamens and pistils. The calyx is the outer, generally green envelope in which the flower is at first wrapped up. The corolla is the colored leaves generally called the flower. The stamens are small, thread like columns at top of each of which is a little box-like body, which opens and discharges a generally colored powder and then withers away. The pistil is a larger column, or there may be sev- eral of them, the base of which enlarges and forms the fruit. This part is called the ovary. But the flowers of many plants have no corolla and some plants have neither calyx nor corolla. Some- times the stamens and pistils are separate but on the same plant, as in corn, where the tassel is the stamens, the silk the pistils and there is one for each kernel. Sometimes there is a little silk among the tassels and then we have some corn there. In some cases, as in some willows, the stamens are on one plant and the pistils are on another. This is the case \vith some plants, but not many. BOTANY OF LA SALL,E COUNTY. 27 The fruit or seed, for correctly speaking1, a peapod, a peach, an apple, a pumpkin, a tomato, a hickory nut, an acorn, and a kernel of corn are all fruits, that is, they are each of them the product of one flower, is usually perfected in one season, but in some cases not until the second year. Fruits differ much from each other and should be carefully examined. The stem bearing- a leaf is called a petiole. I/eaves having1 a stem, as those of the apple, are said to be peteolate; if they have no stem, as in the thistle, they are said to be sessile. The stem bearing- a flower is called a peduncle; flowers having- no stem are called sessile. A stem having- no reg-ular leaf, but one or more flowers is called a seape, as the flower bearing- stem of the bloodroot, hepatica, oxalis. Sometimes there is a small leaf or a pair of them at the base of the leaf stem; these are called stipules. They may be very small, no more than bristles, and sometimes fall off soon after the leaf expands. Sometimes there are small leaves below the flower; these are called bracts. If we plant a bean or squash seed, in time, two thick leaves appear above ground and from between these other leaves will spring-, different in form and larg-er. These first leaves are called cotyledons and most of the seeds we plant send up two of them and are called dicotyledons or two cotyledons, di meaning- two. But if we plant corn, wheat, oats, only one cotyledon ap- pears and all plants—the grass and sedg-e families, as also the lilies and many others having- but one seed leaf are called monocotyledons (mono meaning one). The pines and their allies have more than two cotyle- dons and may be called polycotyledons. 28 BOTANY OF LA SALL,E COUNTY. If now we examine some plants; part dicot}rledons. part monocatyledons, we shall find many differences between them; of these the chief may be summed up as follows: Dicotyledons. Monocatyledons. Two seed leaves Stem branches Leaves various shaped often lobed — Leaves net veined that is the Veins run in various directions and run in to each other forming a net work Flowers have their parts in Is. 2s or 5s Calyx and Calyx and Corolla generally different one from the other Stamens 2 to 100 or more Pistils 1 to many Fruit 1 to many, celled Stem composed of bs.rk. wood pith One seed leaf. Seldom branches, Leaves long, narrow, parallel veined. Leaves parallel veined, that is, they are nearly parallel to the third rib and do not join a net work. Flower has its parts in 3s. corolla alike. Stamens 3, 6. Pistils 1. 3, 6. Fruit 1. 3. 6 celled. No distinction of bark wood and pith. Flowers may be alone or solitary one on a peduncle, or in clusters variously arranged. If placed one above the other on a long stem it is called a spike, if on one side of the stem forming a one sided spike it is called a raceme; if they form a flat topped cluster as in elder, yarrow, apple, it is called a cyme; if the branches bearing- the flowers are all the same length, as in car- away, parsnip, fennel, it is an umbel; if the flowers have no peduncles but are gathered into a close head it is a head or capitate cluster; if like red top grass, oats, spirea, it is a panicle; if on a thick, fleshy column like Jack in the Pulpit, or the wild turnip it is a spadix. A perfect flower is one having both stamens and pistils, and stamens and pistils alone constitute a perfect flower, although both calyx and corolla may be wanting. If a flower has no stamens or no pistils it is imperfect ; if the stamens are present it is a staminate flower, if the pistils are present we call it pistillate. A flower is symmetrical when there is the same number of each set of organs and they are similarly BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 29 placed; otherwise it is unsymmetrical or asymetrical. The rose poppy and apple are symmetrical. Flowers are regular when all of the same parts are of the same form and size, if not they are irregular as the bean, pea, balsam, &c. Flowers are also said to be fertile or barren. A fertile flower is one that produces fruit; as only flowers having pistils can produce fruit fertile flowers are also pistilate flowers and the barren flowers are those hav- ing stamens only. Flowers may last but a part of a day, a day or sev- eral days. Those lasting but a short time are said to be evanescent or ephemeral. The calyx and corolla sometimes fall away, some- times remain, the corolla withering up, but the calyx remaining green and vigorous. Where it falls off early it is said to be caducous. Trees, the leaves of which fall every autumn are said to be deciduous, those retaining their leaves, ever- green. Most of the evergreens of cold and temperate climates are conebearing or coniferous trees, but in warm regions most of the plants are evergreen. Classification of Plants. While this book is not intended to take the place of treatise on Botany, it seems proper that we should say a few words on the classification of plants. If you study the subject you will find that there is not that perfect agreement among those, who are considered authorities on the subject that would spring from the certainty that they are right, besides you will learn that there is more than one classification, that these differ greatly, and that the views of those who have given most time and caee to these studies are far from being in accord on many points. We shall therefore confine our notes on this part of the subject to making clear the meaning of 30 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. the terms, family genus, species and variety, and how the last is produced. • If we gather a dozen plants and give them a lights examination we shall find no difficulty in detecting many differences between them and we may also find that two or more of them in some points resemble each other, that they have woody branching stems, leaves much alike, that each has stipules; also that the flowers and fruit of one are much like those of another, yet have some points of difference; we conclude that they belong to the same genus but to different species. If the differences are slight, as the size and color of the flower or a little variation in its form or in that of the leaves we call one a variety of the other. As an illustration we may take the Rosacea. We have a great many varieties in cultivation but when we exam- in the leaves, stems, stipules, aud prickles we can at once refer a great many of them to the same specie;--, and when we examine the wild roses we shall also find no more than 4 or 5 species, but we shall also find that the flowers of the apple, pear, plum, peach, thorn and several other plants are constructed on the same plan as that of the rose—a calyx of five sepals, corolla of five petals, stamens many and seeming to be attached to the head or top of the stem, the receptacle, pistils one or five, more or less united; while they differ greatly in leaves and other points; hence we 'place them in the same family, which as the rose is the most prominent plant of the group, we call Rosacea. There are many plants which have their flowers in loose, flatheads, somewhat resembling an umbrella. Here we find the carrot, parsnip, dill, caraway and many other plants. In flowers and fruit these plants are much alike and we make of them a family, which from the peculiar arrangement of the flowers—an umbel BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,3 COUNTY. 31 —we call Umbelliferac. A family then, is a collection of plants whose fruits are similar. A genus is a divis- ion of a family having stems, leaves and flowers much alike. Species are members of a genus differing in form of leaf, of flowers, hairiness and other small matters. Varieties are members of a species differing in size, color, time of flowering, &c. Varieties are not permanent and being neglected re- vert to the usual form of the species. But it is prob- able that favorable circumstances and care for many years may give to a variety the character of a species, and it is not improbable that species are but varieties of the generic type, the best example of the genus. That true genera ever become something else, we do not be- iieve. That our systems of classifications are perfect no one claims and that some of our genera are defined by very artificial characters and that in some cases our dividing lines are not wisely drawn will be readily conceded, and this has no doubt caused much con- fusion of thought and led to some very baseless and uncalled for generalization. That there is such a thing as evolution, taking the word to mean a process of change, no naturalist doubts that it accounts for creation and all its facts and mys- teries none but an idiot or a lunatic will argue. There never has been, never will be any ''endless chain of being;" and what there is of it plainly indicates the existence of a Creator and the oversight and direction of an intelligent, omniscient and omnipotent mind. The reader will understand that the description fol- lowing an order applies to all members of that order, that following the name of a genus to all the species of a genus, while that of a species applies to that species only, the aim being to bring out in it the points 32 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. in which the species differ from others. The figures g-iven with most of the species refer to the plant either in flower or in fruit. The terms larg-e, small, tall, low, &c , are to be understood with reference, to that of the family or g-enus. What would be small for a grape leaf would be of mammoth propor- tions for the leaves of clover. For instance on pag-e 9 we find Clematis which is followed by a description of the g-enus. This is follow- ed by a description of the species. This is followed by C. Virg-iniana — Clematis Virg-iniana. Flowers, W. (white.) J. Augf. (July and Aug-ust), that is, flowers throug-h July and Augfust. Damp places, that is, grows in damp places; not common, that is, not found in many places. Sometimes figures are use.d alone without the word hig-h as 25 ft. (25 feet high). The first part of a description applies to the stem unless otherwise stated. It will be borne in mind that the descriptions of this work make no claim to being- scien- tific. Their object is to direct the attention of the reader to those features of a plant which enable him to distinguish it from others. If we have accomplished this we have attained our purpose. We have at- tempted to be clear, to use as few words as possible, to g-ive the student just the information wanted and yet not to frig-hten him by the needless display of our wisdom or overwhelm him by the profoundity of our discussion of the mysteries of nature. We have writ- ten for plain thinking- people and such we hope will find our work suited to their needs. The word "variable" often follows a description meaning- that the plant in one or more respects may be found to differ from the description. The form of the leaves may be somewhat different — indeed one scarcely ever finds two leaves even on the same plant BOTANY OF LA SALINE COUNTY. 33 just alike— it may be slightly downy or a little hairy instead of smooth, &c. Sometimes these variations are so great as to almost constitute distinct species and yet the extreme forms are so connected by intermediate forms that we cannot regard them as more than widely divergent varieties. In such cases we suspect that the classification is at fault, that the genus is really a species of some other genus and that its species are really only varieties and that these have crossed again and again, producing an endless variety of variant forms. However there is always a trace of a tendency to vary even among the most staid and unvarying of species. We give below the length and breadth of some leaves of the elm, smilacina, willow and cornus, in each case all from the same plant, and all full grown. Elm. Smilacina. Cornus. LENGTH. BREADTH LENGTH. BREADTH, LENGTH. BREADTH. 5.25 3.15 4.5 3.7 3.2 1.57 5.25 3.0 3.7 3.05 3.65 1.95 4.66 Z 55 3.6 3.4 3.5 1.8 5.3 4.05 Willow. 3.15 1.53 5.7 4.15 4.85 .8 3.3 1.47 3.15 2.4 5.1 .8 3.7 1.97 4.65 2.8 5.05 .7 3.7 1.95 4.58 2.25 4.98 .82 4.1 3.9 5.23 .83 3.95 2.2 Thorn. 4.95 2.85 3.5 3. 3.45 2.33 2.95 2.85 4.8 3.05 2.55 2.25 4.33 2.4 2.42 2.25 3.95 2.3 2.35 3.15 The above are not extreme cases but such as may be 34 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. met every day on most plants. In many cases, especially in the asters and golden rods the root and stem leaves being- very different, so different in some cases that it would not seem that they belong1 to the same plant did we not find them there. If there are leaves near the ground be sure to examine them as they must be reg-arded as the true leaves, the upper ones as modified forms of these. Abreviations and Explanations, The follow- ing- abreviations are used throughout this flora: Jan. January, W. White, N. North, Feb. February, BL Blue, S. South, Mar. March, Br. Brown, E. East, Ap. April, Blk. Black, W. West, M. May, Y. Yellow, N. E. Northeast, Ju. June, G.W. Greenish W hite,s. E. Southeast, .1. July, O. Orange, S. W. Southwest, Au. August, P. Purple, N.W. Northwest, Sep. September, P.W. Purple White. Dia. Diameter, Oct. Octol PI, Pi. Pink, Cir. Circumference, Nov. November, E. Red, H. High, highesl, Dec. December, Rs. Rose, B. Bienial, Var. Variety, R. W. Reddish White.A. Annual. Sp. Species, V. Violet, Pr. Perennial, Gen. Genus, S3. Scarlet, Ed. Edition, Or. Order. Fl. Flesh color, Ex. Exotic. Fam. Family S r. S'riped, Cult. Ci Itivated, Tr. Tribe, Li. Lilac, v\ t. Wet. In. Inch, St. Straw color, Ft. Foot or feet, c. Crimson, Quantity of Seed Produced by Plants. But few of those who observe and cultivate plants have any idea of the quantity of seed they produce. An apple tree may produce several thousand apples, .say 2,500, and each of these may contain 10 seeds, and will probably averag-e 8, so that this tree in a sing-le year produces 20,000 seeds, and if half of these g-erm- inate, it would g-ive orig-in to 10,000 trees each year, enough to plant 250 acres. BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY . 35 But some plants are much more prolific than this. The cockle burr, Xanthium, matures more than 200 burrs on each medium-sized plant, and as these plants do not require more than a square foot apiece there may be perfected on a single acre not less than 8,700,- 000 of these burrs, each of which contains two seeds, warranted to grow. We have found on a medium sized Oenothera no less than 218 pods, each containing- over 100 seeds; on a Polyginum from 3,000 to 3,600 seeds; on a sunflower, Helianthus grosseserratus, 6,000 to 7,000 seeds, and they will probably average 1,000 each, and the plants often stand two or three to the square foot. While some plants, and the especially worthless ones, are so fruitful, others are comparatively barren or produce few seeds, a few producing but one flower, some three to five flowers each, but these flowers are generally many -seeded, and each head perfects 50 or more seeds. It will be seen from the above facts that nature is a most prodigal sower, scattering seeds with a lavish but most inconsiderate zeal, the greater part of them to perish at the very dawn of life, but few compara- tively to reach maturity and assist in perpetuating the race. How Plants Travel. That plants extend the area over which they are found is well known and this with many of them is easily accounted for, some hav- ing been brought in grain that was sown or among seeds that were planted in gardens. Sometimes too straw has been used as material for packing goods and the seeds of weeds were mingled with it. Thus, even while aiming to advance his interests and promote his comfort and convenience by introducing grains of the best quality or testing some new crop man has brought' 36 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. in his enemies and given them a foothold they could not have otherwise obtained. Many of what are our most common weeds have thus been imported from the Old World. But many seeds are born travelers. The seed of the dandelion, lettuce and thistle, milkweed and many others have a sort of plume attached to them, which enables even a gentle breeze to bee.r them far from their native place and scatters them far and wide, The seeds of the maple and some other trees have wing-like appendages, which enable them to sail on a strong wind to a considerable distance. Some seeds are greedily eaten by cattle and having hard and impervious coats and many of them not being broken by the teeth, pass through the stomach and intestines free from harm and left in an excellent con- dition for germination. Birds in like manner scatter many seeds far and wide and sometimes rather large ones, the wild pigeon having a strong liking for acorns. Other seeds, as the cocklebur, beggarticks, the fruits of geum and several other plants are provided with hooks or barbed teeth with which they lay hold of every- thing that touches them and thus become attached to the hair of animals. Thus they may be carried many miles and scattered over a wide territory. A gen- tleman residing in South Ottawa informs us that he can remember when the cockle bur was unknown here and that it was brought by cattle driven here to feed. Many seeds are very small and are easily carried along in a lump of mud that may adhere to the feet or hair o an animal and these may be carried long distances before they are dropped, and if the circumstances under which they are left favors germination and growth, they soon make themselves at home. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 37 Heavy seeds such as walnuts, acorns, &c, may be carried to some distance by animals, which use them as food and, swept along- by floods. Thus nearly every plant has some means of extending- the area over which It grows and these migrations are continually taking- place. Since 1887 at least seven plant, before that time unknown to the vicinity rf Ottawa, have located here and to all appearances have come to stay. Such chang-es are very likely to occur along- lines of railway for plants travel by rail as well as on the wing's of the wind or on horseback. Localities of Special Interest to Botanists. There are in the county several localities of more than ordinary interest to the botanist. Of these one is located about two miles west of the court house on what is known as the old Reddick farm, and has been mentioned before. It is a part of Sect. 9 of Tp. 33, R. 3, E. 3rd P. M. On this tract there is a great variety of soils, both dry and wet, and as a conse- quence a wonderful collection of plants. Another locality is on the south side of the Illinois river in South Ottawa township, in the woods and along- the foot of the bluff, and just west of the C., B. & Q. R, R., between it and the U. S. Silica Co.'s lands. The ponds once existing- here have been partly drained, and this place presents a less variety of veg-e- tation than formerly, but one still finds much of inter- est in a narrow space. A third district of very exceptiona1 interest is found on the west side of Covell creek, a fourth of a mile south of the stone bridg-e on the river road. The vari- ety of plants is great and some of them not common. A fourth and very interesting- locality is the bluff and the narrow slope between it and the Illinois river, in Deer Park township. The variety of plants, espe- 38 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. eially of ferns, is great, and many of them are rare, some found only here. This locality is really divided into two fields one extending- from the east line of the township to about Lovers' Leap the other from Lovers' Leap to the Vermillion river, some plants being- con- fined to one section, some to the other. A fifth and very interesting- locality is that known as the Black Ash Swamp lying- on the south side of the Illinois river about half way between Marseilles and Seneca which has been pretty thoroug-hly explored by our enterprising- and talented friend Mr. Charles F. Johnson, formerly of Marseilles, now of Freeport. Here while some of the conditions are similar to those obtaining- in Deer Park Tp., others are not. Some of the plants are the same while several are peculiar to the locality. The valley of the Vermillion river is also in places rich in the variety of plants and the exuberance of the veg-etation and some species are found in these places which seem to occur nowhere else. The immediate vicinity of Ottawa offers to the bot- anist a very larg-e variety of plants, a number much greater than is usually found in so restricted an area. Some 350 species of plants belonging- to more than 50 orders and some 175 g-enera may be obtained within a radius of two miles of the court house. In attempting- to identify a plant first carefully ex- amine it. Notice the stem, leaves, calyx, corolla, stamens and pistils and the number of each of the last two. Then look throug-h the natural orders and decide to which it beltmgs, then look for the genus and then the species. Of some of the families the characters are so very distinct that one cannot make a mistake, as for example the Cruciferae, the Leg-urn i- nosae, the Compositae, but of others the same cannot BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,B COUNTY. 39 be said. But in general the notes we have given will we think enable one to reach a decision with certainty and dispatch. If the leaves are compound, flowers of 5 petals with 5 stamens and collected into an umbel, we at once refer it to the Umbilliferae. If the sepals are 4, the petals 4, the stamens 6, 4, 2 and pistil 1, we may be sure our plant belong-, to the Cruciferae. If the flowers are shaped like those of the pea and the fruit a pod we at once refer it to the Leguminosae. The most striking; or obvious features of each order are given immediately after its name and this is fol- lowed by the descriptions of genera and their included species in order. Read the descriptions carefully two or three times if necessary and look at all parts of your plant with care. Suppose we have a plant that we 'find has compound leaves, the flowers have five or more, but less than 20 petals, the calyx the same num- ber of sepals, the stamens are numerous but all dis- tinct, the pistils many and distinct but crowded to- gether and the stigma pointed, we may at once con- clude that it belongs to Order 1, the Ranunculaceae. Perhaps the strangfest feature of our flora is the presence of plants which generally are found near the seashore or near brackish water as Hibiscus Mos- cheutos, such an exception to all general rules as to seem utterly unreasonable and a fact that led to some serious mistakes and which the writer must confess he was slow, as have been many others, to recognize. Some years since a distinguished botanist visited Ot- tawa and conversing with a gentleman, who was quite familiar with the flora of the county, when the latter mentioned Hibicus Moscheutos, as being found here, promptly said that must be a mistake. It was a sea- shore or at least a brackish water plant. Later the 40 v BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. gentleman had the pleasure of sending- him specimens of the plant in flower. He now admitted that the determination was correct, but that he could not have believed it was a native of this region without this evidence. He however thought that the presence of salt spring's explained the matter. But plants of this character are not all found near salt springs. In fact there seems to be many remnants of a former seashore flora yet lingering here, not merely along the borders of the salt marsh so called, but in other places as well. They are too numerous to have been accidently intro- duced, have no properties that make them valuable to man and would thus lead him to introduce them and are not well calculated to migrate unaided. Besides the conditions under which they are found render it certain that this is their native land and that they are but a fragment of a flora that has nearly vanished, a change of conditions having made it impossible for it to sustain itself longer in this region and its former presence being indicated by these hardiest members of its tribes. We shall not attempt to reproduce to the reader's imagination the conditions under which this flora was in the ascendent; we state the fact and leave our audience to draw their own inferences. Flora LaSallensis. Catalogue of the Plants of La Salle County, 111., and the adjacent counties of Kendall, Grundy, Livingston, Marshall, Putnam, Bureau and DeKalb, and in general for that part of the state north of the latitude of Bloomington. A few plants confined to the shores of Lake Michigan are not found in La Salle County. The authorities used have been Prof. Rinaldo Wil- liams of Streator. A name preceded by a W. is from his catalogue, published in Baldwin's History of La Salle BOTANY OF "LA SAT7L,E COUNTY. 41 Co.; Prof. Henry Boltwood, trow of Evairston, des- ignated foy a B.; Mr. Charles P. Johnson, formerly of Marseilles, now of Freeport, indicated by Jh.; and ourself. In a few cases the statements of parties familiar with the subject are referred to. In all other cases the author has seen the plant described. The descriptions are our own. They are not intend- ed for scientists, but for those who desire to identify a strange plant and the effort has been to catch its most prominent features and present them as clearly as pos- sible. At the same time as far a,s possible we have followed Wood and Gray and frequently refer to them. The references in all cases to Wood's Classbook of Botany," copyright 1 869, imprint A. S. Barnes &Co., N. Y., 1873, and to '^Gray's Manual of Botany," copy- right 1867, imprint Ivison, Blakemore, Taylor & Co., 1872, or the fifth revised edition, referred to as 5th Ed. while Wood is referred to by name, Wood. The order is nearly that of Gray's Manual 6th revised Ed. Flora LaSallensis. A catalogue of the Plants of L/a Salle and adjacent counties of Illinois. PHAENOGAMIA OR FLOWERING PLANTS. Class I. Dicotyledons or exogenous plants: Stems formed of bark, wood and pith, the latter often very small and in large trees scarcely apparent, and .in- creasing by the addition of new layers, usually one each year, between the bark and wood. Stems branch- ing, leaves of various forms, netveined. Plant when it first appears or when the seed sprouts having two leaves, from between which others spring. Flowers generally having their parts in fives or fours. Sub Class I. Angiospermae: Seed contained in an envelope, as the pea in a pod, the seeds in an apple, the stone in a peach, &c. 42 BOTANY OF IyA SAI^E COUNTY. Division I. Polypetalous exogens: Both calyx and corolla present, the corolla in several separate parts. In some the corolla is wanting. Order I. Ranunculacea. Crowfoot, Buttercups: Mostly low herbs. Calyx of 3 to 15 sepals, sometimes colored and appearing- like a corolla; corolla of 3 to 15 petals sometimes more; stamens many, seldom few, but distinct; pistils many or few, distinct forming a compact head as small pointed or tailed pods each con- taining- a single seed, a many seeded capsule or seed vessel or a berry; leaves usually compound or much divided, often all radical. Juice, watery, acridi of some species strong- enough to raise blisters. 1. CLEMATIS. Clematis. Virgins bower: Sepals usually colored; petals none. Seeds in small, pointed or tailed pods, which each spring- from a pistil, and form a compact head.. s • CLEMATIS. P. Virgin's Bower. .... Herbs or vines climbing- by tendrils from the ends of the leaf stalks, flowers without petals, the calyx usually colored; stamens and pistils many, the pistils forming- a little head, and in fruit the style lengthened and more or less feathery; leaves 3 to 7 leaflets, more or less ovate and acute, opposite. C. Virginica. Flowers W. in large clusters, seeds with long feathery tails. Ju. Aug. Damp places; not common. C. • Pitcheri. Flowers Pi. P. sepals thick, leather like with recurved tips solitary on long pedun- cles;'on the lowlands; not so strong a growth as the first. ANEMONE. P. Anemone. Wind-Flower. Plants with deeply cut and lobed leaves, usually rigid, little divided and few flowered, our species BOTANY OF ~L, A SALLE COUNTY. 43 the flower W., G. closes, W. or P. stem leaves 3, forming- an involucre. A. Carolinian. Flowers, P. to W. 4 to 8 inches hig-h; leaves small and at the ground; involucre small, 3 parted. About Ottawa; sandy lands. A. cylindrica. Tall; flowers 2 to 6; invorueral, r leaves two or three times as many as peduncles, each 3 parted; flowers G. W. ; head of fruit cylindrical, an inch long-. M. ; 2 ft. Dry woods. A. Virg-inica. Tall, usually 3 flowered, each on a long-, naked peduncle; leaves of involucre 2 larg-e, 3 parted, hairy, the middle peduncle naked, G. W. , 18 to 24 inches hig-h. Borders of woods and dry thickets. A. Pennsylvanica. Leaves large, hairy, 1 ft. hig-h, flower W., 1 inch dia., 3 to 5 to a plant, the cen- tral one blooming- first, then one on each side of it and the peduncles of these branch, each send- ing-out another. Grows in bunches in damp places. A. aiiemorosa. Wind Flower; Wood anemone. Low, smooth, erect; involucre of 3 long-petioled, 3 parted leaves; flowers W., purplish outside, 5 to 7 leaved; one-half to one inch broad; 3 to 6 inches hig-h. Ap. M. Woods. Root leaves few. HE}PATICA. P. .Liver Leaf. Liver Wort. Leaves all radical, 3 lobed on long-, wiry petioles, hairy, evergreen, rather thick. G. P. to P. ,<;-,-', H» acutiloba. Flowers numerous X to 1 inch broad, each on a slender, silvery-hairy seape 3 to 6 in. hig-h; W. P. B. Pi., Mar. Ap., Woods. ANKMONELLA. P. Low, 6 to 12 in. hig-h, smooth with long- petioled radical leaves, 3. parted, each part of . 2 or three roundish, somewhat lobed 44 BOTANY OF I^A SAl^I/E COUNTY. leaflets; involucre of 2 or 3, 2 or 3 parted leaflets. A. Thalictroides. Flowers, W., X to % inches broad; several; very slender; M. Woods and fields about trees. THALICTRUM, P. Meadow; Rue. Plants with three parted compound leaves, each part composed of many small, roundish, notched leaflets; flowers small, of two kinds, the stam- inate in dense plume-like greenish or P. clusters. T. dioicum. Smooth and pale green, 1 to 2 foot hig-h; leaves all petiolate, leaflets drooping-; filaments of stamens hair-like, W., anthers yellow, drooping1. Ap. M., Dry lands. T. polyg-annm. Tall, smooth, 4 to 8 ft. high; stem leaves sessile; leaflets thickish; flowers W. some perfect; filaments of anthers white, anthers not drooping-. T. Cornuti of the 5th Ed. along* streams and in damp meadows. T. purpurascens. Stem usually purplish, 2 to 4 ft hig-h; leaves sessile or nearly so, veiuy and netted beneath; flowers greenish and purplish. M. Ju. Dry lands. MYOSURUS. Mouse Tail, minimus, leaves long-, narrow, entire, thick flowers small on 1 flowered seape; fruit forming- a spike like head 1 to 2 in. long-, 2 to 4 in. hig-h. Each plant seems to be a tuft of narrow leaves and thick stems. Sandy land, RANUNCULAS, P. Crowfoot. Buttercups. Low, often, hairy plants, stems frequently trailing- after flowering- if not before, with brig-ht green, lobed and toothed leaves, yellow flowers and fruits collected in a small head and frequently tailed. R. aquitalis. Leaves all under water and divided BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 45 into thread-like segments; flowers W. , Ju. Aug. R. Cymbalaria. Very smooth, sending1 out long, jointed, slender, runners which root at joints; leaves small, roundish, cordate, crenate, some- what thick; flowers small, Y.; fruits in an oblong head. Ju, Aug. Near Big Spring S. bank of 111. one-half mile EX Horseshoe Canyon and just W of Street Ry. Powerhouse, Ottawa. R. multifidus, Leaves below water with hair-like divisions; above water coarsely cut; flowers Y., one-half inch broad. Between Canal and C. R. I. & P. R. R., K. of Lock 11 and S. E. of U. S. Silica Co.'s works X mile. R. abortivus. B. smooth, erect, branching, 6 in. to 2 ft high; first root leaves roundish , entire, other 3 lobed, those of stem and branches 3 to 5 parted, sessile; flowers small, pale Y., Ap. Ju. Damp woods, very common. R. sceleratus. A. Smooth; root leaves rounded 3 lobed, lower stem leaves, 3 parted, the lobes toothed, upper lobes nearly entire; stem thick, hollow; 1 ft., flowers small, pale Y. R. recurvatus. Hairy, 1 to 2 ft. high; leaves nearly all alike; on long petioles; flowers pale Y., sepals reflexed; M. Ju., Woods. R. fasicularis. Soft, hairy, with close pressed hairs ascending, 5 to 9 inches high; root leaves, 3 parted, each part of 5 to 7 divisions appearing pinnate; flowers bright Y., Ap. M. Dry places, Sandy lands along 111. R. septentrionalis. Stems at first ascending smooth or hairy, later becoming 2 or more feet long and appearing like runners, leaves all 3 parted, parts lobed or cut; flowers Y., M. Aug. Wet places. R. repens of 5th Ed. 46 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. R. Pennsylvania^. A. Erect, stout, leafy to top, bristly hairy, 1 to 2 ft high, leaves 3 parted, the parts 3 cleft and toothed; flowers small, calyx reflexed; Ju. Aug. Wet places. R. Isopyrum biternatum. P. slender, smooth; leaves 3 parted, each division 3 parted and each part 2 or 3 cleft; flowers without petals, fila- ments white, stamens 10 to 40; 4 to 10 in. high, M. Shady, damp places. Prof. Williams informs us that he has doubts of the correct- ness of his determination of this plant. CALTHA. Cowslip, . Leaves -roundish with a deep notch where the stem is inserted, stem branch- ing, bearing a number of bright yellow flowers 1 in. or more in dia. C palustris, G. 8 to 10 in.; stem hollow furrowed, Mar, Ap. Wet places. AQUILEGIA. Columbine, Honeysuckle. Leaves compound, stem branching, branches spreading. Edges of bluffs. A. Canadensis. Flowers R. without, yellow within, with 4 horn like processes pendent, mouth downward, 8 to 36 in. M. In cultivations white, purple, &c, flowers are produced. J. Hyrasdis. P. Orange Root, Yellow pucoon, Canadensis, root thick, knotted, yellow; from which springs a leaf and a hairy stem bearing two cordate, serrate, 5 to 7 lobed leaves and a single G. W., flower; fruit a red berry, Ap. M. Woods. DELPHINUM. A. or P. Plants with leaves cut into narrow lobes, calyx spurred, flowers irreg- ular. D. tricorne. Flowers W. or B., M., near Streator, also near Marseilles. Ju., rare. BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. 47 ACT ABA. P. erect 18 to 36 inch. Smooth with 3 large compound leaves about the middle; flowers Y. W. in a spike; leaflets toothed, pale below. A. spicata var. rubra, berries, a bright L<., as large as peas. A. alba. Berries white, leaves more sharply toothed than in spicata. Order 2. Magnoliaceae. Magnolias. . LIRIODENDRON. A large handsome forest tree furnishing excellent lumber; not native here. Iv. tulipiferee. A tall tree 70 to 100 ft. with gray- ish, deeply furrowed; softish bark when old, smoothish when young; branches coarse; leaves large, squarish, rounded at base, broad and con- clave at apex with a piece cut out of each upper corner, bright G. above, lighter below, smooth: flowers G. and R. without, Y. within, 3 inches broad. There are some fine specimens of this tree at the former residence of Elmer Baldwin dec. of Farm Ridge, % mile N. W. of Farm Ridge church. Also near the residence of J. S. Clayton, Deer Park Tp. which blooms profusely. Order 3. Anonaceae. Papaws; ASIMINA. Papaw. A tree 20 to 40 ft. high with large, thin, oblong-obovate leaves and soft white wood. A. triloba. Flowers dark P; petals 6 thick, stiff, 1 in. broad; fruit G. Y. 2 to 4 in long, 1 to \% inches dia., containing several large flat seeds. Fruit eatable, ripe, soft. Illinois bottoms. Found in fruit 1894, 5 and 6 and in flower 95-96. In 96 bushes 3 ft. high were loaded with blos- soms. Order 4. Menispermaceae. Moonseeds. 48 BOTANY OF LA SALIvE COUNTY. MENISPBRMUM, P. Slender vines with axillary clusters of small W. flowers followed by black berries. M. Canadensis. Leaves stiff, dark G . smooth, 5-7 angled, sometimes lobed, with stem near middle. Along fences and banks of streams. Order 5. Berberidaceae Barberries. BERBERIS. Barberry. A prickly shrub with small obovate or oblong bristly serrate leaves in small rosettes or bunches. B. Vulgaris. Flowers yellow; fruit an inch long, scarlet, very sour; M. Ju.; sometimes used for hedges. CAULOPHYLLUM. Leaf triternate, a 2d leaf 2 ternate and on the stalk with it a bunch of small greenish, yellow flowers, followed by blue ber- ries. - C. thalictroides. In rocky woods; M. JEFFERSONIA. Twin leaf. Leaves in pairs, 2 parted, and flowers on scapes. J. diphyllnm. W. May; Flowers large, 1 in. or more. But one locality in Co., in South Ottawa S of C. B. & Q. R. R." PODOPHYLLUM, May apple, mandrake. herb with two large, pellate, deeply lobed leaves and 1 flower. M. ; Wood. P. peltatum. W.; May; Mr. L. A. Williams of S. Ottawa, in 1895 showed us a flower of this plant of a beautiful pink color the only one we have seen or heard of. NYMPHACEAE. Pond lilies. a water plant with large, roundish, cordate leaves and large, white flower. N. odorata. W. slightly scented. In Fox river and in a pond K. of Ott., S. of 111. river. BOTANY OP LA SALLE COUNTY. 49 NUPHAR. Frog- lily, Yellow pond lily. A water plant thriving- in mud; leaves much like Nymphae but thicker and dull green. N. ad vena. Y.; small, 2 in. broad. Order 8. PAPERVERA CEAE. Poppies. AGREMONE- Prickly poppy. A prickly plant having lobed and toothed light G. leaves spotted with W., stem and leaves armed with slender prickles. A. Mexicana. Flowers Y.; Ju. on. A. Mexicana var. alba. Flowers W. Escaped from gardens. SANGUINARIA. Blood Root. Stemless plants with * underground, creeping stems and a colored, watery juice. S. Canadensis. Leaf one, radical, lobed with a single, orange colored, one flowered seape, blooming before the leaf is half grown. Flower W. 1 to \Y\ in. broad, lastingtwo or three days. Root stem red. Ap., 5 in. ADLUMIA. P. Climbing Fumitory. A slender vine, sometimes found in cultivation. A. cirrhosa. B, Leaves small, pinnate; leaflets lobed; flowers somewhat bell-shaped in dense clusters each ^ inch long; P. W. or Pi. W., climbing by its leaf stalks. Ju. Oct. Order 9. FUMARIA CEAE. Dicentra. Plants with divided leaves, wreak, pellucid stems and a watery juice. DICENTRA. Leaves large, much divided, being cut into verv narrow lobes, all radical, light G. D. Cucullaria. Flowers W. somewhat resembling a large fly or a pair of somewhat inflated panta- loons; hence the common name, Dutchman's Breeches. Root a scalv bulb. 50 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUN^f. D. Canadensis. Flowers smaller, spurs rounded, sweet scented, blooms later and is sometimes Pi. Root made up of a collection of small round Pi. tubers. CORYDALIS. A low, decumbent plant \vith com- pound whitish green leaves, translucent watery stems and golden yellow, flowers in short racemes. C. aurea. Y. Apr. A very pretty plant. Order 10. CRUCIFERAEA. 'Mustards. A large family of plants having 4 parted flowers. 6 stamens, in a few cases 4 or 2, 2 of them shorter than the other 4, fruit a pod longer than wide as in mustard radish, and called a siMque, or wider than long and called a silicle, as in Shepherd's Purse, leaves, flowers and fruit often having strong peppery taste and smell. DENTARIA. P. Pepper Root. D. diph}*lla. Leaves two about X length of stem from ground, large, compound, cut into long, narrow segments. Flowers in a spreading cluster, W. to P., M. Woods. CARDAM1NE. Bitter Cress. C. rhomboidea. Leaves rhomboid, stem upright, 6 to 8 in. W., Ap. M. C. rotundafolia. Sends out long runners from stems; leaves rounded; flowers W., smaller than the preceding. C. hirsuta. Usually somewhat hairy. ARABIS. Sicklepod. A. Ludoviciana. Leaves pinnately parted, flowers small W. Jh. A. lyrata. Root leaves much divided, stem leaves scattered, narrow. A. perfoliata. Smooth, tall, 2 to 4 ft. stem leaves BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 51 oblong, entire. A. Canadensis. Leaves narrow, long-, drooping; pods 3 to 3^ in. long, curved like a sickle. Bluffs. ' Jh. A. levigata. Stem leaves sessile, flowers small, Y. partly clasped; pods long, sessile and re- curved, Y. A. dentata. Roughish, slender, 1 to 2 ft. high; leaves oblong, obtuse, very unequally toothed, those of «tem numerous, somewhat clasping, of the root broader and petiolate. DRABA. Whitlow grass. D. Caroliniana. Leaves obovate, mostly entire, flowers in small racemes on leafless stems; Ito 5 in. high; sandy lands. ALYSSUM calycinum. Small, hairy; leaves narrow, pale Y., broadest at outer end. NASTURTIUM. Water cresses. Small plants growing in damp places. N. officinale. W. In brooks and about springs, 4 in. Escaped from gardens. N. palustre. Leaves much divided, Y. Ju. to Sep. N. Armoracia. Horse raddish. Armoracia rusti- cans of Wood. BARBAREA. A strong growing plant with deeply toothed leaves and small spikes of bright Y. flowers. M. Ju. ; wet places. Order 15. CAROPHYLLA CEAE. Pinks. Plants with opposite leaves, stems with swollen joints and 5 to 10 parted flowers. SAPONARIA. P. Bouncing Bet. S. officinalis. Stems in clusters, nearly erect; leaves lanceolate, acute, paleG.; flowers 1 in. dia., pale Pi,, in clusters. About old buildings. River roadside S. Ottawa. 52 BOTANY OF LA SALLE SILENA. P. Campion. S. stellata. Tall, 2 to 3 ft., leaves grayish G., in 4's corolla fring-ed; calyx inflated. M. Ju. Banks of streams. S. Antirrhina. Erect, rigid slender, with nearly erect branches; leaves narrow-oblong1; flowers R. without, Pi. within; peduncles with sticky. brown gum around them which catches insects. Sandy lands. S. Cucabalus. Leaves opposite; petals 2 cleft; calyx much inflated; W., 1 ft. S. inflata of 5th. Ed. S. nivea. Leaves opposite, oblong1, acute; petals cuneate, 2 cleft; flowers few, larg-er than stel- lata; 1 to 2 ft.; rare. S. noctiflora. Nig'ht flowering1 campion. Viscid- hairy, 1 to 3 ft.; lower leaves larg-e, spatulate; flowers few, Pi., cult, grounds. LYCHINS. A. Cockle, Mullien pink. Lt. Githag-o. Erect, branching- clothed with long-, soft, white hairs; flowers purple, 1 in. or more dia., cult, lands. ARENARIA. Sandwort. Petals 5 entire or slig-htly notched. A. Michauxit. Usually diffusely spreading; leaves almost like bristles clustered in axils of stem; flowers small, W., J. Sandy lands. Alsine stricta of Wood. Jh. A. lateriflora. Erect, less branching" than Michauxii; leaves oval, obtuse; flowers W., 6 to 10 in. STELLARIA. Chickvveed. Starwort. Parts of flowers in 4's or 5's, petals 2 cleft or more. Jh. S. long-ifolia. Erect, weak, roug-h angled, 8 to 18 in-, leaves narrow, acute at both ends; flowers BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 53 on slender pedicels; M.; Ju. J. Grassy places. CERASTIUM. A. or P. Mouse-ear, Chickwood. sepals 5 or 4; petals 2 cleft or entire. Flow- ers W. C. viscosum. A. Hairy and clammy, nearly erect, 4 to 9 in.; leaves obovate; petals shorter than catyx. M. J. , Grassy places. Rare. C. vulgatum. P. clammy-hairy, spreading1; leaves oblong; petals equal to calyx; M. J. Common. C. nutans. A. very clammy-soft-hairy, erect, slender, grooved, spreading-branched, 6 to 20 in. leaves lancolate; petals larger than calyx; pods 3 times length of calyx, M. J. Moist lands. C. oblongifolium. Erect or declined, soft-hairy; leaves oblong-lanceolate mostly obtuse; petals twice length of calyx. Ap. Ju. On rocky banks; quite showy. C. arvense. P. In tufts, erect or not, slender, 4 to 8 in., leaves, narrow, obcordate more than twice length of calyx; M. J., Dry or rocky lands. Order 16. PORTULACACAE. PURSLANES. Plants with fleshy stems and leaves, a watery juice and showy flowers. PORTULACA. A. Prostrate, spreading, leafy. P. oleraceae. Purslane. Stems thick; leaves obo- vate, flowers small, sessile, Y. cult, grounds. TALINUM. Erect; peduncle hair like, stiff. T. teretifolium. P. Leaves long, slender, cylin- drical, clustered; peduncle branched; flowers Pi. Ju. Aug. Sandy lands near Ottawa. CLAYTONIA. Roots tnberous; flowers racemed. C. Virginica. Spring-beauty, Stem leaves two, long, narrow, thick, pale G., flowers bell shaped, Pi., y± in. broad; Ap. M.; Woods. 54 BOTANY OF L,A SALLE COUNTY. C. Carolitiiana. Flowers smaller and fewer; leaves broader. Order 18. HYPEICACEAE St. JOHN'S WORTS Herbs or shrubs with opposite, entire, dotted leaves, no stipules, petals and sepals 4 or 5 and stamens collected into 3 or more groups. ASCYRUM. P. St. Peter's Wort. Sepals 4, two outer broad and leaflike; petals 4, oblique. A. Crux Andreae. St. Andrew's Cross, much branched, leaves narrow-oblong, narrowed to base, thin; pale G. Not common. Rich lands. HYPERICUM. P. St. John's wort. Herbs and shrubs; sepals and petals each 5. stamens many in 3 to 6 groups, flowers Y. H. adpres sum. Stem angular below7, 2 edged, 1 to 2 ft.; leafy at base; leaves narrow, sessile, acutish, dotted; J. Aug. Wet places. H. ellipticum. Erect, 4 angled, 10 t«> 20 in. leaves, oblong narrow:ng toward base, thin; wetlands. H. perforatum. Branching, leaves narrow-oblong; flowers numerous in a cyme, deep Y.; spreads by runners. Ju. Sept. H. maculatum. Round; branches few; leaves ob- long, some clasping; dotted with both clear and black dots; flowers small, crowded, pale Y. Damp places. H. mutilum. slender, branching; leaves narrow obtuse; flowers deep Y. in naked cymes. H. medicaule. Stem and branches thread-like stiff, erect 4 to 9 in; leaves scale like; flowers small orange; Ju. Oct. Sandy wet lands. Red- dick farm. ELODES. P. Marsh St. John's wort. Stamens usually 9 in 3 sets. E. campanula ta. Erect, 1 to 2 ft., leaves oblong, BOTANY OF LA SALZ,E COUNTY. 55 obtuse, clasping-. Flowers Fl. in clusters. J. Aug-. Peat marshes. Order 20. MALVACEAE. MALLOWS. Leaves alternate, stipulate, more or less lobed; flowers showy; stamens' filaments united; petals 5, sepals 5. MALVA. P. calyx with a three leaved involucre. M. rotundafolia. Prostrate; leaves round-cordate on long petioles, crenate, flowers small, W. , cult, ground. M. sylvestris. Erect, leafy, 2 to 3 feet, leaves 5 to 7 lobed; flowers P. and R. About old places. R. M. crispa. A. Tall, erect, stout, very leafy, 3 to 6 feet; leaves rounded, ang-led and crisped; flowers small, W. Escaped from g-ardens. R. M. moschota. P. Low, branching- from ground; leaves 5 lobed and cleft, flowers pale Rs. 1>£ in across. Has the odor of musk. Escaped from gardens. M. moschota alba has white flowers. N APAEA. P. Flowers of two kinds stam. and pist. on different plants. N. dioica. P. Erect, little branching-, roughish, 5 to 9 feet, leaves larg-e, 9 to 11 parted, the lobes cut; flowers small, W. J. 111. Valley. MALVASTRUM. False Mallow . M. ang-ustum. A. Erect, 6 to 12 in., some hairy; leaves lance-oblong- with fine, scattered, hard teeth; flowers small, Y, petals little long-erthan the sepals. Aug-. SI DA. Calyx without involucel, 5 cleft; petals en- tire, stipules 5 or more. S. Spinosa. A. Erect, branched, soft-hairy, 10 56 BOTANY OF LA SAL,IvE COUNTY. to 20 in., leaves oblong-, serrate, long- petioled with often a tubercle at base of petiole; flowers small, Y. Along- small streams. ABUTITON. Indian Mallow. Velvet Weed, Old woman's nig-ht cap. A. avicen nae. Erect, branching-; leaves larg-e, cordate, acuminate, soft-hairy; flowers small, YZ in across, Y; seed pod bur like of 12 to 15 carpels, or pods united into one. Bark tough, used for making- paper, 4 to 8 ft. Cult, lands. HIBISCUS. Rose Mallow Calyx with an invulucel of many bracelets in a row. Flowers larg-e and showy. H. Moschuetos. Erect, several stems from same root; lower leaves 3 lobed, upper lanceolate, downy below, smooth "or nearly so above; flowers larg-e, 3 to 3% in. across, Rs. Deer Park Tp. , y± mile W. of At wood's Cave. H. Milita ris. Smooth, lower leaves ovate-cordate, 3 lobed, upper halberd form, middle lobe long-, acute; flowers Rs. with a darker center, 3 to 4 in. Along- 111. river. H. Trionum. A. Erect or, reclining- with wide spreading-, horizontal branches, very hairy: leaves 3 lobed, middle one much the longest; flower sulphur Y. 1^2 inch broad with a dark eye opening- early and g-enerally closing- before noon. Becoming- more common yearly. H. Syriacus. Shrub 5 to 15 feet with rather stiif , dark G. rather small, lobed leaves; flowers 3 to 4 inch broad, P. W. varig-ated. Scarcely hardy here. Order. 21. TILIA CEAE. LINDENS or BASS- WOOD. L/arg-e trees with cordate leaves, small, fra- BOTANY OP DA SALX,E COUNTY. 57 grant, clustered flowers and fruit a woody, grayish berry. Til/ IA. Trees with a toug-h, fibrous, inner bark and soft white wood. T. America na. L/eaves larg-e, cordate, acuminate, serrate, green, smooth, branches coarse, often zig^zag-; flowers Y., small. T. Europae. European Ivinden, sometimes culti- vated . Order 22. LINACEAE, Flaxes. LJNUM. Flax. Slender herbs with a toug-h bark, oblong-, sessile, entire, alternate or opposite leaves without stipules. Iv, Virg-inianum. Erect, branching-; branches nearly erect, recurved; flowers Y, bell-shaped, lasting- but a short time; I to 3 ft. Dr}% open woods. Deer Park Tp. Along- Vermillion bluffs. L. usitatis simum. Flowers blue, along- railways; Ju. J. \% to 2^2 ft. The bark forms the flax of commerce. Order 23. GERANIACEAE. GERANIUMS. GERA NIUM. P. Plants with 10 or 5 stamens- roundish, more or less lobed, hairy, leaves; fork- ing- stems, showy flowers and a long-, slender, pointed seed pod. G. macula turn. Cranesbill. Erect, leaves about 5 parted, the parts lobed; petals entire, Rs. ^ in. long1. M. Ju.; 1 to 2 feet. Woods. G, Carolinian um, Some hairy, spreading-, leaves cut into narrow seg-ments; flowers small, Rs. Scattered; 6 to 12 in., M. Aug-. Dry and waste lands. Jh. FLOERKIA. A. False Mermaid. Small plants with small solitary flowers. F. proserpinacoides. A small plant with leaves of 58 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 3 to 5 lanceolate leaflets, these entire or 2 to 3 cleft. Marshes, Ap. Ju. Taste peppery. Order 25. ILICINEAE. HOLLIES. ILEX. Black Alder, Winter berry. I. verticillata. Bark dark, leaves obovate or oval, acute, serrate; flowers small, W., in clusters; M. Ju. 3 to 7 ft. Pruit a scarlet berry. Order 26. CELASTRACEAE. STAFF TREES. CELASTRUS. A vine with alternate, serrate leaves. C. scandens. Leaves ovate-oblong; acute; flowers G. W. in clusters; fruit a 3 angled pod, which opening- discloses the scarlet covering1 of the seeds; Ju. In thickets and by fences. ENONYMUS. Spindle Tree, Wahoo. Stems square. E. atropur pureus. Leaves opposite, petioled, oval- oblong, accuminate; flowers dark P., 3 to 15 ft. Ju. Fruit smooth, 3 to 4 angled. Pi. from which when ripe project the crimson covered seeds. E. America nus. Low, erect, or straggling; pods warty. Banks of streams. E. America nus, var, obovatus. Trailing with rooting branches, leaves thin, obovate. Deer Park Tp. W. of Starved Rock. Order 29. RHAMNACEAE. BUCKTHORNS. RHAMNUS. caryx teeth petals and stamens 4. R. cathar tica. A shrub; leaves ovate, serrate; small branches, thorny; flowers small, in clus- ters. Berries black. M. Ju. Bluffs. CEANOTHUS. New Jersey Tea. Red Root. Shrub- by plants. Petals hooded and on slender claws; flowers W. in umbel-like clusters forming a large leafless panicle. C. America nus. Leaves ovate, serrate, more or less hairy; 1 to 3 ft. Root dark, R. Ju. J. Bor- ders of woods. Leaves said to have been used BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. 59 for tea during- the Revolution. OXALIS. Sorrels. Herbs with a sour, watery juice, alternate or radical leaves, usually of 3 obcor- date leaflets which close up at night. O. violacea. Root a scaly bulb, flowers on branch- ing- scapes. V. 5 to 9 in. May, Ju. and with- out leaves in the fall. O. corniculata. Branching-, roug-h, with short, stiff hairs, leaves with roundish, stipules, spreads by runners, flowers Y, Ju ; R. 0. corniculata, var. stricta. erect, hairy, very branching-, M. Sept. Woods and fields. IMPA TIENS. Jewel Weed. Touch-me-not. Erect, smooth, branching- plants, with round, translucent stems, small ovate, crenate, long-- petioled, lig-ht G. leaves, a spurred corolla and growing1 in springy places. 1. pallida. Flowers Y. Greener than fulva. I. fulva. Flowers spotted with red. Order 24. RUTACEAE. RUES. XANTHOX YLUM. P. Prickly Ash. A prickly shrub with pinnate leaves, small yellowish flowers scattered along1 the branches; fruit brownish black, peppery tasted berries. X. America num. Leaves sessile in clusters, each of 2 to 4 pairs of leaflets and an odd one, flowers in axillary clusters. M. 8 to 10 ft. Rocky hills and woods. PTELEA. Hop Tree. Shrubby Trefoil. Wafer Ash. P. trifoliata? Leaves trifoliate, ovate, acumi- nate; flowers W. small, fruit with a border; in clusters and looking- like wafers. AILANTHUS. Glanduiosus. Tree of Heaven. Leaves pinnate, of many pairs of leaflets, coarse- ly branched, flowers greenish with a strong- un- 60 BOTANY OP LA SALLE COUNTY. pleasant smell. Does not stand our climate well. Planted for shade. Order 28 VITA CEAE. GRAPES. VITIS. Grape. Plants climbing- by woody tendrils. V. aestiva lis. Summer Grape. Leaves wooly and rusty when young-, entire or 3 to 5 lobed, berries black with a bloom. M. Ju., ripe Sept. V. cordi folia. Frost Grape, leaves entire or slightly 3 lobed, cordate with a deep acute sinus, accuminate coarsely and sharply toothed, berries small, black, ripening- after frosts. AMPELOPSIS. Virg-inia Creeper. Five Fing-er. A. quinque folia. A woody vine climbing- tall trees by both rootlets and tendrils, leaves 3 to 7, g-en- erally 5 lobed, flowers G. Y. Berries Bl. Leaves become crimson in autumn. This plant is not poisonous and is often planted to run over houses and walls, for which it is well adapted. Order 29. SAPINDACEAE. Maples. Soapberries. AES CULUS. Horse chestnut. Buckeye. Trees. fib. g-labra. Leaves dig-itate of 5 oblong-, acumi- nate, serrate, leaflets; flowers Y. W., not showy, fruit a larg-e, 1 in. dia. nut-like, nearly smooth pod containing- 1 to 4 smooth, brown seeds. Val. Big- Vermillion, near Og-lesby and W. A CKR. Maple. Trees or shrubs with larg-e pal- mately lobed leaves, small flowers and wingfed seeds. A. saccharinum. Sugar Maple. Hard Maple. Flowers greenish yellow appearing- with the leaves; branches making- a nearly rig-ht ang-le with trunks. Ap. M. 70 to 80 ft. Wood hard and handsomely grained. A. dasycar pum. Leaves silverv W. below. Flow- ers G. W. A. rubrum. Red Swamp or Soft Maple. Flowers BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. 61 C. or Y., appearing- before the leaves; 40 to 70 ft. Wet lands, wood white, soft branches, mak- ing- an acute angle with trunk, and often split- ting- off. NEGUNDO. Box Elder. Ash-leaved Maple. N. aceroides. Leaves pinnate, of 5 to 7 ovate, acute leaflets, brig-ht G. above. Branches crooked, tree wanting- the symmetry and grace of the maple. Wood of little value. A, rapid grower and g-ood shade tree. STAPHYLEA. Bladder Nut. Fruit a 3 to 4 angled sac containing- 3 or 4 hard, grayish round seeds the size of very small peas. S. trifolia. Leaves of 3 ovate, acute, smooth leaf- lets; flowers W., delicate; M. 8 to 15 ft. Bark beautifully mottled. A handsome shrub. Bluffs. Order 30. ANACARDA CEAE. SUMACS. Leaves compound; flowers G. W. clustered. RIIUS. Sumac. Flowers in a dense, terminal panicle, fruit a crimson, hairy, sour berry, not poisonous. R. typhina. Stag-horn Sumac. Branches anjl leaf- stalks densely hairy; leaves of 11 to 31 oblong-- lanceolate, acute, serrate, pale beneath leaflets; 10 to 30 ft. Ju. Hillsides. Wood a fine Or. color. R. g-labra. Smooth; leaves whitened beneath; 2 to 12 ft. Ju. J. Borders of woods. R. venneata. Poison sumac, smooth; leaflets 7 to 13 obovate-oblong- entire; flowers in small axil- lary, G. Y. clusters; berries g-lobular; grayish. Very poisonous; 6 to 15 ft. Low grounds. R. toxicodendron. A woody vine climbing- by root- lets on trees, fence posts and rocks. Leaves of 3 rhombic-ovate, acute, entire or notched leaf- lets, dark or lig-ht G, stiff or drooping-. The 62 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. leaf of three leaflets and the stem beset, with black, short, hair-like roots will en able any one to detect this dangerous plant. Berries Y. W. It causes small watery blisters to rise on the skin and these breaking-, the water contained causes others to rise and thus the trouble spreads, hard rough scabs forming1 on the sores, which become more and more troublesome being" accompanied by an intolerable itching1. Sug~ar of lead dissolved in water and used as a wash is a very g'ood remedy. The sooner it is applied the better. Order 31. POLY GALACEAE. Polygala. Milk- worts. POL YG ALA. Small plants with leafy, more or less branching1 stems, small leaves and small, irreg"- ular flowers in compact head. P. polyg-ama. B. Stems smooth, many from root, very leafy, 6 to 9 in., leaves narrow-oblong1, ob- tuse, mucronate; flowers P.; Ju. J. Fields and * pastures. P. Seneg^a. Leaves alternate, lanceolate; flowers W., M. Ju., 6 to 10 in. P. sang-uinea. A. Leaves oblong'-linear, heads dense flowered, brig-lit Rs. P. Moist sandy grounds. P. cruciata. Stems ang-ular, almost wing-ed; leaves in 4's, narrow; head short and thick, 3 to 10 in. hig-h. Reddick farm. P. verticillata. Much branched; stem leaves in whorls, those of branches scattered; lineals, acute, flowers small, G. W. or P. tingfed; 6 to 10 in. Dry lands. Order 32. LEGUMINOSAEA. Peas. Flowers of 5 unequal petals, the upper called BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 63 the vexillum or banner, the largest; the lower two united by their edges forming a boat-shaped petal or keel — carina; and the two side petals or wings spreading; stamens 10, seldom 5, gener- ally 9 united into a tube open on one side, the 10th separate; fruit a pod, leaves usually com- pound, entire and with stipules. In sub-order Caesalphiniae the corolla is more nearly regular; in sub-order Mimosoae the corolla is regular. BAPTISIA. P. False Indigo, Branching herbs with flowers 1 in. long in large clusters, pani- cles, or in long, naked spikes; pods inflated. B. leucphaed, Hairy, 1 ft. branched; leaves nearly sessile, leaflets narrow-obovate; flowers in large clusters, pale Y. M. Dry pastures. B. leucantha. Smooth, tall, bluish green, 2}^ to 5 feet, leaves narrow-cuneate; flowers W. on a long leafless stem forming a raceme; Ju. J. Rich damp prairies. TRIFOLIUM. Clover. Treefoil. Leaves palmately trifoliate. T. partense. P. Red Clover. T. reflexum.. A. or P. Leaflets obovate-oblong finely toothed; standard of flowers red, rest whitish; head reflexed in fruit. Borders of woods. R. T. repens. P. White Clover. T. hybridum. Alsike Clover. Like repens but more erect, not rooting at joints: flowers rose- tinted. Marseilles. Jh. Becoming common. T. procumbens. Hop Clover; yellow clover. Creep- ing, slender; leaves small; leaflets wedge- obovate, notched at end; flowers Y. C. B. & Q. tracks N. part of Ottawa, 1882, not seen since. At Marseilles. Rock Island tracks. Jh. 64 BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. MELILOTUS. B. Melilot. Sweet Clover. Flowers in long1 spike-like racemes. Erect, branching- plants. M. offcina lis. Leaves pinnate, 3 foliate, the leaf- lets small, obovate, obtuse; flowers Y. 2 to 4 ft. S. Ottawa arid other places. M. alba. Leaflets truncate, flowers W. Both of these plants have a fragrant smell. The last is much too common. MEDICAGO. Medick, Pods curled forming- a close head. M, sativa. P. Flowers P. Leaves and stem much like Melilotus. C. B. &. Q. R. R. W. of Por- ter's shop. B. M. lupuli na. A. Nonesuch. Black Medidk. Pro- cumbent, downy; leaflets toothed at apex. Fiowers Y. PSORALEA. P. Erect, branching- plants or roug-h- ened especially on the calyx and pods with g-lan- dular dots; leaves 3 to 5 foliate. ••> P. Onobrychis. Nearly 3 to 5 ft.; leaves pinnate, leaflets lanceolate, acuminate; flowers P., pods wrinkled. Damp, rich lands. ' y: P. teniuiflora, florabuuda of 5th Ed. Leaves palm- ately 3 to 5 foliate; hoary-downy, small, lineas or oblong-; plant very branching: rather slender and rig-id; flowers P., J. Sept. Dry places. AMORPHA. P. False Indigo. Shrubs with odd, pinnate leaves; flowers Vi. P., in spikes. A. canescens. Covered with a white down, 1 to 3 feet; very leafy, leaflets 15 to 20 pairs small, spikes at summit. Some people imagine that this plant indicates the presence of lead, hence called Lead Plant. Dry lands. A. fruticosa. Taller, nearly smooth; leaflets 8 to BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 65 12 pairs. Banks of streams. PETALOSTEMON. P. Prairie Clover. Flowers in dense, terminal heads; stems very leafy. P. viola cens. Nearly smooth, leaflets 5, very nar- row; flowers Vi, P., J. 12 to 20 in. Dry fields. P. candidus. Smooth; leaflets 7 to 9, lanceolate; flowers W. 12 to 20 in. with the former. B. P. folio sus. Very leafy; leaflets 15 to 29, Jineas- oblong; flowers Rs. Found in 1882 by Prof. Boltwood on the McPherson place S side the road opposite the Reddick farm. TEPHROSIA. Perennial herbs whitish with long-, silky hairs. T. Virginiana. Goat's Rue. Catgut. Leafy to top; leaflets 17 to 29, linear-oblong1, small; flow-1 ers larg-e, showy in a cluster, W. ting-ed with P. Jh. J.; 1 to 2 ft. About Lover's Leap, Deer Park Tp. ROBINIA. Locust Tree. Trees or shrubs armed with prickles and having- odd-pinnate leaves and flowers in axillary racemes. R. Pseudacacia. Flowers W., fragrant. Timber valuable. M. R. viscsa. Branchlets and petioles sticky; flowers P. Ju. ASTRAGALUS. P. Milk-vetch. Leaves odd-pinnate; flowers W. in dense, thick spikes. A. Plattensis. Reclining; leaflets oblong1; in a short spike Y. W. often tipped with P. Ju. Gravelly lands. A. Canadensis. Erect, tall, 2 to 3>^ ft.; leaflets 21 to 27, oblong-; flowers G. W. in long close spikes; Ju. Dry lands. DESMODIUM. P. Tick seed. Tick Trefoil. Pods deeply toothed, covered with hooked bristles by 66 BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. which they adhere to whatever touches them. D. nudiflorum. Leaves pinnately 3 foliate, crowded at top of a flowerless stem; flowers on a long- slender leafless stem, l^j to 2% ft. long-, Pi., J. D. acuminatum. Leaves crowded at top of stem from which rises a loig- naked peduncle bearing- a raceme of P. flowers; Ju. Jl. Woods. D. rptundifolium . Prostrate, covered with soft hairs; leaflets nearly round; flowers scattered, P. 12 to 20 in., Ju'. J. Woods. D. canescens. Brect, channeled, hairy branching- leaflets longf-ovate. obtuse, whitish or netted below; pods 4 to 7 joints; flowers in dense spikes, larger than in other species, G. P. ; 3 to 4 ft. J. Aug-. Borders of woods. D. cuspidatum. Very smooth except the panicle; leaflets oblong--oval, acuminate, thinish; flowers rather scattered and panicle spreading-. P. 2/^ to 4 ft. Aug-. Open woods. LESPKDEZA. P. Bush Clover. Leaves pinnately 3 foliolate, without stipules. Flowers P. or W. L. procumbens. Slender, prostrate, hairy, except upper surface of leaves; leaflets small l/2 in., oval; flowers P. Dry rocky places. L. violacea. Uprigfht or spreading1, slender branch- ing1, leaflets thin, broad-oval; flowers few, Vi. L. capitata. Rigid, wooly; petioles short; leaflets oblong1, thickish and nettled; flowers in dense heads; W. with a P. spot. Dry soils. 111. L, ang-ustifolia. Silky; leaflets linear; heads on distinct peduncles. VICIA, Vetch. Tare Herbs climbing- by tenrlrils at the end of the pinnate leaf. V. America na Smooth; leaflets 10 to 14; ellipti- cal, obtuse, veiny; flowers 4 tc 8 on a peduncle; P., Ju. Moist fields. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 67 LATHYRUS. P. Everlasting- pea. L. ochroleucus, Wild Pea. Stem slender; leaves of 3 to 4 pairs of ovate or oval light G., entire thin leaflets. Y. W., 1 to 3 ft.; peduncles 7 to 16 flowered. L. palustris. Marsh Pea, Wild .Sweet Pea. Stem slender, angled, angles more or less winged; leaves of 2 to 4 pairs of narrows-oblong', mucro- nate pointed, entire leaflets; peduncles 3 to 5 flowered; flowers bluish P. A beautiful vine 1 to 3 ft. Middle Ju. on. APIOS. P. ' Ground Nut. Slender vine with milky juice. A. tuberosa. Leaves of 5 to 7 ovate, lance- olate leaflets; flower chocolate Br. in short, dense and often branching- racemes. ; Ju. Aug. It spring's from a tuber. PHASEOLUS. P. Bean. P. perensis. Wild Bean. Stem long-, slender, twining-. Leaves 3 foliate, leaflets roundish, ovate, short pointed; pods curved, drooping-; flowers small, P. P. diversifolius. A. Prostrate, slender, branch- ing-; leaflets ovate 3 lobed or oblong- and entire, flowers G. W. ting-ed with R. Pod straig-ht, brown, opening- with a spring- when ripe. P. pauciflorus. A. Many stems from same root, twining-, slender pubescent; leaves oblong to linear; flowers P.: pod 1 in., downy. CERCIS. P. Small trees. C. Canadensis. Red Bud. Judas Tree. Bark roug-hish, brown, branches crooked, straggling-, leaves cordate, acuminate, thin, smooth, light green, (when young P. G.) 1^ to 2/4 in. wide, flowers in small clusters, R. P. numerous, ap- 68 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. pearing when the leaves are small and succeeded by thin flat pods 1# in. long; 12 to 25 ft. M. CASSIA. P. Senna. Erect, rig-id, leafy. C. Marilandica. Stem, tall, furrowed, leafy; leaves of 6 to 9 pairs of oblong, obtuse, smooth leaflets, flowers in racemes Y. ^ in. long-, pods flat, at first hairy, becoming- smooth. C. Chamaecrista. Stem round, smooth; leaves of 10 to 15 pairs of narrow, oblong-, oblique, leaf- lets, sensitive folding- when touched; flowers Y. with violet brown eye, 1 in. dia. ; pods 1^ in. long-. 6 to 18 in. J. Aug-. Prairie. GYMNOCLADUS. A tree with rough, brownish bark. G. Canadensis. Coffee Nut. Branches few straig-ht; leaves twice pinnate, large 35x35 in. leaflets ovate; flowers whitish in terminal racemes; pod 1^ in. wide 3 to 4 in. long, thick, containing- 3 or 4 hard, grayish seeds one-half in. dia. 30 to 60 ft., 4 to 15 in. dia. 111. bottoms. GLEDITSCHIA. Honey Locust; a large very thorny tree. G. triacantha. Smooth, dark bark, much branched, and once or twice compound small clusters of small G. Y. flower, followed by long-, somewhat curved, smooth, flat pods 50 to 70 ft. 10 to 30 in. dia. Pods 6 to 10 in. Ju. DESMANTHUS. P. Herb erect, many stems from one root, grooved. D. brachylobus. Leaves twice pinnate, finely divided, folding up if touched; flowers white in close lerminal heads, pods spirallv twisted, 2 or 3 ft., J. Aug. Sands and gravel banks along- rivers. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 69 Order 33. ROSACEAE. Roses. Trees, shrubs or herbs with regular flowers numerous stamens inserted on the calyx, 1 to 5 pistils and leaves with stipules. PRUNUS. Plum. Cherry. Trees of moderate size often thorny with white flowers in cymes and a fruit enclosing1 a flattened smoothish stone. P. Americana. Thorny, 8 to 20 ft.; leaves ovate or obovate, acute, doubly serrate, very veiny, smooth; fruit roundish, Y. Or. or R.; M. Banks of streams. P. Pennsylvania. Wild Red Cherry, a small tree, Leaves oblong-, acuminate, finely serrate, shining' green; W., M. Fruit round, red, small, on long1 pedicels. 15 to 25 ft. A handsome, sym- metrical tree. P. Virg-iniana. Choke Cherry. Leaves oval, ob- long- or obovate, abruptly pointed, sharply, often doubly serrate, thin; flowers with roundish petals in short, close racemes, W. Fruit red turning- to dark, crimson; until fully ripe having- a very puckery taste. 6 to 8 ft.; bark grayish. River banks. P. serotina. Wild Cherry. Wild Black Cherry. A larg-e fine tree. Leaves oblong-, lanceolate, taper pointed, serrate, thick, g-lossy above; flowers small in long- racemes, petals obovate. W., M., fruit Bl., Aug\, 50 to 70 ft. Wood fine grained, valuable. SPIRAEA. P. Meadow Sweet. Spiraea. S. opulifolia. (Neillia opulifolia.) A many stemed shrub with recurved, grayish branches, round, somewhat 3 lobed, heart shaped leaves; flowers in corymbs. W., pods short, Old bark loose in thin layers on stem. 4 to 10 ft. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNT-Y. S. salicifolia. Common Meadow Sweet. Stem erect, hard, nearly smooth, leafy. Leaves • wedge-shaped, serrate. -Flowers small, W. or Pi. W., crowded, hi a panicle. 1%- to 3 ft. >S; lobata. ''Queen "-of the Meadows. Stems die. down to ground each year. Erect, smooth. L/eaves odd pinnate, the terminal one much the larg-est, 9 parted, lobes cut and strongly toothed. Flowers in a large panicle on a long- naked pe- " t- Iduricle;' 2^ ftf. , Ju. X A very handsome- plant. Wet ground. i-Si». ^Aruncus.. Erect;, tally 2 K to 4 ft; Smooth; ,".t.fv 1 1 leaves farg-e, ternately compound; leaflets ovate, ,M.i-nt;-ax£uminate,' • Coarsely serrate',- flowers in- long-, i " y • • .slender spikes,1 ismall\ -W. , -Ju. \ Bluffs. I • < . > GILIvENIA. Indian Physic. Bowman?s< Root, .JB^rect, « I <> , I ^branched* 'leaves' 3^ ;f dliatev leaflets lotted doubly n'».tj.> .seiiratbi acu'ter'thi'ili! veins prominent, yrtol il.•)"! lithe'lowe^; stipules narrdw; petals lotigi narrow, xji""v.i;iiPi'.!;t ifloU^er ldistant'2'ft.' In bpen wqods s;^)rbdu^ing- blossbms >'atid fruit> on-stemsiof .'» I f.Iorrbhe 'last ' years growth. •»•-•«* --*f»f) «^»p[ / ;')RilKtriflorus. Dwarf Raspberr^. '^Prafili-ngf <6 to 12 ,oh.vxJti.,: leaves of 3 to'5 ovate, doubly serrate leaf- h'.o'// letfef; 'peduncles 1 to>3 flowered/ iJuJ/ R. strig-osus. Wild Red ' Raspberry ^ Stems beset with -reddish, • stiff, straig-ht prickles, : Y«i (Br. f/->m')j Cleaves of 3 to 5 ovate,* acuminate, serrate, leaf- .f'ft.- ' M^>-' ti^'tzrfy trr.~-,r' ,';. "-R; 'OGcidentalis. Black Raspb'erry. Thimbleberry. R. villosus. Common Hig-h Blackberry. 2 to 6 ft. BOTANY OF LA SALLE QQUtfTY. .71 M. Ju. _ R. Canadensis. L/pw Blackberry, Dewberry, trail- ing-;. M. Dry fields, R. hispidus. Running Swamp Blackberry. Stems slender, prostrate, very ^prickly; flowers - small; fruit .of a.. few grains^ .Wet woods and swampy places. , :. : GIOUM. P. Avens. Erect, leafy, branched; leaves pinnate diminishing1 upward, end leaflet much. the largest, Fruit covered with hooked Jbristles bv which thev adhere to one's clothes. 11: ru...:i ,.i,.,rj ft FRAG ARIA, i Strawberayi.,^, Leaves i all radical, of 3 obovate, serrate leaflets; scape Jti any flowered; »„..>. fruit a scarlet berryn , ....... & ....:. ...... . . 4-i iF.,1 Yirgiiniana,. Leaves erect, .darJk Gv stiff, hairs of »i scape .silky. i . 4j0:,.j . ,..\,. /- . ,r..i. ,^. F. Virg-iniana, var. Illinoents.is,, . A larger, strong-er . ,,„:„:, -plant, .hairs spreading. , _,. . rf „!:..., r, .,,F. i vesca. L,eayes thin,,.. both faces, strongly veined. POTENTILLA. Cinque Foil! Five Finger,. Herbs f. .,„. . /or shrubsr.. The. flowers Y^ otherwise like thpse ,,.;/,,, .of the strawberry, i P. arguta., P. ..Erect, grayish, sto.ut, leaves pin- . ^ ,,.- nate, of ,7, to., 9. ovate, „ deeply serrate . leaflets, downy beneath. 72 BOTANY OF LA SAL,I,E COUNTY. P. Norve giaca. Stout, erect, hairy, y* to 2 ft. ; leaves ternate, leaflets obovate. P. supina*. Decumbent at base or erect, stout, leafy; leaves pinnate, 5 to 11 obovate leaflets P. paradoxa of 5th Ed. P. Canadensis. Five Finger. Slender, prostrate hairy; leaves apparently of 5 obovate, sessile leaflets. POTERIUM. (Sanguisorba of Wood) Burnet. Erect, tall; leaves pinnate," smooth, large; flowers G. W., in long spikes. P. Canadensis. P. Branched toward top; 2 to 6 ft. Wet lands; Reddick farm. ,ROSA. P. Roses. Spiny or prickly shrubs with odd-pinnate leaves, having stipules united to petiole; calyx urn shaped, becoming fleshy in fruit. Ip W. R. setigera. Climbing Rose. Prairie Rose. Mich- igan Rose. Climbing, armed with stout, nearly straight, scattered prickles. Ju. R. blanda. Early Wild Rose. Nearly smooth leaves pale G.., slightly downy beneath; leaflets 5 to 7; 2 to 3 ft. R. Carolina. Swamp Rose. Armed with stout, hooked prickles; leaves of 5 to 9 elliptical leaf- lets, dull G. above brighter below; 4 to 7 ft. Ju. Sept. Damp lands. R. lucida. Dwarf Wild Rose. Leaves shining above; leaflets generally 7; 1 to 6 ft. Damp places. R. rubiginosa. Sweet briar. Eglantine. Armed wiih strong recurved prickles and many smaller ones; Stems stout, leaves thickish, 5 to 7 leaf- lets, broad, oval, rusty beneath; fruit large, scarlet. About old places. BOTANY OF LA SAIvLE COUNTY. 73 PYRUS. Pear, Apple, Trees of medium size. P. coronaria. Crab Apple. P. arbutifolia. Choke Berry. Fruit R. or P. Looks like a wild cherry but has a very puckery taste; flowers W.; M. Ju. 2 to 7 ft. Rocky banks of streams. P. Americana. Mountain Ash. Leaves pinnate of 9 to 15 lanceolate sharply serrate leaflets; flowers in clusters, small, W.; fruit red berries in a large cluster. CRATAEGUS. Hawthorn. White Thorn. Thorny Shrubs or small trees. C. cocinea. Scarlet Fruited Thorn. . Leaves thin roundish ovate, sharply toothed, sometimes lobed, on slender petioles; flowers W.. M., 15 to 25ft. Fruit bright red. Along streams. C. tomentosa. Black Thorn. Branches gray with some stout gray thorns; leaves large, woolly beneath ovate, toothed narrowed to base; flow _ ers small; fruit red, flowers later than coccinea. C. punctata. Branches horizontal, leaves obovate narrowed to base, upper end toothed, dull; fruit large, R. or Y. C. crusgalli. Cockspur Thorn, Thorns long, slender, leaves wedge-obovate, thick, shining above, dark G., serrate above middle; fruit dull red, 10 to 15 ft. Along streams. AMKLANCHIKR. June Berry. Shad Flower. Ser- vice Berry. A. Canadensis. A small straggling tree 8 to 25 ft., producing an abundance of W. flowers in early spring before the leaves appear; leaves ovate-oblong, acute, finely serrate; fruit a red berry. Bark smooth, light gray. Along bluffs. Order 34. CALYCANTHA CEAE. Calycanths. 74 BOTANY OF LA SAL,LE COUNTY. CALYCANTHUS. Shrubs with aromatic leaves and bark and P. flowers at ends of branches; 2% to 7ft. C. floridus. Leaves oval, soft downy below. C. laevigatus. I/eaves oblong, thin, green, smooth. C. glaucus. Leaves oblong-ovate, acuminate, white below. All are found in gardens. Order 35. SAXIPRAGACEAE. Saxifrages. Herbs and shrubs. SAXIFRAGA. P. Saxifrage. Root leaves usually clustered: those of stem alternate, all thick. S. Virginiensis. Early Saxifrage. Leaves obovate narrowed into a broad petiole, crenate toothed, downy; scape nearly leafless; flowers in abroad, flat cluster, W. or P. W. ; 4 to 12 in. Ap. M. On rocks and dry hills. S. Pennsylvanica. Leaves oblanceolate, slightly toothed, 4 to 8 in. long and narrowing into a short broad petiole. Stem 1 to 2 ft. hollow, hairy, sticky; flowers in a large cluster forming a panicle. Y. G.; M., Bogs. MIT ELL A. Miller Wort. Bishop's Cap. Hairy, leaves cordate, somewhat 3 to 5 lobed in a cluster. M. diphylla. Stems slender with two cordate, acuminate opposite leaves in middle and a spike of delicate W. flowers with fringed petals; 6 to 10 in. M. Woods. HEUCHERA. P. Alumroot. Leaves in a cluster round-cordate. H. Americana. Stems 2 to 3 ft., hairy; flowers Y. M. Ju. CHRYSOPLEN1UM. Water Carpet. Golden Saxe- frage. W. C. Americanum. Leaves opposite roundish, G. BOTANY OF LA SALM COUNTY. 75 Y., stamens 8; anthers Or.; Stems square. In spring's and streams. PARNASSIA, P. Grass of Parnassus. Leaves from root, smooth; flowers solitary, each stem bearing- one clasping- leaf. P. palustsis. Scapes 5 to 10 in., leaves cordate thick shining- above, flowers W. 1 in. broad. A plant of wet springy lands, Farm Ridg-e, S. E. corner of N. E. # of Sec. 18 near A. W. Grif- fith's place. The place having- been drained it has disappeared. * About Eng-lewood, Cook Co. Also near Morrison, Whiteside Co. HYDRANGEA. Shrubs with opposite petiolate, leaves, no stipules, and flowers in larg-e cymes. H. asborescens. Smooth, branching- 2 to 5 ft. flowers G. W. outer ones larg-e, showy, sterile; Ju. Aug-. Rocky bluffs. RIBES. Currant. Gooseberry. Fruit a berry, leaves palmately lobed. R. Cynosbati, Wild g-ooseberry. Fruit covered with prickles; leaves round-cordate, 3 to 5 lobed; flowers G. Y. Jh. R. rotundifolium. Stems with whitish bark, often prickly; fruit smooth; flowers G. Y. R. oxyacanthoides. R. hirtellum of 5th Ed. Pe- duncles very short; fruit usually smooth, spines if present \vhitish; flowers G. Y. ting-ed P. R. floridum. Wild Black Currant. Leaves some- what cordate, sharply 3 to 5 lobed, doubly serrate; flowers yellow; fruit black, smooth. Order 36. CRASSULA CEAE. House Leaks. Orpines. Except Penthorum plants with thickn fleshy leaves, the flowers symmetrical; pistils, petals and sepals same number, 3 to 20 and stamens the same or twice as many. 76 BOTANY OF LA SAL,LE COUNTY. PENTHORUM. P. Ditch Stone Crop. Erect with, scattered leaves and Y. G. flowers. P. sedoides. I/eaves lanceolate, acute both ends; 10 to 15 in. In ditches and ponds. SEDUM. P. Stone Crop. Orpine. Leaves thick. juicy; petals 4 to 5; stamens 8 to 10. S. ternatum. Prostrate; leaves in 3's obovate- cuneate; flowers in a 3 rowed cyme, W. Wet clayey banks; S. Ottawa 1 mile E. of 111. river bridge on bluff side. SEMPERVITUM. Leaves thick, fleshy, fring-ed, sometimes blooms; stem 1 to \l/2 ft., flowers red. S. tectorun. Spreads by offsets, sometimes used as a border for flower beds and for walks. S. Telephium. Liveforever. Erect, leafy, smooth; leaves sessile, ovate, obtuse, serrate; flowers R. 18 to 30 in. Aug. Sometimes found by roadside. Order 38. HAMAMELACEAE- Witch Hazel. Stout shrubs or small, crooked, smooth barked trees. HAMAMELIS. Witch Hazel. Small tree flowering- in autumn — Sept. and on. H. Virginiana. Leaves obovate or o\al, crenate, obliquely cordate; thick on short petioles; flow- ers Y. in axils of leaves. Fruit a 2 celled nutlet; 10 to 23 ft. 111. Valley. Order 39. HALORAGEAE, Water Milfoils. Aquatic or marsh plants, n MYRIOPHYLLUM. W^ater Milfoil. Parts of the flowers in 4's. Leaves often whorled, flowers in axils of upper leaves. M. verticillatum. Leaves in thread-like lobes except those near the flowers which are deeply toothed. In ponds. BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. 77 M. scabratum. rather slender; leaves pinnate, floral linear, toothed. Shallow water. Order 40. MELASOMACEAE. Melastomes. Leaves opposite 3 to 7 ribbed. RHEXIA. P. Deer Grass. Meadow beauty. Petals 4, larg-e, oblique; stamens 8. R. Virg-inica. Stem square, leaves oval-lanceolate, sessile, acute, calyx and pedicels hairy; flowers P. with Y. anthers. Reddick farm. A fine plant. Order 41. LYTHRACEAE. Loosestrifes. Herbs; leaves mostly opposite, entire; calyx en- closing-'ovary but free from it. Branches usually 4 sided. DIDIPLIS. Water Purslane. Leaves opposite, linear growing- u~ider water or in the mud. Flowers small, greenish. D. linearis. Immersed leaves, long- thin, sessile; others shorter aud contracted at base. LYTHRUM. LooseStrife. Leaves mostly sessile, flowers generally P. L. alatum. P. Slender, 2 to 3 ft., branches ang-u- lar, leaves small, oblong--ovate, acute; petals 5 to 7 ,deep P. Wet lands. DECODON. P. Shrubby plants with opposite or whorled leaves in axillary clusters. D. verticillatus. Stems 4 sided, recurved; leaves pale G., lanceolate, nearly sessile. Flowers small, pale P. Ju. Sept. Swamps. CUPHEA. A. Plants covered with sticky, brown hairs. C. viscosis sima. Slender, branching-; leaves ovate- lanceolate, P. S. Ottawa and at foot of bluff W. of Covel Creek. Order 42. ONAGRACEAE. Evening- Primroses. Herbs with perfect and symmetrical flowers, 78 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. the calyx tube cohering1 with the ovary which is 2 to 4 celled LUDWIGIA. P, Flowers axillary; petals 4 or 0; stamens 4. Blooms through summer and fall; flowers Y. Wet lands. L. alternifolia. Smooth, erect, 2/^ to 3 ft., branched; leaves lanceolate, acute at both ends; capsule squarish with winged angles. Jh. Iv. polycarpa. I/eaves narrowly linear; capsule somewhat top-shaped, longer than calyx lobes. L- palustris. Water Purselane. L/eaves opposite, ovate or oval, tapering into a slender petiole. Ditches. EPILO BIUM. Willow Herb. Leaves nearly sessile; stem more or less tinged with purple as are the leaves; branches slender, fruit long, slim and angled. Wet lands. E. strictum. Erect, 2/^ ft., covered with glandular, whitish hairs; petals notched. E. Mol le 5th Ed. E. angustifo lium. Erect, tall, 4 to 7 ft., leaves scattered, lanceolate, nearly entire; flowers large P. petals entire. Jh. E. colosatum. Somewhat soft-hairy, very branch- ing; leaves purple veined, flowers Pi. 1 to 3 ft. E. palustre. Slender, 1 ft. or less, more or less branched; covered with fine hairs; leaves erect or nearty so, sessile, narrow lanceolate; margins revolute. OENOTHERA. Evening Primrose. Calyx lobes 4, reflexed; petals 4, stamens 8, leaves- alernate, flowers Y. or W. O. biennis. Stout, erect, 1 to 5 ft., hairy. O. rhombipetala. Somewhat wooly; petals broad- ovate, acute. Jh. O. sinua ta. More or less decumbent. 1 ft. rough, BOTANY OF LA SAL,LE COUNTY. 79 hairy; leaves oblong-, toothed more or less. Var. O. fruiticosa. Erect, 1 to 3 ft. more or less woolly; leaves oblong-, toothed, capsule ribbed and winged. O. ? A species with reclining1 stem, hairy, oval, acute leaves and flowers few; 1^4 broad, occurs very sparingly in damp meadows. GAURA. I/eaves alternate, sessile. G. biennis. Soft hairy, 3 to 8 ft. with spreading branches; leaves long-, narrow, some toothed flowers scattered on long-, naked branches; Pi. rather small, soon withering. Dry lands. W. G. filipes. Nearly smooth, slender, 2 to 4 ft., leaves linear, toothed. CIRCAEAE. Enchanter's Nightshade. Leaves oppo- site, thin, on slender petioles; flowers small, white, in long racemes. C. lyutetiana. Erect, 1 to 2 ft.; leaves ovate, slightly toothed; fruit bristly-hairy. Woods. B. C. alpina. Smooth, low, 3 to 8 in.; fruit with soft hairs. Order 45. CURCURBITACEAE. Gourds. STCYOS. A. Bur Cucumber. A vine with 3 forked tendrils. Flowers of 2 kinds. . S. angula tus. I/eaves cordate, sharply 5 angled. bristly-clammy-hairy. River banks. ECHINOCYS TIS. A. Prickly Cucumber. Wild Balsam Apple. Nearly smooth; tendrils 3 forked; leaves thin. E. lobata. Leaves deeply and sharply 5 lobed; fruit bristly, oval, 2 in. long; seeds brown. The staminate flowers of this genus and of Sicyos are Y, W. or W. and in large showy clusters. Order 46. CACTACEAE. Cactuses. Plants with fleshy, often prostrate stems, 80 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. usually leafless; with showy and of ten large and fragrant flowers. OPUNTIA. P. Prickly Pear. Indian Fig-. Stem made up of flattened joints; very prickly. O. Rafinisquii. Flowers large, Y. Ju. Sandy land. With Wood we prefer to regard to this genus as of one species, vulgaris, and rafinisquii as but a variety of it. We could produce plants from about Ottawa answering1 to the descrip- tions and those differing- from both. Order 47. FICOIDEAE. Chiefly fleshy, succulent plants the following- without petals. MOLL/EGO, A. Low, much branched. M. verticillata. Carpet Weed. Prostrate; leaves spatulate, in whorls at the joints; pedicels 1 flowered; Ju. Sept. Sandy lands. Order 48. UMBELLIFARAE. Umbel Worts. Flowers in an umbel, small, g-enerally W. or Y. petals 5, stamens 5. fruit small, dry, often aromatic; leaves g-enerally compound. DAUCUS. Carrot. Sometimes found in meadows. D, Carota. A common plant of the g-arden. ANGELICA. Archang-elica of 5th Ed." A. atropurpurea. Stout, smooth, purple; leaves 2 to 3 ternately divided segments, pinnate, 5 to 7 . ovate, serrate leaflets; flowers W. River banks. HERACLEUM. P. Cow Parsnip. Stout; leaves larg-e, ternately compound. PASTINACA. Parsnip. Stem grooved; flowers Y. P. sativa. Leaves pinnately compound, ovate, cut- toothed. Very common and spreading-. M1TCHELLA. Partridge Berry. A slender, trail- ing- evergreen plant. M. repens. Leaves small, round-ovate; flowers two together, ovaries united; berries Rs. Y\ in. dia. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 81 POIvYTAENlA. P. Generally smooth; leaves twice pinnate. P. Nuttallii. Plant 2 to 3 ft.; flowers bright Y. Dry places. THASPIUM. P. Meadow Parsnip. Leaves ternately divided, or the lower not with broad serrate or toothed leaflets; flowers Y. or P., fruit roundish instead of flat. T. aureum. Smooth; flowers deep Y. 1^4 to 2 ft. T. " var. Atropurpureum. Flowers P. PIMPINELLA. P. Differs from Thaspium in hav- ing- entire leaflets and the fruit oblong-. P. integ-g-errima. Slender, 1 to 3 ft., branching-, M. CRYPTOTAENIA. P. Smooth, leaves thin, 3 foliate. C. Canadensis. Plant 1 to 3 ft., leaflets larg-e, ovate, acuminate, doubly serrate, often lobed. Ju. Sept. SIUM. P. Water Parsnip. Smooth, growing- in water or wet places. S. cicutaefolium. Stout, 2 to 6 ft., leaves pinnate, 3 to 8 pairs of linear, lanceolate, acuminate, serrate leaflets, flowers small, white. C1CUTA. Water Hemlock. Smooth, growing- in marshes. C. maculata. Spotted Cowbane. Musquash Root. Beaver Poison. Stout, 2 to 5 ft. streaked with P., leaves 2 to 3 pinnate, leaves on long- petioles; leaflets long- narrow, serrate, acute, rather distant and very small for so larg-e a plant; flow- ers W. small. Root fleshy, W. A dang-erous poison. CHAEROPHYL LUM. A. Leaves ternately com- pound; leaflets with long- narrow lobes. 82 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. C, -procumbeus. Reclining; flowers W. Moist grounds. OSMORRHIZA. P. Sweet Cicely. Root thick, aromatic; leaves large ternately compound with ovate, toothed leaflets. Flowers W. • O. brevistylis. Hairy, dark G. fruit long, sharp- pointed. M. J. Damp woods. O. longistylis. Nearly smooth, wide-branching; fruit club shaped, pointed. ERYNGIUM. P. Tall, stout, rigid, whitish; leaves mostly radical, thick, stiff. E}. yuccaefolium. Rattlesnake Master. Button Snakeroot. Leaves long, narrow7, acute, bristly margined; flowers W. in close heads ^4 to ^4. dia. Prairie, damp or dry. SANICULA P. Herbs, smooth, tall, 1 to 3 ft. palm- ately lobed leases, radical ones long stemmed; flowers in a leafy looking head, fruit with hooked prickles. S. Marylan dica. Black Snakeroot. Leaves 3 to 1 parted, parts sharp toothed and serrate; flow- ers very small, G. Y. Damp woods. Order 49. ARALIA. Ginsengs. Differs from umbelliferae in the fruit being a juicy berry instead of a dry seed. Styles of pistils more than 2. ARALIA. P. Ginseng. Wild Sarsaparilla. Leaves very large 2^2 to 3 ft. broad, compound, stems P. or spotted and striped with P. A. spinosa. Stem and petioles prickly; 8 to 12 ft. Sometimes planted for ornament. A. racemosa. Stout, zigzag, smooth; flowers in small axillary umbels, G. W. fruit a small, P., aromatic berry. 3 10 4 ft. Rocky woods. A. nudicaulis. Leaf one, 3 parted, each of 5 oval, BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 83 acute, serrate leaflets; flowers in 2 to 7 umbels on a naked scape. M, Ju. Woods. A. quinquefolia. Root thick, spindle shaped; leaves one, leaflets mostly 5, obovate-oblong-, acute; fruit brig-ht R. Ju. Rich, damp woods. Order 50. CORNACEAE. Dogwoods. Cornels. Mostly small trees with bitter bark and very hard wood. CORNUS. Dog-wood. Flowers in cymes or close heads; bark of branches green or red, smooth, with brown warts. Bloom M. Ju. C. Canadensis. I/ow 5 to 7 inches; leaves in 4's or 6's flowers greenish; fruit R. Found on bank of Illinois river in Deer Park Tp. E}. of mouth of Horseshoe Canyon. 6 or 7 years ag-o; not seen of late. C. circinata. Leaves round-oval, acute; G. above; lig-hter and wooly below. Fruit lig-ht B. 10 to 20 ft., branches G., woody. C. sericea. Branches P., those of the petioles and leaves below soft-downy; leaves elliptical, acute; fruit pale B. 3 to 10 ft. C. stoloniferae. Red Osier. Branches R, P., slen- der, smooth, fruit W. or B. 3 to 6 ft., increases by runners. Wet places. C. paniculata. Branches P. gray, smooth, branch- ing-, 4 to 8 ft. Flowers W., fruit W. Damp places. C. alternifolia. Branches G. streaked with W., leaves alternate ovate or oval, acuminate, fruit deep B. 7 to 25ft. Hillsides. NYSSA. Tupelo, Pepperidg-e, Sourg-um Tree. N. Sylvatica, Branches horizontal; leaves oval, acute, or not, thick, brig-ht, glossy G., turning- crimson in autumn. A few bushes 8 to 10 ft. 84 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. hig-h on the Reddick farm on the edg-e of sand- stone about 40 rods from E. line of field. DIVISION 11. GAMOPETALEAEorMONOPET- ALEAE. The Corolla of one piece. Order 51. CAPRIFOLIA CEAE. Honeysuckles. Leaves opposite; fruit a several seeded berry. SAMBUCUS. Elder. Leaves pinnate, leaflets 5 to 11, leafless serrate, acute. S. Canadensis. Flowers W. in broad cymes; fruit- P; 6 to 10 ft. Ju. J. S. racemosa. Leaflets 5 to 7, berries brig-ht S. racemosa dissecta. Leaflets cut into long- narrow lobes. Deer Park Tp. >^ mile W. of Horse- shoe Canyon, in ravine. VIBURNUM. Arrow Wood. Flowers 2 parted; stamens 5; fruit a 1 seeded berry. Shrubs of damp land. V. acerifo Hum. Dockmackie. Leaves somewhat 3 lobed, soft-downy below; flowers W. fruit Cr. becoming- P. V. pubescens. Low strag-g-ling-; leaves long--ovate, acute, fruit dark P. Rocky places. Jh. V. dentatum. Arrow Wood. Smooth. 5 to 15 ft. bark ash color; leaves wide-ovate, sharp toothed and strong-ly veiled. J. Fruit P. V. Lentag-o. Black Hawr. Leaves ovate acuminate, sharply serrate; petioles marg-ined; berries ^ in. long- flat, black, sweet, eatable. V. prumfolium. Black Haw. Leaves oval, finely and sharpty serrate; fruit smaller than that of Lentag-o. TRIOSTEUM. P. Fever Wort. Horse Gentian. Hairy, leafy, to top. T. perfoliatum. Leaves larg-e, oval, bases almost meeting1; flowers P., axillary in small clusters; BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 85 berries Or. crowned by calyx. S YMPHORICAR POS. Snow Berry. A shrub with smallish, oval, leaves; flowers Pi. in leafy spikes and white globose berries of ^ in. dia. Ju. Sept. LONICERA. Honey-Suckle. Woodbine. Leaves entire. L. semper virens, Trumpet Honeysuckle. Flow- ers R. without, Y. within. L. Sullivantii. Whitish, smooth; leaves oval, sessile, and upper connate or united at base; flowers Y., berries Cr. L. flava of 5th EM. Jh. L. glauca. Smooth; leaves oblong, pale, 1 to 4 upper pairs connate; flowers G. Y. L. parvi- flora 5th Ed. DIERVILLA. Bush Honeysuckle. Low straggling- shrubs. D. trifida. Leaves long-ovate, acuminate short petioled; flowers pale Y., J. Aug. Rocky places. Order 52. RUBIACEAE. Madders. Leaves oppo- site; entire, connected by stipules seed pod 2 to 4 celled. HOUSTONIA. Low plants with small, narrow leaves and W. or purplish flowers in flat-heads cymes. H. purpurea. M. J. 3 to 6 in. Edges of bluffs. Ours var. ciliolata. Leaves somewhat thick. CEPHALANTHUS. Button-bush. Flowers W. in dense globular heads. C. occidentalis. Shrub. Smooth; leaves ovate, acute, shining above. In ponds and by slow running streams. GALITTM. Cleavers. Leaves whorled, stems square and generally trailing and bristly. G; Aparine. Weak and reclining! flower W., bell- 86 BOTANY OF LA SALL,E COUNTY. shaped. Among" the grass in wet lands. G. pilosum. Hairy; leaves oval, pedicels 2 to 3 forked. Dry places. G. circaezans. Smooth or downy, 1 ft.; leaves oval to long-ovate, obtuse; peduncles - once forked, flowers greenish. Woods. G. trifidum. Leaves in whorls of 4 to 6, oblance- olate peduncles 1 to 7 flowered; var. Peat swamp. G. concinnum, Leaves in 6's linear acutish. vein- less; peduncles 2 to 3 times forked. G. asprellum, Branching-, rough hooked prickles turned backward; leaves in whorls of 6, 4 to 5 on branchlets, oval-lanceolate. Rich lands. G. triflorum, Bristly roughened backward on angles leaves elliptial lanceolate, bristle pointed; peduncles 3 flowered. Woods, sweet scented. Order 53. VALERIANACEAE. Valerians. Leaves opposite and without stipules. VALERIANA. P. Roots thick, strong- scented. V. edulis. Leaves fine-hairy, of the root spatulate, of the stem pinnately parted into 3 to 7 narrow lobes, thickish, flowers W. 1 to 4 ft. Ju. Wet places. VALERIANELLA. P. Corn Salad, Lamb Lettuce. Stems forking; leaves opposite, oblong- or linear. V. radiata. Leaves linear-oblong, obtuse, toothed toward base, smooth; light G. FlowTers W. in cymes, small; 6 to 12 in. Ju. Wet springy lands. Order 55. COMPOSITAE. Sunflowers. Herbaceous or shrubby plants; flowers in close heads, surrounded by a several, many-leaved envelope, the involucre and looking like one large flower. The separate flowers — -florets--a.re small and of two kinds, tubtularV\\K those of the thistle and the middle of the BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 87 sunflower or long1, narrow and flat, strap-shaped or ligulatc. Heads made up of tubular florets are said to be discoid, of ligulate florets radiate, part of one part the other radiant. When the two occur in the same head the lig-ulate are usually around the border and are called rays, the tubular in the middle, called the disc. The calyx is represented by hairs, bristles, awns, scales and teeth crowning- the seed--ackene. The leaves of the involucre are called scales. The hairs etc., crowning1 the seed is the pappus The florets of the dandelion are lig^ulate of the thistle, E}upatorium and many others tubular, of the Aster, Solidag-a or g-olden rod both kinds. The order is divided into 3 sub-families, viz: Tubuliflorae. Florets tubular or disc tubular, rays lig-ulate. lyio-uliflorae. Florets all lig^ulate. Labiatiflorae. Florets mostly labiate. VERNONIA. P. Iron Weed. Stems leafy, leaves alternate, serrate, acuminate; heads small; flow- ers P. Aug\ 2 to 6 ft. V. fasiculata, Leaves long1, narrow; scales ob- tuse. V. altissima. Tall; leaves broader, heads not crowded. V. Novaeboracensis. Scales tipped with a short awn. EUPATORIUM. P. Toroug-hwort. Boneset. Heads small; flowers W., bluish or P., leaves opposite, J. Aug-. K. purpureum. Joe Pye Weed. Trumpet Weed. Tall; leaves in whorls of 3 to 6; flowers Pi., P.; 2 to 12 ft. K, serotinum. Leaves ovate-lanceolate coarse- serrate; W. 88 BOTANY OF L,A SALLE COUNTY. B. E. altissimum. Leaves lanceolate tapering to both ends upper alternate; W., 3 to 7 ft. Dry places. E. perfoliatum. Hairy leaves united at base; W. Damp lands. A powerful medicine; emetic and purg-ative. E}. ag'eratoides. Smooth, branching1; leaves broad, ovate, acuminate, toothed, thin; W. in larg-e carymbs. Showy and handsome. 2 to 3 ft. Woods. KHUNIA. P. Leaves alternate, toothed or entire. K. eupatorioidis; Leaves long1, narrow, flowers Y. Aug1. Dry places. LTATRIS. Button Snake Root. Blazing Star. Heads nearly sessile, in long1 spikes. Splendid plants with rigid, leafy stems. P. flowers. Ju. Aug-. L. squarrosa. Leaves stiff, long- and very narrow; scale tips leaf}^, spreading-; heads few; 1 to 2 ft. L. cylindra cea. Usually smooth; leaves linear; heads few; scales short, rounded, mueronate; 6 to 18 in. Dry places. L. scariosa. Stout, 2 to 5 ft., woolly; leaves roug-h, upper leaves lanceolate, lowest long- and petiolate; heads larg-e; scale's tips dry or colored. L. pycnosta chya. Stout 3 to 5 ft., very leafy; leaves narrow; heads many in a thick spike, small; scale tips recurved, colored. L. spicata. Smooth, leafy, 2 to 5 ft.; scale tips obtuse, close. Moist places. GRINDELIA. P. Smooth with sessile or clasping" stiff leaves. G. squarrosa. Leaves spatulate to linear oblong-; Y. Found by Prof. Boltwood in 1882 by the C., R. I. & P. R. R. 1 mile W. of Ottawa. SOLIDAGO. P. Golden Rod. Stems slender, stem leaves nearly sessile; flowers usually Y. in larg-e BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. 89 clusters of small heads. S. caesia. Stem round, smooth; leaves long-, nar- row, serrate, sessile; heads in short clusters. S. latifolia. Angular, zigzag-; leaves broad-ovate, thin. S. bicolor. Hairy, leaves broad, lanceolate, acute at both ends, little serrate petiolate; clusters of flowers form a loose spike, W. S. bicolor var. con color. Flowers Y. Our form of the plant. S. semper virens. Smooth, stout, 1 to 8 ft.; leaves lanceolate, a little clasping; flowers in a loose panicle. One specimen collected by Mr. L. A. Williams, Atty. at Law of Ottawa near the Salt Marsh in fall of 1895. . S, speciosa. Leaves thickish; panicle pyramidal. S. patula. Angled, smooth, 2 to 4 ft. leaves 4 to 8 • in. long, ovate, acute, sessate, pale, rough above, veiny below; bralches spreading. Swamps. S. rugosa. Rough-hairy, leafy, 1 to 6 ft., leaves thickish and rugose. S. neglecta. Leaves thickish, smooth; 2 to 4 ft. Damp lands. S. arguta. Stem angular; leaves ovate, thin ser- rate, lower petioles margined. Moist places. S. juncea. Smooth 1 to 3 ft., lower leaves with winged and hairy petioles, sharp sessate, racemes long, drooping. S. Missouriensis. Leaves long, narrow, margins very rough. S. serotina. Stout, smooth; leaves lanceolate, acute, serrate. S. serotina var. gigantea. S. gigantea of 5th Ed. Tall, more or less soft-hairy. 5 to 8 ft. S. -Canadensis. Rough-hairy, stout, tall, 3 to 6 ft. leaves narrow, acute, more or less serrate. Com. 90 BOTANY OF LA SAL,LE COUNTY. S. nemoralis. Grayish-hoary-hairy; panicle one- sided. S. radula. Stem and leaves very rigid and rough, G. Dry lands. S. rigida. Rough and some hoary, stout, leaf)7, heads large. A fine plant. Dry lands. S. Ohioensis. Smooth, Blender, leafy; leaves entire, sessile. Moist places. S. Riddellii. Leaves long, narrow, recurved; heads large. A beautiful species becoming less com- mon year by year. Wet lands. S. lanceolata. Rigid, rough, branching leaves, very narrow, entire. Damp sandy lands. S. tenuifolia. Smooth leaves narrower than lance- olata. BOLTONIA. P. Branching, smooth, pale G. herbs. B. asteroides. Stems 2 to 8 ft. leaves lanceolate. Along streams. B. glastifolia of 5th Kd. B. diffusa. Branches spreading; leaves lance- linear. ASTER. Starworts, Asters. Mostly perennials; flowering in autumn, disc yellow, rays W. B. P. Root and stem leaves often differ v\ idely. A. corymbosus. Slender; leaves thin, ovaie, cor- date with slender petioles. W., Woods. A. macrophyllus. Petioled margined; leaves thick. A. oblongifolins. Branched, rigid; leaves lance- olate, mucronate, some clasping, thickish, a little downy; ra}7s. V. P. A. Novae Angliae, Stout, hairy, 3 to 8 ft., leaves entire, clasping, dark G. Rays V. P., Pi., P. W. A handsome plant. A. sericeus. Slender; leaves silver-white, lance- olate, small, P. A. azureus. Stem rough, branches, slender, rigid BOTANY OF LA SAIvLE COUNTY. 91 leaves on long-, hairy petioles, rough, cor- date. B. A. Shortii. Slender, spreading- nearly smooth; leaves lanceolate, acuminate; petioles naked. B. A. undulatus. Pale G., a little woolly; petioles marg-ined or wing-ed. B. A. cordifolius. Leaves cordate on naked, slender petioles. B. A. sag-ittifolius. Petioles marg-ined. B. A. turbinel lius. Leaves tapering- to each end; marg-ins roug-h. A. laevis. Leaves thickish, clasping-, smooth, sky B. A. ericoides. Leaves short, narrow, acute. W. or purplish. Dry places. A. multiflorus. Hoar}^, soft-woolly, flowers crowded. W. or B. Sandy lands. A. dumosus. Smooth, leaves long-, narrow, crowded, entire. A, diffusus. A. miser of 5th Ed. Branching- woolly; leaves long-, narrow, pointed at both ends, serrate in middle. A. Tradescanti. Leaves very long- and narrow, serrate in middle. A. panicula tus. A. simplex of 5th Ed. Very branching-, 2 to 3 ft., forming- a panicle. A. salicifolius. A carmens of 5th Ed. Leaves shorter, thicker, and less serrate than in panic- ulatus. A. long-ifolius. Leaves very long-, 3 to 7 in. narrow, scarcely serrate. Low places. A. Novi Belg-ii. Leaves narrow-lanceolate, upper clasping-; rays B. Vi. A. puniceus. Tall, stout, 3 to 7 ft.; leaves roug-h above, smooth below. Rays lilac color. 92 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. A. umbella tus. Smooth, leafy to top, 1 to 7 ft;. leaves long-, acute at both ends; heads in flat corymbs. A. linarifolius. Several stems from a woody root, leaves about 1 in. long- narrow, rough; heads rather larg-e, rays Vi. 6 to 15 in. Sandy lands and among- rocks. A handsome plant. ERIGERON. Fleabane. Mare's Tail. More or less hairy plants with W. or P. disc. Rays thread-like, very many. M. Aug\ E. Canadensis. Bristly-hairy, erect; leaves narrow, lower toothed, flowers small. 1 to 5 ft. E. annuas. Stout, 3 to 5 ft. hairy; lower leaves ovate, toothed with marg-ined petioles, upper entire. E. strig-osus. Smaller and less branched than annuus; heads smaller with long-er rays. Ju. Aug-. E. bellidifolius. Robin's Plaintain. Hairy; heads few 1 to 9, on slender peduncles; rays rather broad. B. P. M. E. Philadelphicus. Common Fleabane. Leaves thin with a broad midrib, oblong-; heads several small. Ju. Aug-. ANTENNARIA. P. Everlasting-. White-woolly herbs; leaves narrow, entire; flowers Y. A. plantag-inifolia. Plantain Leaved Everlasting-. Ladies' Tobacco. A low plant spreading- by runners and offsets, stam. and pist- flowers on different plants; upper surface of the oval- spatulate, petioled root leaves when old are G., lower W. 6 to 15 in.; M. Poor lands. GNAPHALIUM. A. Cudweed. Balsam Woolly herbs, very branching". G. polycephalum. Erect, W. fragrant; scales BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 93 shining', dry; florets Y. Pastures and woods. POLYMNIA. P. Leaf Cup. Tall branching- sticky-hairy, strong- scented herbs. P. Canadensis. Leaves thin, lower pinnate lobed, upper triang-ular-ovate; heads small, W. Y. 2 to 5 ft. Woods, becoming- more common. Jh. P, Uvoedalia. Lower leaves palmately lobed on wing-ed petiole, outer scales larg-e 4 to 10 ft. SILPHIUM. P. Rosin Weed. Tall, roug-h resen- ous-juiced plants with larg-e heads and palish Y., flowers. J. Aug-. Seeds flat, wing-ed. S. laciniatum. Compass Plant. Hairy leaves larg-e, pinnately parted, the segments lobed. 3 to 10 ft. S. terebinthinaceum. Prairie Dock. Leaves large, cordate, rough; stem slender, smooth, nearly . leafless. 4 to 12 ft. S. trifoliatum. Stem smooth; leaves in whorls of 3 to 4 upper opposite. 3 to 4 ft. S. integrifolium. Stem rigid 4 ang-ular, grooved; leaves, opposite, rigid. S. perfoliatum. Cup Plant. Leafy, leaves united at base so as to form a cup, larg-e, ovate, coarse toothed . PARTHEN IUM. Heads small, woolly, W. Rays 5, very small, W. P. integrifo Hum. Leaves large ovate, crenate; lower lobed; dark G. Heads in small corymbs. IVA. A. Marsh Elder. Heads small in long-, slen- der spikes. I. xanthifolia. Leaves mostly opposite, hoary, roug-h, broad-ovate, toothed. 3 to 5 feet. Otta- wa. Has recently appeared here. AMBROSIA. A. Ragweed. Horse Weed. Coarse weeds. 94 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. A. trifida. Tall, rough, grooved; leaves 3 to 7 lobed. 3 to 15 ft. A. artemisiae folia. Hog- weed, Rag- weed. Leaves thin, cut into narrow lobes; stain, flowers Y. in. long1, slender spikes. 1 to 5 ft. A. psilostachya. Leaves acute, lobed, roug-h, hoary. 1 to 3 ft.. Ottawa. XANTHIUM. A. Cockle Bur. Clot Bur. Ohio Burdock. X. strumarium. A great nuisance. HELIOP SIS. P. Oxeye. Erect, smooth, branch- ing1 plants. H. levis. Leaves opposite, petiolate, ovate- lanceolate, serrate, smooth; flowrers solitary. Y. 1 to 4 ft. Aug-. H. Scabra. roug-hish; rays oblong-. ECHINACEAE. Cone Flowers. Tall, roug-h, "stem almost leafless. E. purpurea. Leaves long- and narrow; heads large, solitary, with long-, purplish, drooping- rays. RUDIBECKIA. Heads with brown conical discs and land, Or. Y. rays. R. triboda. B. Very branching-, hairy, slender, 2 to 5 ft.; leaves lobed or toothed; heads small. R. subtomeltsa. Downy; leaves lanceolate, serrate. 3 to 4 ft. R. hirta. B. Very roug-h-hairy; leaves entire; rays 1 in. long-. R. specisca. Roug-hish, hairy, with upright branches. LEPACHYS. P. Tall, slender; rays pale Y. droop- ing-, disc gray; 3 to 6 ft. L. pinnata. Hoary-hairy; leaves of 3 to 7 lance- olate, acute leaflets. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 95 HELIANTHUS. Sunflowers. Tall, stout plants. H. annu us. Common Sunflower of gardens. H. rigidus. Rough, leaves thick, rigid. H. lactiflorus. Leaves thinner than in rigigus. H. occidentalis. Hairy, slender; heads 1 to 5 on long peduncles. H. mollis. Leaves opposite, sessile, some serrate leafy to top. A. tomentossus. Stout, 4 to 8 ft.; leaves oval, clasping. H. grosse serratus. Smooth 6 to 12 ft. Leaves long narrow, acute, sessate. H. giganteus. Hairy, rough, 3 to 1Q ft.; leaves scarcely serrate. H. doronicoides. Roughish, 3 to 7 ft.; leaves sessile, ovate-oblong. H. divaricatus. Smooth; leaves opposite spreading sessile, serrate, thickish H. strumosus. Smooth below; leaves long-ovate, acute, rough above, whitish below. 3 to 6 ft. H. decapet alus. Leaves ovate, acute; petioles margined; rays about 10. 2 to 5 ft. H. tuberosus. Leaves ovate, acuminate, rough above; eometimes cultivated for its tuberous roots. W. H. angustifolius. Rough, 2 to 6 ft.; leaves linear, sessile. ACTINOMERIS. P. Leaves serrate tapering to base and running down the stem. A. squarrosa. Hairy, winged, 4 to 8 ft.; leaves alternate or opposite; rays Y. COREOPSIS. Leaves opposite, rays Y. or Y. blotched with P., rarely wholly P. C. lanceolafa. Branched at base, smooth; leaves entire, thick, heads large and showy; rays lobed. 96 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. Jh. C. lanceolata var. augustifolia. Leaves narrow, crowded. C. palnata. Nearly smooth; 10 10 15 in., leafy; leaves 3 lobed, rigid. C. tripteris. P. Tall, Gareopsis. Smooth, 4 to 9 ft.; leaves palmately 3 to 5 lobed. C. trichosperma. Smooth; leaves pinnate, 3 to 7 leaflets, serrate. Wet lands. C. aurrea. Nearly smooth, 1 to 3 ft.; leaves 3 to 7 leaflets, or undivided, serrate or lobed. Wet lands. .; ; BI DENS. Bur Marigold. Achenes or seeds flat and crowned with two or more barbed awns by which they stick to clothing. B. frondasa, Common Beggar Ticks, Stick tight. Cuckle. Awns 2. B. connata. Swamp Beggar Ticks. Seeds look shriveled, awns 4. B. cornua. Smaller Bur Marigold. Heads nodding, rayed or not awns 4, barbed downward; 5 to 30 in. Along streams. B. chrysanthemoides. Rays golden, 1 in. long; swamps. HELENIUM. Smeeze-weed. Branching from base, very leafy, leaves decarred, alternate, 1 to 3 ft: H. autumna le. Almost smooth; leaves toothed; rays 3 to 5 cleft. Damp, rich lands. DYSODIA. A. Plants with finely divided leaves and a strong odor. D. chrysanthemoides. Dog Fennel. I/eaves with thread-like lobes, opposite; rays few, short; 6 to 18 in. Waste places. ANTHEMIS. Branching with finely divided leaves; strong scented. A. cot. Mayweed. Branching from ground; slen- BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 97 der rays W. disc Y. 12 to 18 in. Roadsides. ACHILLEA. P. Yarrow. Heads small in carymbs. W. or R. A. millefolium. Stems grooved. 2 to 3ft.; leaves mostly radical, cut into hair-like divisions. TANACETUM. P. Tansy. Very bitter and strong- scented. T. vulg-are. Smooth, 1 to 3 ft., leaves 1 to 3 pin- nately divided, serrate; head almost rayless, Y. T. vulg-are. var. Crispum. Leaves crisped. Escaped from yards. ARTEMISIA. P. Bitter and aromatic herbs. A. dracunculoides. Slightly hoary; leaves linear, entire or 3 cleft; heads small, many; 2 to 5 ft. A. ludoviciana. White-woolly; upper leaves en- tire, lower cut and lobed; heads sessile. Vari- able, 1 to 5 ft. A. biennis. Leaves more or less divided; lobes linear, acute; heads in spikes forming' a leafy panicle. 1 to 3 ft. A. absin thum. A bitter, silky-hoary, shrubby plant of the g-arden. SENECIO. P. Groundsel. Leaves alternate; heads solitary. S. aureus. Golden Rag-wort. Squaw-weed. Leaves cordate, crenate; lyrate or lanceolate . lobe.d; small; heads small on long- peduncles, forming- a corymb; X in- broad, Y. 8 to 20. in. CACALIA. P. Smooth; stems tall, 2 to 5 ft., leaves alternate. C. atriplicifolius. Stems round; leaves rhomboid, angled; heads W., rayless. C. tuberosa. Stem angled and grooved, 2 to 6 ft. 98 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. ARCTIUM. B. Burdock. Heads covered with hooked bristles. A. lap pa. Leaves large, ovate, woolly, clamnw ; 1 to 4 ft. CNICUS. B. Thistle. Plants armed with sharp prickles. C. altissimus. Downy, 3 to 10 ft., leaves toothed, W., woolly. C. altissimus. var. discolor. Leaves lobed; 2 to 6ft. C. muticus. Tall, 3 to 8 ft; leaves W. -hairy be- neath, lobed. C. pumilus. Short, stout, 1 to 2 ft., hairy, bear- in"; 1 to 3 large heads; fragrant, a very pretty thistle. C. arvensic. P. Canada Thistle. Slender, 1 to 2 ft. leaves bright G. nearly smooth; smallish with wavy, prickly margins; heads small, P. A bad weed. KRIGIA. A. Dwarf Dandelion. Branched from base. K. Virginica. Small, leaves mostly radical, scapes branching; flowers Or. /one-fifth in. broad; 1 to 6 in. K. amplexicaul is, M. Radical leaves winged- petiolate; of stem clasping, 1 to 3 smooth; heads Y. 1 in., broad, 1 to 2 'ft. J. Woods and fields. HIERACIUM. R. Hawkweed. Hairy often clam- my leaves. H. Canaden se. Leaves sessile; lanceolate, acute, remotely and coarsely toothed; flowers Y. 1 to 3 ft. Dry places. H. longipilum. Hairy, leafy below, naked above. Peduncles glandular bristly. 2 to 3 ft. PRENANTHES. P. Rattle Snake Root. Stems leafy, flowers G. W. or Y., P. tinged. Naba- lusof old Ed. BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. 99 P. crepidinea. Stout, 5 to 9 ft., leaves broad- triangular-ovate, strongly toothed, petiolate nodding-. Woods. P. aspera. asper 5th Ed. Rough, downy; leaves lanceolate, toothed; 2 to 4 ft. Dry places. P. alba, albus of 5th Ed. White lettuce. Smooth, pale G. ; leaves angular, toothed upper oblong entire. Rocky places and woods. TROXIMON. P. Leaves long, narrow, acute, rad- ical. T. cuspidatum. Scape 1 ft., head large, Y. Ap. M. On old fair ground near river. TARAX ACUM. P. Common Dandelion. T. offcina le. Dens leonis of 5th EM. LACTUCA. A. Lettuce. Stems leafy, juice milky; heads panicled. L. scariola. Stem and midrib of leaves prickly; 1 to 5 ft. Everywhere. L. Canadensis. Tall, 4 to 9 ft., leaves lobed or not. Flowers Y. Hedges. L. integrifolia. Leaves lanceolate, acute, toothed or entire. L. Florida na. Leaves lobed or toothed upper often clasping, flowers B. 3 to 7 ft. Hedges. SON CHITS. Sow Thistle. Stems leafy, smooth, light G. S. olera ceus. Leaves clasping and slightly toothed with soft, spiny teeth; flowers pale Y. S. asper. Leaves divided, more spiny. Order 54. LOBELIA CEAE. Lobelias. juice acrid, milky; corrolla irregular 5 lobed; stamens 5 free from corolla. LOBELIA. Corolla split on one side somewhat two- lipped; flowers axillary, stems leafy. L. cardinalis. Cardinal Flower. Leaves oblong; 100 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. flowers scarlet 1 to 3 ft. Seen in S. E. part of Fall River Tp. 1877, and in Deer Park Tp. on Vermillion 1897. A splendid flower. L. syphilitica. P. Blue Lobelia. Great Lobelia. Very leafy, hairy, flowers B., Vi. B. pale B. 1 to 2l/2 ft. Aug-. Sept.. Wet places. L. leptos tachys. Stem weak, leaves small; flowers small scattered in a long- spike; B, 10 to 30 in. Ju. J. Meadows. Jh. L. spicata. stem slender, 1 to 4 fi.; leaves, lower obovate, upper linear; flowers B. in a long- spike. Gravelly or sandy soils. Jh. L. Kalmii. Stem somewhat angled, 1 to 2 ft., erect; leaves linear. L. inflata. ? Lobelia. Indian Tobacco. Very branching- hairy; leaves ovate, toothed; flowers small, pale B. 1 to 2 ft. Dry knolls, A power - . ful emetic, not to be trifled with. Order 57. CAMPANULA CEAE. Campanulas. Juice milky; leaves alternate; flowers scattered, corolla 5 lobed; stamens 5, pistil one; styles 2. SPECULA RIA. Venus Looking- Glass. Flowers axillary, P. S. perfolia ta. Stem erect, grooved, hairy; leaves roundish-cordate, clasping- stem; stiff; 6 to 15 in. Poor dry places. CAMPAN ULA. Flowers terminal or axillary. C. P. rotundifolia. Harebell. Very slender; root leaves round-cordate, crenate. petiolate, dark G.; of the stem long- and narrow, flowers broad bell-shaped; Vi. B. 1 in. broad; 10 to 18 in, Ju. Aug-. Bluffs and in clefts of rocks. The root leaves often wither away before the plant flowers; but they are often present. C. aparinoides. Weak, 3 ang-led, roug-h, few BOTANY OP LA SAIvLE COUNTY. 101 flowered, flowers small, W. Wet, grassy places. C. America na. A. Tall 2 to 6 ft. ; leaves lance- olate, acuminate, serrate; flowers wheel shaped, light B. 1 in. broad, in a long spike. J. Woods and along- streams. Order 58. ERICA CEAE. Heaths. GAYLUSSACIA. Huckleberry. Low, branching- shrubs. G. resino sa. Black Huckleberry. Bluffs. VAC CIN UM. Blueberry. Billberry. V. vacil lans. Low Blueberry. Bluffs. PYROLA. P. Shin leaf. Low plants, leaVes radical, P. Elliptica. Leaves elliptical dull thin; petiole margined. Scape many flowered; flowers in a 'raceme, G. W. 6 to 12 in. Woods^ W. of Starved Rock. MONOTROPA. Indian Pipe. Whole plant white. M. Uniflora. Smooth, waxy, W. 1 flowered. Turns Bl . in drying1, flowers nodding1. 3 to 8 in. Dark Woods. Order 61. PRIMULA CEAE- Primroses. DODECATHEON. P. Leaves radical, oblong-. D. Meadia. American Cowslip. Mead's Violet. Shooting- Star. Smooth; scape naked with bracts at top and an umbel of W. or Rs. flowers. 18 to 20 in. M. Ju. Hig-h banks of the 111. and Prairies. ANDROS ACE. A. Root leaves clustered; flowers small. A. occidenta lis. Scapes spreading-, 2 to 4 inch. Many flowered. Sandy places. STEIRONE MA. P. Leafy, smooth except petioles, leaves opposite, flowers Y. S. cilia turn. Erect, 2 to 4 ft., leaves long--ovate, acute. Lysimachia ciliata 5th Ed. Wet places. 102 BOTANY OF LA SAL,LE COUNTY. S. longifolium. Erect, 4 angled, slender. 1 to 3 ft. Leaves linear to spatulate, sessile, margins revolute. Ju. Aug. B\^ streams. LYSIMACHIA. Loose Strifes. Leaves glandular dotted. L. quadrifolia. Leaves in whorls of 4's or 5's, flowered, on long- hair-like peduncles; ^ in. broad, 1 to 2 ft. Ju. Wet lands. S. stricta. Leaves numerous, opposite, lance- olate, acute, at each end, often produces bulbs in the axils. L. numnfula ria. Moneywort. Creeping, leaves roundish, small, short petioled. Escaped from • gardens. ANGALLIS. Pimpernel. Spreading or prostrate plants. A. arvensis. Leaves ovate, sessile, flowers Sc. Ju. Aug. Sandy lands. SAMOLUS, Water Pimpernel. Brook- weed. S. valeriandi. Erect with obovate leaves and small W. flowers in racemes; 6 to 12 in. Wet places. Order 65, OLEACEAE. Olives. Ashes. FRAXINUS. T. Ash. Trees with petioled pinnate leaves of 3 to 15 leaflets. Timber light, tough. F. Americana. White Ash. Leaves of 7 to 9, ovate, acute, serrate leaflets; bark gray, fur- rowed, branches smooth flowers Br. Ap. M. F. sambucifolia. • Black Ash. Leaves of 7 to 11 leaflets. Wet woods. Order 66. APOCYNA CEAE. Dogbanes. Juice milky; leaves opposite generally and entire. APOCYNUM. Fruit a long, slim pod. A. androsaemifolium. Spreading-branched, usually smooth; branches forking; leaves ovate, short petiolate, light G. Flowers bell-shaped one- BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 103 fifth in. broad, Pi. Ju. J. Stem often red. Spreads by roots. Often called Wandering- Milkweed. Cult, fields. A. cannabinum. Branches upright, flowers G. W. small. In woods and by streams. Order 67. ASCLEPIADA CEAE. Milkweeds. Si Ik weed. Juice milky, flowers in umbels; fruit a pod. Seeds with a cottony plume. ASCLE PIAS. P. Milkweed. Leaves large, oppo- site, thick. A. tuberosa. Butterfly-weed. Pleurisy Root. Erect, hairy, leafy; leaves long, lanceolate, dark G. flowers Or. Y. R. in large umbels. Jn. Prairies. A beautiful plant. Juice not milky. A. purpurascens. P. Milkweed. Leaves elliptical, downy below, petiole short; flowers P. 1 to 3 ft. Prairies. A. incarnata. Smooth; juice scarcely milky; very leafy; leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute; flowers Rs. P. 2 to 3 ft. Swamps. A. cornuti. Common Milkweed. Leaves oval- oblong, 4 to 8 in. long, soft-woolly, palish G., stiff; flowers in larg-e clusters, dull P.; pods warty, 3 to 4 in. long. Jh. A. Sullivantii. Smooth, tall; leaves ovate-oblong cordate, nearly sessile, flowers P.; pod smooth. Damp lands. A. obtusifolia. Leaves cordate, clasping, oblong, very obtuse, sessile; flowers in 1 umbel, G. P.; peduncle long. 2 to 3 ft. Sandy lands. A. Meadii. Slender. 1 to 2 ft,; leaves oblong- ovate, obtuse, \l/2 to 2/4 in. long; flowers G. W. in a solitary umbel. A. phytolaccoides. Poke milkweed. Leaves broad- 104 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. ovate, narrowed to both ends, short-petioled; flowers rather large, 15 to 20 in an umbel, G. Pi.; 3 to 5 ft. Moist thickets. H. varieg-ata. Leaves 4 to 5 pairs, ovate to obo- vate, short-petioled; umbels very compact; flow- ers nearly W. 1 to 2 ft. Dry Woods. Y. verticilla ta. H/eaves thread-like, 3 to 6 in a whorl. Flowers G. W. Dry places. ACERATES. Green Milkweed. Flower*, G. W. Umbels compact. A. viridiflora. Stems several, 1 to 2 ft.; leaves oval to linear, thick; umbels nearly sessile. Sandy lands. Order 69.' GETIANA CEAE. Gentians. GENTIANA. Gentian. Calyx 4 to 5 cleft; corolla 4 to 5 lobed with folds between lobes, B. or W. D. crinita. Smooth, 1 to 1^ ft., leaves lanceolate, more or less cordate, P. G. or Br. G.; flowers larg-e 2 in. long-. Vi. B. to B. Damp places. Not common. G. quinqueflora. Slender, branching-, 1 to 2 ft; leaves somewhat clasping-, lanceolate, 3 to 7 veined; flowers pale B. ; lobes of corolla bristle pointed. G. puberula. Stems usually 1, erect, 8 to 16 in.; leaves rig-id, narrow-lanceolate; flowers clus- tered, brig-ht B. One of the last flowers of autumn. Scarce. G. Andrewsii. Closed Gentian. Flowers look like buds about to open. B. G. alba. Flowers crowded into a sort of head, W. or cream color. Corolla club shaped. J'n. MENYAN THES. P. Buckbean. Flowers on a naked scape. M. trifolia ta. Leaves of 3 oval leaflets. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 105 Order. 70. POLEMONIA CEAE. Phloxes. PHLOX. P. Leaves opposite, sessile, entire. P. panicula ta. Smooth, stout, 2 to 4 ft.; leaves long-lanceolate acute, upper often cordate; flow- ers in a large, pyramidal panicle, P. to W. Open woods. P. maculata. Wild Sweet-William. Spotted with P., slender, 1 to 2 ft.; flowers P. panicle narrow. Woods and along- streams. P. glaberrima. Slender, 1 to 3 ft., leaves narrow, long, acute, smooth except margins; flowers in a loose corymb. P. pilosa. Slender, 1 to \% ft., hairy; flowers Pi., P., Rs. R or W. Corolla lobes obovate, entire. Woods. Jh. P. anoena. P. procumbens 5th Ed. Leaves broad or narrow-lanceolate, short pointed, acute, on young shoots often ovate; 1 to \% ft. P. reptans. Has runners with thick, broad- obovate, smooth leaves. P. divarica ta. Spreading from a decumbent base, corolla pale lilac or bluish; lobes obcordate, notched at end. Woods. P. bifida. A little woolly, branched; leaves linear, whitish; corolla. P. W., lobes 2 cleft. Sandy places. S. Ottawa W. of old slaughterhouse. Also near bluff S. E. U. S. Silica Co.'s works. P. subulata. Moss Pink. Reclining; leaves linear; flowers Pi. P., or Rs. with a darker center or W.; lobes notched. Dry rocky hills. POLEMONIUM. Greek Valerian. Corolla, bell- shaped. B. or W. P. reptans. Smooth, spreading, leaves alternate, pinnate of 5 to 15 oblong leaflets; flowers in corymbs; 10 to 15 in. Never creeps. 106 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. Order 71. HYDROPHYLLACEAE. Watershields. HYDROPHYL LUM. P. Leaves long-petioled, angled or lobed; Ju. to Aug. Woods. H. macrophyllum. Rough-hairy; leaves pinnately 9 to 15 lobed; lobes toothed; flowers in a globu- lar cluster; calyx very hairy, pale P. H. Virgiiiicum. Leaf lobes 5 to 7 peduncles longer than petioles, 1 to 2 ft. Ju. H. Canadense. Smooth; leaves palmately 5 to 7 lobed; flowers nearly W. on short pedicels. H. appendicula turn. Lowest leaves pinnately lobed, of the stem palmately 5 lobed; flowers in loose clusters. ELLISIA. A. Leaves lobed, lower opposite; flow- ers whitish. B. Nyctelea. Hairy; leaves 7 to 13 lobed; peduncles in the forks or opposite the leaves, 1 flowered. Calyx enlarges in fruit. 6 to 12 in. Woods. Order 72, BORRAGINA CEA. Borages. Roug'h, hairy plants; leaves alternate, entire; calyx 5 parted; corolla 5 lobed; fruit 4 seed-like nutlets. CYNOGLOSSUM. B. Lower leaves petioled; fruit a bur-like nut. C. officinale. Common Hound's Tongue. Upper leaves sessile; flowers R. P. small, many in a spike-like panicle. ECHINOSPER MUM. Stickseed. Beggarticks. Beg- gar-lice. R. Virginicum. Branched, leaves of stem long- lanceolate, tapering to both ends, fruit a small, bur-like seed; flowers very small, B. Woods. MERTENSIA. Lungwart. smooth, leaves large, light G. M. Virginica. P. Virginia Cowslip. Bluebells. Leaves obovate veiny, of the root long-petioled; BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. 107 flowers trumpet shaped P. B. to W., Pi. at first. Along- streams. MYOSOTIS. Forget-me-not. Mouse-ear. Low, 4 to 12 in., branched from base; flowers W. M. verna. Whitish, leaves oblong-, obtuse; M. J. IvITHOSPER MUM. Root thick, red; leaves narrow, sessile; flowers Y., fruit 4 W. nutlets. L. officmale. P. Branched; leaves broad-lance- olate, acute, thinish; flowers pale yellow, small, 2 to 3 ft. Iv. hir turn. Flowers deep Or., larger. L. Canescens, Pucoon. More or less hoary, 6 to 15 in.; leaves linear-oblong-; flowers sessile, Or. M. Meadows and woods. L. ang-u«tifo Hum. longiflorum of 5th EM. Branched from base, weak, 6 to 18 in. ; leaves long-, linear, hoary; tube of corolla long-, border wavy, pale Y. Dry soils. ONOSMOD1UM. P. False Gromwell. Bristly hairy plants. 0. Virginian um. Slender, 1 to 2 ft., leaves nar- row, oblong-, flowers small, G. Y. Hillsides. Jh. O. Carolinian um. Roug-her, taller; leaves oblong-- lanceolate, acute. By streams. Order 73. CONV ALVULA CEAK. Morning- glories. Mostly slender vines or trailing- plants; flowers bell-shaped, opening- in the morning- and withering- before close of day. IPOMEA. Nil. Hairy; leaves cordate, 3 lobed; Cr. W. In fields. 1. purpurea. Common Morning-g-lory. Sparing-ly in fields. I. pandurata. Man of the Earth. Flowers larg-e, 3 in. broad W. with a purple center. Rich lands along- streams. 108 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. CONVOL, VULUS. Bindweed. Morning-glory of the farmer. C. spithamaeus. Erect, downy, 6 to 15 in. flowers W. Dry sandy lands. C. sepium. W. or Pi. Everywhere in cult, lands. C. arvensis. Prostrate, slender, leaves dark, dull G., flowers W .1 in. broad. R. Deer Park Tp. CUSCUTA A. Leafless with very slender, yellow- ish or reddish stems attached to stems of other plants. C. tenuiflora. Coarse, yellow. Wet places. C. Gronovii. Or. Showy and handsome. Damp places. C. glomerata. Flowers W. in dense clusters like ropes closely -coiled about stems of wild sun- flowers along streams. Order 74. SOLANA CEAE. Nightshades. Corolla wheel-shaped; stamens 5; leaves alter- nate pinnate or lobed. SOLANUM dulcamara. P. Bittersweet. Climb- ing; leaves entire to hastate, dark G.; flowers in clusters, B. ; berries Sc. S. nigrum. A. Nightshade. Erect, branching; leaves thin, ovate; margins wavy, toothed, fl. W.; berries Bl. Fields. S. Carolinense. P. Erect, hairy, prickly; prickles stout, Y. C. B. & Q. track N. E. of Ottawa and other places. S. rostra turn. A. Very prickly, hoary; leaves lobed; fl. Y. Rock Island tracks, Ottawa. PHYSALIS. A. Ground Cherry. Calyx inflated en- closing fruit. P. Philadelphia. Leaves ovate, oblong; corolla Vi. spotted in center; berry purplish filling calyx. BOTANY OF LA SAL,L,E COUNTY. 109 P. angula ta. Corolla not spotted, small. P. pubes cens. Often decumbent, leaves angular; corolla spotted with Br. P. IvYCIUM vulgare. Shrub with long- recurved branches, small, light G., oblong leaves; flow- ers in axillary clusters, G. P.; berries Or. R. About yards and old places. DATURA. A. Jamestown-weed. Thorn Apple. Stink- weed. D. stramonium. Smooth; leaves large, serrate toothed; corolla W.; stem G. D. Tatula. Stem P. corolla Vi. P. D. Petunia nyctaginiflora. The well known petunia, escaped from gardens. Order 75. SCROPHULARIA CEAE. Pig-worts. Stamens 2 or 4, perfect, rarely 5, in pairs; fruit 2 celled. VERBAS CUM. B. Plowers in a long dense spike. V. thap sus. Very woolly; leaves oblong, acute; flowers Y, UNA RIA. Toad Flax. Corolla spurred at base. L. Canadensis. Smooth, 6 to 30; in. leaves linear; flowers P. Iv. Cauadensis alba. PL W. Both sandy soils. Li. vulgare. Butter and eggs. Stems very leafy; flowers large, Y. or Or. Old yards. Scrophularia noda sa. Smooth, 4-sided; leaves ovate, acuminate; flowers small, scattered, G. P.; 3 to 5 ft. Jh. COLLIN SIA Verna. Slender, 6 to 20 in., leaves ovate, to long-ovate, cordate, sessile and clasping; fl. B. and W. in whorls of about 6. CHELO NE. Turtlehead. Snakehead. Erect, branch- ing, smooth. 110 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. C, glabra. Leaves narrow-lanceolate, serrate, dark G.; fl. large W., clustered. 15 to 36 in. Wet lands. C. glabrarubra. Flowers R., P. in a close cluster. Deer Park. PENTSTE MON. Corolla tubular, inflated or bell- shaped. Leaves opposite, upper clasping. P. pubes cens. viscid pubescent more or less, leaves ovate to oblong-; fl. dull Vi. or P. P. laevigatus. Nearly smooth, leaves glossy; cor- olla much inflated. P. laevigatus. Digitalis. Corolla more inflated, W. MIMMULUS. P. Monkey flower. Leaves opposite; flowers solitary. M. ring1 ens. Stem square, 1 to 2 ft. leaves oblong-, acute, serrate, clasping-; fl. Vi. P. Showy. CONNO BEA multifida A. Spreading branched; fl. pinnately lobed; fl. G. W. Along- streams. HERPES TIS rotun difolia. Smooth, creeping-; leaves roundish; fl. W. or pale B. GRATI OLA Virginia na. Stem clammy, leaves lanceolate, toothed; fl. W. with Y. Tube. G. sphaerocar pa. Smooth; leaves oblong-; 5 to 10 inches. ILLYSAN THUS ripa ria. Much branched, spread- ing, leafy; smooth; leaves ovate, toothed or en- tire, fls. axillary. VERON ICA. Leaves opposite or whorled, fls. small. V. Virginica. P. Culver's Physic. Stem straight, 2 to 5 ft., leaves whorled 4 to 7, lanceolate acute, fls. small, W. in long slender spikes. J. Aug. Woods. V. anagallis. P. Smooth, creeping and rooting at base, then erect; fls. W., P. striped. Brooks and ditches. BOTANY OF LA SAL,LE COUNTY.. Ill V. ( peregri na. A. Erect, 4 to 9 in., oval-oblong-, thick, lower pelioled, fls. W. V. arvensis. Hairy, 3 to 8 in., leaves ovate, crenate to lanceolate, entire. V. agres tis. Leaves round or ovate, crenate. SEYME RIA Macro phylla. Mullein Fox-glove. Leaves pinnately parted to entire, lance- olate; fls. larg-e 1^ in. broad, tube curved Y., 2 to 3 ft. GERARDIA. Corolla bell-shaped, P. or Y., late blooming1. Jh. G. grandiflora. Leaves more or less lobed; fls. Y. G. laevig-a ta. Leaves lanceolate, entire or lower toothed, Y. integrifolia of 5th Ed. Jh. G. auriculata. Hairy leaver except lowest lobed at base. P. G. purpurea. Branches spreading-, rig-id, leaves linear, P. G. tenuifo lia. Leaves narrow-linear, acute, fls. P., YZ in. long-. Wet lands. CASTIL LEIA Cocci nea. Painted cup. Erect, hairy; leaves of root entire, of stem deeply toothed, floral -bracts 3 to 5 lobed, scarlet toward ends, flowers pale Y. Looks like a larg-e head of scarlet flowers., 5 to 15 in. Sandy Woods. C. sessiliflora P. Grayish floral leaves, not colored. Near La Salle. PEDICULARIS. Lousewort. Leaves pinnately divided, the floral bract-like. P. Canadensis. Flowers in a short, thick spike, G., Y. and P. 5 to 12 in., M. J. Damp lands. P. lanceolata. Fls. pale Y. 1 to 3 ft. Order 76. OROBANCHA CEAE. Bromrapes. Thick or fleshy herbs, brown or yellow and usually parasitic. 112 BOTANY OF LA SAL,LE COUNTY. COOPOPHOLIS, Americana. Squaw-root. Cancer Root. Yellowish, clustered; fls. in spikes. Woods R. APHYLLON uniflorum. Plant W.; fls. P. W. 3 to 5 in. Woods. Not common. Order 77. LENTIBULA CEAE. Bladderworts. Water plants with finely divided leaves bearing- little bladders which float them at the time of flowering1, corolla 2 lipped. UTRICULA RIA. vulg-aris. Stems 2 to 3 ft.; fls. Y. Order 78. BIGNONIACEAE. Beg-nonias. Tecoma radicans. Trumpet-Creeper. Catalpa speciosa. Catalpa. Indian Bean. Order 80. ACANTHA CEAE. Acanthuses. Ruellia ciliosa. P. White-hair}', 1 to 3 ft., leaves oval, sessile, 1 to 2 in. long-; fls. 1 to 3 in an axil; corolla bell-shaped with a long-, slender tube, \% to 2 times leng-th of slender calyx, lobe's, P. \^/2 in. broad; Ju. Sept. Sandy places. Dianthera. Americana. P. Water Willows. Grow- ing-in water; 1 to 3 ft., leaves long-, narrow, acute; fls. in long- spikes; P. W. Canal, Ottawa. Covell Creek. Order 81. VERBENA CEAE. Verbenas. Vervains. VERBENA Vervains. Calyx 5 toothed; corolla short tubular with a flat border unequally 5 cleft; fls. in spikes, bracted; leaves opposite. V. officinalis. A. Branched; leaves cleft, sessile; fls. P. small in long- slender spikes. 1 to 3 ft. Common. V, urticaefolia. P. Tall, 3 to 5 ft., slender; leaves oblong'-ovate, sharp-serrate, veiny; fls. W. small in very long- spikes. V. ang-ustifolia. Leaves narrow-lanceolate, sessile, roug-hish, fls. P. in crowded spikes. Dry ground. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 113 V. hastata. Blue vervain. Tall, 4 to 6 ft. leaves 1 lanceolate, toothed; fls. P. Roadsides. V. stricta. Hoary vervain. Whitish-hairy; leaves obovate, serrate, sessile; spikes thick, fls. P. to W. Sandy lands. V. bracteo sa. Prostrate hairy, leaves cut and lobed. Fls. small, P. Sandy places. Ivippia lanceolata. Frog-fruit. Slender, creeping- leaves small, oblanceolate, deep G. serrate. Fls. in closely bracted heads, bluish W., X in broad. PHRYMA. P. Ivop-seed. Erect, branches slender, leaves ovate, coarse-toothed. Fls. P., reflexed in fruit. Q. leptosta chya. Calyx strongly ribbed, fls. P. in a long- slender spike. Order 82. LABIATAK. Mints. Mostly herbs, stems square, leaves opposite and g-enerally aromatic, corolla more or less 2 lipped, stamens 2 or 4 pairs, seeds 4 at bottom of calyx. Trichostema dichotomum. False Pennyroyal. Isanthus caeruleus. Much like Pennyroyal. Teucrium Canadense. Damp places. Germander. Collinso nia Canadensis. P. Horse-balm. Woods, MENTHA viridis, Spearment. Wet lands. M. piper ita. Peppermint. M. Canadensis. Wildmint. LYCOPUS Virg-inicus. Bug-leweed. Leaves more or less lobed; flowers small, white; 12 to 20 in. • Wet lands. L. sessilifolius. L. Europeans 5th Ed. Water Horehound. Jh. L. rubellus. Jh. L. sinuatus. 114 BOTANY OP LA SALLE COUNTY. PYCNANTHEMUM. P. Erect, leafy, leaves narrow rigid, dark G. flowers in dense heads % in. broad, W. Have a mint-like odor. \l/2 to 2 ft.; Ju. Aug. Dry grounds. P. lanceola turn. Heads downy. P. linifo lium. Smoother, leaves narrower. P. muticum. Hoary, much branched. P. muti cnm var. pilosum. Leaves thinner. Calamintha glabella. P. Fls. P.; 1 to 2 ft. Melissa officinalis. Balm. Lemon Balm. Monarda fistulosa. Wild Berg-amot. Fls. P. Rs. R., larg-e. Jh. M. punctata. Horse-mint. Fls. Y. P. spotted. Blephilia hirsuta. P. Fls. small, B, P. Lophan thus nepetoides. Giant Hyssop. Fls. G. Y. Nepeta cataria. Catnip. In hedges and fences. N. Glechoma. Ground Ivy. Gill over the ground. SCUTELLA RIA. P. Skullcap. Calyx in fruit closed and helmet-shaped; in flower bell-shaped and 2 lipped. Damp woods and along" streams. S. laterifolia. Mad-dog'. Skullcap. Smooth. Wet places. Jh. S. versicolor. Soft-hairy, somewhat sticky. S. canescens. Much branched, 2 to 4 ft. Woods. S. pilosa. Hairy, 1 to 3 ft. Dry places. S. parvula. Small, 3 to 6; fls. B. Sandy lands. Brunella vulgaris. Self heal. Fls. Vi. or Fl. Physoste gia Virginiana. P. False Dragon-head. Lady in the Lake. Erect, tall, 2 to 4 ft. smooth; leaves lanceolate, serrate' thickish, brig-bt G. Fls. in long- spikes Pi. P. spotted corolla 1 in. long-. Wet places. A beautiful plant. P. intermedia. Slenderer, leaves narrower. Dry lands. Marru bium vulgare. Horehound. Waste places. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 115 Leonu rus cardi aca. Motherwort. Calyx spiny. Stachys aspera. P. Hedge-Nettle. Fls. P. or Rs. S. glabra. Smooth. Aspera is rough. Order. 83. PLANTAGINA CEAE. Plantains. Plantago. Plantain. Leaves mostly radical, ribbed, petioled. Flowers in a long- spike. P. cordata. A larg-e plant by streams. P. major. Common Plantain. Everywhere. Jh. P. lanceolata. Hairy; scape grooved-angled. Common. P. Virginica. Small, 2 to 9 in. white-hairy. Sands. P. pusilla. Very small, 1 to 4 in., soft-hairy. DIVISION III. APETA LAE. Corolla wanting. Order 84. NYCTAGINA CEAE. Four O'clocks. Stems with swollen joints, leaves opposite, en- tire. Oxybaphus nyctagin eus. Stem thick, forking; leaves ovate, acute, thick; early flowers have a colored calyx, later do not. Order 85. ILLECE BRA CEAE. Knotweeds. L/eaves opposite, entire with scarious stipules. Any chia capil lacea. Forked Chickweed. Order 86. AMARANTACEAE. Amaranths. Flowers in more or less rough spikes, short or long, G., R. or P. Often spiny. Very common. Amaran tus panicula tus. G. R. 3 to 6 ft. About gardens. A. retroflex us. Pale G. Erect; fls. G. A. chloro stachys. Greener and smoother. A. hy bridus. Smooth. Spikes less compact. A. albus. Tumble weed. PaleG.; leaves small. A, blitoi des. Prostrate. A. spinosus. Much branched, stem reddish. Jh. A. pumilus. Prostrate; leaves fleshy. Acnid a. Much like amarantus but stam. and pist. 116 BOTANY OF LA SAIvL,E COUNTY. flowers are on separate plants. A. tubercula ta. Montelia tamariscina, Wood and of 5th Ed. Tall; 2 to 6 ft. Spikes slender, long-. G. P. About Ottawa N. of canal. Order87. CHENOPODIA CEAE. Goosefoot or Pig-weeds. Plants more or less succulent, leaves alternate and often white-scurfy, without stipules; fls. very small. Cyclolo ma platyphyl lum. A. Very branching-; leaves W. G.; 6 to 20 in. W. of Glass Works, Ottawa, Twin Bluffs, River Bank near U. S. Silica Works. Came here since 1890. Chenopodium. Leaves ang-ular, more or less toothed. C. boscian um. Slender; leaves oblong1; 2 ft. C. album. Lamb's Quarters. Leaves rhombic- ovate to linear. C. ur bicum. Leaves triang-ular, toothed, pale G. C. hybridum. Leaves triang-ular, cordate, brig-ht G., thin. C. g'lau cum . Spreading-, mealy; leaves lobe- toothed. C. Bonus Henri cus. Decumbent; leaves triang-u- lar, pale G. C. Botrys. Jerusalem Oak. Sticky; leaves sinnuate lobed. Atriplex pat ulum. S. side hydraulic basin, E. end. Sal sola kali tra g-us. Russian Thistle. Ottawa about g-lass works and near N. end of 111. bridg-e. Order 88. PHYTOLACCA CEAE. Pokeweed*. Phytolac ca dican dra. Poke, Scoke or Garg-et. Order 89. POLYGONA CEAE. Buckwheats. Stems with swollen joints, alternate, entire leaves with stipules sheathing- the stem — an ocreae—above joints; fruit Br. or Bl. 3 or 4 a no-led. BOTANY OF LA SAL,LE COUNTY. 117 Rum ex. P. Dock. Sorrel. Tall, leaves large, usually thick., fls. G., in a larg-e panicle. Fruit 3 angled. R. Britan nica. Leaves long-lanceolate, 1 ft. or more; 4- to 6 ft. Wet places. R. altis simus. Pale Dock. Gayish G., very smooth, 2 to 6 ft. R. cris pus. Curled Dock. Leaves narrow, margins crisped. R. obtusifo lia. Bitter Dock, leaves broad. R. sanguineus. Veins of leaves red. R. acetosel la. Horse Sorrel. Sorrel, small, 6 to 12 in., fls. red; sour. Polyg onum. Knot weed. Smart weed. Leaves lance- olate, acuminate. P. avicula re. More or less prostrate, pale G.; leaves small, fls. W., stamens 8. P. ramosis simum. Tall, 2 to .5 ft., branching-; leaves small, scattered. P. ten ue. Stem angled, 1 to \% ft. Dry lands. P. lapathifo Hum. A. Stamens 6. P. lapathifo Hum var, incarnatum. Leaves large. P. Pennsylvan icum. Stamens 8; peduncles glan- dular. Moist places. P. amphibium. P. Grows in water. R. P. orienta le. Princess Feather. P. Gardens. P. Persica ria. Leaves with a dark spot. P. hydropiperoi des. Ditches and wet grounds. P. hydrop iper. Water pepper. Fls G. and Rs. P. arifolium. Stem prickly. P. sagitta turn. Prostrate, square, rough, P. convol vulus. Prostrate or climbing. Fls. W. P. dumetorum. Fruit winged at angles. Fagopy rum esculen turn. Buckwheat. Podoste mon ceratophyl lus. River weed. In river. 118 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. Order 91. ARISTOLOCHIA CEAE, Birthworts. As arum Canaden se. Wild Ging-er. Hillsides. Order 94. Thymela ceae. Dir ca palus tris. Moosewood. L/eatherwood. Woods. Order 97. Santala ceae. Sandalwoods. Coman dra umbellata. Fls, in umbels G. W. 6 to ,10 m. Order 98. EUPHORBIA CEAE. Euphorbias. Juice milky; leaves generally opposite or in whorls; stamens and pistils separate on different or the same plant. Fls. in a cup-like involucre in umbels. Seeds 3 to 6. at top of a short stem. EUPHOR BIA macula ta. Prostrate, slender, hairy. E. humistrata. Procumbent, larger than maculata. E. Preslii. Branched, spreading-, 1 to 2 ft. E. marg-ina ta. Floral leaves white edg-ed. E. corolla ta. Involucre white-fring-ed, showy. E. dentata. Erect, hairy, 1 to \% ft. E. heterophyl la. Upper leaves red-edg-ed. E. obtusa ta. A. Rod warty; 1 to 2 ft. Damp woods. E. Cyparis sias. L/eafy; leaves linear, stiff. 6 to 10 in. E. commuta ta. Umbel 3 rayed; 6 to 12 in. Phyl Ian thus Carolinen sis. A. Low, slender. Jh. Croton capita tus. Densely soft-woolly. Cro tonop sis linea ris. Silvery-hoary above. Acaly pha Virgin ica. Three seeded mercury. Ricin us commu nis. Castor Oil plant. Order 99. URTICA CEAE. Nettles. MUS fulva. Slippery or Red Elm. U. American na. White Elm. Cel tis occidenta lis. Sugarberry. Hackberry. Can nabis sativa. Hemp. Cult, grounds. Hum ulus lup ulus. Hop. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 119 Maclura aurantia ca. Osage Orange. Bois d'arc. MOR US rubra. Leaves large, ovate, serrate rough above, on young shoots some are 2 or 3 lobed, fruit a long, black berry. M. alba. Leaves small, smooth, fruit small, W. URTI CA. gra cilis. Nettle. Along fences. U. dioica. Stinging Nettle. Very bristly. Lapor tea Canadensis. Wood Nettle. Pilea pumila. Stems shining, clear. Jh. Parieta ria Pennsylvan ica. Shaded, rocky places. Order 100. PLATANA CEAEX Plane Trees. Plat anus occidental is. Sycamore. Button wood. Order 101. JUGLANDA CEAE. Walnuts. Jug lans ciner ea. Butternut, White Walnut. . J. nig ra. Black Walnut. Along streams. Car ya al ba. Shell-bark or Shag-bark Hickory. C. Sulca ta. Kingnut. Not common. C. amara. Bitternut, Pignut. Order 103. CUPULIF ERAK. Oaks. Bet ula papyrif era. White Birch. Common. Al nus serrula ta. Smooth Alder. Cor yluo America na. Hazlenut. Common. Os trya Virgin ica. Hop, Hornbeam, Ironwood. Carpi nus Carolinia na. Blue or Water Beech. QUER CUS alba. White Oak. Q. macrocar pa. Bur Oak. Mossy-cup Oak. Q. lyra ta. Over-cup Oak, Swamp Post Oak. Q. bic olor. Swamp W'hite Oak. Wet places. Q. pri nus. Chestnut Oak. Not common. Q. ru bra. R. Oak Acorn, broad and short. Q. coccin ea. Sc. Oak. Leaves scarlet after frost. Q. coccin var. tinctor ia. Black oak. Q. ni gra. Bl. Jack. Barren Oak. Sandy lands. O. imbrica ria. Laurel or Shingle Oak. Ra. 120 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. Castan ea sati va. Chestnut. In plantations. Order 104. SALIC A CEAE. Willows. SA LIX ni gra. Black Willow. 20 to 25 ft. Streams. S. frag- ilis. Twig-s Y. W. or Cr. 60 ft. S. alba. White Willow. 50 to 80 ft. S. Babylon ica. Weeping- Willow. 50 ft. S. long-ifo lia. A shrub along- streams. S. rostra ta. A small tree. S. discolor. Pussy Willow. Several varieties. 4 to 10 ft. S. hu milis. Prairies, 3 to 8 ft. S. petiola ris. Stems red. Shrub. POP ULUS. Poplar, Aspen, Cottonwood. P. al ba. White Pop. Leaves whitish. P. tremuloi des. Quaking- Asp, Aspen P. gradidenta ta. Leaves round-toothed. P. balsamif era. Aments larg-e, R. P. balsamif era var. con dicans. Balm of Gilead. P. manilif era. Cotton Wood. P. dilata ta. Lombardy Pop. Old places. Sub Class II. GYMNOSPER MAE. Seeds naked. Order 107. CONIF ERAE. Pines, Conifers. Pi nus stro bus. W^hite Pine. P. resinosa. Red Pine. P. Austria ca. Austrian Pine. Plantations. Abies balsa mea. Balsam Fir. Plantations. Cones P. La rix Americana. Larch Tamarak. L- Europae a. European Larch. Both species are sometimes planted. Thu ya. occidenta lis. Arborvitae, White Cedar. Junip erus. Virg-inia na. Red Cedar. Savin. Tax us. Canaden sis. American Yew. Ground Hemlock. The last three are found along- the bluffs of the 111. especially W. of Ottawa. BOTANY OP LA SALLE COUNTY. 121 CL ASS II. MONECO'TYLEDONOUS or ENDO- GENOUS PLANTS. Stems with no distinction of wood pith and bark; leaves mostly parallel veined and sheathing1 at base, generally alternate. Parts of the flowers usually in 3's. Seeds coming up with a single leaf or cotyledon. Order 108. HYDROCHARIDA CEAE. Frog's Bits. Elode a. Canaden sis. Waterweed. Anacha ris Canadensis of 5th Ed. Slow streams and ponds. Vallisne ria spiralis. Tape grass, Eel-Grass. Order 110. ORCHIDA CEAE. Orchids. Flowers perfect, irregular and often of strange and striking forms. Roots often tuberous. LIP ARIS. Truagblade. Leaves 2; flowers several, G. P. on a scape. Moist lands. L. liliifo lia. Leaves ovate; fls. Br. P. Aplec trum hecma le. Putty-root, Adam and Eve. Leaf, one only, oval, veined, G. above, Pi. below; fls. G. Br. Woods. SPIRAN THES. Ladies' Tresses. Stem leaves small; fls. W., winding about stem forming a spike. S. cer nua. Leafy; fls. fragrant. Wet lands. S. grac ilis. Small, smooth. Hilly Woods. Goodye ra pubes cens. Leaves netted with white; fls. G. W.; 6 to 12 in. Deer Park Tp. River bluffs. Calopo gon pulchel lus. Leaf one, grass-like scape bearing several P. fls., 10 to 12 in. Bogs. Rs. Pogo nia ophioglossoi des. One large narrow- oblong leaf and a smaller one above it. fl. gen- erally one, P. In the following the flowers are spurred. All are rare. 122 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. Or chis spectabilis. Leaves 2 ovate on the ground; fls. in a spike, P.; 3 to 7 in. Woods Ra. Jh. Habenaria bractea ta. Fls. 10 to 30 G.; spur W. H. leucoph aea. Lip of fl. fringed, W. Wet places. H. psyco des. Lip fringed, P. H. fimbria ta. Fls. fewer and longer than in last. CYPRIPEDIUM. Ladies' Slipper, Mocassin Flower. Upright, downy; fls. large, lip pouch-like. C. can didum. Flowers small, W., Ra. C. parviflo rum. Low; fls. Y. C, pubes cens. Fls. larger, Y. C. spectabile. Fls. large, W., blotched with P. Order 113. IRIDA CEAE. Irises. Fleur de lis. Iris versic olor. Blue Flag. Common. Belamcan da. Chinen sis. Blackberry Lily. Sisiyin chium. Blue-eyed Grass. S. angustifo Hum. Stems flat, 4 to 12 in. B. or W. S. an ceps. Taller and usually branching. Both in meadows. Order 114. AMARYLLIDA CEAE. Amaryllids. Hypoxis erec ta. Leaves grass-like; Y. Order 115. DIOSCOREA CEAE. Yams. Dioscorea villosa. Wild Yam Root. Order 116. LILIA CEAE. Lilies. Flowers regular, symmetrical and with 6 stamens. SMI LAX. Green-brier. Usually climbing; fls. Y. G., in umbels. S. herba ceae. Carrion-flower. Tall, 3 to 15 ft. S. ecirrhata. Erect, Y?, to 3 ft. S. his pida. Stems prickly. Allium. Onion, Garlic. Strong-scented planls. A. tricoc um. Wild Leek. Leaves withering be- fore the flowers appear; fls. G. W., in a close BOTANY OF LA SALJvE COUNTY. 123 umbel on a leafless scape; J. A. cer nuum. Wild Onion. Common. A. Canadense. Wild Garlic. B. A. vinea le. One specimen reported. Cama sia Fraseri. Camass. Wild Hyacinth. Pis B. Muscari. botryoides. Grape Hyacinth, from gar- dens, Hemerocal Us Ful va. Day Lily. Fls. large, Or. From gardens. Polygona turn biflo rum. Solomon's Seal. ' Fls. in axils of leaves, G. W. Along streams. P. gigante um. Great Solomon's Seal. Asparagus officinalis. Asparagus. From gardens. Smilacin a racemo sa. Fls. in terminal cluster; W. Moist places. S. Stella ta. Maianthemum. Canaden se. Low, 3 to 5 in. Rocky woods. Uvula ria perfo liata. Bellwort. Fls. Y. U. grandiflo ra. Both around wooded hills. Erythronium Americanum. Adder's Tongue. Y. Ra. K. al bidum. Fls. W. Common. L1L IUM. Lily. Flowers 6 parted, more or less either bell-shaped or trumpet-shaped, large and- showy. L. Philadel phicum. Wood Lily. Fls. 2 to 4; Or. and P. L. Superb um. Turk's Cap, Meadow Lily. Fls. 3 to 20, Y., Or. and P.; 2 to 6 ft. TRIL LIUM. Erect, stem with 3 leaves; fls. 3 parted solitary. Woods. T. sessile. PI. sessile, P. T. recurva turn. Sepals recurved, fls. P. T. erec turn. Fruit ovate, reddish; Fl. P. or W. T. cer nuum. -Leaves large; fl. W. 12 to 15 in. 124 BOTANY OF LA SALLE -COUNTY. Order 117. PONTEDERIA CEAE. Pickeral-weed. Pontede ria corda ta. A water plant; fls. P. in a spike. Heteranthera gramin ea. Mud-Plantain. Order 118. XYRIDA CEAE. Yellow-eyed-grass. Xy ris flexuosa? Seen several years since in a swamp on Reddick farm. Believed to be ex- tinct in that locality. Order 120. Commelynaceae. Spiderworts. Tradescan tia Virgin ica. Flowers B. Common. Order 121. JUNCA CEAE. Rushes. Jun cus effusus. Common Rush. Stems leafless. J. va seyii. Leaf 3^ at base. J. ten uis. Leaves flat or channelled. J. acumina tus. stems in tufts; leaves about 2. J. nodo sus. Leaves 2 or 3, recurved. J. nodo sus var.. meg-aceph alus. Stout. Lu zula verna lis. P. Leaves flat, hair\7; 6 to 9 in. Woods. Order 122. TYPHA CEAE. Cat Tails. Typha latifo lia. P. Cat-tail. Marshes. Spartan ium. Bur-reed. Marshes. S. eurycar pum. Fruit hard, bur-like. . Order 123. ARA CEAE- Arums. Arisae ma triphyl Ium. Indian Turnip. Leaves 2 each of 3 leaflets. A. Dracon tium. Leaf, one of 7 to 11 leaflets. Symplocar pus foetidus. Skunk cabbage. Strong- scented. i Order, 124. LEMNA CEAE. Duckweeds. Spirode la polyrrhi za. Small, floating-. Order 125. ALISMA CEAE. Water Plantains. Alisma plantag-o. Water Plantain. Pis. W. small. Sag-itta ria variab ilis. Arrowhead. Fls. W. larg-e. S. gramin ea. Leaves usually long--ovate. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 125 Jh. S. caly cina. Scape weak, sepals erect. POTOMAGE TON. Pondweed. Stems rooting, leaves 2 ranked, alternate, or nearly opposite, round- ovate to linear. P. na tans. Leaves long% petioled, elliptical. P. flu itans. lonchi tes of Tuckerman. Leaves lon^f, elliptical. P. perfolia tus. Leaves roundish. In 111. river. P. pauciflo rus. Leaves narrow, linear. 111. R. P. pusil lus. Stem slender, flattish. 111. R. P. pectina tus. Stem thread-like; leaves very narrow. 111. R. Na ias flex ilis. Naiad. Stems slender, leaves nar- row. Slow moving- waters. Order 128. CYPERA CEAE. Sedg-es. Coarse grass-like plants with solid jointed tri- angular stems; flowers in heads, spikes or umbels . The stems are called culms. Cype rus. P. Galling-ale. Umbel rays unequal. C. flaves cens. Culms 4 to 10 in.; rays 2 to 4. C. dian drus. Rays 2 to 5, very short. C. acumina tus. Slender, 3 to 12 in. C. filacul mis. Slender, wiry, 8 to 15 in. C. strig-o sus. Stout, 1 to 3 ft. C. specie sus. 5 to 20 in.; rays crowded. Dulich ium. P. Culm not branched, round, hollow. D. spatha ceum. Spikelets flattened, sessile. ELEOCH ARIS. P. Spike Rush. Culms in groups, leafless, sheathed at base, each with a single terminal head. E. palus tris. Nearly round, striate, 1 to 5 ft. E. ten uis. Hair-like, 4 angfled, 1 ft. E. compres sa. In tufts, flat, striate. E. acicula ris. Hair-like, 2 to 8 in., angfular. 126 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. SCIR PUS. Bull Rush, Club Rush. Spikelets sev- eral. S. pun gens. Sharply 3 angled, 1 to 4 ft. S. laeus tris. Round; leafless, 3 to 9 ft. S. atro virens. L/eafy, 2 to 5 ft. ERIOPH ORUM. Heads W., cottony when ripe. E. linea turn. Triangular, leafy, 1 to 3 ft.; leaves flat. E. polystach yon. Rigid, 1 to 2 ft., somevvhat 3 sided. Hemicar pha suhsquarro sa. Erect, 1 to 5 inches; spikelets 2 to 3. CA REX. P. Sedges. Coarse, grass-like plants, generally growing in wet or at least damp lands. Stems jointed, mostly solid and 3 angled, leafy or not; fls. in spikes, of two kinds both in same spike or in separate spikes, on same plant or on different plants. Fruit a hard seed in a sac-like envelope. C. lurida. Obtusely angled, smooth; leaves long. C. hystri cina. Slender, sharply 3 angled. C. vesti ta. Stout, stiff, sharply angular. Jh. C. stria ta. Sharply angled, longer than leaves. C. filiform is. Very slender, roundish, smooth. C. filiform is var. latifo lia. Rough; leaves flat. C. trichocar pa. Tall, sharp angled, rough. C. trichocar pa var. imbebris. Smaller. Dry places. C. trichocar pa var. arista ta. Stouter, leaves hairy. C. fusca. Bexbauni i of 5th Ed. Sharp angled, roughish above; leaves very narrow, rough. C. stric ta. Tall, slender, in tufts, sharp angled, rough. C. gris ea. Stout; leaves one-sixth in. wide; bracts BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 127 leaf -like, longer than stem. C. granula ris. Pale colored; 8 to 24 in.; bracts broad, spreading. C. fla va. Very slender, stiff, straight, yellowish, 1 to 2 ft. C. fla va var. viridu la. C. Oedere of 5th Ed. C. f la va var. latifolia. Leaves broader, bracts very broad. C. laxiflo ra. Slender; leaves soft, one-sixth inch or less wide. C. platyphyl la. Low, 6 to 12 in., leaves ^ in. wide, 1 ft. long. C. plantagin ea. Leaves broader; dark G. Canyons. C. va ria. In tufts with runners, 6 to 15 in. Spikes G. Woods. C. Pennsylvan ica. Small, 6 to 10 in. Spikes Br. C. pubes cens. Straight, 1 to 2 ft. soft-woolly. C. stipa ta. Stout, 1 to 3 ft., sharp angled; in clumps. C. decompos ita. Nearly round, 1^ to 3 ft.. deepG. C. teretius cula. Slender, obtuse angled, rough at top. C. vulpinoid ea. Rather stiff, rough, at least above. C. Sartwel Hi. Leaves flat, with long, slender points. C. ros ea. Slender, weak, erect, 1 to 1^ ft. C. sparganioi des. Stout, stiff, 2 to 3 ft.; leaves y± in. wide, C. cephaloph ora, Erect, paleG.; leaves narrow. C. Deweya na. Leaves flat, soft, shorter than stem. C. bromoi des. Weak, in dense clusters. C. sicca ta. Has creeping as well as erect stems. C. scopa ria. Head short, thick, tawny or Br. C. adusta. In dense tufts; heads heavy, silver Br. 128 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. C. stramin ea. Spikes 3 td 8, small, globular, tawny. Order 129. GRAMINEAE. Grasses. Culms. Stems usually hollow, jointed and closed at the joints; leaves 2 ranked, the base sheathing- the stem, sheath split on side opposite blade; leaves long-, narrow— linear— acute, sometimes ending- in a long1, almost thread-like point; marg-ins sometimes revolute; flowers consisting1 of some scale-like leaflets, the 2 outer—g-lumes— the palet. Sparti na cynosuroi des. Marsh Grass, Cord Grass. A tall, coarse grass, 2 to 6 ft., leaves 2 to 4 ft. long1. Wet places. Panicum. Panic Grass. More or less hairy; leaves broad; flowers in a spreading-, slender, branched panicle. P. g-la brum. Spreading- or erect, 5 to 12 in. P. sang-uina le. Crab Grass. Finger Grass. P. capilla re. Old Witch Grass. Variable. P. autumna le. P. Leaves small, narrow, edg-es hairy. P. agrostoi des. culms flattened, erect. P. virg-a turn. Tall, 3 to 5 ft.; leaves long-, flat. P. latifo Hum. Leaves clasping-. Moist woods. P. clandesti num. Leafy to the top. P. niti dum. Leaves thick. P. depaupera turn. Branched from base or not. P. dichotomum. Leaves clustered near ground. P. laxiflo rum. Flowers larg-er than in the last. P. Crus g-al li. Barnyard Grass. Oplismenus, Wood. Also known as Cock Spur, Barn and water Grass, P. Crusg-alli var. his pidum. Very bristly. Seta ria. Bristly Fox Tail or Barn or Pig-eon Grass. BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 129 Heads long, round and very bristly. S. glau ca. Pig-eon Grass. Spike tawny. Com. S. viridis. Spike G., cult, grounds. S. Ital ica. Millet Hungarian Grass. Cen chrus. Hedgehog- or Bur Grass or Sand Bur. Sandy lands. C. tribuloi des. Known by its bur-like seeds. Leer sia Virgin ica. Cut, Scratch or White Grass. Leaves and stem prickly; plant whitish. L. oryzoides. Rice, Cut Grass. Zizan ia aquat ica. A. Water or Indian Rice. 3 to 9 ft. Water. Andropo g-on furca tus. Coarse, rigid, grass. A. scopa rius. Chrysopo gon nu tans. Indian Grass, Wild Sor- ghum. Phal aris canarien sis. Canary Grass. Ribbon Grass. Anthoxan thum odoratum. Sweet Vernal Grass. Sweet scented. Hierochloe borea lis. Vanilla or Seneca Grass. 1 to 2 ft. Aris tida tuberculo sa. Three-awned Grass. Sti pa spar tea. Porcupine Grass. Muhlinber gia Mexica na. M. sylva.t ica. M. diffu sa. Phleum pratense. Timothy. Herd's Grass. Alopecurus praten sis. Foxtail Grass. Spike cyl- indrical, soft and dense. A. genicula tus var. aristula tus. In water and Wet places. Sporob olus as per. * S. vaginaeflo rus. S. heterol epis. S. cryptan c'rus. 130 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. Agrostis al ba. White Bent-Grass. A. al ba van vulg-a ris. Red Top. A. sea bra. Hair Grass. Calamagros tis Canadensis. Blue joint. C. long-ifo lia. Dantho nia- spica ta. Wild Oats. Cyn odon Dae tylon. Boutel oua racemo sa. P. Spikes drooping-. Phrag-ni tes commu nis. P. Tall, stout, with run- ning1 roots. Eaton ia obtusa ta. P. Stems in tufts; sheaths some downy. Eragros tis rep tans. Creeping-. By streams. E. ma jor. Spreading'. Sandy lands. E. pilo sa. A. Gravelly places, E. Fran kii. Branched and spreading-. E. capilla ris. Panicle larg-e. E- pictinaceae. Dry «andy lands. Mel ica mu tica. Leaves flat, soft. Diarrhe na America na. Smooth; roots with runners. Dae tylis g-lomerata. Orchard Grass. Poa compres sa. Wire Grass. Running-; stems flattened. P. praten sis. June Grass, Spear Grass. P. Sylves tris. Stems flattish; branches in 5's or more. Gl}7ceria Canaden sis. Stout. 2 to 3 ft.; leaves long-, rougfhish. G. nerva ta. Branches become drooping-. B. G. flui tans. Leaves short, broad, smooth. Festu ca tenel la. Flowers in one-sided, panicled spikes. F. ela tior var. praten sis. Bro mus Kal mii. Wild Chess Cheat. B. secal inus. Cheat or Chess BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 131 Jh. B. racemo sus. Nearly smooth. B. eilia tus. P. Tall, fls. hairy. Agropy rum re pens. Couch, Quitch or Quick Grass. Triticum repens of 5th Ed. Jh. A. viola ceum. Spike ting-ed with Vi. Hor deum juba turn. Squirrel Tail Grass. Heads very bristly. H. praten se. Bristles short. El ymus Virgin icus. Erect, 2 to 3 ft., spike dense. E. Canaden sis. Spike nodding-. E. Canaden sis g-laucifolium. Pale G. E.. stria tus. Woolly, spike dense, thick. E. stria tus villo sus. Flowers very hairy. Asprel la hys trix. Bottle-Brush Grass. Gymnos- tichum hystrix of 5th Ed. SERIES II. CRYPTOGA MOUSor FLOWERLESS PLANTS. Plants without stamens or pistils and producing- instead of seeds small one-celled bodies called spores. CLASS III. ACRO GENS. Plants with a distinct stem growing- from the summit and usually having- leaves. SUB-CLASS I. 'PTERIDO PHYTES. Order 130. EQUISETA CEAE. Equisetum. Horse tail, Scouring- Rush. Stems jointed, ang-ular or grooved, roug-h, more or less branched. E. arven se. Low, 8 to 12 in., much branched. E. limo sum. Branches, uprig-ht if any. E. hyema le. Few or no branched; \l/z to 4 ft. Jh. E. laevigatum. Slender, pale G. Order 13L FIL ICS. Ferns. Polypo dium vulg-are. Polypod. Fruit dots round. Adian turn ped turn. Pter is aquili na. Brake. Found on leaf 2 to 3 ft. long-. 132 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. Pellae a gracilis. Small, gra.y G., 2 to 4 in. Asplenium ebe neum. Pruit dots long-, straight or curved. A. ang-ustifo Hum. A. thelypteroi des. A. Filix-foe mina. Camptosor us. rhizophyl lus. Walking- Fern. Pheg'op teris polypodioi des. Fruit dots small, round. P. hexag-onop tera. Fronds triangular, wider than long-. Aspidium Thelyp teris. Fruit dots opening- by marg-in. A. spinulo sum. Leaves spiny-toothed. A. Goldia num. Frond broad-ovate. A. marg-inale. Fruit dots close to marg-in. A. acrostichoi des. Fruit on upper end of frond. A. lonchit is. Frond long-, narrow, rig-id. Cystop teris bulbif era. Fronds narrow, long-- pointed. C. frag- ilis. Fronds shorter. Onocle a sensib ilis. Fruit on a separate frond. O. Struthiop teris. Struthiop teris German ica 5th Ed. Wood sia liven sis. Small, tufted plants. Rocky places. W. obtusa. Osmun da reg-al is. The larg-est of our ferns. Very rare. O. claytonia na. Common. O. cinnanom ea. Woollv. Order 132. OPHIOGLOSSA CEAE. ' Botrych ium Virg-inia num. Moonwort. Damp Woods. B. lanceola turn. Damp wood. BOTANY OF LA SAIvL,E COUNTY. 133 Order 133. LYCOPODIA CEAE. Club Mosses. Rare. Jh. Lycopo dium lucid ulum. Canyons. Very rare. L. annotinum. Canyons. L. clava turn. Canyons. Selaginel la rupes tris. Sandy, rocky lands, S. a pus. Jh. Iso etes melanop oda. HESPERIS. Rocket, Dames Violet. H. matrona lis. Tall, 2^ to 3^ ft. Stout; leaves lanceolate, serrate, acuminate, mostly petiole; flowers purple, fragrant; Sometimes found by roadsides and in fields. Escaped from gardens. SISYMBRI UM. Hedg-e Mustard. S. officinale. Upright, branching-, tall, 1 to 3 ft., leaves lobed, pods upright, pressed close to stem; flowers small, Y, Waste places. S. canes cens. Leaves finely divided; Y., Apr. 3 to 12 in. S. Thalia na. Leaves small, roundish, slig-htly toothed, hairy; 2 to 6 in. high; W.; Ap. Sandy lands. THELYPO DIUM pinnatifidum. Smooth; often branched, root leaves cordate on slender petioles, stem leaves clasping1, ovate-oblong1 sharply and doubly serrate, 2 to 6 in. long, lower ones on winged petioles, sometimes bearing one or two pairs of lateral lobes; flowers P.; M. Ju. Banks of streams, orchis hesperedoi des of 5th Ed. BRAS SIC A. Cabbage Mustard. B. sinapis trum, Upper leaves barely toothed; pod knotty; Y. on green fields. A troublesome weed. 134 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. B. al ba. White Mustard. Pods bristly; leaves all deeply toothed. B. ni gra. Black Mustard, Pods 4-cornered; leaves with a larg-e terminal or end lobe and smaller lateral or side Y." Becoming- common in culti- vated fields. Capsel la. Shepherd's Purse. Bur sa pastoris. Hoary green root leaves deeply toothed, stem leaves arrow-shaped; pod small, triang-ular; flowers W. small. An exceedingly common weed. LEPID IUM. Peppergrass. Lt. Virgini cum. Pod roundish with a notch at top; upper leaves narrow, entire, lower deeplv toothed, all tapering- at base, W., 6 to 12 in. Common; grayish G. Order 11. CAPPAR1DA CEAE. Capers. POL A NISI A graveo lens. Leaves 3 narrowly-oval leaflets, brig-lit green, sepals 4; plant hairy, clammy; flowers small, calyx P., petals Y. W. Has a strong- pung-ent smell. Gravelly, sandy places, along- streams; 8 to 18 in. Pods short and thick. CLEO ME. Petals with claws, entire; pod long-, slender, many seeded; leaves 3 foliate. Fls. Rs. or W. C. integrifo lia. Calyx 4 cleft, petals with short claws, leaflets narrowly lanceolate to oblong-; 2 to 3 ft. We saw a few specimens of this plant S. W. of the C. B. &Q. depot, South Ottawa, three or four years ag-o, have not seen it since. Order 13 CIST A CEAE. Rock Roses. HELIANTHE MUM. Canadense, erect, leafy, leaves long-, oval, nearly sessile, hairy, Y. Opening- in the morning- and closing- g-enerally before BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. 135 noon, 1 in. dia. ; Ju. Later the flowers have no petals. 6 to 15 in. Dry sandy loams. A. Minor erect, with numerous slender, spreading1 branches, leaves linear, flowers small, brown, in loose racemes, 8 to 12 in., leaves very narrow, y& in. long1, hairy. Order 14. VIOLA GEAR. Violets. Herbs with an irregular 5 petaled corolla, one of the petals more or less spurred at base, stamens 5 close around the ovary and sometimes united. Leaves alternate with stipules. VIOLA. P. Violets. Hearts Ease. Sepals forming- ears; petals unequal, the lower one-spurred at base; stamens 5 closely surround- ing1 the ovary or united. V. peda ta. Birdfoot -Violet. Leaves 3 to 5 parted, lateral divisions 2 to 3 parted. All long1, narrow, often wider it apex than at base and sometimes toothed; flowers larg-e, 1 in. broad, pale to deep lilac or blue. May. Sandy banks. Var. bi color. The two upper petals deep V. and velvety. V. pedatifl da. Leaves all palmately 5 to 7 parted; divisions 2 or 3 cleft; lobes linear; flowers large, blue. Dry soils. V. palmata. Common Blue Violet. Leaves round- ish-cordate, crenate; sides rolled inward when young1, later often lobed, the lobes obovate to linear: B. Poor lands. Var. cuculla ta. Later leaves not lobed. V. sagfittata. Arrow-Leaved Violet. Leaves long-, ~ • O ' obtuse, eared at base, dentate. Sometimes arrow-shaped, etc., on more or less margined petioles; flowers Y?. in. broad. P. B. Dry lands. V. lanceola ta. White Violet. Lance-leaved violet. 136 BOTANY OF LA SALLE COUNTY. Leaves long-, narrow, obtuse, often erect; petiole long- margined; W. M. and Sept. This plant blooms both spring- and fall, but not through the hot weather. Moist, sandy lands. V. pubes cens. Yellow Violet. Downy Yellow Violet. Soft-downy, branching-, 8 to 12 in. high leaves broad-cordate, toothed, acute; fls. Y. veined with P.; fruit oblong, downy. Woods. INDEX. PAGES. Abreviations 34 Area 2 A Strange Feature 39 Black Ash Swamp 38 Calceferous Beds 7 Cement Beds 7 Carboniferous Strata 3 Classification of Plants 29-30 Climate 10 Coal Measures ... 3-10 Comparison of Florae 21-22 Coveli Creek 6,37 Definitions 24-29 Distribution of Plants 19-21 Draining 17 Drift 4-6 Evolution 31 Explanations 23 25 Florae 40 Forest, effect of 17-18 Geuua 30-31 Glacial Action 5 Geography 2-3 Geology 3 Hailstorms 16 How Plants Travel 35 36 M ean Annual Temperature 12-13 Interesting Localities. . . : 37 Lake Superior 5 Brackish Water Flora 39 Niagara Rocks 5-6 Origin of Drift 5 Position of County 1 Quantity of Seed 34 Species 30-31 St. Peter's Sandstone ... 6-10 Rainfall 15-16 Reddick Farm 37 References 40 Surface 2-3 Table oi Strata. 9 Table of Temperature 14-15 Table of Rainfall 16 Thunder Storms 16-17 Valleys 11 Varieties 31 Variation 33 Weeds Following Preface ADDENDA. The Salt Marsh is a swale, now drained, situated about 5^ miles southwest of Ottawa at the foot of the Illinois bluffs. A salt spring exists here and an artesian well bored some thirty years ago, about forty rods southwest of Mr. Delbridge's residence, furnishes a consid- erable volume of salt water. The water is not salt enough to be of value as a source of salt. The vegetation of the vicinity presents some brackish water features.