THE FLORA OF THE JACK-PINE PLAINS OF MICHIGAN. W. J. BEAL. THE Southern Peninsula of Michigan in no place rises into what may be termed mountains, as the highest plateaus are only about 1, 200 feet above the surface of Lakes Michigan and Huron. The drift is very thick and rocks are seldom exposed at the surface. The nature of the soil varies according to the rocks from which it is formed, whether it is made from shale, granite, limestone, or sandstone, either one of these pure or whether from a mixture of two or more. The Waverly group is represented over a large part of the surface and it contains much sand-rock. 18 As almost every one knows, the Southern Peninsula of Michigan has a fine climate tempered by the Great Lakes which surround it on three sides. A good deal of the surface of the Northern half of the Peninsula which we are considering is sandy, or in some places a sandy loam. In such a climate as ours, the soil to a great degree determines what naturally grows upon it. Or, to state the reverse, an expert soon learns to judge of the nature of the soil by what he sees growing upon it. This sandy soil rests on similar sand of great depth. It dries out quickly after a rain, and is then especially liable to be burned over, the burning often destroying every living plant above the surface. The fire removes much of the vegetable matter, so that the new growth is often thin and is more liable than ever to become dry and burn over again and again. Such land is often gently rolling, and with scattering low trees presents an attractive appearance. It looks as though it would make a nice farm. The ease with which it can be cleared has induced many a man to purchase and begin to establish a home. Owing to the poor soil and improper management, after a few years many have abandoned their homesteads in discouragement. Many now believe in the words of the late State Geologist, C. Rominger, "That the productiveness is so soon exhausted and its moisture so soon lost, that it can never be used for agriculture on a large scale with any prospect of success." Whether the latter statement be true or not, it is not now my purpose to attempt to decide. I call your attention to a list of seventy-two species of plants, all of which are almost certain to be found in considerable quantity on any extended area of Jack-pine plains : Helianthemum Canadense Michx., Frost weed Viola pedata L., Violet Viola Canina var., Violet Polygala polygama Walt., Pink Polygala Ceanothus Americanus L., New Jersey Tea * Prunus pumila L.,. Sand Cherry Prunus Pennsylvania L. Wild red or Pin Cherry * Prunus Virginiana L., Choke cherry Rubus Canadensis L., Dewberry Rubus hispidus L., Dewberry Fragaria Virginiana var. Illinansis, Strawberry Potentilla Canadensis L., Five-finger, Cinque-foil Potentilla tridentata Ait., Three-toothed Cinque-foil # Amelanchier Canadensis var., oblongifolia Torr. & Gray, Dwarf June berry (Enothera biennis L. Evening Primrose Aralia hispida Michx. Bristly Sarsaparilla Diervilla trifida Monch., Bush Honeysuckle Houstonia purpuria var. longifolia Gray. Houstonia Liatris cylindracea Michx., Blazing Star * Solidago memoralis Ait., Golden-rod * Solidago sp. Golden-rod Solidago sp Golden-rod * Aster sp ... Aster 19 * Aster sp ... Aster *Erigeron Canadensis L. Horse Weed Erigeron strigorus Muhl. Daisy Fleabane Antennaria plantaginifolia Hook., Plantain-leaved Everlasting Gnaphaleuns decerrens Ives, Everlasting Rudbeckia hirta L., Cone-fower Helianthus divaricatus L., Wild Sunflower Cricus pumilus Torr., Low Thistle Krigia amplexicanlis Nutt., .. Dwarf Dandelion Hieracsum venosuw L ... Rattlesnake Weed Campanula rotundifolia L., ........ Bluebell Gaylussacia resinosa Torr. & Gray .... Black Huckleberry .Vaccinium Penusylvanicum Lam., Dwarf Blueberry *Vaccininm Canadense Kalm.,. Low Blueberry * Vaccinum vcilans Solander Low Blueberry *Arctestaphyler Uva wrsi Spreng., ... Bearberry * Epigaa repens L., Trailing Arbutus *Gaultheria procuwbens La,. Wintergreen Apocynum androsawifolium L .. , ... Dogbane Lythospermum hirtum Lehm., ... Hairy Puccoon Convoluulus spithamius, L. C. Low Bindweed Melampyrum Americanum Michx., Cow-wheat Menarda fistulesa L., Wild Bergamot Rumex' Acetosella Lunus Sheep Sorrell Comandra umbellata Nutt Bastard Toadflax *Comiptonia asplenifolia Ait., Sweet Fern Quereus alba L.p White Oak *Quereus coccinea Wang., Searlet Oak *Quereus tinctoria Bartram. Black Oak *Salix humulis Marshall, Low Willow *Populus tremuloider Michx., Aspen Populus grandidentata Michx., Large-toothed Aspen *Pinus Bankriane Lambert, Scrub or Jack-pine Pinus resinosa Ait. Red or Norway Pine Pinus strobus L. White Pine Majanthemuem bifolium D. C., Two-leaved Solomon' Seal *Carex Pennsylvanica Lam. ,Pennsylvania Sedge Panieum depauperatum L ... Panic Grass Panicum dickotomum L., Panic Grass *Andropogon provincialis Lam,, Finger or Beard Grass, or Turkey Foot *Andropogon scoparius Mich., Beard Grass *Oryzopsis Canadensis Torr., . Mountain Rice Agrostis scabra Wild., Hair Grass * Danthonia spicala Beauv., Wild Oat-Grass Kaleria cristata Pers., Kceleria Festuca ovina L Sheep's Fescue "Pteris aqulina L.p. Lycopodium complanatum L .." Eagle-Fern Lycopodium complanatum L. Club-Moss The twenty - seven species marked with a * appear to be the most abundant everywhere on the pine plains. 20 The list consists of representatives of twenty-seven families, of fifty- four genera, and of seventy-two species. Were we to include all the plants ever found on such plains and all found in the neighborhood of the plains, we might find, perhaps, nine hundred species or twelve times as many as we find on the plains. The above list is as nearly typical as I am able at present to make it, and is the result of repeated studies over a large extent of territory. The families of plants best represented on the plains are the ROSACEÆ, nine species, COMPOSITÆ, fifteen species, VACCINEÆ, seven species, and GRAMINEÆ, nine species. The following large and prominent families of the State are not rep- resented in the list above given: RANUNCULACEÆ, CRUCIFERE, CARY- OPHYLLACEÆ, SAXIFRAGACEA, UMBELLIFERÆ, ORCHIDACEE. The most remarkable of all is the absence of LEGUMINOSE, though the family contains 6,500 species and is the second in size only to the COMPOSITÆ. Of the list of seventy-two species, sixty-eight are perennials and four are biennials. The perennials are mostly persistent plants and well adapted by long deep roots and root-stocks to live in poor soil which is subject to severe droughts. Most of them are admirably adapted to surviving after a severe fire has burned over the ground and killed the tops to the ground. After a few generations, most likely Norway Pine, and White Pine would disappear, but Pinus Banksiana or Jack-Pine is admirably adapted to continue its existence in a succession of seedlings. It grows rapidly, bears seeds when very young in large quantities. The cones, when ripe, open slowly to part with their seeds. Burning of plants below the trees, killing the trees or from some other cause, the old cones open and scatter seeds after a fire has killed the pines. The ground is then ready for a new crop to succeed the old trees. A very large per cent. of seeds from cones four to seven years old will germinate; in one case 85 per cent. in a trial of over 200 seeds. The number of biennials given in the above list is remarkably small, and there are no annuals in it. In this list is a thistle and two species of flea-bane, which seed freely and the wind aids in sowing the seeds. The evening primrose seeds abundantly and often on the plains grows in a globular form, a foot to two and one-half feet in diameter. When ripe it loosens its hold on the soil and becomes a "tumble weed," rolling for considerable distance before the wind and scattering its seeds on the way. In like manner I might prolong this paper by showing the special adaptation of each of these plants in the above list to survive the severe tests applied to it on these sandy plains.