NOTES ON THE FLORA OF SANDUSKY.
W. A. Kellerman.
The visitor or student at the Lake Laboratory will find in the neighborhood of Sandusky a flora in many respects peculiar and richer in species perhaps than in any other region of similar area in the state of Ohio. For our knowledge of the Sandusky plants we are indebted mainly to the continued and energetic explorations of E. L. Moseley, teacher of botany in the Sandusky High School. Our visits to the region have been numerous, and many weeks have been spent in herborizing during the last few seasons. Mr. Moseley’s Sandusky Flora (Ohio State Academy of Science, Special Papers No. 1) and additions by myself and Mr. Griggs reported before the Academy of Science, and published in The Ohio Naturalist, Vol. 1, fully represent our knowledge of this interesting flora to date.
In the “Sandusky Flora,” page 2, Mr. Moseley states that “the surpassing richness of the Sandusky flora is not due to the fact that it includes islands within its territory, for scarcely any of its species are confined to the islands; nor is it in a very large measure due to the fact that it includes species that are confined to the lake shore; but rather to peculiarities of climate and geological features, both of which depend to some extent on the proximity of the lake.”
Plate 7.
AT THE BOAT LANDING.
Space will allow reference to but few of the interesting and rarer plants. On Cedar Point and a few other places the Prickly pear, Opuntia humifusa, appears in great abundance, but is reported for no other stations in Ohio. The illustration (Fig. 1) shows a patch of this plant, and also indicates the sparse vegetation in the open sandy Black Oak woods of Cedar Point. Here we found three specimens of the rare Lea’s Oak, one fine specimen of the common Juniper (Juniperus communis), two specimens of the Sand cherry (Prunus pumila), none of which are given in the “Sandusky Flora” for this place, and one only—the Juniper—for Catawba. Of other rare or specially interesting plants for this point the following may be mentioned: Ammophila arenaria, Panicum virgatum, Salix glaucophylla, Salix sericea, Euphorbia polygonifolia, Pinus strobus, Stipa spartea, Chenopodium leptophyllum, Lepargyraea canadensis, Œnothera rhombipetala, Artemisia caudata, Arctostaphylos uvaursi, Symphoricarpus pauciflorus, Utricularia gibba and Lacinaria scariosa.
By no means the least interesting vegetation on Cedar Point are the dune plants, many species of arenophilous species, and efficient soil binders. Some idea of the appearance of a few of such plants may be gained from the cut (Fig. 2), which shows one of the sand hills held exclusively by the roots of the Red Cedar. Other similar hillocks are held by one of the wild grape vines, Vitis vulpina, and many other plants. The tufts of some of the grasses, especially Panicum virgatum, can be seen in the same illustration.
At Marblehead and Catawba the flora is equally rich in local and interesting plants. Huge Buckeyes occur, one of which measures nine feet and two inches in circumference. The Red Oaks are numerous and remarkably variable in their fruits. There occurs Zygadena elegans and Kœleria cristata, Meibomia illonoensis, Solanum rostratum, and Picradenia acaulis—all western species. The Lakeside Daisy, as the Picradenia has been locally named, is especially attractive. It occurs in one place in Illinois, but otherwise known only far west of the Mississippi river.
Elsewhere, and especially in the prairie region of Erie county, there occur such rare species as Aletris fainosa, Aristida gracilis and A. purpurascens, Salix candida, Prunus cuneata, Psoralea pedunculata, Rhexia virginica, Eryngium yuccifolium, Asclepias obtusifolia and A. sullivantii, and Helianthus mollis.
The bay is even richer, presenting acres and acres of Nelumbo, Sagittaria, Potamogetons, Rushes, Reeds, Duckweeds, Polygonum, Ceratophyllum, and others too numerous to mention. The innumerable and unenumerated Algae must not go unmentioned—here, as in many other lines, the enthusiastic students will reap a rich harvest.
Plate 8.
Fig. 1.—Prickly Pear in Woods of Black Oak, Cedar Point.
Fig. 2.—Sand Held by the Roots of Red Cedar.
KELLERMAN ON PLANTS OF CEDAR POINT.