Pike County, Illinois - Chapter 4: Important Labors of the County Commissioners' Court, 1880 (part 2 of 2)

ISptir'jes. - Spotte«l spiirj^c, an lierh ^rowin«; in«»re prostrate tlnin all others, on cultivHti'*! ground; milky; no visible thtwers. Three other species of spurge are ahnoft common. Three-seeded Mercury, known in former years to inhahit only the dark fore.nt. has followed io our city residences where it can tii»d a similar situation. Croton is common near the rivers; an insigniticant little herb.

Nettle ^>n/t'r.-()f the Klin family are the white and the >li|ipery elm and the luK-kU-rry, -the tir^t mentioned aljundant, the other two Rcarco. Of tlio Bread-friiit and Fig family is the red mulberry, which is scarce. Uf the Nettle family prt»per are the true nettle (rare), wo«m| riettle (enmm»»n\ richwrrd. jiellitory, hemp and hop. Uichweed, or clear»vee«l, like the Mercury «tf the lat«t paragraph, has followed man to his artificial groveu and is very ahun- (lant on flat ground under heavy shade-tree8, in some places. It is rennirkable that b^^tani^ts have placed in this order the Osage orange trett. of our hedges, the brea<l-fruit tree of the far-olf I'acitic isles, the tig and the hanyan, antl the |M>ison upas of the Eji^t Indies.

W'lilnxd K'liHily. - lilack ar d white walnut (butternut) are well known. Three species of shell-bark and two of sino<ith-bark, besides (>ecan in the river Utttoms, are common in this country. The list comprise-* the shag-bark, the we^tern shell-bark, the mockernut or white-heart, the pi<;-nut or bri»om, bitter-nut or swamp hickories, and the }>ecan. The latter used to l>e abundant in the river bt»ttoms, but the larger trees having In-'en cut out for both the timber and the fruit, most of the jjecan gn»wth n<»w is too young to priKluce much fruit.

Oak Family. - This family comprises not only the oaks but also the chestnut, lK?ech. hazel-nut and iron-wood. Some of the oaks hvl»ridize so much that it is <iifficult to keep track of the species and varieties. White oak, of course, tJikes the load here as elsewhere, but the blackjack is alnint as abundant. The latter is usually the ".second grt»wth," and is as good as hickory for tirewo<»d. Bur-oak, sairlet oak and black oak (yellow-barked, or quercitron) arc Common. Laurel or shingle oak, yellow chesfnut oak and red oak are occusionall}' met with. Laurel oak is so called on account of the shape of its leaves, and is also called shingle oak, on account of its iKjing so good in pioneer times for clapi>oards. Two species of iron-wood flourish here. They belong to different fjeiiera, one liavin<r seeds in clusters of involucres resemblini^ hops: hence it is called ho]> hoi-nbeam. The other iron-wood or hornbeam is also calletl blue or water l)eech.

Willoivs. - The most common willow, as well as the largest, is the black; then the ])rarie, glaucous, heart-leaved, shining and long-leaved. The black and the shining willows have tough twigs which are very brittle at the base. Several other species of willow occur, but are rare. The quaking asp, or American aspen, the cotton-wood, balm-of-Gilead, Loinbardy ]>oplar and silver-leaf, or white ])oplar, are well known.

Arum Family. - Indian turnip (Jack-in-the pulpit) abundant; skunk cabl)agc common in wet places sup])lied by spring-water; sweet flat? and green dragon verv rare.

Water- Plcintain Family. - Arrowhead (two species, with several variations) is abundant. Has large, arrow-shaped leaves and white flowers in threes, and grows along the sloughs. Water plantain is sometimes found : grows in same situation as last.

Amaryllis Family. - The star-grass is common. It is a modest little grass-like plant, ])utting forth its conspicuous, yellow, 3-petaled fl.iwers in June.

Iris Family. - The larger blue flag is becoming rare. The blueeyed grass looks like the star-grass just mentioned, except that the flowers ai-e white or pale blue.

Lily Family. - Purple trillium, or three-leaved nightshade, is abundant: flowers in May. One otlier species of trillium sometimes occurs. Bellwort is an early flower in the woods. Smaller Solomon's seal and false s))ikenard are common. Wild orange-red lily is common in the margins of prairies which are not pastured and have never been broken. White dog's-tootli violet and great Solomon's seal are re])orted hero. It is another earlyflowering plant of a similar appearance to the last and in similar situations. Squill (eastern quamash, or wild hyacinth) is said also to be found in this county. Wild garlic, having tups like our garden top-onions, and wild leek are common in low places not pastured.

Sedges. - '^\\vn* are three or>four dozen species i»f sed^jc i^ntwijiij within the limits tit" any one county, hut they are all uiiim|»tntant j)lants. They have a gra*s-like aopearance, hut cjin readily he distini^uished fr.»m the grasses hv tlieir having triangular stems and hur-iikc to|)S(>ei'd clustc'r^). while the grasses have round or roiind*- ish stems. What is generally wille<l lake grass along the rivers is a true sedge, and its English name is great bulrush. It is by far the largest of the sedges. The river club-rush is next in size.

Oi'iiKKen. - \\\\\Q grass takes the lead for prevalence an«l utility. Next, two species of fox-lail. liesides these the juost common grassrs are while grass, rice cut grass, Indian rice or water oats, timothy, rush grass (two species), bent grass, woo<l reed -grass, drup>ti'd (two genera); reed l)ent-grass, blue joint gnuss, porcupine gras-, freoh-water (Mnl-grass, Koeleria, Katonia (two sj»ecie8\ melic grass, fowl meadow gniss luid its congener, (Jlyceria tluilans, low siKjar-gmss, reii t«»p, Kragroslis (tliroo species), fescue (two species), cliebs, Uromjis ciliatus, rood (a tall, liroom-corn-like grass growing in di'use fiflds in the swamps of the river bottom), hordenm pratense la kinj <»f wild barley ), two species of ly me grass or wild rye, )M>ttle-brusli grass, re<'d canary grass, I'aspalum, wire grass, eight s|>ecies of panic-grass, among them tw«> kinds of tickle-grass and one oMwitch grass, crab-<;r«ss ant) barn-yard gntss, sand-brr (in sand) and two species of beard-gra">s, AIkmU tw<» dozen other kind-* i»f irrass can Ijo found in the c«>uiitv. but thev are all very rare

Fenin. - Maiilen-hair, brake, a sjileenwort, a shield fern, a blad- -ler-fern and the sensitive fern arecuminonin the order here name<l, while t»ne sjiecies of llowering fern aiid two «»r tliree other ferns mav be found.