. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1992 Catling, Catling, and McKay-Kuja: Rice Lake Plains 81. Figure 4. Prairie and savanna near Alderville, within the region of the once extensive Rice Lake Plains. The trees are Black Oak {Querciis velutina), White Pine (Pinus strobus). Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) and Paper Birch {Betiila papyrifera). Taller shrubs and saplings are conspicuously absent due to ground fires. Plants among immature prairie grasses in foreground are Butterfly-weed (Asclepias tiiberosa). Tall Cinquefoil {Potentilla arguta) and Showy Tick- trefoil {Desmodium canadense). Among the provi
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1992 Catling, Catling, and McKay-Kuja: Rice Lake Plains 81. Figure 4. Prairie and savanna near Alderville, within the region of the once extensive Rice Lake Plains. The trees are Black Oak {Querciis velutina), White Pine (Pinus strobus). Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) and Paper Birch {Betiila papyrifera). Taller shrubs and saplings are conspicuously absent due to ground fires. Plants among immature prairie grasses in foreground are Butterfly-weed (Asclepias tiiberosa). Tall Cinquefoil {Potentilla arguta) and Showy Tick- trefoil {Desmodium canadense). Among the provincially or regionally rare plants occurring within the area of this photograph were Asclepias exaltata, Carex richardsonii, Cirsium discolor, Panicum perlongum, Panicum praeco- cius, Polygala polygama. Ranunculus rhomboideus, and Solidago arguta. However, most of his reports from the plains are doc- umented by more recent collections by the authors, the exceptions being Aster undulatiis, Lechea minor, Pycnanthemum virginianum, Rosa Carolina and Trifolium stoloniferum. Of these, the first two and the last are the most unlikely. Vouchers for these were not found at CAN, DAO, QK, TRT and MTMG (Holmgren, Keuken and Schofield 1981). Significance of the early botanical observations The vast majority of species reported by both Traill and Macoun (Table 1) are native species of open habitats that are restricted in their Ontario dis- tributions, and more than half of them are character- istic species of eastern prairie remnants and/or the former midwestern prairie continuum. This list is certainly not complete, but it nevertheless gives a very clear picture of a prairie. The early botanists understood the phytogeogra- phy and relationships of the Rice Lake Plains flora remarkably well. Traill realized that the plains con- tained plants that were restricted to prairie habitats, but she also knew some of the other prairie habitats where they occurred. She wrote: "A number of exquisit
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