The Flora of Benzie County
Loading...
Files
Authors
Overlease, Edith
Overlease, William
Issue Date
2014-05-22
Type
Technical Report
Language
en_US
Subject
Benzie County , Benzie , 1985 , West Chester University , Ferns and Fern Allies , Gymnosperms and Monocots , Choripetalous Dicotyledons , Sympetalous Dicotyledoneae , Flora of Benzie County
Alternative Title
Abstract
Benzie County, bordering Lake Michigan in northwestern Lower
Peninsula Michigan, is the smallest county in the state. It consists
of 202,200 acres comprising 316 square miles. The flat to
rolling topography is nearly entirely the result of deposition of
the Wisconsin glacial period approximately 10,000 years ago. Terminal
and other glacial moraines and out wash plains provide the
habitat for a northern hardwoods plant community e which with its
variations originally covered nearly 75% of the county. The dominant
species were Sugar Maple, American Beech, Red Oak, Eastern
Hemlock, Yellow Birch, White Ash, and American Basswood. American
Elm was once common on the moister sites. It has been virtually
eliminated in the County by the Dutch Elm disease in recent years.
Since logging of this forest at the turn of the century, Sugar
Maple has become very abundant as sprout growth with Eastern Hemlock
and Yellow Birch much less common than the early records and
observations indicate. Rich spring wildflower displays are
found on finer textured moraine soils with northern hardwoods, and
are good indicators of soil profile development.
Description
Partial OCR done. Four parts. Part I: 19 pages. Part II: 60 pages. Part III: 98 pages. Part IV: 53 pages.