USA > Illinois > Pike County > History of Pike County, Illinois : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons and biographies of representative citizens > Part 25
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Before settlement, by the whites the prairie was mostly covered by two or three kinds of grass. Several other kinds grew in patches here and there, notably the Indian grass and blue joint, which grew very tall. In wet places grew "slough " grass and many sedges, and along the channeled sloughs abounded several species of golden-rod, aster and wild sunflower, which in the lat- ter part of summer and in autumn formed waving yellow stripes across the prairie, and were peculiarly charming. They seemed to have a sedative effect upon the feelings.
About 2,300 species of plants are found within the United States, 1,600 of which can be found in Illinois, and about 950 in Pike county. We now give a list of all the common plants grow- ing spontaneously in Pike county, and some of the most interest- ing rare ones, excepting mosses, mushrooms, etc .; and we name all the trees and shrubs, rare as well as common. We give the English names, following Gray's Mannal, fifth edition, mainly, in respect to names, and altogether with respect to the order in which the families range. By the way, we make a few corrections of popular errors as to names. Some names, even in the books, are applied to two or more different plants, as sycamore, button snake- root, black snakeroot, goose-grass, hair-grass, loosestrife, etc. Also, every plant has several names,-communities differing widely in this regard. We endeavor to select the most common name as we can judge from Gray's Botany.
Crowfoots .- Common virgin's bower, a vine, and Pitcher's vir- gin's bower, a half vine, are occasionally found : the leather-flower, a cultivated vine bearing large, blue flowers, is of the same genus. The Pennsylvanian, Virginian and wood anemones occur here and there. Liver-leaf (" liver-wort") is common on forest hillsides. Rue anemone, and the early, the purplish and the tall meadow-rues are common in the woods. The true buttercups of the East are not found here, but the most common flower corresponding to them is the creeping crowfoot. The small-flowered, the hooked, the bristly and the early crowfoots also occur. Isopyrum grows in moist, shady places. Marsh marigold is common in early spring, growing in mud supplied with fresh water : in the East they are called " cowslips " and sometimes used for greens. Water plantain spearwort, growing in inud, and yellow water crowfoot, growing in water and with the submersed leaves finely divided, are seen occa- sionally. Wild columbine, so easily recognized by its resemblance to the cultivated species, abounds in the margins of the woods ; so also two species of wild larkspur. Yellow puccoon is very scarce. White baneberry is occasionally seen in the deep woods.
Custard-Apple Family .- The papaw is common along the Illi- nois river. It fruits better in Calhoun county than Pike, being of a more modern growth here. This is a fragile bush, with large
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leaves, bearing fruit about the size and appearance of short, thick, green cucumbers, which have a pulp like the banana. To " learn" to like them one must merely taste of them at times far apart.
Moonseed Family .- Canadian moonseed is abundant in the woods. It is a smooth, twining vine like the morning-glory, with a beautiful, round, yellow root, which has a tonic-bitter taste, and is. sometimes called sarsaparilla. The true wild sarsaparilla belongs to the Ginseng family.
Barberry Family .- May-apple is abundant and blue cohosh somewhat rare.
Water Lilies .- The pond, or white water lily, is abundant in large, open ponds in the river bottoms, and the yellow water, or frog lily, growing in shallow, stagnant water, is scarce, as is also the yellow nelumbo, a similar plant.
Poppy Family .- The well-known blood-root is the only repre- sentative of this family growing wild in this country.
Fumitory Family .- The celebrated Dutchman's breeches is the only member of this family in our woods. Bleeding heart is of the same genus.
Mustard Family .- Marsh cress is common ; lake cress, grow- ing in water, is sometimes seen; and horse-radish flourishes beyond the bounds of cultivation. Pepper-root, an early-flowering plant, is common in the dense forest. Two varieties of spring cress are fre- quent. Two species of the delicate little rock cress are also fre- quent. Hedge mustard is the most common mustard-like weed that grows on cultivated and waste grounds. Tansy mustard is rare. Black mustard, the type of this family, flourishes on culti- vated and waste grounds. White mustard is very rare at the present day. Shepherd's purse is abundant early in the season,- a weed everywhere : its.seed-pod is triangular, somewhat inflated, and in shape resembles a shepherd's purse of the olden time. Wild peppergrass is common in late summer : seed-pods, wafer-form. Whitlow grass grows in sandy ground. To the Mustard family belong the radish, turnip and cabbage of our gardens.
Caper Family .- Polanisia, a fetid pod-bearing plant, is com- mon on sandy ground, and is extending along the railroads where sand and gravel are deposited.
Violets. - Common blue violet is abundant, the other kinds more rare, namely, hand-leaf, arrow-leaved, larkspur, bird.foot, downy yellow, etc. Heart's-ease belongs to this order.
Rock-Rose Family .-- Frost-weed grows in sandy soil, and pin- weed on dry ground.
St. John's-worts .-- Two or three rare species are found in this ·county.
Pink Family .- Starry campion, sleepy catchfly, corn cockle, sandwort, long-leaved stitchwort and forked chickweed are found here and there. Common chickweed and three species of mouse- ear chickweed and bouncing bet are more common. Carpet weed
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is common on the sand; it grows in the form of a bunchy lamp- mat.
Purslane Family .-- Akin to the beautiful portulaca is our uni- versal purslane, often called " pursley." Spring beauty belongs to this family. It is one of our earliest spring flowers, and may be distinguished by the plant's having but two leaves, long and nar- row and somewhat fleshy. The flower is a light rose color, with deeper veins.
Mallows Family .- Common, or low mallows and velvet-leaf, or Indian mallows are very abundant. The latter is a tall, pestiferons weed about our fields, with seed-vessels resembling poppy-bolls. Sida and bladder ketmia, or flower of an hour, are common. To this order belong the hollyhock and okra, in cultivation.
Linden Family .- Bass-wood, known as lin among Southern peo- ple, is the only member of this family growing here.
Geranium Family .- Wild crane's-bill is common in early spring, having a solitary, rose-colored flower on the summit. Carolina crane's-bill is rather rare. Spotted and pale touch-me-nots are com- mon in moist, shaded places, growing in dense patches. The bal- samine of enltivation is of the same genus. Yellow wood-sorrel is everywhere, and here and there the violet wood-sorrel prevails to some extent. This is erroneously called " sheep-sorrel." Sheep, or field sorrel grows on sandy or gravely ground, has lance-shaped and pointed leaves, obscure flowers, and seeds like pie-plant or yellow- dock, while wood-sorrel grows mostly in clay soil, has three leaflets like clover, showy flowers, and seeds in a pod. The two sorrels be- long to different orders, but have a similar taste.
Rue Family .- The northern prickly ash, a common shrub in our woods but growing scarcer. and the still rarer hop-tree, are the only members of this family in Pike county. Garden rue is of the same order, or family.
Cashew Family .- In America this would seem to be rather the sumac family. The smooth sumac is common everywhere, fragrant sumac abundant in sandy ground, and poison ivy is common along fences-some places abundant. The latter is a coarse, woody vine with innumerable rootlets, and has three leaflets to each leaf, with these leaflets sometimes partly divided. When the plant is young it can be distinguished from box-elder by the latter having a white " bloom " on the stem; and at all times it can be distinguished from Virginia creeper ( American ivy, an innocent plant ) by the latter having five leaflets to each leaf, and the whole leaf in shape like that of buckeye.
Vine Family, that is, the grape-vine family .- Virginia creeper, just described, is as abundant as any weed. The winter, or frost grape is common, but the summer grape, a delicious fruit, is very scarce, if indeed it can be found at all in this county. It used to be abundant, but the vines have been destroyed by reckless grape gatherers.
Buckthorn Family .- The noted red-root, or New Jersey tea, a
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
shrub in the margin of prairies and to some extent in all other sit- uations, is the only representative of this family here, and it is be- coming rarer by the encroachments of cultivation and pasturage. The leaves make very good tea.
Staff. tree Family -- The climbing bittersweet and waahoo are all there are of this family in our limits. The former is a smooth, woody vine, common in the woods, climbing by simply twining. and bearing orange-colored berries in elusters, often called wax- work and used in ornamentation. This vine is often called simply bittersweet, but the true medical bittersweet is a very different plant, scarcely a vine at all, and not growing wild in this county. The waahoo, or burning-bush, is a real bush of about the size and proportions of a plum- tree; its twigs have four white lines, and its crimson fruit in autumn after the leaves have fallen are very showy. The flowers are dark purple.
Soapberry Order includes the Maple, Bladdernut and Soapberry (proper) families. Of the maples the most common are the sugar and the white. The latter is one of the soft maples, the red maple of other sections of the United States being the other. The red does not grow in this county. Box-elder is sometimes called ash-leaved maple, and belongs to this family. The American bladdernut is a tree- like shrub about 10 feet high, producing large three-lobed, in- flated seed pods. The Ohio buck-eye is common in the river bot- toms.
Milkworts .- Seneca snakeroot and two other species of milkwort are found in this region.
Pulse Family .- This large family is characterized by having seeds in pods like beans and peas, which are members of the family. The first in the list, according to the books, are the clovers,-red and white. Two other species of this genus occur, indeed, but are too rare to enumerate here. Then the white sweet clover, more recently escaped from cultivation; then two species of prairie clover, almost extinct. Goat's rne, false indigo (Amorpha) and lead plant abound on dry, sandy loam in river bottoms. The common locust was in- troduced here, but this is too far north for it to be hardy enough to withstand onr winds and the borer. A honey-locust occurs here and there. One milk vetch is frequent. Six species of tick trefoil abound. These are those plants in the woods bearing " pods" of triangular, flat burs. Two species of bush clover are found here. One veteh (tare) and one marsh vetehling, ground-nut, kidney bean, false indigo (Baptisia) and wild senna are found here and there. Hog peanut, called wild pea or bean by some, abounds everywhere in the woods. Red-bud is an ugly little tree except in the spring before the leaves appear, when the whole top is of a beautiful purplish-red from the blossoms. Partridge pea is abundant "in spots," grows like a weed in low places, 20 inches to 2 feet high, has leaves like a locust, and bears a very large yellow flower. The sensitive plant may be found within the bounds of this county,
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but if so, it is very scarce. Kentucky coffee-tree is rare. It is famous for its beautiful compound leaves and glossy beans.
Rose Family .- Most of our fruits come from this family, as the apple, peach, plum, cherry, strawberry, etc. The wild plum (yellow or red) is becoming very scarce. The wild black cherry is abun- dant; the choke-cherry is a shrub found occasionally. Nine-bark, common meadow-sweet and goat's-beard are species of spiræa fre- quently found. Agrimony is a coarse herb occasionally found, having leaves resembling those of the strawberry and bearing a kind of drooping bur; plant about two feet high. One species of avens is very common; three other species are found. Common cinque- foil, or five-finger, resembles the strawberry very closely, and abounds in dry soil. Norwegian cinquefoil has similar leaves, but the plant is coarse and grows three feet high; not common. Another species is also found. One species of wild strawberry abounds in retired situations; it was common over the original prairie. The blackberry and the raspberry prevail here as elsewhere, but their sylvan terri- tory. is narrowed to close limits by the encroachments of man. Of the roses proper the dwarf wild rose is the most common, but its territory is also very limited now-a-days. The early wild rose occurs. Three species of red haw (hawthorn) occur, and two varieties of one species. The black, or pear, thorn is the most common, with two varieties, then the scarlet-fruited thorn, and lastly the cockspur thorn. The crab-apple is well known.
Saxifrages .- Two or three species of gooseberry are common; swamp saxifrage and a species of alum-root are sometimes met with.
Orpine Family .- Ditch stonecrop is common during wet seasons.
Evening Primrose Family .- Common evening primrose, en- chanter's nightshade, and one species of willow-herb, are common; seed-box, water-purslane, sun-drops and two other species of false loosestrife occur occasionally.
Loosestrife Family .- One species not infrequent.
Gourd Family .- The wild balsam-apple is a vigorous, herba- ceous vine, bearing bur-like fruit, about cultivated grounds, and the one-seeded star cucumber flourishes in the shaded river bottoms.
Parsley Family .-- This family is characterized by having their seed-bearing tops like those of parsnips. Most of the poisonous plants growing in this country belong to this family. Two species of black snakeroot prevail in this county. Parsnip itself is becoming a common weed in open but protected places; and there may be found here and there the cow parsnip, cowbane, meadow parsnip, spotted cowbane, rattlesnake master, two species of water parsnip, honewort, chervil, two species of sweet cicely, poison hem- loek. Of the whole family the most poisonous are the spotted cowbane and poison hemlock.
Ginseng Family .-- Ginseng, on account of its popular medical qualities, has been pretty well thinned out. The true wild sar-
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siparilla (a plant of the appearance of a large ginseng) is some- times found, and spikenard is common in the forest ravines.
Dogwoods. - The most common dogwood is the white-berried, or panicled cornel: next the rough-leaved, the alternate-leaved, the flowering, the silky, and lastly the red-osier.
Honeysuckle Family .- Common elder is becoming too abun- dant. Yellow honeysuckle is common. Horse gentian, or fever- wort, is a forest weed bearing 5 to 10 yellow berries in a circle around the stem at every place where the two opposite leaves are attached. The true black haw is scarce, but sheep- berry, which is generally called black haw, is common.
Madder Family .- Two species of the small bed-straw are abundant, and the sweet-scented is common, while occasionally may be found cleavers, or goose-grass. Wild liquorice occurs arely. These herbs are all of a flax-like appearance, having sev- eral beautiful little leaves in a whorl at each joint. Button bush is common in wet ground.
Composites .- This order is by far the largest of all. Its flowers are compound, that is, there are several, sometimes many, small Howers crowded close, together in a head, as sunflower, lettuce, dandelion, aster, chrysanthemum, May-weed, etc. Their time of flowering is generally late in the season.
Iron-weed is common on flat ground: its summit in August is " beautiful royal purple. Four species of button snakeroot (one called also blazing star) are abundant on protected original prairie, And occur nowhere else. Five species of thoroughwort grow here, That called boneset being abundant. The species called trumpet, or Joe-Pve weed, is a tall, interesting weed, with 3 to 6 leaves in each whorl, that is, at each joint. Kuhnia is not rare; it resembles boneset. Mist-flower grows in our limits. Of the asters there are about 30 species growing within this county, about half of them very common. The flowers have a starry appearance: hence the name. The most remarkable of them is the New England aster, a large purple flower along the roadsides in September. Five species of fleabane, similar to the asters in appearance, are com- mon, namely, horse-weed, which is abundant on waste and culti- vated grounds, Robin's plantain, common fleabane. and two daisy fleabanes, one of them called also sweet scabions. About 18 species of golden-rod can be found in this county, only half of them common, however. The most abundant is the Solidago Canaden- sis. From these much honey is made by bees in September. Four species of rosin-weed used to prevail on the original prairie, but their territory is very limited at the present day. The most noted of them has divided leaves, and is also called compass plant, or polar plant, the leaves having once been thought to point north and south. They do indeed stand with their faces somewhat paral- lel, but they are just as apt to have their edges toward other points of the compass. One species of rosin-weed has undivided leaves, large and rough, and is called prairie dock. This and the compass
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plant flourish on flat prairie soil which is not pastured. The species called cup-plant grows along the banks of channeled sloughs. The leaves join together at the base so as to form a cup. It is a very large weed. Parthenium, a similar plant, is not rare. Ragweed is the most common weed we have along the roadsides: called also hogweed, Roman wormwood, etc. Great ragweed is the largest weed that grows in this country. Common along fences. Cockle- bur is on the increase. We have a State law " providing " for their destruction. Ox-eye, Lepachys and six species of cone-flower are almost common. Six species of wild sunflower flourish along fences in unfrequented sitnations. They are tall weeds, but not trouble- some. One kind has tuberous roots and is really an artichoke. Three species of tickseed occur in this county. The true Spanish needle does not grow here, but three species of its genus abound here, especially during wet seasons, namely, common and swamp. beggar-ticks and the larger bur-marigold. The smaller bur-marigold is found in shallow running water. Fetid marigold is abundant in dry situations along the wagon roads. When struck, even lightly, it yields a rank aromatic odor: called also false dog-fennel. Sneeze- weed, which looks somewhat like a Spanish needle, is abundant during wet seasons and exceedingly scarce at other times. May- weed, or dog-fennel,, every one is familiar with. So with yarrow. The ox-eye daisy, or white-weed, a vexatious weed in the East, is just beginning to creep in along the railroads. Biennial worm- wood is a common but harmless weed in waste places. Common and plantain-leaved everlasting are common. Fire-weed abundant. Golden rag-wort here and there in the spring. The famous Canada thistle is seldom seen: the common thistle abounds more and more .. Two other species are common, growing very tall. Burdock is a Composite. Dandelion belongs in this connection. Wild lettuce and false or blue lettuce are common milky weeds, growing very tall. Two species of sow-thistle, comparatively harmless, are mod- estly on the increase.
Lobelias. - The celebrated medical lobelia, or Indian tobacco, flourishes along our garden fences. The great lobelia, or blue car- dinal flower, is abundant in moist ground. The cardinal flower is the most showy, dazzling-red flower we have growing wild: found in wet ground and on the banks of sloughs. A small and slender species of lobelia is common in protected situations.
Campanula, or Bellflower Family .- The tall bellflower is com- mon. . Venus's looking-glass is found here and there. " Blue- bells" do not belong here: they are the smooth lungwort, belonging to the Borage family.
Ebony Family .- Persimmon, or date plum; rather scarce, but more abundant farther south.
Plantain Family .- The common plantain of our door-yards. Four other species of this family may occur in this county, but they are exceedingly rare.
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
Primrose Family .-- Two species of loosestrife (Lysimachia) occur.
Figwort Family .-- Mullein, toad-flax (" butter-and-eggs "), fig- wort, beard-tongue, two species of Gerardia, two species of louse- wort and cow-wheat, are common, while monkey-flower, hedge hyssop, false pimpernel, purslane and corn speedwell are sometimes seen. Toad flax has persistent roots like witch-grass and threatens to become a pest. The snap-dragon of our gardens is a fig-wort.
Verrains .-- Verbenas belong to this order. The most abundant plant belonging to this family, and growing wild, is the hoary ver- vain; next are the bracted (prostrate). the white, or nettle-leaved, and the blue. They all prefer dry, waste grounds, and are much inclined to hybridize. Fog-fruit is abundant in sandy ground along the rivers.
Mint family .- Common are wood sage, or American ger- mander, wild mint, bugle-weed, American pennyroyal, and hedge nettle, two species. Motherwort, catnip, heal-all, and wild mint are abundant. Here and there are water horehound, mountain mint, horse-mint, blephilia (two species), giant hyssop (two spe- cies), false dragon-head, or lion's-heart, mad-dog skullcap and one other species of skulleap. Ground ivy, or gill-over-the-ground, is abundant about dwellings. What is generally called " horse-mint" in the West is " wild bergamot" according to the books, while wild mint is often taken for peppermint. True peppermint, spearmint, and horehound are scarce within our limits. South of the Illinois river horehound takes the place of catnip along the fences and road- sides. Salvia, sage and Mexican sage are cultivated plants belong- ing to this order.
Borage Family .- Hairy and hoary puccoon, smooth lungwort, stick-seed, beggar's lice and common hound's-tongue are common; all other species rare. Comfrey belongs to this family. Smooth Inngwort is often called " blue-bells." It is common in early spring about door-yards and along fences near dwellings. Common hound's-tongue flourishes along the roads; flowers a dull purple, appearing in early summer. Beggar's-lice is a species of hound's- tongue.
Water-leaf Family .- Ellisia appears in cool, shady places, and resembles small tomatoes in leaf and fruit.
Polemoniums, or Phloxes .- Greek valerian, paniculate, hairy and divaricate phlox are frequent. The true wild sweet-William is very rare.
Convolvulus, or Morning glory Family .- The most common plant of this order growing spontaneously beyond the bounds of enltivation is hedge bindweed. or Rutland beauty. Eight species of dodder (" love-vine ") may be found, all rare except one. It appears like orange- colored thread growing on the tops of weeds.
Nightshade Family .- To this family belong Irish potatoes, to- matoes, egg-plant, bitter-sweet, tobacco and Jerusalem cherry. The most common weeds of this family are jimson-weed, horse-nettle
W.R. Wills Som.
PITTSFIELD TP
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
(" bull nettles"), common or black nightshade and two species of ground-cherry. The white-flowered jimson-weed (Datura Stramo- nium) is called common stramonium or thornapple by Dr. Gray, while the purple-flowered he calls purple thornapple.
Gentians .- One beautiful species of American centaury, Ameri- can Columbo and several species of gentian are found within our limits, but all of them are scarce. "Horse gentian " belongs to the Honeysuckle family.
Dogbanes .- Spreading dogbane in the borders of thickets and Indian hemp (Amsonia) on the river banks are common.
Milkweeds .- Common milkweed, or silkweed, is common: has large, boat-shaped pods of glistening cotton. Swamp milkweed is also common. Butterfly weed, or pleurisy-root, whorled milkweed and two species of green milkweed occur not rarely.
Olive Family .- It would seem more natural to us Westerners to call this the Ash family, as we have no members of this order abont ns except the five species of ash, -white, black, blue, red and green, the white being the most common. Some of these kinds are difficult for the beginner to distinguish.
Birthworts .- Wild ginger is common in deep, wooded ravines. The leaf is kidney-shaped, plant but few inches high, and the root tastes like ginger.
Four-o'clock Family .- Oxybaphus is rapidly increasing along the railroads, and in low, sandy places.
Pokeweeds .- The common poke with its purple-juiced clusters of berries is well known.
Goosefoots .- Lamb's-quarters, or pigweed, a common weed in our gardens, is the type of this order. Beet and spinach belong here. Next in abundance to lamb's-quarters are oak-leaved goose- foot, maple-leaved goosefoot, Jerusalem oak and Mexican tea. Wormseed is a fetid plant belonging to the genus goosefoot. Orache is becoming abundant in the towns and cities.
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