
Compiled by cassi saari and michael swierz
The earliest botanists and explorers of the Chicagoland region beheld a landscape that was vastly different from today’s natural environment. Their early accounts of Illinois flora describe plant communities that defy contemporary understanding and offer surprising depictions of bygone ecologies that have since succumbed to pavement and the plow. By compiling a representative selection of botanical texts from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, our hope is to make these forgotten flora available to twenty-first century stewards and restoration enthusiasts in order to foster imaginative and historically faithful visions of the prairies, savannas, woods, and wetlands we seek to restore.
FORGOTTEN FLORA LIBRARY
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Michaux, André
1803
Flora Boreali-Americana. Parisiis et Argentorati, apud fratres Levrault. Vol 1 and Vol 2.
Including a great number of plants found “in regione Illinoensis” or “in vastissimus pratensibus Illinoensibus,” which may not all fall within the actual state boundaries.
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Beck, Lewis C
1826
-1829. Contributions toward the Botany of the States of Illinois and Missouri. American Journal of Science and Arts. Vol 110: Pp. 257-264, Vol 11: Pp. 167-183, Vol 14: Pp. 112-121.
Published in at least three pieces in three volumes of the American Journal of Science and Arts, each is linked above. His article in Volume 14 of the American Journal of Science and Arts notes “To be continued,” but cursory research has not found the continued work. Please contact us if you have more information. Lewis did soon after publish an article in the next volume of the American Journal of Science and Arts (Vol 15, 1829) called “Ferns and Mosses of the United States” and in 1833 a book called “Botany of the Northern and Middle States: A Description of the Plants Found in the United States North of Virginia“.
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Mitchell, Samuel Augustus
1837
Illinois in 1837. Published by S. Augustus Mitchell, Grigg & Elliot.
Not a flora, but contains descriptions of the major ecosystems of Illinois including prairies, barrens, forests, and bottomlands, with sections on Rock River and Sangamon country, and the largest rivers. Discusses the earliest breaking of the prairie sod and contains an account of prairie fires. According to Joseph Sabin in “Bibliotheca Americana”, published “mainly to promote the sale of Illinois lands then owned by John Grigg of Philadelphia.”
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Torrey, John and Asa Gray
1838
-1843. A Flora of North America. Vols 1 & 2. Wiley & Putnam: New York
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Engelmann, George
1844
Mr. Geyer’s Plants of Illinois and Missouri. The American Journal of Science and Arts. Vol 46: Pp. 95-104.
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Short, Charles Wilkins
1845
Observations on the Botany of Illinois, more especially in reference to the Autumnal Flora of the Prairie. The Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery. Vol 3: Pp. 185-198.
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Mead, Samuel B.
1846
Catalogue of plants growing spontaneously in the state of Illinois, the principal part near Augusta, Hancock County. Prairie Farmer. Vol 6, No 1-4: Pp. 35-36, 60, 93, 119-122.
See also an updated version by Mark Kluge (2017), created to reflect modern taxonomic revisions with other commentary, with special reference to “A Botanical Study and Survey of a Typical Mid-Western County” by Alice L. Kibbe in 1952.
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Brooks, Samuel
1847
Plants Near Chicago. Prairie Farmer. Vol 7, No 12: Pp. 369-371.
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Lapham, Increase Allen
1857
Catalogue of the Plants of the State of Illinois. Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society. Vol 2: Pp. 492-550.
Within the same publication is:
Lapham, I. A. 1857. The Native, Naturalized and Cultivated Grasses of the State of Illinois. Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society. Vol 2: Pp. 551-613.
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Gerhard, Fred
1857
Illinois as It Is. Keen and Lee: Chicago, IL.
Not a flora, but contains descriptions of the climate, soils, plants, and animals of Illinois. “The prairies of Illinois may be divided into three classes: the alluvial, or wet, the dry, or undulating, and the bushy…”
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Brendel, Frederick
1859
Additions and Annotations to Mr. Lapham’s Catalogue of Illinois Plants. Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society. Vol 3: Pp. 583-585.
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Bebb, Michael Schuck
1859
List of Plants Occurring in the Northern Counties of the State of Illinois, in Addition to the Catalogue given by Dr. I. A. Lapham. Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society. Vol 3: Pp. 586-587.
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Brendel, Frederick
1859
The Trees and Shrubs in Illinois. Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society. Vol 3: Pp. 588-604.
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Brendel, Frederick
1859
The Oaks of Illinois. Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society. Vol 3: Pp. 605-631.
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Bebb, Michael Schuck
1860
The Flora of Ogle and Winnebago Cos., Ill. The Prairie Farmer. Vol 22: Pp. 172-173.
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Mead, Samuel B.
1860
Observations on the Flora of Western Central Illinois. Prairie Farmer. New Series, Vol 5. No 22: P. 343 (Old Series, Vol. 21: No. 22.)
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Vasey, George
1861
Additions to the Flora of Illinois. Transactions of the Illinois Natural History Society. Vol 1: Pp. 139-143.
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Beal, W. J.
1870
A Stroll along the Beach of Lake Michigan. American Naturalist. Vol. 4: Pp. 356-358.
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Allen, Joel Asaph
1870
The Flora of the Prairies. The American Naturalist. Vol 4, No 10: Pp. 577-585.
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Babcock, Henry Holmes
1872
-1873. The Flora of Chicago and Vicinity. The Lens. The State Microscopical Society of Illinois: Chicago. Vol 1: Pp. 20-26, 65-71, 144-150, 218-222, Vol 2: Pp. 33-44, 96-98, 248-250.
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Perkins, Geo H.
1875
The Vegetation of the Illinois Lowlands. The American Naturalist. Vol 9, No 7: Pp. 385-393.
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Patterson, Harry N.
1876
Catalogue of the Phaenogamous and Vascular Cryptogamous Plants of Illinois: Native and Introduced.. Spectator Print.: Oquawka, Illinois.
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Williams, R.
1877
Catalogue of the Phaenogamia of Flowering Plants of La Salle County. In History of La Salle County, Illinois by Elmer Baldwin. Rand, McNally & Co.: Chicago, Illinois. Pp. 486-502.
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Flagg, Willard Cutting
1878
Plants of Illinois: Native, Introduced, and Cultivated. Ninth Report of the Board of Trustees of the Illinois Industrial University: Urbana, Illinois. Pp. 221-287.
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Coulter, John Merle
1879
The Flora of Northern Indiana. Botanical Gazette. Vol 4, No 9: Pp. 109-113.
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Hill, Ellsworth Jerome
1881
Plants and Plant-Stations. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. Vol 8, No 4: Pp. 45-47.
as well as:
Hill, E. J. 1881. Botanical Notes. Botanical Gazette. Vol 6, No 9: Pp. 259-263.
Hill, E. J. 1883. Notes on Indiana Plants. Botanical Gazette. Vol 8, No 3: Pp. 187-188.
Hill, E. J. 1883. Notes on Indiana Plants, 1883. Botanical Gazette. Vol 9, No 3: Pp. 45-48.
Hill, E. J. 1885. Some Indiana Plants. Botanical Gazette. Vol 10, No 4: Pp. 262-263.
Hill, E. J. 1888. Some Indiana Plants. Botanical Gazette. Vol 13, No 12: Pp. 323.
It should be noted that E. J. Hill has many, many writings that we have not yet added to this page.
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Stewart, James. T.
1887
Flora of Peoria. Bulletin of the Scientific Association of Peoria, Illinois.
Read before the Scientific Association of Peoria in September 1886, with mention of the botanizing of Frederick Brendel and a “Miss Heading.” Frederick Brendel would publish “Flora Peoriana” in English the following year, having already produced earlier versions of the publication in German in 1860 and 1882.
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Brendel, Frederick
1887
Flora Peoriana: The Vegetation in the Climate of Middle Illinois. J. W. Franks & Sons: Peoria, Illinois.
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Hill, Ellsworth Jerome
1890
The Revised Manual and Some Western Plants. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. Vol 17, No 7: Pp. 169-174.
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Higley, William K. and Charles S. Raddin
1891
The Flora of Cook County, Illinois and A Part of Lake County, Indiana. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. Vol 2, No 1.
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Hill, Ellsworth Jerome
1891
Winter Studies of Pine Barren Flora of Lake Michigan. Garden and Forest. Vol 4.
In six parts. -
Hill, Ellsworth Jerome
1892
Notes on the Flora of Chicago and Vicinity. Botanical Gazette. Vol 17, No 8: Pp. 246-252.
and
Hill, E. J. 1896. Notes on the Flora of Chicago and Vicinity. II. Botanical Gazette. Vol 21, No 3: Pp. 118-122.
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Blatchley, W. S.
1897
Notes on the Flora of Lake and Porter Counties. Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources Twenty-second Annual Report. Wm. B. Burford, Indianapolis. Pp. 92-102.
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Cowles, Henry Chandler
1899
The Ecological Relations of the Vegetation on the Sand Dunes of Lake Michigan. University of Chicago Press.
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Cowles, Henry Chandler
1901
The Plant Societies of Chicago and Vicinity. The Geographic Society of Chicago. Bulletin No. 2.
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Gleason, Henry Allan
1909
Some Unsolved Problems of the Prairies. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. Vol 36, No 5: Pp. 265-271.
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Gleason, Henry Allan
1910
The Vegetation of the Inland Sand Deposits of Illinois. Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. Vol 9, Article 3. Urbana, IL.
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Gates, Frank Caleb
1912
The Vegetation of the Beach Area in Northeastern Illinois and Southeastern Wisconsin. Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. Vol 9, Article 5. Urbana, IL.
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Sherff, Earl E.
1912
The Vegetation of the Skokie Marsh, with Special Reference to Subterranean Organs and Their Interrelationships. Botanical Gazette. Vol 53, No 5: Pp. 415-435.
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Vestal, Arthur Gibson
1913
An Associational Study of Illinois Sand Prairie. Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. Vol 10: Pp 1-95.
See also his B.A. thesis of the same name published 2 years earlier at the University of Illinois.
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Gleason, Henry Allan
1913
The Relation of Forest Distribution and Prairie Fires in the Middle West. Torreya. Vol 13, No 8: Pp. 173-181.
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Vestal, Arthur Gibson
1914
A Black-Soil Prairie Station. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. Vol 41: Pp. 351-363.
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Mosher, Edna
1918
The Grasses of Illinois. University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No 205.
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Sampson, Homer C.
1921
An Ecological Survey of the Prairie Vegetation of Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin. Vol 13, Article 16.
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De Forest, Howard
1922
The Plant Ecology of the Rock River Woodlands of Ogle County, Illinois. Dissertation reprinted from Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science Vol 14, No 1. The University of Chicago.
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Thone, Frank
1922
Ecological Factors in Region of Starved Rock, Illinois. Dissertation reprinted from The Botanical Gazette, Vol 74, No 4. The University of Chicago.
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Street, Loretto Margaret
1924
Ecology of the Glenview Region. M.S. Dissertation. The University of Chicago.
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Pepoon, Herman Silas
1927
An Annotated Flora of the Chicago Region. The Chicago Academy of Sciences.
See also Carl A. Buhl’s supplement to Pepoon’s flora, published in 1934.
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Gamble, Faith
1927
A Floristic Study of the Vegetation of the DesPlaines River Valley. M.S. Dissertation, The University of Chicago.
Partial file – please contact us if you have a digital scan of the entire document.
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Peattie, Donald Culross
1930
Flora of the Indiana Dunes: A Handbook of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of the Lake Michigan Coast of Indiana and of the Calumet District. 1930. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL.
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Clute, Willard N.
1931
Swamp and Dune: A Study in Plant Distribution. Willard N. Clute & Co. Indianapolis.
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Buhl, Carl A.
1934
Supplement to an Annotated Flora of the Chicago Area by H. S. Pepoon. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. Vol 5, No 2: Pp. 5-12.
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Vestal, Arthur Gibson
1936
Barrens Vegetation in Illinois. Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Sciences. Vol 29: Pp. 79-80.
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Illinois Natural History Survey
1936
Fieldbook of Illinois Wild Flowers. Illinois Natural History Survey Manual 1. Urbana, IL

“The country about Chicago, for the distance of twelve miles from the lake, is mostly a low prairie covered with grass and beautiful flowers. Southwest from the town there is not one tree to be seen; the horizon rests upon the prairie. North, on the lake, is sandy hills and barren. Between there and the north branch is a swampy, marshy place, and there is a marshy place on the south branch. The town stands on the highest part of the prairie, and in the wet part of the season the water is so deep that it is necessary to wade from the town for some miles to gain the dry prairie. Notwithstanding the water standing on the prairie and the low, marshy places, and the dead-looking river, it is considered a healthy place. It has almost a continual lake breeze, which will explain in a measure the healthiness of the place. And another reason is the cleansing of the river water by the winds driving the pure lake water into and then running out again.”
Colbee C. Benton, 1833
Other resources of interest, containing early accounts of fauna, geology, lichens, etc., and summaries and/or annotations of the early floras:
Bannister, Henry M. 1868. Geology of Cook County, in Geological Survey of Illinois. Illinois State Geologist.
Jordan, D. S. 1878. Fishes of Illinois, in The Natural History of Illinois. Bulletin No. 2 of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. Pp 37-70.
Muscatine Conchological Club. 1883. The Mollusca of Muscatine County and Vicinity. Muscatine Conchological Club.
Baker, Frank Collins. 1898. The Mollusca of the Chicago Area. Chicago Academy of Science. Bulletin No. III of the Natural History Survey.
Andreas, Alfred Theodore. 1884. Physical and Scientific Description of the County, in History of Cook County, Illinois: from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. A. T. Andreas, Publisher.
Calkins, William Wirt. 1896. The Lichen Flora of Chicago and Vicinity. Bulletin of the Geological and Natural History Survey. No 1. The Chicago Academy of Sciences.
Vestal, Arthur Gibson. 1934. A Bibliography of the Ecology of Illinois, Part 1. A Project of the Academy’s Committee on Ecological Survey. Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science. Vol 27: Pp. 163-261.
Shelford, V. E. and G. S. Winterringer. 1959. The Disappearance of an Area of Prairie in the Cook County, Illinois, Forest Preserve District. The American Midland Naturalist. Vol 61, No 1: Pp. 89-95.
Myers, R. M. and R. D. Henry. 1976. Some Changes that Have Occurred in the Indigenous Flora of Two Adjoining West-Central Illinois Counties (Hancock and McDonough) During the Last 140 Years. Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Sciences. Vol 69, No 1: Pp. 19-36.
Hanson, P. 1981. The Presettlement Vegetation of the Plain of Glacial Lake Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. In “Proceedings of the Sixth North American Prairie Conference”, edited by R. Stuckey and K. Reese. Ohio Biological Survey Notes, Columbus.
White, John. 1999. Kankakee River Area Assessment, Volume 5: Early Accounts of the Ecology of the Kankakee River Area. Report to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Ecological Services, Urbana, Illinois.
White, John. 2000. Fox River Area Assessment, Volume 5: Early Accounts of the Ecology of the Fox River Area. Report to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Ecological Services, Urbana, Illinois.
White, John. 2005. Early Accounts of the Ecology of Cook County from Old Farming and Sporting Magazines. Report to the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and to the Nature Conservancy. Ecological Services, Urbana, Illinois.
White, John. 2005. Land Cover of the Indiana Coastal Zone about 1830. Report to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Ecological Services, Urbana, Illinois.
A modern link to the past: search the Consortium of Midwest Herbaria.
Something to add? Message us: habitat2030@gmail.com