macrocystis, with stems several hundred feet
long, and other gigantic algæ, which make
fields so dense and extended that navigators
carefully avoid them. The partial study that
our fresh-water algæ have received shows that
this obscure vegetation is rich in interesting
forms.—A marked feature of the vegetation
of a large portion of our territory is the introduced
plants, which are not only numerous as
species, but as individuals; the climate being
especially favorable to their development, many
foreign plants appear to thrive better here than
at home. The great majority of the agricultural
weeds are of exotic origin; in some of the
older states the meadows are white with oxeye
daisy or yellow with foreign buttercups, while
in Virginia they are blue with viper's bugloss
(echium); the thistles, docks, purslane, crab
grasses, and other pests of the farmer and
gardener, are natives of other countries, as are
also the stramoniums, hemlock, and other
occupants of waste places around settlements.
Many natural meadows are due to foreign
grasses, and white clover is so generally
introduced that farmers in the eastern states
seldom sow it, being quite sure that, with a
favorable soil, it will “come in.” Two plants
in the southern states afford remarkable
instances of rapid naturalization. A few years
ago a little prostrate composite (acanthospermum)
appeared in the waste places, especially
along the railroads, suddenly and completely
carpeting the ground; it is a South American
plant, the seeds of which were probably introduced
with wool. The other is a little
leguminous plant called Japan clover (lespedeza
striata), which at the close of the civil war
appeared all over the southern states. As cattle
eat it, the introduction cannot be regarded as
a misfortune; but this wide and sudden distribution
of a Japanese species still remains a
puzzle. Upon the Pacific coast, the most prominent
introduced plants are mostly valuable
ones; the wild oat (avena fatua), which covers
such wide ranges to the exclusion of all other
vegetation, is a European species; and bur
clover (medicago) and alfilaria (erodium),
which in certain seasons are the main reliance
of stock growers, are both weeds introduced
by the early Spanish settlers.—The zoölogy of
the United States is essentially that of North
America, nearly every species found on the
North American continent having its habitat
in some part of the states or territories. The
quadrumana, embracing the entire monkey
tribe and its congeners, are wanting. Of the
cheiroptera, or bat tribe, there are 3 genera
and 11 species (outside of Alaska, the fauna
of which is not included in this description).
Of the carnivora, the largest is the couguar
or catamount, a formidable animal, inferior in
strength and ferocity to the South American
jaguar. There are 6 or 7 species of the fox.
Of wolves there are the gray wolf of the
wooded districts, of which there are several
varieties, and the prairie wolf, the American
representative of the jackal. To the digitigrada
also belong the pine marten or American
sable, the fisher, mink, weasel, skunk, and
ermine. Among the plantigrada we have the
black bear, the grisly bear, the largest and
most formidable of American carnivora, and
the California bear. The remaining members
of the order found here are the badger, the
wolverene or glutton, and the raccoon. Of
the pinnigrada, the common seal occurs on
the Atlantic coast, and the northern sea bear
(callorhinus ursinus), which is taken in great
numbers on the Pribyloff islands belonging
to Alaska, occurs as far south as the mouth
of the Columbia. The ruminantia are
represented in considerable numbers. Among the
cervidæ or deer family we have the moose
and caribou, now confined to the N. E. states,
and very scarce even there; the wapiti,
incorrectly called the elk; and 5 or 6 species of
deer. There is an antelope, the prong-horn, a
native of the Rocky mountain region; and a
representative of the sheep family, the big-horn
or Rocky mountain sheep, found in the
region of the Rocky mountains and Sierra
Nevada. The bison, usually called the buffalo, is
the only wild representative of the ox family.
Of the amphibious mammals, a species of the
manatee or sea cow frequents the shores of
Florida and the gulf of Mexico. The porpoise
and 5 or 6 species of the dolphin, among them
the white whale, and the narwhal, are found
along the coast; and the smaller species of
whale are not uncommon, while the great
sperm whale appears at some distance from
the Pacific coast. The insectivora are represented
by the mole, 3 genera and 7 or 8 species,
and by 12 species of shrew. Among the
rodentia are the beaver, porcupine, 10 or 12
squirrels proper, several flying squirrels, 4 or 5
prairie squirrels, 2 prairie dogs, and the gopher
or pouched rat, of which there are several
species; the woodchuck or American marmot;
the muskrat; the rat tribe, of which 2 genera
and 3 or more species are indigenous; the
mouse tribe, of which there are 4 genera and
about 20 species; the meadow mouse, of
numerous species; the hare, of which there are
4 or 5; and the rabbit, of which there are at
least 6 species. The marsupialia are
represented by a single genus, the opossum. Of
birds the genera and species are so numerous,
that only the more prominent can be named.
Of the order raptores (birds of prey), the eagle,
of which 5 species have been ascertained to
exist in the United States, takes the first place.
Next follow the vultures, of which at least
half a dozen species inhabit the United States,
from the king vulture of California to the turkey
buzzard and carrion crow; the hawks, of
which there are not less than 25 aor 30 species,
including the falcon, kite, hen hawk, goshawk,
sparrow hawk, &c.; and the owls, of which
there are at least 40 species. The scansores or
climbers are represented by the Carolina
parrot and the woodpeckers, a well known genus,
Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/149
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