Primary Aquatic Succession and Floristics of Devil’s Kitchen Lake, Illinois

This study of the aquatic vascular plants of Devil’s Kitchen Lake, Williamson County, Illinois, was undertaken to identify additional species, to investigate aquatic succession, and to contrast the results with those of Mohlenbrock, et al. (1962) on the basis of their publication that record.ed the flora of this lake during the period of initial filling, subsequent to impoundment. Since the water in Devil’s Kitchen Lake had not attained maximum depth at the time of Mohlenbrock, et al. (l.c.) study in the fall of 1960, they unavoidably failed to identify typical aquatic forms commonly represented in the more mature eutrophic lakes of the area. Not until March, 1961, following heavy spring rains, did Devil’s Kitchen Lake overflow the basin at the spillway. Thus, the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of primary succession in newly impounded waters of southern Illinois and to update the list of aquatic plants in Devil’s Kitchen Lake provided the basis for this investigation.