.y trx> ~ru> . £ £ d IBBRAR? B3W YORi a&fAwic^ (TARDEIv Flora of the Columbia County Area, New York By Rogers McVaugh Temporary Botanist ao to cr» Cv. NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM AND SCIENCE SERVICE BULLETIN NUMBER 360 Published by The University of the State of New York Albany, New York M424r-Je56-2,000 Flora of the Columbia County Area, New York By Rogers McVaugh T emporary Botanist NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM AND SCIENCE SERVICE BULLETIN NUMBER 360 Published by The University of the State of New York Albany, New York April 1958 M424r-Je56-2,000 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from IMLS LG-70-15-0138-15 https://archive.org/details/bulletinnewyorks3601newy THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Regents of the University With years when terms expire 1969 John F. Brosnan, A. M., LL. B., J. D., LL. D., D. C. L., D. C. S., Vice Chancellor - -- -- -- -- - New York 1963 Mrs. Caroline Werner Gannett, L. H. D., LL. D. - - Rochester 1961 Dominick F. Maurili.o, A. B., M. D., LL. D. - - - - Brooklyn 1962 Jacob L. Holtzmann, LL. B., LL. D., D. C. L.t Litt. D. New York 1968 Edgar W. Couper, A. B., LL. D. - -- -- -- - Binghamton 1964 Alexander J. Allan, Jr., LL. D., Litt. D. - - - - - Troy 1967 Thad L. Collum, C. E. - -- -- -- -- -- Syracuse 1966 George L. Hubbell, Jr., A. B., LL. B., LL. D. - - - - Garden City 1958 T. Norman Hurd, B. S., Ph. D. - -- -- -- -- Ithaca 1960 Charles W. Millard, Jr, A. B. - - - - - - - - Buffalo 1965 Chester H. Lang, A. B., LL. D. - -- -- -- - Schenectady 1970 Everett J. Penny, B. C. S. ---- - White Plains President of the University and Commissioner of Education James E. Allen, Jr., Ed. M., Ed. D., LL. D., Litt. D. Deputy Commissioner of Education Ewald B. Nyquist, B. S., LL. D., Pd. D. Associate Commissioner for Higher and Professional Education Assistant Commissioner for State Museum and Science Service William N. Fenton, A. B., Ph. D. State Botanist, State Science Service Eugene C. Ogden, M. S., A. M., Ph. D. ■ • - - i . . ■ CONTENTS PAGE List of illustrations 3 Introduction 9 Location of region 11 Index to localities in the Columbia County area 13 Part 1: Systematic account of the species 19 Division I. Pteridophyta 25 Division II. Spermatophyta 39 Excluded species 231 Part 2: General consideration of the region and its vegetation 233 Geology of the region 233 Description of the region 236 Soils 239 Climate 246 Settlement 253 Previous botanical investigations 259 The vegetation 264 The development of the vegetation 268 Detailed consideration of the associations 270 Geographical relationships of the flora 351 The distribution of the species within the ’Columbia County area.... 351 The flora of the Columbia County area in relation to the flora of New York State as a whole 362 The climax vegetation 366 Origin of the flora 382 Enumeration of species by families 391 Literature cited 394 Index (Printed separately as an appendix) ERRATA p. 24, paragraph 2 : Delete sentence beginning “Specific epithets in the Flora. . p. 70, line 3 from bottom: For Ultricularia read Utricularia. p. 103, line 3 under H. psycodes : For Corallorrhiza read Corallorhiza. p. 129, lines 7 and 11 : for variegata read variegatum. p. 223: Delete both lines of couplet numbered 11, in key to Aster, and add: 11. Leaves strongly auriculate- or cordate-clasping, 11a 11a. Plants scabrous-puberulent, slender and wiry; leaves entire, with rough-ciliate margins A. patens 11a. Plants pilose or hirsute (occasionally glabrous), coarse; leaves usually dentate or serrate. A. puniceus 11. Leaves half-clasping A. junciformis p. 311, line 8: For nudiculis, read nudicaulis. p. 352, right-hand column, line 2: For gracilis, read maculata. ILLUSTRATIONS All figures are from photographs and line drawings by the author. Figure 1. Sketch map of New York State showing the area included in the present study Figure 2. Dryopleris simulata in a sphagnous woods about 1 mile west of Lebanon Springs Figure 3. Dryopteris Goldiana on limestone talus at No Bottom Pond Figure 4. Hillside south of Bashbish Brook, Copake, looking west near the New York-Massachusetts line. Undergrowth consists largely of Dryopteris inter- media, Viburnum alnifolium and Taxus canadensis. Figure S. Limestone cliff near Old Chatham showing growth of Asplenium Ruta-muraria. At the right is Pellaea atropurpurea. Figure 6. Shady woods near Old Chatham showing a dense growth of Adian- tum predatum on a calcareous soil Figure 7. Pellaea glabella on the face of a vertical limestone cliff near Old Chatham Figure 8. Flowering plants of Sagittaria subulata exposed at low tide on the mud flats at the mouth of Stockport Creek Figure 9. Sand flats just north of Nutten Hook. The ground cover is Triplasis purpurea. Figure 10. Vegetation on the mud flats near mouth of Stockport Creek, near the upper limit of tidewater. The reniform leaves in the foreground are those of Heteranthera reniformis. Figure 11. A large flowering specimen of Habenaria psycodes in a iswampy woods about 1 mile north of Kinderhook Figure 12. Spiranthes cernua in a sphagnum bog west of Post Road School, Kinderhook. The small-leaved shrub at the left is Potentilla fruticosa. Figure 13. Trunk of a mature tree of Betula lutea in the gorge of Bashbish Brook, Copake. The scale is indicated by a filmpack which is about 11 cm. in length. Figure 14. Sand flats just north of Nutten Hook, looking south. The New York Central railroad is at the left, at the base of the hill. The plant in the fore- ground is Cycloloma atriplicifolium. This picture was taken on October 6, 1935 ; at the present time much of the sandy area has been occupied by Popu- lus deltoides and most of the herbaceous vegetation has been shaded out. Figure 15. A nearly pure stand of Nuphar advena in the South Bay below Tivoli, looking east from the New York Central Railroad. The woods in the background are about 1 km. distant. Figure 16. Cimicifuga racemosa in a moist woodland just north of Kinderhook. The flowering spikes are more than 30 cm. in length. Figure 17. A calcareous bog association west of the Post Road School, Kinderhook. The large white flowers are those of Parnassia glauca, and below them may be seen the leaves of Sarracenia purpurea and flowers of Lobelia Kalmii. The leaves of Potentilla fruticosa are in the background. Figure 18. Potentilla tridentata in a crevice in the schistose rocks at the sum- mit of Washburn Mountain, Copake. The plants are about 10 cm. high or less. Figure 19. The hog peanut, Amphicarpa bracteata var. comosa, in a swamp just north of Kinderhook Figure 20. Chiogenes hispidula in a sphagnous woods about 1 mile west of Lebanon Springs. The plant has the aromatic flavor of sweet birch; the berries are pure white and slightly smaller than a cranberry. Figure 21. The starflower, Trientalis borealis, in a sandy woodland just north of Kinderhook. Figure 22. Sketch map of the topography of Columbia County. Hudson River at sea level ; elevations are shown in feet ; areas above 2,000 feet are shown in solid black. Numerous small isolated elevations are not shown. 3 4 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 23. Sketch map of main features of distribution of soil types in Columbia County F'igure 24. Sketch map of geology of Columbia County, taken from the Geologic Map of New York (1901) Figure 25. Sketch map of the geology of the western part of Columbia County, snowing approximate extent ot the principal formations Figure 26. Ideal section through a ridge which has limestones exposed on the steep north face and schists on the more nearly level southern exposure (see text) F'igure 27. The Hudson River, looking southwest from the bluffs about 1 km. north of Poelsburg. Hotaling Island occupies the center of the picture and hides the main channel of the river which is between the island and the hills in the background. Note the shallow “bay” cut off by the railroad. Figure 28. A rocky cove on the northwestern side of Crugers’ Island, looking north. Magdalen Island may be seen in the distance. F'igure 29. Shale bluffs on the river side of Nutten Hook, looking north Figure 30. Tidal flats along the Hudson iRiver at low water. The land across the channel is Rogers Island and in the middle distance is the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. Figure 31. One of the channels near the mouth of Stockport Creek, at low tide. The exposed areas are thickly covered by aquatics. Figure 32. The line of demarcation between the zone occupied by Nuphar and that occupied by Zizania, on the shore of the Hudson east of Rogers Island. The tops of the water lilies are barely covered by water at high tide. Figure 33. View across the channel to Rogers Island, at low tide. Back of the closely massed water lilies may be seen a zone occupied by wild rice and sedges ( Scirpus fluviatilis) . Figure 34. The “South Bay” at Hudson, looking north toward the city. Open water formerly extended to a point not far from where the picture was taken. Figure 35. Gravelly beach on the northwestern side of Crugers’ Island showing the almost total lack of vegetation. Note that at the left the cliffs come down almost directly into the water. Figure 36. A view across one of the lakes of Columbia County (Fowlers’ Lake). Note that the swamp forest on the farther shore extends almost to the water’s edge with but a slight intervening shrub zone. Figure 37. Floating-leaved aquatics at the north end of Upper Twin Pond, FLlizaville. Most of the floating leaves are those of pondweeds ( P otamogeton spp.). Figure 38. Water lilies ( Nymphaea odorata) growing in small areas of open water in a sphagnum bog near Knickerbocker Lake. The shrublike vegetation surrounding the areas of open water consists for the most part of two species, Chamaedaphne calyculata and Decodon verticillatus. Figure 39. Water lilies ( Nymphaea odorata ) in a sphagnum-filled depression (the “Fingar Marsh”) about 3 km. south of Taghkanic Lake. This is appar- ently a .somewhat later stage of succession than that represented in figure 38. Figure 40. Marginal herbaceous vegetation at Fowlers’ Lake. Note the inter- mediate zone of Pontederia cordata (in flower) between the water lilies and the zone of shrubs. Figure 41. Swamp forest at Mud Pond, about 5 km. east of Elizaville. The tree beside the boy and those just behind him are black gum, Nyssa sylvatica. F'igure 42. Sphagnum bog near Knickerbocker Lake, showing spruce and larch and characteristic shrub vegetation. The white objects in the center of the picture are the cottony heads of Erioplwrum virginicurn. F'igure 43. The “Fingar Marsh,” Gallatin, a depression which is practically filled with sphagnum and the associated bog plants. The level space in the foreground is covered by a mat of vegetation into which one sinks to the knees in water. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 5 Figure 44. No Bottom Pond, Austerlitz. Limestone ledges may be seen along the shore at the right side of the picture. Figure 45. Flat Brook, looking north from near Edwards Park Station. The grass in the foreground is Phalaris arundinacea; the common shrub along the brook is Myrica Gale. Figure 46. Larch swamp at Miller Pond, Ancram Figures 47, 48, 49. Mature forest about 1 mile northeast of Stuyvesant. Note the density of the stand and the presence of standing dead trees. Young plants of sugar maple appear in the foreground of figures 47 and 48. Figure 50. View across the valley of Bashbish Brook, looking north-northeast from Washburn Mountain. The hill in the foreground is covered principally by thickets of Quercus ilicifolia. Figure 51. Mount Alander, looking east from a point about 3 km. south of Copake Figure 52. The village of Copake Falls as seen from Washburn Mountain; the village is about 200 meters below the point from which the picture was taken. Note the lichens growing on the otherwise bare rocks in the right foreground. Figure 53. Vegetation near the summit of Washburn Mountain. Lichens nearly cover the rocks at the left, and at the right are mats of bearberry, Arcto- staphylos Uva-ursi. Figure 54. Shale knoll about 1.5 km. south of Germantown. The shale here is harder than at some other points in our area and relatively little weathering is noted. Figure 55. Shale slopes along the Hudson River north of Poelsburg. The shales here disintegrate easily and the slopes are unstable and covered by small fragments of weathered rock. Figure 56. Sand flats just north of Nutten Hook. The vegetation consists primarily of two annual grasses, Eragrostis pectinacea and Triplasis purpurea. The black hummocks in the background are plants of Cycloloma. Figure 57. Sand flats north of Nutten Hook. The sand in the foreground is covered by Triplasis purpurea; the young trees in the background are poplars ( Populus deltoides). The picture was taken October 6, 1935, when the trees were 2 to 5 meters in height. Figure 58. Silvernail Falls, in Roeliff Jansen Kill. Falls of this sort are fre- quent in the larger creeks of our area. Figure 59. Rocky gorge in the shales about 1 km. south of Poelsburg. The stream follows a winding course which may be followed nearly to the top of the hill by the small patches of white water. Figure 60. Lower end of the gorge shown in figure 59. The slopes on both sides are formed of small fragments of the rotten shales. A few hemlocks find a foothold in this precarious position. Figure 61. The mouth of Bashbish Gorge, looking northeast from the summit of Washburn Mountain. The mountain at the right is Bashbish Mountain and that across the gorge is Cedar Mountain. Figure 62. Bashbish Gorge as seen from just north of Copake Falls. The mountains rise abruptly from the lowlands of the Harlem Valley. Figure 63. View down Bashbish Gorge, looking west from a point directly above the falls. The hills in the distance are on the west side of the Harlem Valley. Figure 64. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Pellaea atro- purpurea, which is confined to outcrops of limestone rock. The distribution of this and a small group of other species is almost exactly that of the lime- stone outcrops. Figure 65. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Sarracenia purpurea, a species characteristic of bogs. Figure 66. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Parnassia glauca. This species is unknown in the area except in the calcareous marshes of the Harlem Valley and in a similar habitat in the town of Kinderhook. 6 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 67. Map of Columbia County showing the known distribution of the hemlock, Tsuga canadensis. This species is widely distributed and occurs in nearly every mature woodland in the entire area. Figure 68. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Juniperus virginiana. This tree is abundant throughout the Hudson Valley, particularly on clay soils, and extends into the Harlem Valley, but is rare or absent in the northern and eastern parts of the area. Figure 69. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Celtis occi- dental^, a species which is most abundant in the lower Hudson Valley, ex- tending into the Harlem Valley and northward along the Hudson River. Figure 70. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Cyperus fili- culmis. This species is confined to sand and shale knolls in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Figure 71. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Thuja occi- dentalis. With one exception, an occurrence on Becraft Mountain, this species is confined to the bluffs and swamps along the Hudson River. Figure 72. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Lotus corni- culatus an introduced species which is almost wholly confined to the clay soils of the Hudson Valley. Figure 73. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Circaea alpina, a species of cool, shaded situations in the region of metamorphic rocks. Figure 74. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Pyrola ellip- tica. This species occurs abundantly on the acid soils at higher elevations in the region of metamorphic rocks but is rare in the Hudson Valley. Figure 75. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Clintonia borealis. This species is confined to the region of metamorphic rocks in the eastern part of the area at elevations of 300 meters or more. Figure 76. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Potentilla tri- dentata. This species, in this area, is confined to the high rocky summits of the Taconics in New York and adjacent Massachusetts and Connecticut. Figure 77. Map of Columbia County showing the distribution of Acnida can- nabina, a species confined to the tidal marshes of the Hudson Estuary. Figure 78. Composite map of the distribution of 74 species in New York State. (Explanation in the text). Figure 79. The distribution of lime-containing soils in New York State. (Data from the General Soil (Map of New York, compiled by F. B. Howe, Depart- ment of Agronomy, Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1933.) Principal areas of lime-containing soils are shown in black. Figure 80. Composite map of the distribution in New York State of the fol- lowing species, based on the records in the Herbarium of the New York State Museum: Dryopteris disjuncta, Lycopodium annotinum, Clintonia borealis, Streptopus roseus, Trillium undulatum, Sorbus americana, Oxalis montana, Cornus canadensis, and Viburnum alnifolium (see text, p. 364.) Figure 81. The approximate extent of the “Eastern Hemlock Forest.” More than 300 native species have essentially the same range. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA NEW YORK By Rogers McVaugh* Temporary Botanist *Curator of vascular plants in the herbarium and professor of botany, Univer- sity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan INTRODUCTION Since the middle of the 18th century the State of New York has been a favorite area for the exploration of field botanists. In the early days its conspicuous natural features, such as the Catskill Mountains, the Finger Lakes and Niagara Falls, attracted many visitors, some of whom studied the vegetation and commented upon it. In later years the spread of civilization in New York was rapid and numbers of local botanical studies were made. At the present time it may seem rash to state that any considerable section of New York is virtually unknown botanically, but such proved to be the case. The great valley of the Hudson River Estuary, east to the Massachusetts and Connecticut State lines, and, to a lesser extent, west to the moun- tain fronts in Albany, Greene and Ulster Counties, has never been thoroughly explored by students of the vegetation. A moment’s consideration will suffice to show this clearly. The Catskill and Adirondack Mountain Ranges, as well as the Shawan- gunks in southeastern New York, have been the subjects of both sporadic and continued studies by many botanists (see House, 1916) ; Long Island and the metropolitan area, including the lower Hudson Valley, have occupied the interests of able men at the New York Botanical Garden for a number of years (see Taylor, 1915; “Flora of the Vicinity of New York,” including a list of local floras for the area covered) ; west of the eastern mountains of the State there is available a flora of the upper Susquehanna (Clute, 1898) ; there is a recent study of the Tug Hill Plateau (Hotchkiss, 1932). Professor Wiegand and his associates have greatly increased our knowledge of the flora of central New York (see Wiegand & Eames, 1926). In western New York studies have been made on the nonglaeiated ter- ritory in Cattaraugus County (House & Alexander, 1927), and Zen- kert’s (1934) “Niagara Frontier” flora sums up well the present state of knowledge in that area. For the upper part of the Hudson River Estuary, however, there is a lack of recent comprehensive work dealing with the plant life of the region. The reason for such a condition is in part a geographical one. At- tention has been centered about New York City, near Albany and in the more conspicuously mountainous districts. The Hudson Valley, which is an intensively cultivated region containing relatively little rough country, at least above the Hudson Highlands, has been passed by as uninteresting and presumably of little importance in phytoge- ography. Although many botanists and other students of natural history have passed through this part of New York State from time to time, the published accounts of their visits or of conditions pre- 9 10 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM vailing there have been sketchy and unsatisfactory. The purpose of the present study is to give a full account of the vegetation of a part of the Hudson Valley, including its history, its relationships to the vegetation of neighboring areas and its significance to persons living in the area. LOCATION OF REGION The part of the Hudson Valley to be discussed here is a roughly rectangular area bounded on the west by the Hudson River and on the east by the summits of the Taconic Mountains. It includes all of Columbia County, N. Y., and smaller adjoining portions of Rens- selaer and Dutchess Counties, N. Y., and Berkshire County, Mass. The area of the present study, as originally intended, was to in- clude Columbia County only. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, political boundaries were found to be almost wholly unrelated to geographic ones. In order to establish better natural limits it was thought advisable to include some additional territory in the drainage basins of the principal streams of the county. As at present de- limited, the area is bounded on the west by the Hudson River and on the north by the boundaries of the watershed of the Muitzes Kill and that of Kinderhook Creek. On the east it extends to the limits of the watersheds of Kinderhook Creek and Roeliff Jansen Kill and in- cludes also the small part of Columbia County which lies in the Housatonic drainage. On the south it extends to the limits of the watershed of Roeliff Jansen Kill and includes also parts of Dutchess and Columbia Counties which are drained by Stony Creek (figure 1). 12 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Topographically speaking, the region which is to be discussed lies in a great valley, that of the Hudson Estuary. The elevation above sea level increases gradually eastward, reaching an average limit of somewhat less than 2,000 feet (600 meters) along the eastern boundary. The highest point is the summit of Mount Everett, in the town of Mount Washington, Berkshire County, where the ele- vation is 2,624 feet. The hills along the eastern boundary of our area represent the southern and western foothills of the Taconic Mountain Ranges which extend northward through western Massachusetts and into Vermont ; these mountains occupy most of western Massachu- setts (the “Berkshires”) but quickly flatten out south and west of that state. The Columbia County section of the Hudson Valley is thus seen to be part of the southern lobe of a topographic lowland which extends from the western slopes of the Taconics west to the rather sharply defined escarpments of the Catskills and the Helderbergs. The south- ern boundary of this lowland is formed by the Hudson Highlands, the most northern extension of which is Stissing Mountain, an outly- ing granitic mass in Pine Plains. Northward the area extends to the southern edge of the Rensselaer Plateau, which is floristically the southernmost outlier of the northern highlands. INDEX TO LOCALITIES IN THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA Most of the localities cited in the following pages are to be found on the topographic maps published by the United States Geological Survey. Some localities, however, bear well-established local names but are not listed upon these or other maps. These obscure localities may be found by reference to the index which follows. Those wishing to locate or cite any locality mentioned in the systematic part of this Flora will note that frequent reference has been made to the several “towns” comprising the Columbia County area. The counties of Columbia, Rensselaer, Dutchess and Berk- shire are divided into political units called “towns,” which are equiva- lent in general to the “townships,” “boroughs” or “hundreds” in other parts of the United States. Thus when reference is made to “Perry Peak, Canaan,” the town of Canaan is understood to be meant, not the village of the same name. A locality written as “2 miles east of Austerlitz,” on the other hand, refers to the village of Austerlitz, not the town. The towns in Columbia County adjacent to Massachusetts are, from north to south, New Lebanon, Canaan, Austerlitz, Hillsdale, Copake and Ancram. These are occasionally referred to as the “eastern tier of towns.” Occupying a central position in the county from north to south are the towns of Chatham, Ghent, Claverack, Taghkanic and Gallatin. The town of Kinderhook lies west of Chatham and north of Ghent. Bordering the Hudson River, from north to south, are the towns of Stuyvesant, Stockport, Greenport, Livingston, Germantown and Clermont. The city of Hudson lies on the river, surrounded by the town of Greenport. The part of Rensselaer County treated here includes nearly all of the towns of Nassau and Stephentown, the southern and eastern edges of Schodack, the southeastern corner of Sand Lake (as far north as Little Bowman Pond), and the southwestern quarter of Berlin. This comprises the northern part of the drainage basin of Kinderhook Creek and (in Schodack) the basin of the Muitzes Kill. The northernmost extension of the Kinderhook Basin is near a point west of Center Berlin, about 12 miles north of the Columbia County line; farther east the same stream drains most of the southern half of the town of Hancock, Mass. With the exception of Hancock, as noted above, the only major area in Berkshire County which is treated below is the town of Mount Washington, most of which drains into the Hudson by way of Bashbish Brook. A few ponds in the extreme northwestern corner 13 14 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM of Connecticut (Litchfield County, town of Salisbury) are included because of their floristic relations with the rest of our area, but are situated on the summit of a divide and are almost without any drainage. In Dutchess County the area drained by Roeliff Jansen Kill in- cludes part of Northeast, the eastern half of Pine Plains, a few square miles of Stanford, and the northeast quarter of Milan. Stony Creek drains the north end of the town of Red Hook. The gazetteer includes relatively few settlements, except the very smallest ones, as these are readily found in atlases and on road maps. An attempt has been made to include such settlements, however, when names currently used differ from those on the topographic sheets, published by the U. S. Geological Survey, which have been used as the standards of reference. Following the name of each locality the name of the town is given in parentheses, and after this is a statement of the actual position of the locality within the town or towns in question. Lastly a refer- ence is given to a map sheet on which the name appears, or on which the locality appears under another name, or on which appears a sym- bol indicating the locality (as for unnamed lakes or for schools). References to the map sheets are given by numbers in italic type, corresponding to the numbers assigned to the maps in the following list. Thus the entry “Judson Point (8)” indicates that this locality is found on the map of the Coxsackie Quadrangle. 1. Albany Quadrangle (N. Y.), 1/62500. 1927 2. Ancram Quadrangle (N. Y.), 1/24000. 1948 3. Berlin Sheet (N. Y.-Mass.-Vt.), 1/62500. Jan. 1898 4. Canaan Quadrangle (N. Y.-Mass.), 1/31680. 1947 5. Catskill Quadrangle (N. Y.), 1/62500. 1938 6. Claverack Quadrangle (N. Y.), 1/31680. 1947 7. Copake Quadrangle (N. Y.-Mass.), 1/62500. Sept. 1904 8. Coxsackie Quadrangle (N. Y.), 1/62500. 1929 9. Kinderhook Quadrangle (N. Y.), 1/62500. 1933 10. Millbrook Quadrangle (N. Y.-Conn.), 1/62500. May 1902 11. Pine Plains Quadrangle (N. Y.), 1/24000. 1948 12. Pittsfield Sheet (Mass.-N. Y.), 1/62500. Oct. 1897 13. Sheffield Sheet (Mass.-Conn.-N. Y.), 1/62500. Oct. 1897 14. Stephentown Center Quadrangle (N. Y.), 1/31680. 1947 15. Troy Quadrangle (N. Y.), 1/62500. 1928 Alvord’s Dock (Stockport). At the point mapped (8) as Judson Point, 1 mile north of the mouth of Stockport Creek. Not mapped. Ancramdale (Ancram). Appears on Copake Quadrangle (7) as Ancram Lead- mines and on earlier maps as Hot Ground. Arnolds’ Mill (Ghent). 1.5 miles northeast of Ghent, on the Kline Kill. (9) Ashley Hill (northeast corner of Chatham). 1.5 miles northeast of Riders Mills. (9) Bachus Pond (Chatham). 1 mile north of Malden Bridge. (9) Bashbish Gorge (Copake, Mount Washington). Bashbish Brook rises in Massa- chusetts and cuts through the mountain front to the Harlem Valley at Copake Falls. Bashbish Falls is in Massachusetts. (13) FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA IS Becraft Mountain (Greenport). South of Hudson. Mapped (5) as Becraft Hills. Bells’ Pond (northeast corner of Livingston). Mapped (5) as Bell Pond, but never so called. Berry Pond (Hancock). About 2 miles east of the corner where New Lebanon, Stephentown and Hancock adjoin, at an elevation of about 2,000 feet (600 m.). Drains into Wyomanock Creek and so into Kinderhook Creek. (3) Bingham Pond (Salisbury). On the divide, about 2.5 miles southeast of the comer where Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York adjoin. (13) Blue Hill (Livingston). North end of town. (5) Brace Mountain (northeast corner of Northeast). Elevation about 2,300 feet (690 m.). (13) Brainard (southeast corner of Nassau). (9) Canaan (Canaan). Also mapped (12) as Canaan Four Corners. (4) Canticoke Swamp (Nassau). 3 miles east-northeast of Nassau. (15) Cedar Mountain (Copake). Elevation about 1,800 feet (540 m.). The mountain to the north of the gorge of Bashbish Brook, 1.5 to 2 miles east of Copake Falls. (13) Copake Ironworks (Copake). Now Copake Falls. (7) Croghan Hill (Ancram). A limestone knob 3 miles north and somewhat east of Ancramdale. Known to Hoysradt and so called by him. Mapped (7) as Old Croken. Extensive calcareous marshes lie both east and west of it. Crugers’ Island (Red Hook). A rocky “island” in the Hudson River south of Tivoli, connected to the mainland by a causeway between the North and South “Bays.” Mapped as Cruger Island. (5) Curtis Mountain (Nassau). A north-south ridge 1 mile west of Tackawasick Lake and about 3 miles east-northeast of Nassau. (15) Douglas Knob (New Lebanon, Canaan). A ridge about 800 feet high, 4 miles long, parallel to the mountain fronts and separated from them by a narrow valley. Mapped (4) as The Knob. Fingar Marsh (Gallatin). A sphagnum bog known to Hoysradt and so called by him. About 1 mile a little west of south of a small pond (Pond Lily Pond, 2) which is in turn 1 mile southeast of Taghkanic Lake. The bog is not mapped ; it lies at the head of the most easterly branch of the Fall Kill (2). The roads leading near the bog are now (1934) impassable except on foot. Forest Lake (southeast corner of Claverack). Mapped as Forest Pond. (6,7) Fowlers’ Lake (Ghent). About 3.5 miles south- southeast of Kinderhook, and about the same distance a little south of east from Stuyvesant Falls. Not mapped. Fox Hill (Ancram). 1 mile southwest of Boston Corners. (7) Guilder Pond (Mount Washington). About mile northwest of Mount Everett, on the Hudson-Housatonic Divide. (13) Harvey Mountain (Austerlitz). Elevation 2,065 feet (620 m.). About 2.5 miles east of Austerlitz, nearly on the state line. (12) Hemlock School (Kinderhook). About 3 miles south-southeast of Kinderhook, near the southern edge of the town. (9) Hoags’ Corners (Nassau). 6 miles northeast of Nassau. (15) Hot Ground (Ancram). An early name for Ancramdale (q. v.) ; used by Hoysradt (1875-79). Jackson Comers (Milan). About 3 miles southeast of Elizaville. (2, 7) Knickerbocker Lake (Kinderhook). About 2 miles west of the north end of Kinderhook Lake. (9) Lee Pond (Mount Washington). A little southeast of the center of the town; one of the sources of Bashbish Brook. (13) Livingston Creek. See Roeliff Jansen Kill. Long Pond (Ancram). 3 miles southwest of Copake. Mapped under this name. (7) Long Pond (Berlin). In the southwestern quarter of the town; one of the sources of the Black River and of Kinderhook Creek. (3) Magdalen Island (Red Hook). A small rocky island in the Hudson River, south of Tivoli. (5) Merwins’ Lake (Kinderhook). 2 miles south and a little east of Kinderhook. (9, unnamed) 16 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Mill Creek (Stuyvesant). Empties into the Hudson River about 2 miles north of Stuyvesant. (8) Miller Pond (Copake, Ancram). On the town line, about 2.5 miles southwest of Copake. (7) Miller Pond (Pine Plains). About 3.5 miles southwest of Pine Plains, on the southwestern slopes of Stissing Mountain. (11) Mount Alander (Copake, Mount Washington). Elevation 2,243 feet (673 m.). The summit is in Massachusetts, but most of the collections have been made in New York. Mapped as Alander Mountain. (7) Mount Everett (Mount Washington). Elevation 2,624 feet (787 m.), the highest point on the divide east of the Columbia County area. (13) Mount Fray (northeast corner of Copake). Elevation about 1,900 feet (570 m). (13) Mount Merino (Greenport). Near the Hudson River, southwest of the city of Hudson. (5) Mount Riga [station] (Northeast). On the Harlem division of the New York Central Railroad, 4 miles south of Boston Comers. (10) Mount Riga (Salisbury). Elevation about 2,000 feet (600 m.). One mile east of the New York line and 2.5 miles south of the Massachusetts line. (13) Mud Pond (Gallatin). 3 miles east of Elizaville and about the same distance north of Jackson Corners. (7, unnamed). Muitzes Kill (Schodack). A village 2 miles east of Schodack Landing and 1 mile north of the Columbia County line; pronounced “mitches kill.” The stream of the same name rises in the hills along the line between Stuyvesant and Kinderhook, flows north about 5 miles, then northwest and west, emptying in the Hudson about 1 mile south of Castleton. (1, 9, 15) No Bottom Pond (Austerlitz, northeastern part). (12) Omi (Ghent). 1 mile northeast of West Ghent. (9) Perry Peak (Canaan). Elevation 2,070 feet (620 m.). The summit is in Mas- sachusetts, about 4 miles south of Lebanon Springs ; several collections have been made on the western slopes in the town of Canaan. (4. 12) Pikes’ Pond (Nassau). In the northern part of the town, 2.5 miles north of Hoags’ Comers. (15) Pinnacle [rocks] (Taghkanic). Rough broken summits about 3 miles south- east of Churchtown. Mapped as Pinnacle. (6) Plantain Pond (Mount Washington). Southeastern corner of the Town; drains into the Housatcmic. (13) Poelsburg (Stuyvesant). On the Hudson River 2 miles south of the Rensse- laer County line. Mapped (8) as Poolsburg. Post Road School (Kinderhook). On U. S. Highway 9, about 4.5 miles north of Kinderhook and 1 mile south of the Rensselaer County line. (9) Pulvers Corners (Pine Plains). 4 miles east of Pine Plains. (10) Pulvers [station] (Ghent). A station on the Harlem division of the New' York Central Railroad, about 3.5 miles south-southwest of Ghent. (9) Mapped as Pulvers. Riga Lake (Salisbury). About 2 miles south of the corner where Massachu- setts, Connecticut and New York adjoin. (13) Risedorph Hill (Pine Plains). Near the village of Pine Plains; a locality often cited by Hoysradt and visited by House and McVaugh (see Amer. Fern Jour. 23: 122-124. 1933). Not mapped. Robinson Pond (Copake). About 2 miles west of Copake Falls. Mapped (7) under this name but currently (1935) called Browns’ Pond. Roeliff Jansen Kill (Dutchess and Columbia Counties). Rises in the hills be- tween Hillsdale and Austerlitz ; receives water of Bashbish Brook and drainage from the mountains as far south as Boston Corners and Pulvers Corners (Punch Brook). Receives Shekomeko Creek near Silvernails. Mapped as Livingston Creek on soil map. (2, 5, 7) Round Pond (Berlin). In the southwestern quarter of the town; one of the sources of Black River and of Kinderhook Creek. (3) Shaver Pond (Copake). About J4 mile east of Robinson Pond (q. v.). (7) Shekomeko Creek. Rises in Stanford, Northeast and Pine Plains; flows gen- erally northwest into Roeliff Jansen Kill near Silvernails. (10) FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 17 Spring Lake (Red Hook, Milan). On the line between Red Hook and Milan, 1.5 miles south of the Columbia County line. Not in the Columbia County area. ( 5 ) Stissing Mountain (Pine Plains). The northernmost outlier of the Hudson Highlands, lying about 2 miles west of Pine Plains, its long axis nearly north and south. The northern, and lower, summit is called Little Stissing. Stissing Mountain is a famous locality because of collections made there by Hoysradt and Peck, but except for the northwestern slopes the entire moun- tain lies outside the Columbia County area as formally defined. (11) Stockport Creek (Stockport). Formed by the junction of Kinderhook and Claverack Creeks, near Stockport and about 2 miles from the Hudson River; flows southwesterly into the river. (8) Stockport Station (Stockport). A station on the New York Central Railroad, at the Hudson River on the north side of Stockport Creek. (8) Stony Creek (Red Hook, Clermont, Germantown). Empties into the Hudson River south of Tivoli (the “North Bay”). (5) Sutherland Pond (Chatham). Between East Chatham and Chatham Center. (9) Tackawasick Lake (Nassau). 4.5 miles east-northeast of Nassau. (15) Taghkanic Lake (Gallatin). Mapped (7) as Charlotte Lake (called locally Lake Shalott). (2) Taplins’ Pond (Stephentown). About 3 miles east of north of West Lebanon, and 5 miles east of the Massachusetts-New York line (3; also on 14, as Taplin Pond). Thompson Pond (Pine Plains). Southwest of Pine Plains, in the valley east of Stissing Mountain. The southernmost of three ponds (Mud, Stissing and Thompson) which drain southward into Wappinger Creek. (11) Tom Hill (Copake). A limestone knob about 1.5 miles southwest of Copake Falls. (7) Turedy Lake. Not located. So named on labels distributed with specimens collected by A. T. Beals and party, May 30, 1926. The specimens are deposited in the local herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden. The lake was said to be in or near Austerlitz, but Mr. Beals informed me in a letter, about 1932, that this was probably an error, and that he had no memory or records of having visited any lake by this name. Beals’ party is known to have been somewhere east of the village of Chatham, and it seems probable that the name “Turedy Lake” is a corruption of the name of the largest body of water in this general area, Queechy Lake. Waldorf Pond (KindeiTook-Chatham). Immediately north of Kinderhook Lake; the stream flowing through the pond forms the boundary between Kinderhook and Chatham. Name derived current!}' from the owners, Wal- dorf Farms. (9, unnamed) Washburn Mountain (Copake). Elevation 1,548 feet (464 m.) ; 1 to 1.5 miles south of Copake Falls. (7) White Mills Pond (Chatham). West of the village of Chatham and mostly in the town of Chatham but extending into Ghent. Mapped as Smith Pond on earlier maps, but unnamed later. (9) PART 1: SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT OF THE SPECIES In the following pages is presented an account of the vascular plants known to occur outside of cultivation in the Columbia County area. This includes native species, weeds and escapes from cultivation found growing within the limits of the area. In a few cases mention is made of stations or localities outside the region of the present study, where such mention has some bearing on plant distribution as related to the region itself. The various species concerned have been admitted to the record as members of the flora either on the basis of my own field study or after study of herbarium specimens collected by others or, in a rela- tively few cases, on the basis of published but unverified records. The latter have in all cases been cited in the text for what they are. In the case of reports of critical or poorly understood species, special attempts have been made to state plainly the exact situation in regard to their occurrences in the area. The arrangement of families and genera in the present study is es- sentially the same as that of House (1924). Certain changes have been made in this order, the most notable being the following : The Pteridophyta have been arranged according to the order pro- posed by Eames (1936). The arrangement of the Gramineae follows that of Hitchcock (1935) ; the treatment of the genus Car ex is based on that of Mackenzie (1931-35) and the treatment of the Scrophu- lariaceae follows that of Pennell (1935). The use of “common” or English names for plants has been given a somewhat restricted application in the following pages. While every plant known to science has been given a name derived from Latin or Greek according to the so-called binomial system of nomenclature, relatively few plants, and those only among the more conspicuous or well-known ones, have English names which are in actual use. Many attempts have been made to supply common names for the poorly known and inconspicuous species, but with little success. Fennel- leaved pondweed, and Curtiss’s triple-awned grass, for example, both of which appear in at least one widely used current floristic work, are names known to no one except their nameless inventor, and are not common names at all. Such plants as Potamogeton pectinatus and Aristida Cartissii, to which the English names mentioned above have been applied in books, often have no common names; they are known to the layman as “weeds” or “grass.” On the other hand, a plant like Symplocarpns foetidus is skunk cabbage to every man, be he country or city bred, who has ever smelled it. Skunk cabbage is a 19 20 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM true “common” name, in everyday use, and as such belongs to the plant. An attempt has been made in the present study to restrict the use of English names to those plants for which such names are in actual use, or for which there are well-established and popular book names. As has been repeatedly pointed out, some confusion may arise through improper use of common names. “Reindeer moss” is not a moss at all, but a lichen ; “Spanish moss” is not even remotely related to moss, but is a close cousin of the pineapple ; “Club moss” is not a moss but a fern ally. Such common names are of doubtful value as approaches to systematic botany, for they obscure the rela- tionships of the plants in question and may actually be misleading. Following the practice of Zenkert (1934), I have attempted to place all misleading or misapplied common names between quotation marks by way of cautioning the reader against drawing false inferences. Juncus Gerardi, for example, a common plant of the salt marshes of the Atlantic coast, is known ordinarily as “Black grass,” although it is not a grass but a member of the rush family. Many similar cases are to be found in the text. Analytical keys to the genera and species of plants included in the systematic list have been added to make identification of un- known plants easier for the reader. These keys have been adapted freely from those found in standard floristic works, with additions and subtractions as necessary for the Columbia County flora. De- scriptions of the families, genera and species have been omitted, as in a work of limited scope such as this one they tend to produce volume without adding an equal amount of value. Completely ade- quate descriptions of all the plants concerned may be found in Gray’s Manual or other standard floristic works. Persons interested in the geographical ranges of the various species will find them elu- cidated in the same works. After the name of each species included in the present account will be found a brief statement of its range, habitat and frequency in the Columbia County area. The statements of range are thought to be self-explanatory, although the user of the book may wish to consult the text (p. 237) where the limits of the Hudson and Har- lem Valleys are defined. The terms used to describe the various sorts of plant habitats are thought to be nearly self-explanatory as well, with the possible exception of “bog,” “swamp” and “marsh,” all of which are wet-soil habitats. As used in this account, a swamp is understood to be a place where the soil is permanently wet and where the vegetation consists in part of trees or tall bushes. A marsh FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 21 is equally wet, but the vegetation is characterized by the presence of grasses or grasslike plants and by the comparative scarcity of trees. A bog has as its principal feature the presence of large amounts of organic material in the soil ; the soil, in fact, may be almost wholly made up of such organic remains, and be referred to as peat. The terms used to describe abundance and frequency are similar to those used by Zenkert (1934) for a similar study, and used sub- sequently by McVaugh (1938) in connection with a survey of the aquatic vegetation of Chautauqua Lake. The term abundance refers to average density of population per unit area, while frequency re- fers to distribution in space. A plant may be infrequent in a given range, meaning that it occurs at relatively few localities ; it may at the same time be abundant wherever found. The following general terms are used in describing frequency and abundance : Abundance Abundant Sparse Frequency Common Frequent Infrequent Rare A common plant is reasonably expected to be found in all or nearly all suitable habitats throughout, while a plant designated as frequent probably occurs in not more than 50-75 percent of the suitable habitats in the same area. A species said to be infrequent occurs in a relatively small percentage of the possible spots ; the upper limit may be arbitrarily set at 25 percent of the suitable habitats. The species designated as rare have been found a few times only ; the term is practically self-explanatory. When a species is said to be abundant, it is understood that the individual plants in a given locality are relatively crowded or close together, sometimes forming a pure or nearly pure stand ; the term sparse, on the other hand, means that the individual plants are more widely separated. The various descriptions of habitat and frequency are based largely upon field studies and are compiled from notes as well as from memory. In the absence of detailed statistical studies, however, the statements of abundance and frequency become very largely expres- sions of individual opinion and should be regarded as such. Common and widely distributed species are included without cita- tion of specimens, with few exceptions. In the case of rare species or those with restricted ranges, however, it has been thought de- sirable to cite representative collections or records from literature. 22 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Where the locality alone is cited, it indicates that I have seen the plant in question at this locality or have seen a specimen from there. My own collections are cited by number only, no collector’s name being indicated. Citation of collector by name and number of collec- tion, or of collector and date, without any accompanying abbreviation for herbarium, indicates that the specimen is deposited in the her- barium of the New York State Museum at Albany. Where necessary to prevent ambiguity, this is abbreviated (NYS). Other herbaria are indicated by the following symbols, which, as far as possible, are those proposed by Lanjouw (1939) : BKL — Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn. CU — Cornell University, Ithaca. GA — University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. GH — Gray Herbarium, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. MICH — University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. MO — Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Mo. NEBC — New England Botanical Club, Gray Herbarium, Harvard University. NY — New York Botanical Garden, New York PENN — University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. PH — Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pa. TRT — Toronto University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. US — United States National Herbarium, Washington, D. C. USNA — United States National Arboretum, Washington, D. C. V — Vassar College, Poughkeepsie. Throughout the present volume the metric system is used in recording measurements wherever practicable. As nearly all pub- lished data, however, are given in inches, feet, miles and acres, it has not seemed necessary or advisable to transpose them for use here. Nearly all herbarium specimens collected in this country are located as having been taken a certain number of miles from some definite place. Wflien an attempt is made to convert these figures to meters or kilometers, awkward and misleading fractions may result, so that data here reported are taken directly from the specimens. Through- out the systematic account, elevations above sea level are given in meters. By those who prefer to use the English system, the following conversion table may be used : 1 meter = 39.37 inches = 3 feet, 3.37 inches 1 kilometer = 1,000 meters = approximately mile 1 hectare = 2.47 acres Throughout the preparation of this account of the flora and vege- tation of the Columbia County area I have benefited by the advice FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 23 and criticism of Dr. H. D. House, the State Botanist of New York from 1914 to 1948. 1 It is a pleasure to express to Dr. House my appreciation of this association which has now extended over more than 15 years. Many thanks are also due to all the other botanical friends who have ex- tended the courtesies of their several institutions and performed personal favors of various kinds. My active field work in the Columbia County area was brought to a close in 1936, but since that time Dr. House has made a number of excursions into the area, particularly into that part of it which lies in Rensselaer County, near the northern limits of the watershed of Kinderhook Creek. In 1949 he very kindly sent me a long list of his own recent collections, and other collections which I had not been able to examine at the time of the preparation of this manu- script in 1941 and 1942. It has not been possible to check his de- terminations of all these specimens but the more interesting ones have been cited below in the systematic account when there seemed to be no reasonable doubt of the identifications. All such specimens, reported by Dr. House but not verified, are cited in square brackets. The nomenclature employed in the present study is that of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (1952). When the manuscript for the Flora was completed for publication in 1941 and 1942, the scientific names ©f plants were in large part those found in the seventh edition of Gray’s Manual (Robinson & Fernald, 1908). Minor revisions in the manuscript were made in 1949, to bring taxonomy and nomenclature somewhat into accord with then current opinion, and to make certain necessary additions, chiefly those which had been brought to my attention by Dr. House. It should be noted that descriptive passages and notes on the occurrence of individual species pertain to a period not later than 1940, when my field work in the Columbia County area came to an end. At the time of the last revision of the manuscript, in December 1949, announcement had just been made of the forthcoming publica- tion of the long-awaited eighth edition of Gray’s Manual, under the authorship of Professor M. L. Fernald. Before the publication of Gray’s Manual, however, funds for the printing of the Columbia County Flora became available and the manuscript was set up in type. The galley proof was read and corrected but, because of an un- fortunate series of events, actual publication was never effected. In the autumn of 1955 plans for publication were again initiated, and it was thought best to attempt a further revision, in order to T)r. House died Dec. 21, 1949. 24 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM bring the nomenclature of the Flora into some degree of conformity with that used in the new Gray’s Manual. Because of other work to which I was committed, I was unable to devote the necessary time and thought to the revision at this particular time, and Mr. Stanlev J. Smith of the New York State Museum kindly volunteered to undertake the onerous task of making the necessary changes. He completed the work in December 1955, and I should like to express here my gratitude for his interest and painstaking thoroughness. In certain cases the names used in this Flora for plant-species differ from the ones used in the eighth edition of Gray’s Manual, and in such cases appropriate reference is made to the Manual. The differences have arisen in some cases because of varying taxonomic interpretations, because of recent studies which were not available to Professor Fernald in 1950, or in a few cases because of the seem- ing impossibility of reconciling the nomenclatural opinions expressed by Fernald with those held by Mr. Smith and myself. Differences of opinion as to the limits of plant-genera and plant-families have resulted in some discrepancies at this level also, but no cross-refer- ences have been inserted except for the names of species. Specific epithets in the Flora have been spelled consistently with a small initial letter, in conformity with the present recommendation of the International Code. The taxonomic opinions expressed in the Flora, naturally enough, are chiefly those which I held about the year 1940. In the intervening period my ideas and concepts have doubtless been altered in many ways, but because it has not been possible to attempt a conscientious reevaluation of the whole flora, it has seemed advisable to reduce innovations to a minimum. In certain cases, therefore, especially those involving taxonomic opinion, the names used for species are those of Gray’s Manual, and are those which in 1940 I should have accepted as taxonomically correct, but which I should now question in the light of altered concepts of species and subspecific taxa. The State Botanist’s Office has furnished much assistance with the preparation of the final manuscript. This involved much difficult revision of the old galley proofs, and I am especially grateful to Dr. E. C. Ogden for the many hours he spent on this and for his part in urging the ultimate publication of the Flora. Division I. PTERIDOPHYTA LYCOPODIACEAE (“Club-moss Family”) Lycopodium L. 1. Sporangia in the axils of ordinary leaves, not forming a well-marked termi- nal spike L. lucidulmn 1. Sporangia in the axils of the upper leaves, which are modified and bractlike, the whole forming a dense terminal spike, 2 2. Bracts of the spike similar to the foliage leaves in form and texture L. inundatum 2. Bracts of the spike very different from the leaves of the sterile parts of the stem, 3 3. Sterile branches convex and uniformly leafy on all sides, 4 4. Fertile branches leafy up to the usually solitary spikes; leaves not bristle-tipped, 5 5. Creeping stem deep in the ground, the upright branches treelike, repeatedly forked L. obscurum 5. Creeping stem on or near the surface, its numerous erect branches sparingly or not at all branched L. annotinum 4. Spikes 2 to 4 on a slender scaly peduncle; leaves bristle-tipped L. clavatum 3. Sterile branches flattened or concave beneath, the leaves usually re- duced or modified on the lower surface, 6 6. Fertile branches leafy up to the spikes L. obscurum 6. Spikes borne on a slender scaly peduncle, 7 7. Creeping stems at or near the surface of the ground; branchlets strongly dorsiventral, the leaves on the lower surface much smaller than the lateral ones ; plants yellowish green L. complanatum 7. Creeping stems rather deeply buried; leaves on the lower side of the branchlets scarcely smaller than the others ; plants bluish green L. tristachyum L. lucidulum Michx. Prince’s feather. Moist, usually cool woods; frequent. Rare or local in the Hudson Valley, but very abundant eastward. L. inundatum L. “Columbia County” according to an unverified report by House (1924) ; Stephentown, House 22830. L. obscurum L. “Ground pine.” Dry or moist woods; common. Abundant eastward; locally so in the Hudson Valley. South of Niverville, 245; Waldorf Pond, House 20913; 3 miles south of Kinderhook, near Hemlock School, 1428. Much of our material may be referred to var. dendroideum (Michx.) D. C. Eat. L. annotinum L. “Stiff club moss.” Known only from rather moist, shady woods in the towns of New Lebanon and Canaan at elevations of 300 meters or more. 1 mile northwest of Lebanon Springs, 2395, 3670; Perry Peak, Canaan, House 21192 ; Mount Lebanon, House 16144. Represented in our area only by the var. acrifolium Fern. L. clavatum L. Dry woods and banks ; apparently rare in the Hudson Valley, but increasingly common eastward. 4 miles north of Lebanon Springs, 2410; Spencertown, Whitney 843; New Forge, 270; 1.5 miles south of Ancram- dale, 3390; south of Niverville, 243 (PENN). Plants collected at Lebanon Springs by A. K. Harrison have been referred to forma sterile House, and may represent a sterile phase of var. megastachyon Fern, and Bissell (Rhodora 12: 53. 1910). 25 26 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM L. complanatum L. “Ground pine.” Crowfoot. Dry woods or open fields ; frequent. Very abundant eastward, but only locally so in the Hudson Valley; forming large patches in fields and thickets, especially in acid soil. Represented in our area only by var. flabelliforme Fern. L. tristachyum Pursh. Dry sandy soils in the northeastern part of the county, at elevations of 300 m. or more; local. 4 miles north of Lebanon Springs, 2412; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 292, 2155. SELAGINELLACEAE (Selaginella Family) Selaginella Beauv. 1. Leaves of two sizes, the lateral ones larger and spreading, the inner (upper) ones shorter and appressed to the stem; plants diffuse or prostrate, creep- ing S. apoda 1. Leaves all alike, overlapping each other closely in about 8 rows, uniformly disposed on all sides of the stem; plants usually in little tufts S’, rupestris S. rupestris (L.) Spring. Rocks or loose stony soil; frequent. Especially common on the loose shales near the Hudson River, where it grows in small patches, usually in association with Cyperus filiculmis and Polygonum tenue. Curtis Mountain ; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown ; Pulvers, town of Ghent ; 2 miles east of Elizaville; Stuyvesant Falls (PENN) ; Ghent, on red shale, Wherry (PH); Blue Hill; 1 mile south of Germantown; 1 mile southwest of Clermont. S. apoda (L.) Spring. Moist places, in neutral or calcareous soil; infrequent. Riders Mills, 4065; Robinson Pond, 3956; Pulvers Corners, 3865; 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, 3241. ISOETACEAE (Quillwort Family) Isoetes L.1 Quillwort. 1. Megaspores covered with tiny sharp spines I. echinospora 1. Megaspores covered with irregular raised ridges or projections, not spiny, 2 2. Ridges of the megaspore forming a sharply defined delicate honeycomb- like network I. Engelvumni 2. Ridges of the megaspore irregularly branching and projecting in crests or teeth /. riparia I. echinospora Dur. (I. muricata of Gray’s Manual) Rocky or muddy margins of lakes, in shallow water; frequent. Represented in our area mostly by var. Braunii Engelm. Taghkanic Lake, 2015; Forest Lake, 2069; Copake Lake, 3429 ; Miller Pond, Stissing Mountain, 3873. One collection, Muenscher & Clausen 4128, from Tackawasick Lake, in the Cornell University herbarium, has been identified by Wiegand as I. echinospora var. muricata (Dur.) Engelm. I. riparia Engelm. Mud flats in tidewater along the Hudson River, where quite abundant. An estuarine species first reported from our area by Svenson (Torreya 35: 118. 1935). 2 miles north of Castleton, 3971; Poelsburg, 3814; Magdalen Island and Crugers’ Island, 2687 (GH), 2943 (GH). Also at No Bottom Pond, 1323, 1963. Material from No Bottom Pond was de- termined by Dr. Norma E. Pfeiffer. 1 The genus Isoetes is a difficult one, even for the professional botanist, as the characters appear to intergrade somewhat and the ones used are so minute that a compound microscope is necessary for identification of the various species. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 27 I. Engelmanni A. Br. Shallow water in muddy bottoms of lakes and quiet streams; infrequent. Kinderhook Lake, House 15542, Muenscher & Clausen 4133 (CU) ; New Forge, in Taghkanic Creek, 3489 ; Nassau Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4132. EQUISETACEAE (Horsetail Family) Equisetum L. 1. Stems perennial, stiff and harsh, reedlike, 3 to 7 mm. in diameter, un- branched except when injured, or irregularly branched at base; teeth of the nodal sheaths soon deciduous E. hyemale 1. Stems annual, usually not at all stiff or harsh, at least the sterile ones with regular whorls of branches at the nodes; teeth of the nodal sheaths per- sistent, 2 2. Sheaths on the main stem 15- to 20-toothed, appressed; plants ordinarily not bushy; branches relatively few, usually near the middle of the plant, strongly ascending E. fluviatile 2. Sheaths on the main stem usually not more than 10-toothed, somewhat spreading ; plants, at least the sterile shoots, somewhat bushy ; branches numerous, 3 3. Teeth of the sheaths on the main stem black, firm; fertile stems not developing any green branches ; branches of the sterile stems ascend- ing, rather straight E. ai'vense 3. Teeth of the sheaths on the main stem brown, papery; fertile stems developing green branches and resembling the sterile ones; branches of the sterile stems drooping E. sylvaticum E. arvense L. Common or field horsetail. Sterile or sandy soil ; common and abundant, especially along roadsides and railroad embankments. E. sylvaticum L. Wood horsetail. Moist, especially sandy woods; infrequent. Canticoke Swamp, Nassau, 1747 (PENN) ; New Britain, 3649 ; 1 mile south of Canaan Center, 3617 ; Niverville, 393 (PENN) ; 1 mile north of Kinder- hook, 407. Represented in our area only by var. pauciramosum Milde. E. fluviatile L. Swamp horsetail. Open swamps and borders of slow streams ; abundant in the tidal flats along the Hudson River; elsewhere local. Poels- burg, 890; Rogers Island, 2590; Tivoli, North Bay, 2784; Pikes’ Pond, House 21955; 1 mile south of Fowlers’ Lake, 1434; south of Mount Riga Station, 3374. E. hyemale L. “Scouring rush.’’ Woodlands, open fields and embankments, in wet or dry soil; frequent and locally abundant. Represented in our area only by var. affine (Engelm.) A. A. Eat. OPHIOGLOSSACEAE (Adder's-tongue Family) 1. Sterile leaf segments entire, ovate to elliptic-oblong; sporangia fused to- gether in a simple spike 1. Ophioglossum 1. Sterile leaf segments variously lobed, pinnate, or decompound; sporangia separate, in loose or compact panicles 2. Botrychium 1. Ophioglossum L. O. vulgatum L. Adder’s-tongue. “Moist meadows, boggy depressions, and damp thickets” (House, 1924). Reported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from the “south end of Thompson Pond.” Otherwise unknown from our area. An inconspicu- ous species and perhaps overlooked. 28 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 2. Botrychium Sw. 1. Plants large, often 30 to 60 cm. high; sterile part of frond thin and mem- branous, sessile at about the middle of the plant ; base of the stalk (cover- ing the bud) open along one side B. virginianum 1. Plants smaller, 5 to 25 (rarely 40) cm. high; sterile part of frond often somewhat fleshy; bud completely inclosed by base of stalk, 2 2. Sterile part of frond on a stalk 2 to 16 cm. in length, 3 3. Divisions of the blade deeply and finely lacerated or divided B. dissectum 3. Divisions of the blade entire to serrulate or even lobed, but not finely lacerated or divided B. dissectum forma obliquum 2. Sterile part of frond sessile or nearly so, the petiole, if any, less than 1 cm. long, 4 4. Sterile part of frond ovate or oblong, short-stalked, the lobes oblong- ovate and obtuse B. mat ricariae folium 4. Sterile part of frond deltoid, sessile, the lobes lanceolate, acute B. lanceolatum B. matricariaefolium A. Br. Grape fern. Moist shady woods; infrequent and sparse. Stuyvesant Falls, 5044 (USNA) ; Taconic Park, near Copake Falls, 5039 (USNA) ; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 658, 670; 3 miles northwest of Ghent, 1425. B. lanceolatum (Gmel.) Rupr., var. angustisegmentum Pease & Moore. Moist shady woods ; infrequent and sparse. Lebanon Springs, 2407 ; Brainard, House 21538 ; Stissing Mountain, Hoysrcidt (PENN) ; 1 mile north of Kinder- hook, 671; No Bottom Pond, 4525. B. dissectum Spreng. Dry fields and woods; infrequent. 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 142 (PENN) ; Mount Alander, Hoysradt (PENN). Forma obliquum (Muhl.) Fern. (B. obliquum of Gray’s Manual). Dry fields and woods; frequent. Intermediates between this form and the last occur, but most plants seen have the appearance of f. obliquum. West side of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 3630; Old Chatham, 2443; northwest of Niver- ville, 2442; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 157 (PENN). B. virginianum (L.) Sw. Rattlesnake fern. Moist rich woods; common throughout. OSMUNDACEAE (Royal fern Family) Osmunda L. 1. Fronds twice pinnate, fertile at the tip 0. regalis 1. Fronds once pinnate, the pinnae deeply pinnatifid, 2 2. Fertile and sterile fronds wholly separate 0. cinnamomea 2. Fertile pinnae median, with sterile ones above and below them O. Claytoniana O. cinnamomea L. Cinnamon fern. Wet places ; common. Often very abundant in swampy woods. O. Claytoniana L. Interrupted fern. Wet places; frequent. Very abundant and a characteristic feature of upland meadows and thickets at higher elevations in the eastern part of the county. O. regalis L. Royal fern. Wet places ; common. Especially abundant in swampy woods. Represented only by var. spectabilis (Willd.) Gray. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 29 DICKSONIACEAE (Tree fern Family) Dennstaedtia Bernh.1 D. punctilobula (Michx.) Moore. Hay-scented fern. Woods and swamps; frequent throughout. An abundant pasture weed in poor rocky soils in the eastern part of the county, but much less abundant in the Hudson Valley, where local. Canticoke Swamp; Austerlitz; North Chatham; Canaan Center; Boston Corners; Stuyvesant Falls; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (PENN). POLYPODIACEAE (True fern Family) 1. Fertile fronds, or portions of fronds, conspicuously unlike the sterile, the green leaf tissue of the fertile blades much reduced or entirely wanting, 2 2. Fertile fronds, or portions of fronds, scarcely or not at all leaflike, 3 3. Fronds in a row along a creeping rootstock; fertile fronds twice pinnate; veins in a network 1. Onoclea 3. Fronds in a thick clump; fertile fronds once pinnate; veins free, not forming a network 2. Pteretis 2. Fertile portions of fronds green and leaflike, terminal, the pinnae much narrower than the adjacent sterile ones 5. Polystichum 1. Fertile fronds, or portions of fronds, essentially like the sterile in appear- ance, 4 4. Sporangia borne at the margins of the lobes or segments of the blades, either in definite sori or as a continuous marginal line, partially covered by a reflexed portion of the edge of the leaf blade, 5 5. Pinnules without a distinct midvein, the small veins repeatedly forked, all about equal in size 11. Adiantum 5. Pinnules (or pinnae in once-compound leaves) with a distinct midvein, the smaller veins pinnately arranged, 6 6. Leaves produced singly in a row along a slender underground creeping rootstock; blade mostly appearing ternate because of the elongation of the lowest pinnae 12. Pteridium 6. Leaves in clusters, from a short rootstock clothed with reddish brown scalelike hairs ; blades pinnate ; stipe and rachis dark brown 13. Pellaea 4. Sporangia usually borne in definite sori distinctly away from the leaf margin, or, if apparently at the margins of the lobes or segments, not covered by a reflexed portion of the edge of the leaf blade, 7 7. Young sori (and indusia, when present) more or less circular, the sori appearing as roundish dots on the lower side of the leaf, 8 8. Leaf blades deeply pinnatifid, the lobes entire or essentially so; sori without indusia, prominent; fronds rarely more than 30 cm. in length, arising in a row along a creeping rootstock 14. Polypodium 8. Leaf blades pinnately or ternately cleft or pinnate, the segments vari- ously toothed, cleft or divided, 9 9. Leaf blades once pinnate, the pinnae bristle-toothed or serrate, but without conspicuous lobes except a single triangular one on upper side at base 5. Polystichum 9. Leaf blades once or more pinnately or ternately divided, the pinnae always deeply lobed or themselves pinnate, 10 10. Indusia attached all around and beneath the sori, at first in- closing them but soon splitting into several spreading lobes, 1 Dennstaedtia is regarded by Fernald in the 8th edition of Cray’s Manual as a genus of the Polypodiaceae ; the family arrangement followed here is that advocated by Eames, Morphology of Vascular Plants. 30 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM these sometimes narrow and hairlike; fronds in dense clusters, usually intermixed with the persistent straw-colored or darker stipes of previous years; stipes jointed near base; stipe of the present season with conspicuous brownish or light chaffy scales 3. Woodsia 10. Indusia, if present, apparently attached by center or at the side, the sporangia partially covered by them and projecting from beneath them, 11 11. Indusium, if present, appearing mushroom-shaped (peltate), with a cleft or indentation at one side, the sporangia project- ing nearly equally on all sides from the indusium 6. Dryopteris 11. Indusium attached by its base at one side of the sorus, partially covering the sorus like a hood but soon withering 4. Cystopteris 7. Young sori (and indusia when present) elongated, oblong to linear, often curved, 12 12. Leaf blades simple, entire, narrow, long-tapering and rooting at tips; veins forming a network 8. Camptosorus 12. Leaf blades variously pinnate or at least deeply lobed; veins mostly free or in a few species forming a few areoles but free most of their length, 13 13. Sori parallel to the midveins of pinnae or their lobes, often con- fluent into long lines; veins forming a row of areoles along midvein, but free beyond that 7. Anchistea 13. Sori more or less parallel to the oblique lateral veins of the pinnae or their lobes, sometimes curving and crossing them, 14 14. Leaves mostly small, 5 to 30 cm. long, evergreen (if over 30 cm., rachis .shining dark brown) ; sori not strongly curved 9. Asplenium 14. Leaves mostly large, 35 to 100 cm. long, not evergreen; rachis green or sometimes reddish; sori, at least in part, strongly curved or hooked 10. Athyrium 1. Onoclea L. 0. sensibilis L. Sensitive fern. Wet places; very common. 2. Pteretis Raf. P. pensylvanica (Willd.) Fern. Ostrich fern. Alluvial soil along streams; infrequent, but apparently throughout the area. No Bottom Pond, 1332; Kinderhook Creek, north of Riders Mills, 1262; 1.5 miles north of Kinder- hook, 980; north of Stuyvesant along Mill Creek, 246; 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, 3238; 2 miles north of Tivoli, 2797 (TRT). 3. Woodsia R. Br. 1. Mature fronds usually 5 to 15 cm. long, thickly clothed beneath with rusty bristlelike chaff ; indusium divided into slender hairs W. ilvetusis 1. Mature fronds usually 20 to 50 cm. long, not rusty-chaffy; indusium divided into a few broad segments W. obtusa W. ilvensis (L.) R. Br. Exposed rocks and bluffs, usually in slightly acid soil; frequent. Curtis Mountain (PENN); Green River; Cedar Mountain (PENN); Boston Corners; Stissing Mountain; Poelsburg (PENN); Stuy- vesant Falls; Blue Hill; 1 mile south of Germantown; 1 mile southwest of Clermont. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 31 W. obtusa (Spreng.) Torr. Rocky woods and on cliffs, often in dry soil; frequent. Green River; North Chatham; 3 miles north of Ancramdale; Stissing Mountain (TRT) ; 2 miles east of Elizaville; Nutten Hook; Mount Merino (PENN) ; Tivoli. 4. Cystopteris Bernh. 1. Fronds lanceolate, long-drawn-out at tip, usually bearing small bulblets on the lower surface C. bulbifera 1. Fronds ovate-oblong, acute, not bulblet-bearing C. fragilis C. bulbifera (L.) Bernh. Bladder fern. Frequent in moist rich soil in rocky woodlands; abundant on limestone. Rare in the Hudson Valley, and most abundant eastward. New Lebanon, 739 ; No Bottom Pond, 1327 ; Green River, 1526; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Fox Hill, Ancram, 3416; Stissing Mountain, Hoysradt (PENN) ; West base of Brace Mountain, House 24866; Old Chatham, 644; 3 miles south of Kinderhook, 200 (PENN). C. fragilis (L.) Bernh. Brittle fern. Rocky woods and on rocks, often in crevices; frequent. Green River, 1527 ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (PENN) ; Cheviot, 2820 ; Tivoli, 2812 (TRT) ; our plant is probably var. Mackayii Lawson. 5. Polystichum Roth P. acrostichoides (Michx.) Schott. Christmas fern. Woods; common every- where. 6. Dryopteris Adans. 1. Indusium wanting; rootstocks creeping, 2 2. Blade subtemate, the basal pinnae stalked; rachis of frond not winged D. disjunct a 2. Rachis more or less winged; basal pinnae sessile or decurrent, 3 3. Blade as broad as or broader than long; rachis above the lowest pair of pinnae winged D. hexagonoptera 3. Blade longer than broad; rachis above the lowest pair of pinnae practi- . caI*y wingless £>. Phegopteris 1. Indusium present, 4 4. Rootstocks creeping; veins simple or once forked, 5 5. Lower pinnae scarcely or not at all smaller than the others, 6 6 Veins, at least in part, forked D. Tlielypteris . Veins all simple p simulata ower pinnae gradually and conspicuously reduced, the frond tapering both ways from the middle Z). noveboracensis 4. Rootstocks short, suberect; veins, at least the lowest, more than once forked, 7 7. Fronds bipinnate or bipinnatifid, the lobes little or not at all spiny- toothed, 8 8. Sori near the margin D. marginal is 8. Sori not regularly near the margin, 9 9. Basal scales of stipe dark chestnut-colored ; sori mostly 6 to 10 Pairs D. Goldiana 9. Basal scales light brown; sori fewer, 10 10. Indusium glandular-puberulent ; blades elongate-lanceolate, some- what narrowed at base D. XBoottii 10. Indusium glabrous, 11 11. Blades linear-oblanceolate ; pinnae blunt or subacute D. cristata 11. Blades oblong ; pinnae long acuminate D. Clintoniana 32 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 7. Fronds tripinnate or tripinnatifid, the ultimate segments spiny-toothed, 12 12. Indusium glabrous; inner pinnules of basal row longer than the next outer ones D. spinulosa 12. Indusium glandular-puberulent ; inner pinnules of basal row shorter than next outer ones D. intermedia D. Phegopteris (L.) Christens. Long beech fern. Cool ravines, along rocky streams. Rare below 300 m. elevation, but frequent in the higher hills northeastward. Stephentown Center, House 21667 ; hills west of Berry Pond, 3772; Mount Lebanon, House 15599; Austerlitz, 2153; Spencertown, along a creek about 4 miles southeast of town, 1867 ; Bashbish Gorge, 3563 ; New Forge, along Taghkanic Creek, 3498; 1 mile southeast of North Chatham, 1111. D. hexagonoptera (Michx.) Christens. Broad beech fern. Rich moist woods and cool ravines; rather frequent in the clays of the river valley; infrequent elsewhere. 2 miles south-southwest of Green River, 3525; south of Fox Hill, Ancram, 3415; north of Stuyvesant, along Mill Creek, 1553; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 1462; Columbiaville, 1505; 4 miles north of Nassau, House 22759. D. disjuncta (Ledeb.) C. V. Mort. (Rhodora 43: 217. 1941) Oak fern. Cool ravines along rocky streams. Rather rare in the higher hills to the eastward ; unknown below 300 m. elevation, except in the cool gorge of Bashbish Brook, 3565. Brainard, House 21347 ; Perry Peak, Canaan, 3655; Austerlitz, Whitney 848; 4 miles southeast of Spencertown, 1865; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (PENN). D. Thelypteris (L.) Gray. Marsh fern. Wet places; common. Very abundant in swamps and wet meadows ; found also 1 mile south of Canaan Center on limestone talus, in a well-drained situation. Represented in our area only by var. pubescens (Lawson) Nakai. D. simulata Davenp. Sphagnous hummocks in swampy woods; rare. Abundant 1 mile west of Lebanon Springs, 3671; between Long Pond and Round Pond, Berlin, 4743 (USNA) ; [Near Long Pond, Berlin, House 29339]. D. noveboracensis (L.) Gray. New York fern. Woodlands, often in dry soil; frequent. Canticoke Svcamp; Canaan Center; 4 miles southeast of Spencer- town; Kinderhook (PENN); Stuyvesant Falls; Tivoli (TRT) ; north of Brace Mountain. D. cristata (L.) Gray. Wooded swampy places; frequent, especially east of the the Hudson Valley. Canaan Center; 3 miles southeast of Harlemville; North Chatham; 2 miles south of Copake Lake (TRT); Pine Plains, Hoysradt (PENN) ; 1 mile north of Kinderhook. D. Clintoniana (D. C. Eat.) Dowell ( D . cristata var. Clintoniana of Gray’s Manual). Wooded swamps, infrequent. (Canaan, 2116; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 1081; Niverville, 1137; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 146 (PENN). D. Goldiana (Hook.) Gray. Goldie’s fern. Rich moist woods; rare. 2 miles south of Flatbrook, 3610; No Bottom Pond, 1941; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (PENN). D. marginalis (L.) Gray. Evergreen wood fern. Woods; common. Most abundant in rocky places on wooded hillsides. D. spinulosa (O. F. Muell.) Watt. Moist, usually swampy, woodlands. Fre- quent eastward, at higher elevations, but rare in the Hudson Valley. Brainard; Canticoke Swamp; North Chatham; 2 miles south of Copake Lake (TRT) ; 1.5 miles south of Ancramdale; 1 mile north of Kinderhook. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 33 D. intermedia (Muhl.) Gray. ( D.spinulosa var. intermedia of Gray’s Manual ). Woodlands; frequent. Rather scarce in the Hudson Valley, but very abundant eastward in woods, swamps and cool ravines. Lebanon Springs; Brainard, North Chatham; Austerlitz; 4 miles southeast of Spencertown; Bashbish Gorge (Figure 4) ; 4 miles southeast of Harlemville; Niverville; Kinderhook. D. xBoottii (Tuckerm.) Underw. Locally abundant where the parent species (D. cristata, D. intermedia) are found growing together. Seen at Queechy Lake and Old Chatham, McVaugh. West of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 2115; Canaan Center, 1047 ; North Chatham, in a tamarack swamp 2 miles southeast, 1152; 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 2608 (TRT). A supposed hybrid between D. cristata and D. spmulosa was collected at Brainard, House 21401. 7. Anchistea Presl A. virginica (L.) Presl. (Woodzvardia of Gray’s Manual). Chain fern. In swamps, in acid soil ; rare. North of Brainard, House 7173; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY, PENN). 8. Camptosorus Link C. rhizophyllus (L.) Link. Walking fern. Shaded limestone rocks, where abundant. Occurs rarely on the calcareous shales of the Hudson Valley. New Lebanon, Iva Allen; hill north of Copake, 832; Poelsburg, 331 (PENN) ; town of Stockport, in gorge near river, 247 (PENN) ; 3 miles north of Claverack, 274; 2.5 miles west of Clermont, 3270. 9. Asplenium L. Spleenwort 1. Blades pinnatifid or pinnate only below, the apices long-attenuate A. ebenoides 1. Blades pinnate most of their length, the apices not long-attenuate, 2 2. Blades narrow, linear or linear-elliptic, once pinnate only, the pinnae toothed, or lobed, but not pinnatifid, 3 3. Pinnae subopposite, orbicular or short-oblong, not lobed at base A. Trichomanes 3. Pinnae mostly alternate, deltoid-oblong, the fertile ones with a lobe at base A. platyneuron 2. Blades ovate or deltoid-oblong, 2- to 3-pinnatifid, the primary divisions pinnate or pinnatifid, 4 4. Stipe green except at the very base ; pinnules obovate, often obtuse ; blade ovate, twice or three times pinnate A. Ruta-muraria 4. Stipe brown on lower part; pinnules rhombic-elliptic, subacute; blade deltoid-oblong, once or twice pinnate A. montanum A. ebenoides R. R. Scott. CKAsplenosorus ebenoides of Gray’s Manual)'. Known only from limestone talus, west side of Risedorph Hill, Pine Plains, House 21032 (See Amer. Fern Jour. 23: 122. 1933). A. platyneuron (L.) Oakes. Rocky woods and in crevices; frequent. Most abundant on the shaly soils of the Hudson Valley; unknown from the higher hills to the eastward. Brainard; North Chatham; Pulvers, town of Ghent; Stissing Mountain (TRT); Snyderville; Poelsburg; Kinderhook (PENN); Stuyvesant Falls (PENN) ; Blue Hill; Tivoli. 1 If Camptosorus and Asplenium are maintained as separate genera, this should be referred to the intergeneric hybrid genus Asplenosorus Wherry. 34 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM A, Trichomanes L. Maiden-hair spleenwort. Rocky wooded slopes and crevices in rocks; frequent. Not known from the higher elevations eastward. Curtis Mountain ; Pulvers, town of Ghent ; Stissing Mountain (TRT) ; 3 miles south of Kinderhook (PENN) ; Becraft Mountain (PENN) ; Blue Hill ; 1 mile south of Madalin. Copake Falls, according to Burnham (1913). A. Ruta-muraria L. (A. cryptolepis of Gray’s Manual). Crevices in north- or west-facing limestone rocks; infrequent. Canaan Center, 2316; Old Chatham, 635; hill north of Copake, 833; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (PENN) ; 1 mile southwest of West Ghent, 3297 ; 3 miles north of Claverack, 275 ; Becraft Mountain, 321 (PENN). I am unable clearly to separate A. cryptolepis Fern, from the European A. Ruta-muraria, as far as Columbia County material is concerned (figure 5). A. montanum Willd. On dry (acid) rocks; rare. Reported from Hudson by Stebbins (1830) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (PENN). The Pine Plains locality has not been relocated, but was no doubt originally on Stissing Mountain. 10. Athyrium Roth 1. Fronds once pinnate, the pinnae deeply pinnatifid, but not truly pinnate; small veins of the lobes of the pinnae never forking. A. thelypteroides 1. Fronds twice pinnate. (Sterile fronds which are not truly twice pinnate may be distinguished by the smallest veins, some of which are once or twice forked.) A. angustum A. angustum (Willd.) Presl. (A. Filix-femina var. Michauxii of Gray’s Manual). Lady fern. Wet places, dry woodlands, or by roadsides; common. A. thelypteroides (Michx.) Desv. Silvery spleenwort. Rich moist woods and cool ravines; frequent. Local in the Hudson Valley, and much more abundant eastward. New Lebanon, House 21296; No Bottom Pond, 1331; Spencertown, 1855; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Niverville, 1140; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 676. 11. Adiantum L. A. pedatum L. Maiden-hair fern. Rich soil in woods; common (figure 6). 12. Pteridium Gleditsch P. latiusculum (Desv.) Hieron. (P. aquilinum var. latiusculum of Gray’s Manual). Brake, Bracken. Poor or sandy soils; common. Abundant in open fields or in light shade. 13. Pellaea Link 1. Stipe and rachis more or less clothed with crisped hairs P. atropurpurea 1. Stipe and rachis glabrous, shining P ■ glabella P. atropurpurea (L.) Link. Purple cliff brake. Exposed north- and west- facing limestone rocks, where abundant. More common at low elevations near the Hudson River. Old Chatham, 1402 (PH) ; 3 miles south of Kinder- hook, 195 (PENN) ; Poelsburg, 333 (PENN) ; 3 miles north of Claverack, 310; 1.5 miles north of Tivoli, 2982 (TRT). P. glabella Mett. Known only from the face of a north-facing limestone cliff near Old Chatham, 634, 1405, 1894 (figure 7). 14. Polypodium L. P. virginianum L. Rocks and rocky banks ; common throughout, often forming large patches on rocks. Figure 2. Dryopteris simulate in a sphagnous woods about 1 mile west of Lebanon Springs Figure 3. Dryopteris Goldiana on limestone talus at No Bottom Pond 35 Figure 4. Hillside south of Bashbish Brook, Copake, looking west near the New York-Massachusetts line. Undergrowth consists largely of Dryopteris intermedia, Viburnum alnifolium and Taxus canadensis 36 37 Figure 5. Limestone cliff near Old Chatham show- Figure 6. Shady woods near Old Chatham, showing ing growth of Asplenium Ruta-muraria. At the right a dense growth of Adiantuni pcdatmn on a calcareous is Pcllaca atro purpurea. soil 38 Figure 7. Pellaea glabella on the face of a vertical Figure 8. Flowering plants of Sagittaria subulata limestone cliff near Old Chatham exposed at low tide on the mud flats at the mouth of Stockport Creek FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 39 Division II. SPERMATOPHYTA Class I. GYMNOSPERMAE PINACEAE (Pine Family) 1. Leaves alternate or in clusters, needlelike or narrowly linear, 2 2. Leaves in clusters of 2 or more (except on some young shoots), 3 3. Leaves 2 to 5 in each cluster, evergreen 1. Pinus 3. Leaves numerous in each cluster, deciduous 2. Larix 2. Leaves alternate, not in clusters, 4 4. Leaves needle-like, 4-angled ; leaf scars raised on short pedicel-like pro- jections; cones hanging, falling entire 3. Picea 4. Leaves linear, flat; leaf scars not raised on pedicel-like projections, 5 5. Cones hanging, falling entire, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long 4. Tsuga 5. Cones erect, with persistent axis and deciduous scales, 6 to 10 cm. long 5. Abies 1. Leaves opposite or whorled, scalelike (if needlelike, always opposite or whorled), 6 6. Branchlets strongly flattened; fruit a dry cone 6. Thuja 6. Branchlets not strongly flattened; fruit fleshy, berrylike, blue 7. Juniperus 1. Pinus L. Pine 1. Leaves 5 in each cluster; cone scales thin, without spiny tips P. Strobus 1. Leaves 2 or 3 in each cluster; cone scales woody, thickened at apex, 2 2. Leaves 3 in each cluster; cone scales with stiff recurved prickles P. rigida 2. Leaves 2 in each cluster; cone scales without prickles P. resinosa P. Strobus L. White pine. Woods, in all kinds of habitats ; common. This tree is very abundant in all parts of the county and seeds itself quickly, often taking over old fields and forming new stands. P. rigida Mill. Pitch pine. Dry sandy soil, in woods or in the open, or on rocks ; common. Very abundant on the sandy soils in Kinderhook and on the rocky summits of the hills in the southeastern part of the county. P. resinosa Ait. Red pine. Woods; rare. 2 miles east of Kinderhook, 314; 1 mile northeast of Boston Corners, on rocks at an elevation of 500 m., 2279; north of West Lebanon, D. B. Cook. Isolated trees in the towns of Stuyvesant and Taghkanic. Dense natural seeding forming a nearly pure stand near Fowlers’ Lake. 2. Larix Adans. Larch 1. Cone 1.5 to 2 cm. long, with 12 to 15 scales L. laricina 1. Cone 2 to 3.5 cm. long, with 40 to 50 scales L. decidua L. laricina (DuRoi) K. Koch. American larch, Tamarack. Abundant in cal- careous marshes and wet meadows in Canaan, Copake and Ancram, and in the acid bogs of the county, chiefly in the town of Kinderhook. Known from the “Fingar Marsh,” town of Gallatin. L. decidua Mill. European larch. Well established in an old field about 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 2281 3. Picea Link Spruce 1. Leaves mostly 12 to 15 mm. long, dark or yellowish green; cones elongated- ovoid, usually 3 to 4 cm. long P. rubens 40 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 1. Leaves mostly 6 to 10 mm. long, pale bluish green, glaucous ; cones short- ovoid, usually 2 to 3 cm. long. P. tmriana P. rubens Sarg. Red spruce. Common on the Rensselaer Plateau, at the northeastern limits of our area ; there forming extensive swamp forests with larch and balsam fir. Otherwise known only from Perry Peak, Canaan, at an elevation of abqut 570 m., House 21200. P. mariana (Mill.) BSP. Black spruce. Sphagnum bogs; rather rare. Yi mile south of Niverville, 367 ; reported from Lebanon Springs by Harrison (1887, as Abies nigra) ; reported from Pine Plains by Hovsradt and from Croghan Hill Marsh, town of Ancram. These reports are unverified, except that the Lebanon Springs report may refer to Taplins’ Pond, where this species occurs. A few stunted trees are still to be found in a swamp north of the West Ghent Church, Ghent. 4. Tsuga (Endl.) Carr. T. canadensis (L.) Carr. Hemlock. Cool shady woods; very common. Locally a dominant tree in ravines and on north-facing slopes. 5. Abies Hill A. balsamea (L.) Mill. Balsam fir, Balsam. Common on the Rensselaer Plateau, at the northeastern limits of our area, where it forms extensive swamp forests with larch and red spruce at elevations above 500 m. Otherwise unknown, although reported from Kinderhook by Woodworth (1840, as Pinus balsamea) and from Stissing Mountain by Hovsradt (1875-79). 6. Thuja L. T. occidentalis L. Arbor Vitae, “White cedar.” Steep shale banks and outcrops and in woods near the Hudson River; there abundant. Unknown elsewhere, except on a calcareous bluff on Becraft Mountain, 345, and as a swamp tree on Rogers Island. Poelsburg, 236; Columbiaville, 4041. Woodworth (1840) reported Cupressus thyoides from Kinderhook; his plant was probably Thuja occidentalis, rather than the coastal “White cedar,” Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) BSP., which is unknown in our area. 7. Juniperus L. Juniper 1. Leaves whorled, needle-shaped, 8 to 14 mm. long; plant a low bush with spreading branches /. communis I. Leaves opposite, scalelike, 0.5 to 1.5 mm. long (or in the juvenile state sharp, longer, needle-shaped) ; plant erect, forming a tree J. virginiana J. communis L. Low or bush juniper. Dry woods and fields; local. Usu- ally only 1 or 2 plants at a station. Woods south of Copake Lake, 3467 : 2 miles east of Elizaville, 3285 ; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 3511; Blue Hill, 249. Known also from just northeast of Kinderhook Lake; 2 miles south of Kinderhook ; and hills west of Fowlers’ Lake. Represented in our area only by var. depressa Pursh. J. virginiana L. “Red cedar.” Woods and open fields; infrequent or rare in the eastern part of the county, but becoming very abundant in the Hudson Valley, especially on the calcareous shales where it sometimes forms pure stands. Represented in our area only by var. crebra Fern. & Grisc. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 41 TAXACEAE (Yew Family) Taxus L. T. canadensis Marsh. American yew. Cool shady or swampy woods; in- frequent, but widely distributed. Canticoke Swamp, 1750 ; Bashbish Gorge, 3561; 3 miles north of Castleton, 3974; 3 miles south of Muitzes Kill, 289 ; Stuyvesant Falls, 238; known also from west of Lebanon Springs; 1 mile east of Canaan Center; 1 mile east of Valatie; bank of the Hudson River below mouth of Roeliff Jansen Kill; 2 miles east of Spencertown; Mount Everett. Class II. ANGIOSPERMAE Subclass I. MONOCOTYLEDONEAE TYPHACEAE (Cattail Family) Typha L. Cattail 1. Staminate and pistillate parts of the spike contiguous; pistillate part of the spike when mature 2.5 cm. in diameter; leaves 12 to 23 mm. in width; pollen grains in 4’s T. latifolia 1. Staminate and pistillate parts of the spike separated by a naked interval; pistillate part of the spike when mature 10 to 12 mm. in diameter; leaves 3 to 15 mm. wide; pollen grains single T. angustifolia T. latifolia L. Wet or swampy places ; common. T. angustifolia L. Tidal marshes along the Hudson River, where abundant. Elsewhere local, sometimes forming a large stand, as at White Mills Pond, Chatham, 1032. 1.5 miles north of Kinderhook, 1422; Rogers Island, 2594. Reported from Copake Falls, Stetson (1913). SPARGANIACEAE (Bur-reed Family) Sparganium L. Bur-reed 1. Stigmas 2 ; fruit sessile 5. eurycarpum 1. Stigma 1 ; fruit short-pedicelled, 2 2. Fruiting heads sessile in the axils of the leaves, or the lower ones peduncled in the axils 5". americanum 2. At least some of the fruiting heads sessile on the stem some distance above a leaf axil S'. chlorocarpum S. eurycarpum Engelm. Muddy places and in shallow water; abundant in tidal marshes along the Hudson River and known from several localities in the adjacent valley. Otherwise unknown. Kinderhook Lake, 1228; along creek near Kinderhook, 1375; Hudson, South Bay, House 20495; 2 miles south of Tivoli, 2782. S. americanum Nutt. Muddy borders of ponds and streams; frequent. Not reported from the river shores. Tackawasick Lake, Muensclier & Clausen 4142 (CU) ; Queechy Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4141 (CU) ; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Forest Lake, 2051; Mount Riga Station, 3370; 1 mile east of Valatie, 1488; Kinderhook, 2097; 2 miles east of Germantown, 2932. S. chlorocarpum Rydb. Muddy borders of ponds and streams; with the last, but less frequent. Crooked Lake, Sand Lake, House 21690 ; 2 miles south of biatbrook, 3612; New Forge, 3490 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3904; Kinderhook Lake, House 20958; 2 miles east of Valatie, 1882. The last 2 collections cited above may be in part the var. acaule (Beeby) Fern. 42 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM NAJADACEAE1 (Pondweed Family) 1. Flowers perfect, in peduncled spikes or clusters; leaves alternate or the upper ones sometimes opposite 1. Potamogeton /. Flowers unisexual, axillary; leaves opposite or in 3’s, 2 2. Leaves serrulate, dilated at base ; pistil 1 only, spindle-shaped, sym- metrical, with no lateral keels or teeth 3. Najas 2. Leaves entire, long and threadlike ; pistils 2 to 6, asymmetric, undulate or toothed on one side 2. Zannichellia 1. Potamogeton2 L. Pondweed 1. Leaves of two sorts; floating ones more or less coriaceous, with a dilated petioled blade, different in form from the thinner submersed ones which may be wanting, 2 2. Submersed leaves filiform or very narrowly linear, at most 2 mm. wide, often wanting or reduced to the petiole only, 3 3. Submersed leaves wanting or reduced to petiole only, 4 4. Blade of floating leaves subcordate; fruit scarcely keeled P. natans 4. Blade of floating leaves tapering to base; fruit 3-keeled when dry P. nodosus 3. Submersed leaves present, thin and delicate, 5 5. Spikes 1.5 to 3 cm. long; sides of the seed not at all impressed P. Oakesianus 5. Spikes 0.5 to 1.5 cm. long, 6 6. Fruits flattened, hollowed on the sides, not beaked, the spiral curve of the embryo clearly evident through the thin coat; stipules of some or all the submersed leaves adnate to the base of the leaf P. Spirillus 6. Fruits flattened, not hollowed on the sides, plainly beaked, the form of the embryo not conspicuously visible ; stipules all free P. Vaseyi 2. Submersed leaves lanceolate to ovate, if linear more than 2 mm. wide, 7 7. Submersed leaves linear and ribbonlike, with a broad coarsely cellular- reticulate space each side of the midrib P. epihydrus 7. Submersed leaves broader, 8 8. Floating leaves with 30 to 50 nerves P. amplifolius 8. Floating leaves with fewer nerves, 9 9. Blade of floating leaves 1.5 to 6.0 cm. long; fruiting spikes 1 to 3 cm. long; fruit 2.5 mm. long P. gramineus 9. Blade of floating leaves 5 to 12 cm. long; fruiting spikes mostly 3 to 7 cm. long; fruit 3 to 4 mm. long, 10 10. Upper submersed leaves on petioles 8 to 15 cm. long, frequently wanting; floating leaves mostly obtuse, sometimes acute, not really apiculate P. nodosus 10. Upper submersed leaves on petioles 1 to 4 cm. long, usually present; floating and submersed leaves subacute and apiculate P. illinoensis 1. Leaves all submersed and similar, 11 11. Leaves lanceolate, oblong, or broader, 12 1 Potamogeton and Zannichellia are frequently placed in the segregate family Zosteraceae as in Gray’s Manual. - Many helpful data on Potamogeton in our area are to be found in Muenscher’s report on The Aquatic Vegetation of the Mohawk Watershed (A Biological Survey of the Mohawk- Hudson Watershed; Suppl. to the 24th Ann. Report N. Y. State Conservation Dept., pp. 228-249. 1935). Pages under Muenscher refer to this publication. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 43 12. Leaves sessile or short-petioled, not clasping, 13 13. Leaves finely and sharply serrulate P. crispus 13. Leaves entire but sometimes with puckered or undulate, but not serrulate, margins, 14 14. Fruiting spikes mostly 3.8 to 5.5 cm. long P. illinoensis 14. Fruiting spikes mostly 1 to 3 cm. long P. gramineus 12. Leaves clasping or half-clasping, 15 15. Leaves finely and sharply serrulate P. crispus 15. Leaves entire, not serrulate, 16 16. Leaves half-clasping, elongate, with rounded cucullate tips; stipules 2 to 8 cm. long; stem whitish P. praelongus 16. Leaves cordate-clasping, with tapering plane tips; stipules 1 to 2 cm. long; stems green, 17 17. Stipules conspicuous, at least as shreds ; leaves with 3 to 7 prominent nerves; fruit 3.5 to 4.5 mm. long P. Richardsonii 17. Stipules rarely developed ; leaves with one prominent nerve ; fruit 2.5 to 3.2 mm. long P. perfoliatus 11. Leaves linear to setaceous, 18 18. Leaves ribbonlike, 2 mm. or more wide, with a broad, coarsely cellular- reticulate space each side of the midrib P. epihydrus 18. Leaves narrower; if occasionally 2 mm. wide, without such a broad cellular-reticulate space, 19 19. Stipules united with the sheathing base of the leaf, 20 20. Leaves 3 mm. wide or less, entire, neither auricled nor definitely 2-ranked P. pectinatus 20. Leaves 4 to 8 mm. wide, finely and sharply serrate, auricled at base and stiffly 2-ranked P. Robbinsii 19. Stipules all free from the leaf blades, 21 21. Leaves 9- to 35-nerved P. zosteriformis 21. Leaves 1- to 7-nerved, 22 22. Stipules connate, forming cylinders with margins united at least below the middle, in age rupturing and often shredded at tip, 23 23. Leaves without basal glands; peduncles clavate, 0.4 to 1.0 cm. long; spike subcapitate, 2 to 5 mm. long P. foliosus 23. Leaves with a pair of basal glands; peduncles filiform, 1 to 9 cm. long; spike interrupted, cylindric, 6 to 15 mm. long, 24 24. Stipules strongly fibrous, becoming whitish P. strictifolius 24. Stipules scarious-membranaceous or subherbaceous, greenish or brownish, only delicately veined P. pusillus 22. Stipules flat or convolute, the margins often inrolled but not connate, 25 25. Leaves gradually tapering to bristle tips; stipules attenuate to slender tips P. Hillii 25. Leaves obtuse to acute, if attenuate, hardly bristle-tipped ; stipules obtuse, 26 26. Leaves fulvous or reddish green, 2 to 4 mm. wide, rounded at tip ; fruit 3 to 4 mm. long P. obtusifolius 26. Leaves green, 0.3 to 2.4 mm. wide, obtuse to acute, fruit 2 to 2.8 mm. long P. Berchtoldi P. natans L. Shallow water in lakes; frequent. Queechy Lake, 2108; Suther- land Pond, 2132; Bells’ Pond, 3304; Kinderhook and Tackawasick Lakes, ac- cording to Muenscher (p. 232). 44 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM P. Oakesianus Robbins. Pine Plains, according to Hoysradt (1875-79). Otherwise unknown. The specimens of Potamogeton reported by Hoysradt from Pine Plains were all identified by J. W. Robbins. P. Oakesianus, one of the species described by Robbins, is thus thought to be included in our list upon good authority, although no specimen has been seen. P. Vaseyi Robbins. “Mouth of the Catskill,” according to Svenson (1935). Except for this report from the Hudson Estuary, the species is unknown from our area. P. Spirillus Tuckerm. Lakes and ponds, in shallow water; frequent. Kinder- hook Lake, House 19608 ; Taghkanic Lake, 2016 ; Forest Lake, 2072 \ Berry Pond, 3777 ; Lebanon Springs, A. K. Harrison (the report of P. diversifolius Raf. in House’s Annotated List, p. 52, is apparently based upon this species) ; Copake Lake Muenscher & Clausen 4221 (CU) ; reported by Svenson (1935) from the Hudson Estuary but otherwise unknown there. P. epihydrus Raf. Shallow water, lakes and streams, infrequent or rare. Tackawasick Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4188 (CU) ; rare at mouth of Stockport Creek, Hudson River, Muenscher, p. 234. Berry Pond, 3778 ; East Nassau, House 21937. P. amplifolius Tuckerm. Ponds, lakes and quiet streams; common. Often in deep water. Sutherland Pond, 2133 ; Taghkanic Lake, 2017 ; Waldorf Pond, 3173 ; Merwins’ Lake, 1240 ; Queechy Lake, 2099 ; Copake Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4163 (CU) ; Stony Creek, Madalin, 2766 (PENN). P. illinoensis Morong. Deep water in lakes ; common. Queechy Lake, 2106; Copake Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4237 (CU) ; Pine Plains, Peck; Kinder- hook Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4234 (CU) ; Knickerbocker Lake, 1992. Apparently all plants from our area referred to the European P. lucens L., are actually, P. illinoensis. This includes the report of P. lucens var. Con- necticutensis from Pine Plains (Morong, 1893). P. gramineus L. In lakes and ponds; frequent. Occurring locally in colonies. No Bottom Pond, 1962; Taghkanic Lake, 2007 ; Pine Plains, according to Morong (1893, where reported as P. heterophyllus Schreb., forma maximus) ; Tackawasick, Kinderhook, Queechy and Copake Lakes, according to Muen- scher (p. 232). P. nodosus Poir. Shallow water in lakes and quiet streams; frequent. Knicker- bocker Lake, Brown 509 ; Kinderhook Lake, House 18863 ; east of Valatie, in Kinderhook Creek, 1878; Silvernails, in Roeliff Jansen Kill, 1089; New Forge, in Taghkanic Creek, 3495; Robinson Pond, House 20602; Hudson, Hudson River, Muenscher & Clausen 4159 (CU) ; Rogers Island, 3735. P. crispus L. Lakes and creeks; infrequent. Kinderhook Lake, House 15553; Knickerbocker Lake, 3178; Kinderhook, in Kinderhook Creek, 2095 ; common in Copake Lake, according to Muenscher, p. 243. P. praelongus Wulfen. Deep water in the larger lakes; frequent and some- times very abundant. Kinderhook Lake, House 15547 and Muenscher & Clausen 4201 (CU) ; Queechy Lake, 2107 and Muenscher & Clausen 4202 (CU) ; Copake Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4203 (CU) ; Tackawasick Lake, according to Muenscher, p. 243. P. Richardsonii (Ar. Benn.) Rydb. Plants apparently of this species, although sometimes approaching the next, have been found in the Hudson River ; Poels- burg, 3815; Columbiaville, 3718; in the Mohawk River, according to Muen- scher, p. 243. P. perfoliatus L. var. bupleuroides (Fern.) Farw. Abundant in tidewater along the Hudson River; otherwise known only from Copake Lake, Muen- scher & Clausen 4167 (CU). The plants of the latter collection seem to FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 45 approach P. Richardsonii. Coeymans, Albany County, Muenscher & Clausen 4169 (CU) ; mouth of Stockport Creek, idem 4170 (CU) ; between Hudson and Athens, idem 4168 (CU) ; Rogers Island, 3736. P. Robbinsii Oakes. Shallow water in lakes; locally abundant. Nassau Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4213 (CU) ; Copake Lake, idem 4214 (CU) ; Forest Lake, 2064; Taghkanic Lake, 2013. P. pectinatus L. In lakes and in the Hudson River, “widespread . . . but nowhere abundant” (in Hudson-Mohawk watershed), according to Muen- scher, p. 243. Hudson, Muenscher & Clausen 4198a (CU) ; Knickerbocker Lake, Brown 508. P. Hillii Morong. Pine Plains, L. H. Hoysradt, according to Morong (1893). Specimen at New York Botanical Garden, according to Fernald (1932), who gives the collector’s name as Hoysralt. Otherwise unknown. P. zosteriformis Fern. Lakes; common. Rare in the Hudson River, whence reported by Muenscher, p. 243, and by Svenson (“mouth of the Catskill”) (1935) ; Queechy Lake, 2109 ; Waldorf Pond, 3171; Sutherland Pond, 2134; Copake Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4230 (CU) ; Knickerbocker Lake, Brown 512 (see Fernald, 1932) ; Bells’ Pond, 3303. P. obtusifolius Mert. & Koch. Pine Plains, L. H. Hoysradt, according to Morong (1893) ; specimen at Pomona College, according to Fernald (1932). Otherwise unknown. P. Berchtoldi Fieber. “Locally common in shallow bays of lakes, ponds and in sluggish streams and in backwaters along the Mohawk River and Hudson River” (Muenscher, p. 243). Tackawasick Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4260 (CU) ; Kinderhook Lake, idem 4257 (CU) ; Nassau Lake, idem 4261, 4262 (CU) ; Hudson, idem 4253 (CU) ; reported also from Queechy and Copake Lakes (Muenscher, p. 232). P. strictifolius Ar. Benn. Pine Plains, C. H. Peck (specimen determined by M. L. Fernald, 1936). Otherwise unknown. P. pusillus L. In lakes and in the Hudson River; infrequent or perhaps commonly overlooked. “Infrequent in shallow ponds and sluggish streams” (Muenscher, p. 243). Waldorf Pond, 3172; Copake Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4249 (CU) ; Hudson, in river, idem 4240 (CU) ; Miller Pond, Stis- sing Mountain, 3874. P. foliosus Raf. Lakes and sluggish streams. Sutherland Pond, 2130; Queechy Lake, 2102; Mill Creek, town of Stuyvesant, 1551. The collections of this species were determined by Fernald, 1936. 2. Zannichellia L. Z. palustris L. Mud and shallow water along the Hudson River ; otherwise unknown. Coeymans, Albany County, Muenscher & Clausen 4293 (CU) ; Hudson, Muenscher & Clausen 4292 (CU) ; Columbia ville, 3716. Represented in our area only by var. major (Boenn.) W. D. J. Koch. 3. Najas L. 1. Leaf bases broadly and truncately lobed or auriculate, 2 2. Leaf bases broadly and truncately lobed, the lobes not strongly spiny- toothed; leaves somewhat recurved, narrow but not capillary, coarsely serrate, the serrations evident to the naked eye N. minor 2. Leaf bases auriculate, the auricles scarious and decidedly spiny-toothed; leaves not recurved; blades very narrow, almost capillary, minutely saw-toothed N. gracillima 46 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 1. Leaf bases not broadly and truncately lobed nor auriculate, enlarged but little and sloping, 3 3. Seeds ellipsoid, shining, covered with a fine network consisting of 30 to 40 longitudinal rows of areolae; style filiform, 1 to 2 mm. long N. flexilis 3. Seeds ellipsoid, dull, with 10 to 20 rows of areolae around the seed; style stout, 0.5 mm. long or less N. guadalupensis 3. Seeds long and slender, dull, nearly linear, with 50 to 60 rows of areolae; style stout, 0.7 to 1.2 mm. long N. Muenscheri N. minor All. Tidewater in the Hudson River, where rather frequent. Stuy- vesant, Muenscher & Clausen 4280 (CU) ; Nutten Hook, 4509 ; Rogers Island, 4460. First reported from America by Muenscher (1935, pp. 234, 244). N. flexilis (Willd.) Rostk. & Schmidt. Lakes and quiet streams, common. N. gracillima (A. Br.) Magnus. Knickerbocker Lake, 1985; otherwise un- known in our area. N. guadalupensis (Spreng.) Magnus. Lakes and ponds, locally abundant, Nassau Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4284 (CU) ; Kinderhook Lake, idem 4285 (CU) ; Knickerbocker Lake, 1990. N. Muenscheri Clausen. Tidal mud flats along the Hudson River, where locally abundant. Hudson, Muenscher &r Clausen 4286 (CU) ; Columbiaville, idem 4289 (CU) ; South Bay, Tivoli, Muenscher & Curtis 5494. JUNCAGINACEAE (Arrow-grass Family) Scheuchzeria L. S. palustris L. Known in our area only from a bog at Kinderhook Lake, Brown 114. Well known in Rensselaer County and collected in the mountain ponds in the town of Salisbury, where overlooking but just out of the Columbia County drainage: Bingham Pond, C. H. Bissell (GH) ; Mount Riga Pond, “N. Y„” Hoysradt (MICH). ALISMATACEAE (Water-plantain Family) 1. Carpels in a single ring 1. Alisma 1. Carpels in several series, in a dense head, 2 2. Lower flowers of the inflorescence with both pistils and stamens 2. Lophotocarpus 2. Lower flowers of the inflorescence with pistils only 3. Sagittaria 1. Alisma L. A. subcordatum Raf. “Water plantain." Wet places; common in the river valley and adjacent territory, but not recorded from the higher elevations to the eastward. Kinderhook Lake, House 15538; Kinderhook, 1249; South Bay, Hudson, House 20493. 2. Lophotocarpus Th. Durand L. spongiosus (Engelm.) J. G. Sm. Tidal mud along the Hudson River. Coxsackie, Muenscher & Clausen 4298 (CU). No specimens have been seen from Columbia County, but Muenscher (1935) reports that the species grows near the mouth of Stockport Creek, at Columbiaville. 3. Sagittaria L. 1. Leaf blades broad or narrow, sagittate with two basal lobes, very rarely some of the leaves unlobed; fertile heads pedicelled, 2 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 47 2. Beak of achene conspicuous, sharply turned to the side 5. latifolio 2. Beak a tiny erect point from a notch at 1 corner of the summit of the achene 5". cuneata l. Leaf blades lanceolate-oval to linear, unlobed (if rarely lobed, the fertile heads sessile), 3 3. Fertile heads sessile or essentially so S. rigida 3. Fertile heads pedicelled, 4 4. Pedicels of fertile heads stout, reflexed in fruit 5". subulata 4. Pedicels of fertile heads slender, not reflexed, 5 5. Anther suborbicular, with broad connective, larger than the filament; leaves very slender, almost grasslike, usually bladeless 5. Eatoni 5. Anther broad-elliptic, the connective narrower than the cells, the anther about equal to or shorter than the filament; leaves usually long-petioled with narrow blade .S', graminea S. latifolia Willd. Broad-leaved arrowhead. Wet places; common. Our com- monest Sagittaria, and exceedingly variable as to width of leaves. S. cuneata Sheldon. Arrowhead. Muddy borders of small ponds which dry up in summer. Known from No Bottom Pond, 1955, and from a boggy depres- sion 1 mile north of Canaan, 1271. S. rigida Pursh. Tidal mud along the Hudson River, where abundant. Un- known elsewhere. Columbiaville, 3713; South Bay, Hudson, House 20510; Crugers’ Island, 2910. S. Eatoni J. G. Sm. Tidal mud along the Hudson River; otherwise unknown. Stuvvesant, Muenscher & Clausen 4302; Nutten Hook, idem 4305 (CU) ; mud flats between Hudson and Athens, idem 4303 (CU). Also reported by Muenscher (1937, p. 239) from Stockport Creek and Rogers Island. The estuarine plant referred to this species seems quite distinct from 5. graminea of upland ponds in its very slender bladeless leaves and its globose anthers with broad connectives between the cells. S. graminea Michx. Shallow water, borders of ponds; not often collected Kinderhook Lake, Brozvn 98; No Bottom Pond, 1960; reported by Muen- scher (1935, pp. 232, 234) from Snyder, Crystal, Glass, Crooked, Nassau, Burden and Tackawasick Lakes, Rensselaer County, and from Kinderhook and Copake Lakes in Columbia County. S. subulata (L.) Buchenau. Tidal mud along the Hudson River, where abun- dant. Otherwise unknown. Poelsburg, Columbiaville, Hudson, Rogers Island and Crugers’ Island (figure 8). HYDROCHARITACEAE (Frog’s-bit Family) 1. Stem elongated, submerged, leafy, the leaves whorled and not over 1 to 3 cm long 1. Anacharis 1. Stem apparently none, the submerged ribbonlike leaves from the base of the plant, their length 30 to 200 cm. 2. Vallisneria 1. Anacharis Richard 1. Leaves 2 mm. wide (average) ; staminate flower remaining attached to the plant by a long threadlike peduncle; anthers slightly more than 2 mm. long A. canadensis 1. Leaves averaging about 1.3 mm. wide; staminate flower sessile, breaking free and rising to the surface at flowering time; anthers about 1 mm. long. A. Nuttallii A. canadensis (Michx.) Planch. ( Elodea canadensis of Gray’s Manual). Waterweed. Lakes and streams; common. Taghkanic Lake, 2010; Spring Lake, 48 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 2754; Roeliff Jansen Kill at Silvernails, 1088; Columbiaville, mouth of Stock- port Creek, Muenscher & Clausen 4338 (CU). Also reported by Muenscher (1935, p. 232) from Snyder, Crystal, Glass, Crooked, Burden, Nassau and Tackawasick Lakes in Rensselaer County, and from Kinderhook, Queechy and Copake Lakes in Columbia County. A. Nuttallii Planch. (Elodea Nuttallii of Gray’s Manual). Shallow water, tidal flats along the Hudson River. Mouth of Stockport Creek, Muenscher & Clausen 4341 (CU) ; mouth of Stony Creek, town of Red Hook, according to Svenson (1935). 2. Vallisneria L. V. americana Michx. “Eelgrass.” Common in tidewater along the Hudson River; elsewhere locally abundant in lakes and streams. Stuyvesant, House 13314; 1 mile south of Tivoli, 2794; Forest Lake, 2077; reported from Queechy, Kinderhook and Copake Lakes in Columbia County, and Snyder, Crystal, Glass, Crooked, Burden, Nassau and Tackawasick Lakes in Rens- selaer County (Muenscher, 1935, p. 232). GRAMINEAE (Grass Family) 1. Spikelets 1- to many-flowered, when 2-flowered the lower floret not sterile and not of a different texture from the upper floret; internodes usually present between the florets; rachilla usually articulated above the glumes (several exceptions), 2 2. Spikelets borne in 2 rows in narrow spikelike racemes, 3 3. Rows of spikelets on opposite sides of the rachis Tribe Hordeae 3. Rows of spikelets on one side of the rachis, the spikes thus 1-sided Tribe Chlorideae 2. Spikelets in open or spikelike panicles, rarely in racemes, 4 4. Spikelets 2- to many-flowered, 5 5. Glumes as long as the lowest floret, usually as long as the spikelets; lemmas awned from the back or occasionally awnless Tribe Aveneae 5. Glumes shorter than the first floret; lemmas awnless or awned from the tip or from a bifid apex Tribe Festuceae 4. Spikelets with but 1 fertile flower, 6 6. Spikelets bisexual, all alike, 7 7 . Spikelets with 2 sterile or rudimentary lemmas unlike and below the fertile lemma Tribe Plialarideae 7 . Spikelets without sterile lemmas below the perfect flowers, 8 8. Lemma and palea about equal, both keeled; glumes very small or wanting; spikelets articulate below the glumes Tribe Oryzeae 8. Palea usually smaller than the lemma and inclosed in it; spikelets articulate above the glumes (or, if below the glumes, at least 1 glume well-developed) Tribe Agrostideae 6. Spikelets unisexual, the pistillate ones at summit of panicle Tribe Zizmieae 1. Spikelets 2-flowered, the upper floret perfect, the lower one sterile and often of a different texture; internodes between the florets usually unde- veloped ; rachilla articulated below the glumes, 9 9. Glumes membranaceous, the sterile lemma like the glumes In texture; fer- tile lemma and palea indurate or at least firmer than the glumes Tribe Paniceae 9. Glumes indurate; sterile and fertile lemmas and palea hyaline or mem- branaceous, more or less alike in texture Tribe Andropogoneae FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 49 Tribe 1. FESTUCEAE 1. Tall stout reeds, 1.5 to 4.0 m. tall, with large plumelike panicles; rachilla with silky hairs as long as the lemmas 7. Phragmites 1. Plants smaller, rarely more than 1.5 m. high; rachilla naked or short- pilose, 2 2. Lemmas 3-nerved, the nerves prominent, 3 3. Lemmas pubescent on the nerves 9. Triplasis 3. Lemmas not pubescent on the nerves 5. Eragrostis 2. Lemmas 5- to many-nerved, the nerves sometimes obscure, 4 4. Callus of florets bearded; lemmas bifid at summit, awned 8. Schizachne 4. Callus not bearded (lemmas cobwebby at base in Poa ), 5 5. Lemmas keeled on the back, 6 6. Spikelets strongly compressed, crowded in 1-sided clusters at the ends of the stiff, naked panicle branches 6. Dactylis 6. Spikelets not strongly compressed, not crowded in 1-sided clusters, 7 7. Lemmas awned from a minutely bifid apex 1. Bromus 7. Lemmas awnless 4. Poa 5. Lemmas rounded on the back (slightly keeled toward summit in Festuca and Bromus), 8 8. Nerves of lemma prominent, parallel, not converging at sum- mit or but slightly so 3. Glyceria 8. Nerves of lemmas converging toward summit, the lemmas narrowed at apex, 9 9. Lemmas awned from a minutely bifid apex 1. Bromus 9. Lemmas awnless or awned from the tip 2. Festuca Tribe 2. HORDEAE 1. Spikelets solitary at each node of the rachis, 2 2. Spikelets placed edgewise to the rachis; glume adjacent to the rachis wanting 14. Lolium 2. Spikelets placed flatwise to the rachis; both glumes present 10. Agropyron 1. Spikelets 2 or 3 at each joint of the rachis, 3 3. Spikelets 3 at each node, 1-flowered 13. Hordeum 3. Spikelets 2 at each node, 2- to 6-flowered, 4 4. Glumes wanting or reduced to 2 short bristles; spikelets spreading horizontally at maturity 12. Hystrix 4. Glumes usually equaling the florets; spikelets appressed or ascend- ing 11. Elymus Tribe 3. AVENEAE 1. Articulation below the glumes, the spikelets falling entire, 2 2. Lemmas, at least the upper, with a conspicuous bent awn; glumes nearly alike 16. Trisetum 2. Lemmas awnless or the upper with a short awn; second glume much wider than the first 15. Sphenopholis 1. Articulation above the glumes, the spikelet separating from them at maturity, 3 3. Awns of lemmas dorsal or wanting, 4 4. Spikelets 7 to 8 mm. long 18. Arrhenatherum 4. Spikelets 4 to 5 mm. long 17. Deschampsia 3. Awn of lemma from between two apical teeth 19. Danthonia so NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Tribe 4. AGROSTIDEAE 1. Articulation below the glumes, the spikelets falling entire, 2 2. Panicle dense, spikelike; lemma awned below the middle 23. Alopecurus 2. Panicle open, drooping; lemma with a minute awn just below the apex 22. Cinna 1. Articulation of spikelets above the glumes, 3 3. Lemma indurated in fruit, much thicker and firmer than the glumes, 4 4. Fruit awnless, dorsally compressed 28. Milium 4. Fruit awned, the awn sometimes deciduous, 5 5. Awn trifid 30. Aristida 5. Awn simple 29. Oryzopsis 3. Lemmas not indurated, as thin or thinner than the glumes, 6 6. Rootstocks short, often branched, very scaly and knotty, 7 7. Rachilla prolonged beyond the palea; culms not branching above; leaves very broad, lanceolate 27. Brachyelytrum 7. Rachilla not prolonged beyond the palea; culms usually branch- ing above; leaves elongated 25. Muhlenbergia 6. Rootstocks not densely scaly and knotty, 8 8. Glumes much compressed, keeled; lemma awnless, inflorescence a dense, compact, narrow spike 24. Phleum 8. Glumes only slightly compressed, not keeled; inflorescence not as above, 9 9. Callus of the floret long-haired; rachilla prolonged beyond the palea 20. Calamagrostis 9. Callus glabrous; rachilla not prolonged, 10 10. Lemma 3-nerved, obtuse, shorter than the glumes 21. Agrostis 10. Lemma acute, 1-nerved, equaling or exceeding the glumes 26. Sporobolus Tribe 5. CHLORIDEAE 1. Spikes spreading or reflexed; spikelets with one or more modified florets above the perfect one 32. Bouteloua 1. Spikes erect or nearly so; spikelets without additional modified florets 31. Spartina Tribe 6. PHALARIDEAE 1. Spikelets green or yellowish, 2 2. Lower florets reduced to small awnless scalelike lemmas ; spikelets much compressed laterally 35. Phalaris 2. Lower florets consisting of awned hairy sterile lemmas exceeding the fertile florets; spikelets subterete 34. Anthoxanthum 1. Spikelets brown and shining 33. Hierochloe A single genus A single genus Tribe 7. ORYZEAE Tribe 8. ZIZANIEAE Tribe 9. PANICEAE 36. Leersia 37. Zizania 1. Spikelets surrounded by an indurated or bristly involucre, 2 2. Involucre of bristles 41. Setaria 2. Involucre burlike, the prickles retrorsely barbed 42. Cenchrus FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 51 1. Spikelets not surrounded by an involucre, 3 3. Second lemma papery, flexible, with hyaline flat margins ; inflores- cence with digitate spikelike branches 38. Digitaria 3. Second lemma thicker, rigid, with firm inrolled margins, 4 4. Branches of the inflorescence more or less 1-sided and spikelike; spikelets awned or short-pointed 40. Echinochloa 4. Branches of the inflorescence not 1-sided and scarcely ever spike- like; spikelets not awned 39. Panicum Tribe 10. ANDROPOGONEAE 1. Inflorescence of spikelike parts 1. Inflorescence an open panicle 1. Bromus L. Brome Grass 1. Creeping rootstocks present; lemma mostly 10 to 12 mm. long, mostly awnless B. inerniis 1. Creeping rootstocks absent; lemma 7 to 10 mm. long, or if longer, with a conspicuous awn, 2 2. Awn of lemma longer than the body, 12 to 14 mm. long; plants villous- pubescent, often purplish B. tectorum 2. Awn of lemma not longer than the body, 3 3. Lemma broadly elliptical, glabrous or scabrous; plants annual B. secalinus 3. Lemma lanceolate to elliptical, pubescent at least near the margin ; plants perennial, 4 4. Lemma pubescent along the margin and the lower part of the back, the upper part glabrous; lower glume 1-nerved B. ciliatus 4. Lemma pubescent rather evenly over the back, 5 5. Lower glume 3-nerved; spikelets very velvety all over B. Kalmii 5. Lower glume 1-nerved, 6 6. Sheaths shorter than the internodes; nodes 4 to 6 in number; anthers 3 to 4 mm. long B. pubescens 6. Sheaths longer than the internodes, the 10 to 20 nodes conse- quently included; anthers about 2.5 mm. long B. purgans B. inermis Leyss. Known to me only from a meadow north of Bachus Pond, Malden Bridge, 3170; [Lebanon Springs, A. K. Harrison in 1890 (US)]. B. ciliatus L. Swampy meadows, rather frequent. Abundant in calcareous marshes, as in the Harlem Valley. Lebanon Springs, Harrison (US) ; Boston Corners, 1666; south of Mount Riga Station, 3362; 2 miles east of Kinder- hook, 1481; [No Bottom Pond, 4532]. B. pubescens Muhl. ( B . purgans of Gray’s Manual). Woods; usually in rocky calcareous situations; frequent. B. purgans L. ( B . latiglumis of Gray’s Manual). Moist woods and along streams; known only in the Hudson Valley. Kinderhook, along Kinderhook Creek, 2089 ; Stuyvesant, House 13309; Columbiaville, 3725 ; New Forge, along Taghkanic Creek, 3486; [Canaan, Leggett in 1857 (NY)]. B. Kalmii Gray. Cool swampy or rocky woods, infrequent. Kinderhook Lake, House 15976; bog west of Post Road School, Kinderhook, 1569; 1.5 miles south of Ancramdale, 3380 ; Stissing Mountain, 2846; Brace Mountain, House 24851. B. secalinus L. Cultivated fields, meadows and roadsides; infrequent. 3 miles south of Kinderhook, 1222; 3 miles south of Claverack, 1237. B. tectorum L. Roadsides and along railroads, infrequent. Locally abun- dant. Nassau, E. P. Felt; Stuyvesant, 932; Silvernails, 1085. 43. Andropogon 44. Sorghastrum 52 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 2. Festuca L. 1. Plants wiry, often low; leaves mostly basal, filiform; awns usually present, 2 2. Basal sheaths reddish brown, thin, breaking into coarse fibers F. rubra 2. Basal sheaths white to pale purplish or drab brown, firm F. ovina 1. Plants tall and leafy, with broad and flat leaves; awns wanting, 3 3. Spikelets 9 to 25 mm. long, usually 6- to 8-flowered ; panicle branches very short F. elatior 3. Spikelets 5 to 7 mm. long, 3- to 5-flowered; panicle branches very long, spreading F. obtusa F. elatior L. Fescue grass. Woods, fields and roadsides; rather frequent. F. obtusa Biehler. Rocky woods; common. Abundant, especially in cal- careous regions. Brainard, Austerlitz, Green River, Mount Fray (Copake), Kinderhook, Nutten Hook, Claverack, banks of Hudson east of Rogers Island. F. rubra L. Dry fields and roadsides; locally very abundant. 4 miles north of Nassau, House 22760; 1 mile south of Rayville, 1059 ; Blue Hill, House 22686; Rogers Island, 2574. F. ovina L. Introduced from Europe. Near Kinderhook Lake, 874 (origi- nally determined as F. rubra), House 19601. Determinations of this species by House. 3. Glyceria R. Br. 1. Spikelets linear, nearly terete, usually 1 cm. long or more, 2 2. Lemma acute, much exceeded by the palea G. acutiflora 2. Lemma obtuse, equaling the palea or nearly so, 3 3. Spikelets slender-pedicelled ; lemma glabrous between the nerves G. borealis 3. Spikelets sessile or essentially so ; lemma hispidulous between the nerves as well as on them G. septentrionalis I. Spikelets ovate or oblong, more or less flattened, 5 to 7 mm. long or less, 4 4. Panicle contracted, linear, nodding, 15 to 30 cm. long G. melicaria 4. Panicle open, lax, 5 5. Spikelets ovate, 3 to 4 mm. wide ; lemma obscurely nerved G. canadensis 5. Spikelets not over 2.5 mm. wide; nerves of lemma prominent, 6 6. Second glume 1 mm. long; spikelets short, 3 to 4 mm. long G. striata 6. Second glume 2 to 2.5 mm. long; spikelets 4 to 7 mm. long, 7 7. Culms erect, usually stout; panicle 15 to 40 cm. long G. grandis 7. Culms slender, lax, ascending from a decumbent rooting base; panicle 5 to 15 cm. long, 8 8. Leaf blades 4 to 8 mm. wide; anthers 1 mm. long G. pallida 8. Leaf blades 1 to 3 mm. wide; anthers 0.2 to 0.5 mm. long G. Fernaldii G. acutiflora Torr. Manna grass. Borders of small ponds and springs; in- frequent, locally abundant. No Bottom Pond, 1339; West Ghent, 1115 (PENN) ; 2 miles south of Ghent, 4014; Pine Plains, Peck. G. borealis (Nash) Batchelder. Borders of ponds and in swampy places; infrequent. Kinderhook Lake, House 19614; 3 miles south of Kinderhook, 1221; pond 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake, House 20517; Spring Lake 2757; [Brainard, House 21530], G. septentrionalis Hitchc. Known only from swampy woods near Fowlers' Lake, 1675. G. melicaria (Miclix.) F. T. Hubbard. Moist places, common. Austerlitz, Canticoke Swamp, Niverville, Pine Plains, Stephentown Center. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 53 G. canadensis (Michx.) Trin. Rattlesnake grass. Swamps and borders of ponds, frequent. New Britain, 3636; Brainard, House 21528; North Chatham, House 20476; Kinderhook Lake, House 15540; Merwins’ Lake, 1243 ; 2 miles east of Elizaville, 3201 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3584. G. striata (Lam.) Hitchc. Wet places, common. G. grandis S. Wats. Swampy places, common. North Chatham, Malden Bridge, Kinderhook, Forest Lake, 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake. G. pallida (Torr.) Trin. Moist places in swamps and along streams, some- times in water; frequent. Brainard, House 21530; 1 mile northwest of Niver- ville, 1009 ; Kinderhook, 1376; Blue Stores, 3210; New Forge, 3487 ; Stissing Mountain, Peck. Specimens from our area referred to the more northern G. Fernaldii seem to be mostly narrow-leaved extremes of this species. G. Fernaldii (Hitchc.) St. John. Muddy shores of No Bottom Pond, 4533. Otherwise unknown. 4. Poa L. 1. Plants annual, small, 5 to 20 cm. high P. annua 1. Plants perennial, 2 2. Culms and sheaths compressed, 2-edged; rootstocks extensively creeping; plant blue-green, with narrow panicle. P. compressa 2. Culms and sheaths hardly if at all compressed, terete or nearly so; creep- ing rootstocks, if any, not extensive, 3 3. Branches of the panicle in 2’s, lemma glabrous, the intermediate nerves very distinct; anthers yellow P. saltuensis 3. Branches of the panicle mostly in whorls of 4 or 5 ,4 4. Marginal nerves of the lemma glabrous, the keel hairy, 5 5. Lemma prominently nerved; sheaths scabrous; ligule 4 to 6 mm. long P. trivialis 5. Lemma obscurely nerved ; sheaths smooth ; ligule 1 mm. long or less P. alsodes 4. Marginal nerves and also the keel of the lemma hairy, 6 6. Intermediate nerves of the lemma prominent; ligule 2 mm. long or less; creeping rootstocks present, usually inconspicuous P. pratensis 6. Intermediate nerves obscure; creeping rootstocks none, 7 7. Ligule 0.5 mm. long; glume narrow, acuminate, about as long as the first lemma • P. nemoralis 7. Ligule 3 to 5 mm. long on the main culm; glume lanceolate, acute, shorter than the first lemma P. palustris P. annua L. Lawns and cultivated grounds; common. P. compressa L. “Canada blue grass.’’ Woods, meadows and fields; common. P. pratensis L. Kentucky blue grass. Fields, meadows, and in woods; common. P. trivialis L. Meadows; apparently infrequent. Bachus Pond, 926; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 795. P. alsodes Gray. Rocky woods; rather frequent eastward at higher eleva- tions, but apparently rare in the Hudson Valley. New Lebanon, House 21297 ; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 691a; Bashbish Falls, Knowlton & Schweinfurth (CU) ; North Chatham, House 21327; [Canticoke Swamp, House 27694]. P. saltuensis Fern. & Wieg. Rocky woods; known only from the eastern tier of towns, at elevations of 300 m. or more. Mount Lebanon, House 16138 ; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 691, 695; Bashbish Brook, Knowlton & Sclnvein- furth (NEBC). 54 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM P. nemoralis L. Known only from shale rocks at Nutten Hook, 846. P. palustris L. Meadows and moist grounds; common. Austerlitz, Mount Fray (PENN), 2 miles south of Copake Lake (PENN), Pine Plains, Riders Mills, Germantown, Kinderhook. 5. Eragrostis Beauv. Lovegrass 1. Plants creeping, rooting at the nodes, forming mats E. hypnoides 1. Plants erect or decumbent at base, not creeping nor mat-forming, 2 2. Spikelets mostly less than 5-flowered, 3 3. Panicles two-thirds the entire length of the plant or more, 15 to 40 cm. long; pedicels mostly 7 to 40 mm. long E. capillaris 3. Panicles usually less than half the height of the plant, 5 to 12 cm. long; pedicels mostly 2 to 6 mm. long E. Frankii 2. Spikelets mostly more than 5-flowered, 4 4. Plants with minute glandular depressions on the branches and on the keels of the lemmas, 5 5. Spikelets 2.5 to 3 mm. wide; anthers 0.5 mm. long E. cilianensis 5. Spikelets about 1.5 mm. wide; anthers 0.2 mm. long E. poaeoides 4. Plants not glandular on branches nor on lemmas, 6 6. Plants annual ; panicle scarcely half the height of the plant, greenish to lead-colored or nearly black, 7 7. Summit of sheaths with soft pilose hairs; panicle branches naked at base E. pectinacea 7. Summit of sheaths without soft pilose hairs; panicle branches spikelet-bearing to near base E. multicaulis 6. Plants perennial ; panicle two-thirds the height of the plant, usually bright purple E. spectabilis E. hypnoides (Lam.) BSP. Dry sandy places; rare. No Bottom Pond, 4527 ; Kinderhook Lake, House 13421; Kinderhook Creek, Kinderhook, 4016; Nutten Hook, 4508. E. capillaris (L.) Nees. Dry sandy or shaly hillsides; rather frequent. Nutten Hook, 2214; Blue Hill, 2179. E. Frankii C. A. Mey. Stuyvesant, House 13318. Otherwise unknown. E. pectinacea (Michx.) Nees. Waste grounds and moist soil; common. Often found in old and little-used roads, where little else can grow. Very abundant along the Hudson River on dredged-up sand. [E. multicaulis Steud. 3 miles north of Canaan, 2137. Determination of this specimen by J. R. Swallen, according to House.] E. poaeoides Beauv. Dry soil along railroads; infrequent, but locally abundant. [Poelsburg, 3798 ] ; north of Stuyvesant, 1821; railroad yards, Hudson, 4754 (USNA). E. cilianensis (All.) Lutati (E. megastachya of Gray’s Manual). Sandy door- yards, Kinderhook, 1791. Otherwise unknown. E. spectabilis (Pursh) Steud. Dry soil; infrequent. 1 mile north of Kinder- hook, 2082. 6. Dactylis L. D. glomerata L. Orchard grass. Fields, meadows and waste places; common. 7. Phragmites Trin. P. communis Trin. Reed grass. Calcareous marshes; rare. 3 miles north of Ancramdale, west of Crogan Hill, 3899 ; Ghent, about 1 mile southeast of FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA $5 Fowlers’ Lake, 1435. Represented in our area only by var. Berlandieri (Foum.) Fern. 8. Schizachne Hack. S. purpurascens (Torr.) Swallen. Purple oat grass. Rocky calcareous woods in the towns of Canaan and New Lebanon; locally abundant. South of New Lebanon, 738; Douglas Knob, 4278 ; 1 mile east of Canaan, 4270. 9. Triplasis Beauv. T. purpurea (Walt.) Chapm. Sand grass. Abundant along the Hudson River on dredged-up sand; otherwise unknown. South of Stuyvesant, 4035; Nutten Hook, Muenscher 4603 (CU) (figure 9). 10. Agropyron Gaertn. 1. Plants with extensively creeping rhizomes; spikelets at maturity dropping intact from the rachis, the individual florets not readily separating; anthers 3 to 6 mm. long, at least half as long as the lemma; a common weed of cultivation A. repens 1. Plants in small tufts, without creeping rootstocks; individual florets easily disarticulating at maturity; anthers 1 to 2.5 mm. long, at most one-third as long as the lemma A. subsecundum A. repens (L.) Beauv. Quack grass. Waste and cultivated ground; common. A. subsecundum (Link) Hitchc. (A. trachycaulum var. glaucum of Gray’s Manual). Dry rocky woods and knolls; rather frequent. Stephentown Center, House 21677 ; Curtis Mountain, House 21484; Douglas Knob, Canaan, 3627 ; 2 miles east of Elizaville, 3197 ; 1 mile east of Pulvers, Ghent, 1496; 3 miles north of Claverack, 1304; Stissing Mountain, 2844 (PENN). 11. Elymus L. Wild rye 1. Awns, when mature and dry, straight and not conspicuously curved outward; palea 5 to 8 mm. long, 2 2. Glumes broad, 0.9 to 2 mm. wide, strongly indurated and more or less curved at base, 3 3. Glumes, including the awns, 1 to 2.7 cm. long ; lemmas 1 to 3 cm. long, 4 4. Lemmas and glumes glabrous or merely scabrous-ciliate E. virginicus 4. Lemmas and glumes villous-hirsute E. virginicus f. hirsutiglumis 3. Glumes, including awns, 2.7 to 4 cm. long ; lemmas mostly 3.5 to 4.5 cm. long E. virginicus var. gJabriflorus 2. Glumes narrow, 0.4 to 0.8 mm. wide, often subulate to subsetaceous, in- durated and terete below, practically straight, 5 5. Leaf blades and sheaths villous; lemma villous E. villosus 5. Leaf blades and sheaths not hairy; lemma scabrous or glabrous E. ri par ius 1. Awns, when mature and dry, curved outward noticeably toward the apex ; palea 9 to 11 (15) mm. long; lemmas villous-hirsute, 6 6. Leaves very broad, 13 to 20 mm. wide ; spike slender and very loose, pendent from the base; glumes mostly 15 to 20 mm. long; leaves com- monly evidently hairy on veins above E. Wiegandii 6. Leaves 5 to 15 mm. wide; spike somewhat dense, arching; glumes mostly 20 to 25 mm. long; leaves glabrous or somewhat scabrous above E. canadensis 56 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM E. villosus Muhl. Dry banks and along streams; apparently infrequent in the Hudson Valley. Unknown elsewhere. Kinderhook, along Kinderhook Creek, 1362; Mount Merino, 1105; 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, along Roeliff Jansen Kill, 3233. E. canadensis L. Dry shaly banks; rather frequent in the Hudson Valley; unknown elsewhere. Poelsburg, 1824; Stuyvesant Falls, 2038; 2 miles east of Germantown, 2924; south of Tivoli, 2793. E. Wiegandii Fern. This seems in our area to be a well-marked species growing in shaded alluvial soil; Kinderhook, along Kinderhook Creek, 2087; Valatie, east of village, along Kinderhook Creek, 1892. E. riparius Wieg. Margins of streams and ponds, moist meadows and thickets; frequent. Mount Lebanon, House 15602; Brainard, House 21927; 2 miles northeast of Chatham, 1756; Kinderhook Lake, House 13397; Stuy- vesant, along Mill Creek, 1815 ; 2 miles east of Germantown, 2926; Cheviot, 2830a. E. virginicus L. Moist soils, often along streams; common. New Lebanon; Brainard; Kinderhook Lake; Robinson Pond; Kinderhook; Hudson; mouth of Roeliff Jansen Kill, Germantown; Madalin. A variable species, repre- sented with us also by what appear to be the following extremes : Var. glabriflorus (Vasey) Bush. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY ; det. by Agnes Chase as E. australis var. glabriflorus) . Forma hirsutiglumis (Scribn.) Fern. Widely distributed, but apparently less frequent than the species. Brainard, House 21925 ; Stuyvesant Falls, 2037 ; 2 miles east of Germantown, 2928; Cheviot, 2830. 12. Hystrix Moench H. patula Moench. Bottle-brush grass. Woods; common. 13. Hordeum L. H. jubatum L. Adventive in railroad yards at Hudson, where abundant, 4757 (USNA). Otherwise unknown. 14. Lolium L. Darnel L. perenne L. Cultivated ground east of Blue Hill, House 22703 [now identified by House as L. multiflorum Lam.]. Otherwise unknown. 15. Sphenopholis Scribn. 1. Panicle dense, spikelike, erect or nearly so; second glume very broad, slightly cucullate, somewhat inflated at maturity S. obtusata 1. Panicle lax, nodding, few- to many-flowered, but not spikelike, 2 2. Panicle dense, many-flowered ; second glume acute or subacute ; lemma smooth, not scabrous 5. intermedia 2. Panicle loose, relatively few-flowered; second glume broadly rounded at tip; lemma scabrous on back S. nitida S. obtusata (Michx.) Scribn. Dry soil; rare or local. Reported from Pine Plains by Hoysradt (1875-79) ; Little Stissing Mountain, Peck; Blue Hill, House 22677 . S. intermedia (Rydb.) Rydb. Moist places meadows and rocky woods; frequent. Washburn Mountain, 3461; Pine Plains, Peck; Brainard, House 21539 ; Kinderhook, 2525; Kinderhook Lake, House 21435; Hotaling Island, 3147. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 57 S. nitida (Biehler) Scribn. Dry wooded hillsides; rare or local. Rocky cal- careous woods, Croghan Hill, 822; Blue Hill, House 22677a; New Forge, 4385; pond 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake, 4376. 16. Trisetum Pers. T. spicatum (L.) Richter. Known only from dry shale outcrops on an island at Stuyvesant Falls, 992. 17. Deschampsia Beauv. Hair grass 1. Leaf blades filiform, flexuous; awn of lemma exserted, bent abruptly about the middle D. flexuosa 1. Leaf blades flat, stiff ; awn included or very slightly exserted, nearly straight D. caespitosa D. flexuosa (L.) Trin. Dry rocky woods and slopes, frequent. Austerlitz; Mount Fray; Nutten Hook; Rogers Island. D. caespitosa (L.) Beauv. Dry shaly slopes at Nutten Hook, 847, 852; break- water pilings, Hotaling Island, 3142. Otherwise unknown. 18. Arrhenatherum Beauv. A. elatius (L.) Presl. Tall oat grass. Meadows and roadsides; locally abun- dant. Malden Bridge, 908; north of Kinderhook, 950. 19. Danthonia DC. Oat grass 1. Leaves mostly basal, short, forming a curly mass when dry; leaf blades rarely more than 15 cm. long; panicle 2 to 5 cm. long, open only at anthesis ; awn of the lemma with several tight twists when dry. D. spicata 1. Leaves in part cauline, stiffer and not curly; blades often 20 to 25 cm. long; panicle 5 to 8 cm. long; awn of the lemma loosely 2- to 3-curled when dry D. compressa D. spicata (L.) Beauv. Dry sandy or rocky fields and woods; common. Green River ; Mount Fray, Copake ; Fox Hill, Ancram ; Kinderhook Lake ; Mount Merino, 1104 (PH, PENN) ; Rogers Island. D. compressa Aust. Moist rocky woods; locally very abundant eastward, at elevations of 300 m. or more; otherwise unknown. No Bottom Pond, 1345, 3503; Green River, 1534, 3522; reported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from Mount Riga and near Mount Everett. 20. Calamagrostis Adans. 1. Awn of the lemma abruptly bent, protruding sidewise from the glumes; callus-hairs sparse, y2 to % as long as the lemma; palea y as long as lemma C. perplexa 1. Awn straight, included; callusdiairs copious, about as long as the lemma C. canadensis C. perplexa Scribn. In our area known only from rocky (schist) slopes of Mount Fray, Copake, at an elevation of about 500 m., 2649 (PENN). C. canadensis (Michx.) Beauv. Moist grounds and swamps; common. 58 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 21. Agrostis L. Bent grass 1. Palea evident, 2-nerved, at least half as long as the lemma, 2 2. Ligule of the upper leaves 0.5 to 2.0 mm. long; leaf blades 1.5 to 2.8 mm. wide A. tenuis 2. Ligule of the upper leaves 2 to 6 mm. long; leaf blades 3 to 8 mm. wide A. alba 1. Palea obsolete or a minute nerveless scale much shorter than the lemma, 3 3. Branches of panicle branched toward the ends ; spikelets apparently clustered toward the tips of the branchlets A. hyemalis 3. Branches of panicle branched at or below the middle; spikelets scattered A. perennans A. alba L. Redtop. Meadows, pastures and woodlands; common. Stissing Mountain, Peck; North Chatham, 1155; Waldorf Pond, House 21432 ; Kin- derhook, 1093. A. tenuis Sibth. Colonial bent. Hayfields, Kinderhook, 1206. A. hyemalis (Walt.) BSP. Ticklegrass. Dry fields and woodlands; com- mon. Stephentown, Whitney 3970 ; 2 miles south-southwest of Hillsdale, 3551 ; Copake Falls, Burnham (CU) ; Stissing Mountain, 2859 (PENN) ; 2 miles southeast of North Chatham, 1154; Kinderhook, 1069, 1220. Most New York State specimens may be referred to the segregate A. scabra Willd. as in Gray’s Manual. A. perennans (Walt.) Tuckerm. Autumn bent. Damp or dry fields and woodlands. No Bottom Pond, 1333; New Forge, 3468; Kinderhook Lake, House 13395 ; Kinderhook, 1975. 22. Cinna L. 1. Leaves large, 8 to 20 mm. wide ; spikelets 5 mm. long ; panicle rather dense, with ascending branches C. arundinacea 1. Leaves smaller, 5 to 10 mm. wide; spikelets 3 to 4 mm. long; panicle loose, spreading or drooping C. latifolia C. arundinacea L. Swampy woods and borders of ponds and streams; common. Not reported from the higher elevations eastward and northeast- ward. Robinson Pond; Kinderhook; Stuyvesant; 2 miles south of Claverack; Rogers Island; Cheviot; Madalin. C. latifolia (Trev.) Griseb. Cool swamps and moist rocky woods; unknown in the Hudson Valley. Canticoke Swamp, 1738 (PENN) ; 2 miles south of Flatbrook, 3609 ; 4 miles southeast of Spencertown, 1863. 23. Alopecurus L. A. aequalis Sobol. Foxtail grass. In water and muddy places; margins of springs and ponds; infrequent in the Hudson Valley, unknown elsewhere. Kinderhook Lake, House 19613; Kinderhook, 968; 2 miles southeast of Stuyvesant Falls, 1390. 24. Phleum L. P. pratense L. Timothy. Meadows and roadsides; common. 25. Muhlenbergia Schreb. 1. Glumes minute, not more than one-fourth the length of the floret; clusters of thick scaly rootstocks none ; base of slender branching culms decum- bent and rooting at nodes M. Schreberi. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 59 1. Glumes at least half the length of the floret; plants with clusters of promi- nent scaly creeping rootstocks, 2 2. Glumes broadly ovate, acute, to 2/z as long as the floret, 3 3. Lemma awnless or essentially so; spikelet 1.5 to 2.5 mm. long M. sobolifera 3. Lemma with an awn 2 to 5 times as long as the body; spikelets 3 to 4 mm. long M. tenuiflora 2. Glumes lanceolate, acute to long-pointed, three-fourths as long as the- floret or longer, 4 4. Glumes unawned, sometimes with an acuminate tip, but scarcely or not at all exceeding the lemmas, 5 5. Internodes lustrous and glabrous; plants sprawling-topheavy, with geniculate-spreading branchlets M. frondosa 5. Internodes puberulent below the nodes ; plants not as above, 6 6. Lemma terminated by an awn 5 to 10 mm. long M. sylvatica 6. Lemma not awned or scarcely so (if so, the glume about equaling it) M. mexicam 4. Glumes with a slender awn as long as or longer than the body, much exceeding the lemmas ; panicle very dense and spikelike M. glomerata M. sobolifera (Muhl.) Trin. Dry rocky woods; rather frequent. 1 mile east of Pulvers, Ghent, 2342 (PENN) ; Robinson Pond, 3955; 2 miles north- northeast of Jackson Comers, 3582; Blue Hill, 2184; Stissing Mountain, House 21020. M. tenuiflora (Willd.) BSP. Dry rocky woods; rather frequent eastward; unknown in the Hudson Valley. Green River, 1520; Cedar Mountain, 3576; Bashbish Falls, Dobbin 931; Stissing Mountain, west side, 3878; 3 miles northwest of Ghent, 1424. M. glomerata (Willd.) Trin. Marshes, especially in calcareous soil, and in rocky woods; frequent eastward, but apparently rare in the Hudson Valley. Bog west of Douglas Knob; Copake Falls; 1 mile northeast of Boston Corners; 3 miles north of Ancramdale; Stissing Mountain; 1 mile southeast of Fowlers’ Lake; 3 miles north of Castleton, 3980. M. frondosa (Poir.) Fern. Roadsides, waste ground and woods; locally abundant. Moist shaly soil in woods, 1.5 miles east of Hollowville, 3761; gravelly flat in creek, Columbiaville, 4495; roadside, Alvords’ Dock, Stockport, 4499. M. sylvatica Torr. Moist woods; apparently infrequent. Brainard, House 21930; 2 miles east of Germantown, along Roeliff Jansen Kill, 2923. M. mexicana (L.) Trin. Moist woods and wet meadows; rather frequent eastward, but apparently rare in the Hudson Valley. No Bottom Pond, 1946; 1 mile east of Austerlitz, 2285 ; 2 miles south-southwest of Green River, 3526; Pulvers Corners, 3850; boggy meadow south of Kinderhook, 4028. M. Schreberi J. F. Gmel. Known only from wet grassy places at Robinson Pond, House 20612. 26. Sporobolus R. Br. S. vaginiflorus (Torr.) Wood. Dry soil; frequent. Waldorf Pond, House 20926; 2 miles north of Chatham, 4516; Poelsburg, 3801; Rogers Island, 4461; Silvemails, 2429 (PENN) ; Robinson Pond, 3939. 27. Brachyelytrum Beauv. B. erectum (Schreb.) Beauv. Moist or rocky woods; frequent. Stephen- town ; Austerlitz ; Bashbish Gorge, according to Knowlton (1919) ; Stissing Mountain; Columbiaville; Tivoli; Niverville. 60 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 28. Milium L. M. effusum L. Millet grass. Woods; rare. 1 mile southwest of West Ghent, 3698; rocky wooded slope, Harvey Mountain, Hoffmann (NEBC). 29. Oryzopsis Michx. Rice grass 1. Spikelets, excluding the awns, 3 to 4 mm. long O. pungens 1. Spikelets, excluding the awns, 6 to 9 mm. long 2 2. Leaves nearly all toward base of culm, stiff, erect, long-linear, 3 to 8 mm. wide ; upper leaves much reduced ; flowering in early May 0. asperifolia 2. Leaves cauline, the basal ones reduced; blades S to 15 mm. wide, soft, lax; flowering in July and August 0. raccmosa O. asperifolia Michx. Dry rocky woods; common or frequent eastward, at elevations of 300 m. and above; unknown in the Hudson Valley. Harrietta Falls (Stissing Mountain?), Hoysradt (NY) ; Canaan; Washburn Mountain; 2 miles east of Spencertown, 4199; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 4179. O. racemosa (Sm.) Ricker. Rocky woods; common. Very abundant in cal- careous regions. Austerlitz ; Stissing Mountain ; 3 miles north of Claverack ; Fowlers Lake; Snyderville ; 2 miles north of Jackson Corners; 2.5 miles west of Clermont. [O. pungens (Torr.) Hitchc. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY).] 30. Aristida L. A. dichotoma Michx. Poverty grass. Dry soil; common. 31. Spartina Schreb. S. pectinata Link. Cord grass. Tidal mud along the Hudson River; in- frequent. Unknown elsewhere. 3 miles north of Castleton, 3965; Stuyvesant, House 13310 ; Columbiaville, 4046; Magdalen Island, 2676. 32. Bouteloua Lag. B. curtipendula (Michx.) Torr. Grama grass. Dry shaly hillsides; rare, but locally abundant. 3 miles north of Claverack, 2193; Mount Merino, 2305; Blue Hill, 2166. 33. Hierochloe R. Br. H. odorata (L.) Beauv. About 4 miles east of Taborton, just within the Kinderhook Drainage, House 30918. This area in the northeastern part of the Kinderhook Creek Basin is the least well known botanically of any part of the Columbia County region as treated in this volume. Here at the south- ern edge of the Rensselaer Plateau are the southernmost outliers of the northern spruce-balsam forests, and here occur such species as the present one and Amelanchicr Bartramiana, neither of which is known locally except through these recent collections by House. 34. Anthoxanthum L. A. odoratum L. Sweet vernal grass. Meadows and roadsides; common. Old Chatham; Malden Bridge;. Chatham ; Kinderhook; Kinderhook Lake. 1. Leaf blades green 1. Leaf blades white-striped 35. Phalaris L. P. arundinacea P. arundinacea var. picta FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 61 P. arundinacea L. Canary grass. Swamps and creek banks; common. Malden Bridge ; Chatham ; Robinson Pond ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale ; Kinderhook; Stuyvesant Falls. Var. picta L. (forma variegata of Gray’s Manual). Ribbon grass. Cul- tivated and locally established. Pine Plains, Peck. 36. Leersia Sw. 1. Spikelets 2.5 to 3 mm. long L. virginica 1. Spikelets 4 to 5 mm. long L. orysoides L. oryzoides (L.) Sw. Sawgrass. Wet places; common. New Britain, 3635; Forest Lake, 2076 ; Merwins’ Lake, 2005 (PENN) ; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 1977. L. virginica Willd. Wet places; with the preceding, but somewhat more common. Not reported eastward. 3 miles north of Nassau; 2.5 miles east of Chatham Center; New Forge; Hotaling Island; Stuyvesant; Kinderhook; Columbiaville ; 1 mile southeast of West Ghent; Madalin. 37. Zizania L. Z. aquatica L. “Wild rice.” Tidal marshes along the Hudson River; there very common and often a dominant plant. Unknown elsewhere except at Tackawasick Lake, where introduced (Muenscher, 1935, p. 245). Hotaling Island, Taylor 1359 (NY) ; Nutten Hook, 2222; Hudson, House 20501; Tivoli, 2778. A few specimens which have been referred to the var. angusti- folia Hitchc. seem to be merely depauperate individuals of the typical form. 38. Digitaria Heist. D. sanguinalis (L.) Scop. Crabgrass. Cultivated fields, lawns and waste places; common. 39. Panicum L. Panic grass 1. Plants annual, 2 2. Plants glabrous P. dichotomiflorum 2. Plants more or less hispid, 3 3. Panicle diffuse, more than half the length of the entire plant. P. capillare 3. Panicle not over one-third the length of the entire plant, 4 4. Blades about 1 cm. wide; culms stout P. Gattingeri 4. Blades not over 6 mm. wide; culms slender P. pliiladelphicum 1. Plants perennial, 5 5. Basal leaves, if present, similar to the culm leaves, not forming a basal rosette, 6 6. Spikelets long-pedicelled ; plants with knotty scaly rootstocks P. virgatum 6. Spikelets short-pedicelled along the main branches of the panicles; rootstocks none P. agrostoides 5. Basal leaves usually distinctly different from the culm leaves, forming a basal winter rosette, 7 7. Leaves elongate-linear, erect, narrow (3 mm. wide), almost 20 times as long as wide, nearly all basal ; plants low and tufted, 8 8. Spikelets 3 to 3.5 mm. long, acute or subacuminate; plants nearly glabrous P. depauperatum 8. Spikelets 2 to 2.5 mm. long, obtuse or subobtuse, 9 62 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 7. 9. Sheaths pilose; spikelets pubescent P. linear i folium 9. Sheaths glabrous; spikelets almost glabrous P. linearifolium var. Werneri Leaves linear-lanceolate or broader; if less than 5 mm. wide, not con- spicuously elongate ; plants usually taller and more open, not low and tufted, 10 10. Spikelets 2.7 mm. long or more, 11 11. Sheaths, at least the lower, strongly papillose-hispid; spikelets 2.7 to 3 mm. long P. clandestinwn 11. Sheaths glabrous or softly villous; spikelets 3.4 to 3.7 mm. long P. latifolium 10. Spikelets 2.5 mm. long or less, 12 12. Spikelets, sheaths and blades glabrous P. dichotomum 12. Spikelets pubescent; sheaths and blades usually at least sparsely pubescent or pilose, 13 13. Culms and sheaths with long straight hairs; ligule 3 to 5 mm. long, 14 14. Axis of panicle glabrous or at most with few appressed hairs; leaf blades glabrous or very sparsely pilose above, glabrous or minutely pubescent beneath; upper sheaths glabrous or nearly so P. lanuginosum var. Lindlieimeri 14. Axis of panicle spreading pilose, at least on the lower inter- nodes; leaf blades pilose to glabrous above, commonly pubescent beneath; upper sheaths mostly pilose, 15 15. Spikelets mostly 1.6 to 2.1 mm. long; leaf blades densely or loosely short pilose or glabrous above P. lanuginosum var. fasciculatum 15. Spikelets mostly 1.3 to 1.5 mm. long; leaf blades long-pilose above, with hairs mostly 3 to 6 mm. long P. lanuginosum var. implicatum 13. Culms and sheaths crisp-puberulent ; ligule 0.8 to 2 mm. long P. tsugetorum P. depauperatum Muhl. Dry sandy soil; 1 mile south of Niverville, 870; 2 miles south of Germantown, 3163; Brace Mountain, Northeast, 4482. Reported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from Pine Plains. P. linearifolium Scribn. Dry woods and shaly banks and knolls; common. New Lebanon, House 21307 ; Little Stissing Mountain, Peck; Poelsburg, 886; Kinderhook Lake, 901 ; 1 mile southwest of West Ghent, 3296; Mount Merino, 1101; Blue Stores, 3205. Var. Werneri (Scribn.) Fern. With the last; frequent. Green River, 1537; Brainard, House 21356; Alvords’ Dock, Stockport, 764; Blue Hill, House 22658; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3310. P. dichotomum L. Dry woodlands. 1 mile northwest of Brainard, House 21403; Pine Plains, Peck; [3 miles north of Kinderhook, 1315; north of Brace Mountain, House 24836]. P. lanuginosum Ell., var. Lindheimeri (Nash) Fern. Known only from North Chatham, House 20464. I am unable to separate the various species of this group of Panicum according to Hitchcock’s treatment, so that for the Spreta and Lanuginosa of Hitchcock I prefer to follow the interpretation of the group as stated by Fernald (Rhodora 23: 141, 223-228. 1921, 1922. Rhodora 36: 77. 1934). Var. implicatum (Scribn.) Fern. Dry fields and woodlands, in sandy or rocky places; frequent eastward. Green River, in rocky woods, 1539; New Forge, 3469. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 63 Var. fasciculatum (Torr.) Fern. Situations similar to the preceding; frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Kinderhook Lake, House 21433 ; Kinderhook, 953; Blue Hill, House 22692 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3340. P. tsugetorum Nash (included in P. columbianum in Gray’s Manual). Known only from a collection made by Hoffmann at Bashbish Falls (NEBC). P. clandestinum L. Moist sandy soil, usually along creeks; frequent in the Hudson Valley. Unknown from the higher elevations eastward. Riders Mills, 1266; Niverville, 1144; Columbiaville, 3711; Rogers Island, 2568 (PENN) ; New Forge, 3485 ; 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, 3225. P. latifolium L. Dry or rocky woods ; frequent. Stephentown Center, House 21675; Brainard, House 21388; North Chatham, House 20455 ; Mount Fray, Copake, 2619 (PENN) ; 2 miles north-northeast of Jackson Corners, 3581; Blue Hill, House 22679; [north of Brace Mountain, House 24829]. Numerous specimens with somewhat pubescent nodes suggest, by this character, P. Boscii Poir. ; all seem, however, to have the spikelets of P. latifolium, and apparently P. Boscii does not occur in our area. P. dichotomiflorum Michx. Tidal flats and sandy shores along the Hudson River; there frequent or locally abundant. Nutten Hook, 4504; Columbia- ville, 4496; between Hudson and Athens, Muenscher & Clausen 4595 (CU) ; [south of Castleton, House 24177], P. Gattingeri Nash. Sandy and muddy shores and roadsides, in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys, where increasingly common as a weed in disturbed soil. New Baltimore, Greene County, House 23224; Kinderhook Lake, Peck (NY) ; [1 mile .south of Kinderhook, 4022; near Waldorf Pond, House 20923]. P. philadelphicum Bernh., var. Tuckermani (Fern.) Steyerm. & Schmoll ( P . Tuckermani of Gray’s Manual). Sandy and muddy shores; rather in- frequent. Kinderhook Lake, Peck (det. by Agnes Chase as P. Tuckermani) ; No Bottom Pond, 4529. P. capillare L. Witch grass. Widespread as a weed in cultivated grounds, roadsides and waste places; frequent. Gravelly flats along Stockport Creek at Columbiaville, 4498; [Waldorf Pond, House 23820; Nutten Hook, 4503, 4510 ; Boston Corners, House 24861; south of Castleton, House 24193], P. virgatum L. Moist or sandy soil; infrequent in the Hudson Valley; un- known elsewhere. Stuyvesant, House, Aug. 5, 1916; 2 miles north of Kin- derhook, 1693 ; Columbia-Rensselaer County line, Hudson River, 1689. P. agrostoides Spreng. Known only from moist gravelly-sandy shores of Kinderhook Lake, House 13407, 19606, 21747. 40. Echinochloa Beauv. 1. Leaf sheaths, at least the lower, hispid, often papillose ; spikelets ellipsoid, long-awned (1 to 2 cm.) E. Walteri 1. Leaf sheaths glabrous; spikelets ovoid or oval, variously awned, the awn usually 5 to 10 mm. long E. crusgalli E. Walteri (Pursh) Nash. Tidal marshes along the Hudson River; in- frequent or rare. Near mouth of Muitzes Kill, House 24195. E. crusgalli (L.) Beauv. Barnyard grass. Cultivated grounds and wet places; common. This species is found in abundance in the tidal swamps of the Hudson River, and seems unquestionably native there and in other localities. There is, however, disagreement as to the specific identity of this plant with the European E. crusgalli (see Fernald, Rhodora 17: 105-107, 1915 and Hitchcock, Manual Grasses of U. S. 693, 1935) Var. frumentacea (Link) Wight (£. frumentacea of Gray’s Manual). 64 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM “Japanese millet.” Stuyvesant, House 13316. A form with awnless spikelets and thick appressed incurved racemes. 41. Setaria Beauv. 1. Bristles below each spikelet numerous, at least more than five; panicle greenish yellow at maturity S. lutescens 1. Bristles below each spikelet 1 to 3; panicle green S. viridis S. lutescens (Weigel) F. T. Hubb. (S. glauca of Gray’s Manual). Foxtail grass. Waste and cultivated ground; common. S. viridis (L.) Beauv. Foxtail grass. Waste and cultivated ground; infre- quent or local. 42. Cenchrus L. C. longispinus (Hack.) Fern. Sandbur. Rather abundant along the Hudson River on dredged-up sand; otherwise unknown. Poelsburg, 3802; Stuyvesant, 4051; Nutten Hook. 43. Andropogon L. 1. Racemes solitary A. scoparius 1. Racemes in fascicles of 2 to 6, on a long exserted peduncle A. Gerardi A. scoparius Michx. Little bluestem. Dry fields and hillsides, often in sterile or acid soil; common. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY); Boston Corners, 2271; Stissing Mountain, 2849 ; 4 miles north of Kinderhook, 2357 . A. Gerardi Vitman. Big bluestem. Rocky or moist soil, often near water. Infrequent, but widely distributed. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) (det. by Nash as A. provincialis) ; Stissing Mountain, 2841; Valatie, 3754; Stuy- vesant Falls, 2039 ; Columbiaville, 4045 ; [Pine Plains, House 21042], 44. Sorghastrum Nash S. nutans (L.) Nash. Dry shaly hillsides; rare but locally abundant. South end of Mount Merino, 2432; north of Robinson Pond, 3922. CYPERACEAE (Sedge Family) 1. Flowers unisexual 10. Carex 1. Flowers perfect, 2 2. Spikelets several- or many-flowered, with but one (rarely more) of the lower scales empty, 3 3. Scales of the spikelet strictly 2-ranked, conduplicate and keeled, 4 4. Inflorescence terminal ; flowers without perianth bristles 1. Cyperus 4. Inflorescence axillary; flowers furnished with bristles 7. Dulichium 3. Scales of the spikelet spirally imbricated in several ranks, 5 5. Base of the style swollen, persistent as a tubercle crowning the mature achene, 6 6. Spike solitary, terminating the naked culm 2. Eleocharis 6. Spikelets in an involucrate umbel 3. Bulbostylis 5. Base of style not as above, 7 7. Base of style swollen, deciduous; bristles absent 4. Fimbristylis 7. Base of style not swollen ; bristles usually present, 8 8. Bristles none to 8, included or somewhat exserted in fruit 6. Scirpus 8. Bristles 6 to many, silky or cottony, much elongated in fruit 5. Eriophorum 2. Spikelets mostly 1- or 2-flowered, with several to many of the lower scales empty, 9 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 65 9. Style 2-cleft; achene with a beaklike tubercle 8. Rhynchospora 9. Style 3-cleft; achene without a beaklike tubercle 9. Cladium 1. Cyperus L. 1. Style 2-cleft; achenes lenticular; spikelets strongly flattened, 2 2. Scales of the spikelets membranous, dull; style branches exserted 2.3 to 4 mm. C. diandrus 2. Scales firm, subcoriaceous, shining; style branches exserted 1.5 mm. or less C. rivularis 1. Style 3-cleft; achenes trigonous, 3 3. Scales tapering to slender recurved tips ; plants annual, small, 2 to 20 cm. tall C. inflexus 3. Scales with straight tips, 4 4. Spikelets flattened, sometimes slightly so, 5 5. Spikelets in distinctly umbellate spikes, the umbels with 4 to 10 rays; inflorescence not a globose head, 6 6. Scales 3.2 to 5 mm. long C. strigosus 6. Scales 1 to 3 mm. long, 7 7 . Scales 2 to 3 mm. long ; rachis narrowly winged, not thickened ; plants perennial, with slender tuber-bearing rootstocks C. escidentus 7. Scales 1 to 1.5 mm. long; rachis with broad wings which become separated as scales; plants annual C. erythrorhizos 5. Spikelets in more or less dense heads or with a few upright elongate rays, 8 8. Spikelets mostly 8 to 15 mm. long, 11- to 15-flowered; scales roundish, mucronate, yellow-brown C. Houghtonii 8. Spikelets mostly 3 to 8 mm. long, 4- to 8-flowered; scales, at least the lower, blunt, greenish C. filicuhnis 4. Spikelets terete, elongated, densely clustered in a crowded short-rayed umbel C. odoratus C. diandrus Torr. Wet lakeshores; infrequent. Many references to this species in eastern New York are based on occurrences of C. rivularis. Kin- derhook Lake, Peck, House 13420; Knickerbocker Lake, 1994. C. rivularis Kunth. Wet creek banks and marshes; common, except north- eastward, where unknown. Very abundant in and characteristic of the cal- careous marshes of the Harlem Valley. Brainard, House 21926; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Copake Falls, 3909 ; 3 miles north of Ancram- dale, 3887; Pulvers Corners, 3843 ; Valatie, 1872; south of Kinderhook, 4019 ; Nutten Hook, Muenscher & Clausen 4368 (CU) ; Glenco Mills, 4032. C. inflexus Muhl. Moist ground along streams; infrequent in the Hudson Valley. Unknown eastward. East Nassau, House 21935; Kinderhook Lake, House 13418; 2 miles east of Valatie, 1871; 1 mile south of Kinderhook, 4021; Nutten Hook, 4506. C. Houghtonii Torr. Bashbish Falls, Hoffmann (NEBC). Reported from this station by Hoffmann (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 36:232. 1922). C. esculentus L. “Nut grass.” Moist open places, often in cultivated ground; rather frequent. Kinderhook Lake, House 20957; Valatie, 2389. C. erythrorhizos Muhl. Abundant in dredged-up sand north of Nutten Hook, 4501. Otherwise unknown. C. odoratus L. Sandy soil near tidewater along Hudson River; occasional, locally abundant. Nutten Hook, 4059; flats between Hudson and Athens, Muenscher & Clausen 4366 (CU). 66 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM C. strigosus L. Moist soil, often along streams; frequent. Not reported from the higher elevations eastward and northeastward. Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Niverville, 1794 ; Valatie, 1489 ; Kinderhook, 4020; Rogers Island, 2951 (PENN). C. filiculmis Vahl. Dry shaly or sandy hillsides and knolls; frequent in the Hudson Valley and adjoining uplands; not reported from the eastern tier of towns. Poelsburg; Stuyvesant Falls; Ghent; near Fowlers’ Lake; Mount Merino ; Blue Hill ; Blue Stores ; Silvernails. All Columbia County material seems to correspond to the var. macilentus Fern. 2. Eleocharis1 R. Br. “Spike rush” 1. Achenes lenticular, mostly smooth and glossy; styles 2-cleft, 2 2. Upper sheaths loose, with white scarious tips; scales purple-brown, with green midribs ; plants low, perennial, with slender matted rootstocks E. olivacea 2. Upper sheaths close and firm, green, not scarious, the tips often dark- margined, 3 3. Plants tufted, mostly annual, without conspicuous rootstocks, 4 4. Tubercle (style-base) nearly or quite as broad as the achene; stamens 3, 5 5. Tubercle deltoid, to nearly as high as the body of the achene; bristles much exceeding the achene E. ohtusa 5. Tubercle very low, not more than as high as the body of the achene; bristles equaling the achene or rudimentary E. Engelmanni 4. Tubercle less than 2/s as broad as the achene; stamens 2; bristles wanting or rudimentary; scales greenish or dull brown E. ovata 3. Plants not tufted ; perennials with elongate rootstocks, 6 6. Basal scales of the spikelet usually 2 or 3 below the thinner fertile scales; culms 0.5 to 5 mm. in diameter (in dried material) at summit of the upper sheath, 7 7. Tubercle elongate, much longer than broad; fertile scales obtuse to subacute, the tips not conspicuously spreading E. palustris 7. Tubercle depressed-deltoid, as broad as or broader than long; fer- tile scales mostly acute to attenuate, with spreading ascending tips E. Smallii 6. Basal scale of the spikelet solitary, spathiform, usually completely encircling the base of the spikelet; culms filiform, 0.5 to 1.5 mm. in diameter E. calva 1. Achenes triangular or plumply 3-sided; styles 3-cleft, 8 8. Achenes regularly reticulate or cross-lined; culms finely capillary, dwarf, often matted E. acicularis 8. Achenes smooth or papillose-roughened, not regularly reticulate, 9 9. Tubercle depressed-triangular, as broad as high or broader, 10 10. Achenes olivaceous E. tenuis 10. Achenes golden yellow to dull orange when mature E. elliptica 9. Tubercle long-conic-subulate, much narrower than the plump achene E. intermedia E. acicularis (L.) R. & S. Muddy borders of ponds; frequent. Miller Pond on Stissing Mountain, 3877 ; Forest Lake, 2078; Kinderhook Lake, House 13419*] Bachus Pond, 915; Merwins’ Lake, 1239. 1 Specimens of Eleocharis designated by an asterisk (*) have been determined by Dr. H. K. Svenson. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 67 E. Engelmanni Steud. Known only from shores of Kinderhook Lake, House 16785*, 19604* E. ovata (Roth) R. & S. Tidal mud along the Hudson River. Otherwise unknown. Poelsburg, 3809 ; Columbiaville, 3714; Hudson, Svenson (Rhodora 31: 211. 1929). These specimens were originally determined as E. diandra C. Wright, a species now reduced to synonymy. E. obtusa (Willd.) Schultes. Wet places; common throughout. E. olivacea Torr. Known only from marshes at the south end of Knicker- bocker Lake, 1995, 3827. Reported from Pine Plains by Hoysradt (1875-79). E. palustris (L.) R. & S. Borders of lakes and ponds; infrequent. No Bottom Pond, 1958; [East Nassau, House 21947]. Well known from Rens- selaer County northward. In our area commonly represented by var. major Sonder. [Kinderhook Lake; 5 miles north of Ancramdale; 1 mile south of Poelsburg], Most reports of E. palustris from this part of the Hudson Valley are based upon E. calva and E. Smallii. E. Smallii Britton. Borders of ponds; apparently rather infrequent. Crooked Lake, Sand Lake, House 21689a; Kinderhook Lake, House 16789*, 19609* ; pond 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake, 1628 (PENN), House 20520*. E. calva Torr. Wet meadows, stream banks, borders of ponds; frequent. New Lebanon, Home 21314; Brainard, House 21387 ; North Chatham, Home 21323; Robinson Pond, Home 20604* ; 1 mile west of Ancramdale, 3397 ; Stuyvesant Falls, 1025 ; Columbiaville, 776; mud flats between Hudson and Athens, Muenscher & Clamen 4380. E. tenuis (Willd.) Schultes. Known in our area only from a meadow east of Blue Hill, House 22693. E. elliptica Kunth. Wet meadows, swampy places, rather frequent. Queechy Lake, Harriet Wheeler (CU)*; 2 miles east of Elizaville, 3202; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3402a; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 791; Rhine- cliff, House 19270*. E. intermedia Schultes. Calcareous marshes; there abundant; otherwise unknown. Knickerbocker Lake, Brown 516*; north of Copake Falls, 3908; south of Pulvers Corners, 3869; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY)*. 3. Bulbostylis Kunth B. capillaris (L.) C. B. Clarke. Sandy or dry soil; infrequent, but locally abundant. 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 1718. Reported as common at Pine Plains by Hoysradt (1875-79). 4. Fimbristylis Vahl F. autumnalis (L.) R. & S. Known only from muddy shores of No Bottom Pond, 1947 (PENN), but reported from Pine Plains (Thompsons’ Pond) by Hoysradt (1875-79). 5. Eriophorum L. “Cotton grass” 1. Spikelet solitary, terminal, not subtended by a leafy involucre; leaves nar- row, basal A. spissum 1. Spikelets 2 to several, surrounded by a leafy involucre, 2 2. Involucre a single erect short bract; leaves 1 to 1.5 mm. broad; upper stem-leaf with the sheath longer than the blade. E. gracile 2. Involucral bracts 2 or more; leaves 1.5 to 6 mm. wide, 3 3. Bristles whitish ; scales greenish to lead color, with one prominent rib extending to the tip E. viridi-carinatum 68 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 3. Bristles copper color or brown ; scales greenish to straw color with red- brown margin, with several prominent ribs E. virginicum E. spissum Fern. Sphagnum bogs; rare. Bog south of Niverville, 728. E. gracile W. D. J. Koch. Floating bogs; rare. Bog west of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 1268; 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, 1134. E. viridi-carinatum (Engelm.) Fern. Open swampy meadows and bogs; frequent. West of Douglas Knob, 1269 ; 1 mile south of Canaan, 743; Miller Pond, Ancram, 1074; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 817 ; bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1022; bog west of Post Road School, 174 (PENN), 506. E. virginicum L. Sphagnum bogs; there abundant. Taplins’ Pond, 2417 (PENN) ; Niverville, 1442; 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, House 20585; [1 mile west of East Nassau, House 23975]. 6. Scirpus L. 1. Involucre none, or merely the modified outer scale of the solitary terminal spikelet, 2 2. Perianth bristles short, not exceeding the scales, terete, upwardly setulose 5". verecundus 2. Perianth bristles in fruit 2 to 3 cm. long, much exceeding the scales, white, flattened, not barbed S. hudsonianus 1. Involucre foliaceous or appearing to be a continuation of the culm, 3 3. Involucre consisting of a firm green erect bract, appearing to be a con- tinuation of the culm ; culms not leafy, 4 4. Spikelets solitary; culms flaccid S. snbterminalis 4. Spikelets normally more than one ; culms firm, 5 5. Spikelets in sessile clusters, 6 6. Annuals with tufted roots; culms terete S. Smithii 6. Perennials with running rootstocks ; culms sharply trigonous, 7 7. Scales reddish brown, ciliate, awn-tipped ; achene planoconvex 5. americanus 7. Scales yellowish brown, entire, mucronate ; achenes trigonous 5. Torreyi 5. Spikelets more or less loosely umbellate or paniculate, 8 8. Achene 2 mm. long; scales 2 to 2.5 mm. long, subglabrous, scarcely spotted ; spikelets ovoid to subcylindric ; culms usually relatively soft S', validus 8. Achenes 2.5 mm. long; scales 3 to 4 mm. long, more or less viscid- puberulent on back and much spotted; spikelets mostly cylindri- cal ; culms usually firm and hard A. acutus 3. Involucral bracts 2 or more, leaflike; culms leafy, 9 9. Spikelets large, 10 to 50 mm. long, 5 to 10 mm. wide; culms sharply 3-angled; plants stout, 1 to 2.5 m. high S. fluviatilis 9. Spikelets smaller, 2 to 15 mm. long, 1 to 3 mm. wide; culms obtusely 3- angled or terete, 10 10. Bristles retrorsely barbed; culms mostly solitary, the short caudex bearing thick scaly stolons, 11 11. At least the lower sheaths red-tinged; bristles barbed nearly to the base 5. microcarpus 11. Sheaths green; bristles barbed above the middle only, 12 12. Bristles shorter than or about equaling the achene ; spikelets dark brown or dark lead color, 13 13. Lower sheaths nodulose-reticulate 5". atrovirens 13. Lower sheaths smooth, not nodulose S. atrovirens var. georgianus FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 69 12. Bristles about twice as long as the achene; spikelets reddish brown .S', polyphyllus 10. Bristles smooth or with few scattered or ascending hairs, not regu- larly retrorsely barbed ; plants in dense or loose clumps, not stoloniferous, 14 14. Bristles not exceeding the scales S. lineatus 14. Bristles much exserted at maturity, 15 15. Spikelets sessile or nearly so, in glomerules of 3 to 15; achenes maturing from August to October S. cy per inns 15. Spikelets nearly all pedicelled (at least the lateral ones of each group) ; achenes maturing from June to early August, 16 16. Involucels and scales dull or pale brown ; culms stout, mostly 1 to 1.5 m. high S. pedicellatus 16. Involucels and scales dark lead color to black ; culms slender, 0.5 to 1.2 m. high S. atrocinctus S. verecundus Fern. Dry wooded hillsides, often in calcareous soil; in- frequent but widely distributed. Brainard, House 21368; Millerton, House 22425; 3 miles north of Claverack, 544; east of Blue Hill, House 22659; Pinnacle Rocks, 3 miles southeast of Churchtown, 4183 ; 1 mile southeast of Kinderhook, 4358. S. hudsonianus (Michx.) Fern. Known only from a floating bog west of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 1270. S. subterminalis Torr. Reported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from “Lee Pond, Mount Riga,” which may be the Lee Pond in Mount Washington, Berkshire County, one of the sources of Bashbish Brook. S. Torreyi Olney. Swampy border of pond 1 mile south of Miller Pond, Ancram, House 23679. Otherwise unknown. S. Smithii Gray. Tidal mud along the Hudson River; there rather abun- dant. Otherwise known only from Knickerbocker Lake, 1993, 3828. Coeymans, Albany County, Svenson (Rhodora 26 : 222. 1925) ; Poelsburg, 3808; Nutten Hook, Muenscher & Clausen 4420 (CU) ; Hudson, Muenscher & Clausen 4419 (CU) ; shores of Hudson River east of Rogers Island, 2954. S. americanus Pers. Tidal flats and marshes along the Hudson River; there common, often forming a dense growth. Otherwise unknown except through a report from Copake Lake, Muenscher (1935, p. 245). Hotaling Island, Taylor 1369 (NY) ; Stuyvesant, 933; Hudson, Muenscher & Clausen 4409 (CU) ; Rogers Island, 2580. S. validus Vahl. “Bulrush.’’ Swamps, bogs and along streams; frequent. Kinderhook Lake, House 11316; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 969; bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1160; Hudson, tidal flats, House 20505. S. acutuS Muhl. Swampy borders of lakes and ponds and in tidal marshes; infrequent. Waldorf Pond, House 21753; Knickerbocker Lake, 1807; pond south of Miller Pond, Ancram, House 20540; Nutten Hook, Muenscher & Clausen 4406 (CU). S. fluviatilis (Torr.) Gray. Tidal marshes along Hudson River, where very abundant. Otherwise known only from Kinderhook Lake, House 18858; Hotaling Island, 3146; Stuyvesant, mouth of Mill Creek, 1817 ; Hudson, House 20490; Crugers’ Island, 2898. S. microcarpus Presl. ( S . rubrotinctus of Gray’s Manual). Moist meadows, apparently infrequent. Brainard, along Kinderhook Creek, House 18415; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 962. Increasingly abundant northward on the Rensselaer County plateau region. 70 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM S. atrovirens Willd. Wet meadows and swamps; common. North Chatham, 1112; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 786; 1.5 miles east of Hollowville, 3760. Var. georgianus (Harper) Fern. Appearing locally with the typical plant; Curtis Mountain, House 21473; Tivoli, 2722; [Brainard, House 21473 ; No Bottom Pond, 4523]. S. polyphyllus Vahl. Moist meadows; apparently infrequent. "Not com- mon’’ at Pine Plains, according to Hoysradt (1875-79) ; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 2160. S. lineatus Michx. Swampy meadows; very abundant locally in the Hudson Valley and in the calcareous marshes of the Harlem Valley. 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3343 ; mile northwest of Clermont, 3258; 2 miles south of Germantown, 4764 (USNA) ; 2 miles south of West Ghent, 4768 (USNA). S. cyperinus (L.) Kunth. “Wool grass.” Swamps and borders of ponds and streams; common. Lebanon Springs; Chatham Center; Forest Lake; New Forge; Niverville; Rogers Island; 2 miles west of Nevis; 2 miles south of Claverack. Practically all Columbia County material seems to correspond to var. pelius Fern, with an occasional plant having the congested inflores- cence of forma condensatus (Fern.) S. F. Blake. S. atrocinctus Fern. Swamps and marshy borders of ponds; infrequent. Near Curtis Mountain, House 21488; Brainard, House 18414; No Bottom Pond, 1337 ; Fowlers’ Lake, 1669. S. pedicellatus Fern. Wet meadows; local or rare. Kinderhook Lake, House 16792, New Baltimore, Greene County, House 21626; abundant in meadows 4 miles north of Castleton, near Hudson River, 4535. 7. Dulichium Pers. D. arundinaceum (L.) Britt. Swamps and along streams; frequent. Pond south of Taghkanic Lake, 1625 (PENN) ; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; New Forge, 3492; bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1441; Kinderhook, 1377; Hudson, House 20512 ; Tivoli, tidal marsh, 2785. 8. Rhynchospora Vahl 1. Spikelets white or tawny in age ; stamens usually 2 ; bristles 9 to 12 or more R. alba 1. Spikelets chestnut colored; stamens 3; bristles 6 (rarely 12) R. capillacea R. alba (L.) Vahl. Wet meadows and sphagnum bogs; locally very abun- dant. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, House 20582; south of Niverville, 1443; bog west of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 2119. R. capillacea Torr. Calcareous meadows and marshes; rare. West of Post Road School, 2001; south of Pulvers Corners, 3847. 9. Cladium P. Br. C. mariscoides (Muhl.) Torr. Bogs; rare. Knickerbocker Lake, 1230; Mud pond, 3 miles east of Elizaville, 3280; Fingar Marsh, Gallatin, 3578. At the Knickerbocker Lake station associated with Lobelia Kalmii, Sarracenia pur- purea, Ultricularia intermedia, Potentilla palustris, Typha latifolia, under near- neutral conditions. At the other known stations it is found in highly acid sphagnum bogs. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 71 10. Carex L.1 Sedge Key to the Sections 1. Spike 1, 2 2. Perigynia strongly inflated, sessile or nearly so, not becoming re- flexed; pistillate scales persistent 34. Squarrosae (p. 87) 2. Perigynia not inflated, 3 3. Pistillate scales not foliaceous; perigynia not abruptly beaked 9. Polytrichoideae (p. 78) 3. Lower pistillate scales foliaceous; perigynia abruptly beaked 10. Phyllostachyae (p. 78) ]. Spikes more than 1, 4 4. Stigmas 2 ; achenes lenticular, 5 5. Lateral spikes sessile, short; terminal spike usually androgynous or gynaecandrous, 6 6. Spikes androgynous, many-flowered; perigynia not subterete, 7 7. Perigynia abruptly contracted into the beak, culms not flacci 1 and not flattening in drying, 8 8. Spikes few (generally 10 or fewer), usually greenish 1. Bracteosae (p. 73) 8. Spikes numerous, yellowish or brownish at maturity; leaf sheaths often red-dotted ventrally, 9 9. Perigynia planoconvex, thin, yellowish; bracts mostly much exceeding the spikes; leaf sheaths usually trans- versely rugulose ventrally 2. Multiflorae (p. 74) 9. Perigynia thick-planoconvex or unequally biconvex, brown; bracts mostly shorter than the spikes; leaf sheaths not transversely rugulose 3. Paniculatae (p. 75) 7. Perigynia tapering into the beak; culms flaccid and flattening in drying 4. Vulpinae (p. 75) 6. Spikes not androgynous or, if so, perigynia subterete and spikes only 1- to 3-flowered, 10 10. Perigynia without winged margins, at most thin-edged, 11 11. Perigynia 2 to 3.75 mm. long, 12 12. Perigynia not thin-edged, ascending or appressed, elliptic 5. Heleonastes (p. 75) 12. Perigynia thin-edged, spreading, ovoid, broadest below the middle 6. Stellulatae (p. 76) 11. Perigynia 4.5 to 5.5 mm. long, narrowly lanceolate, ap- pressed 7. Dewey anae (p. 76) 10. Perigynia with winged margins 8. Ovales (p. 76) 5. Lateral .spikes peduncled or, if sessile, elongate; terminal spike usually staminate, 13 13. Plants 5 to 45 (55) cm. high; pistillate spikes 4 to 20 mm. long; lowest bract long-sheathing; perigynia golden yellow at maturity. 15. Bicolores (p. 80) 13. Plants (25) 35 to 120 cm. high; pistillate spikes (15) 20 to 100 mm. long; lowest bract sheathless or rarely short-sheathing; perigynia not golden yellow, 14 14. Pistillate scales not long-awned, 1-nerved ; achenes not con- stricted in the middle 30. Acutae (p. 85) 14. Pistillate scales long-awned, 3-nerved; achenes constricted in the middle 31. Cryptocarpae (p. 86) 1 The key to the genus Carex has been contributed by Dr. F. J. Hermann of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Specimens of Carex designated by an asterisk (*) have been determined by the late K. K. Mackenzie. ? NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 4. Sligmas 3 ; achenes triangular, 15 15. Perigynia pubescent or scabrous, 16 16. Style articulated with the achene, at length deciduous, 17 17. Achenes closely enveloped by the perigynia; bracts sheath- less or nearly so, 18 18. Plant (except perigynia) glabrous 11. Montanae (p. 78) 18. Plant pubescent 13. Triquetrae (p. 80) 17. Achenes not closely enveloped by the perigynia or, if so, the bracts strongly sheathing, 19 19. Bracts sheathing, their blades rudimentary 12. Digitatae (p. 79) 19. Bracts with well-developed blades, 20 20. Perigynia pubescent, 21 21. Beak of perigynium strongly bidentate; styles long, slender 26. Hirtae (p. 85) 21. Beak of perigynium at most shallowly bidentate; styles very short, thickish 25. Virescentes (p. 84) 20. Perigynia scabrous 27. Anomalae (p. 85) 16. Style continuous with the achene, persistent, indurated. 22 22. Perigynia less than 1 cm. long; spikes cylindric 33. Paludosae (p. 87) 22. Perigynia 1 cm. long or longer; spikes globose C. Grayii in 36. Lupulinae (p. 88) 75. Perigynia glabrous, 23 23. Style articulated with achene, at length deciduous, 24 24. Achenes strongly constricted at the base, rounded at the apex; lower pistillate scales bractlike 10. Phyllostachyae (p. 78) 24. Achenes not strongly constricted at the base, apiculate at the apex; lower pistillate scales not bractlike, 25 25. Bracts, at least the lower ones, long-sheathing, 26 26. Bracts bladeless or with rudimentary blades, 27 27. Leaf blades filiform 14. Albae (p. 80) 27. Leaf blades not filiform 17. Laxiflorae (p. 80) 26. Bracts with well-developed blades, 28 28. Foliage, especially the sheaths, pubescent or puberulent, 29 29. Perigynia beakless or short-beaked; terminal spike gynaecandrous (rarely staminate in C. gracillima) 21. Gracillimae (p. 82) 29. Perigynia conspicuously beaked; terminal spike stam- inate 22. Sylvaticae (p. 83) 28. Foliage glabrous, 30 30. Beak of perigynium not bidentate, at most emargi- nate, 31 31. Pistillate spikes short, oblong to linear, erect or nearly so; if drooping, either on capillary peduncles or perigynia acutely triangular, 32 32. Perigynia with few to many strongly raised nerves, 33 33. Perigynia tapering at the base, triangular, closely enveloping the achenes, 34 34. Rootstocks elongate, often producing long horizontal stolons 16. Paniceae (p. 80) 34. Rootstocks not elongate, not producing long horizontal stolons 17. Laxiflorae (p. 80) FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 73 33. Perigynia rounded at the base, suborbicular in cross section, loosely enveloping the achene 18. Granulares (p. 81) 32. Perigynia with numerous fine impressed nerves, 35 35. Perigynia tapering at the base, constricted at the apex, obtusely triangular, closely envelop- ing the achenes 19. Oligocarpae (p. 82) 35. Perigynia rounded at both ends, orbicular to orbicular-triangular in cross section 20. Griseae (p. 82) 31. Pistillate spikes elongate, linear to cylindric, on slender peduncles, the lower usually drooping; perigynia not acutely triangular, 36 36. Perigynia beakless or short-beaked; terminal spike gynaecandrous 21. Gracillimae (p. 82) 36. Perigynia conspicuously beaked; terminal spike staminate 22. Sylvaticae (p. 83) 30. Beak of perigynium bidentate, 37 37. Pistillate spikes oblong-cylindric on slender, droop- ing peduncles 23. Longirostres (p. 83) 37. Pistillate spikes suborbicular or short-oblong, on short erect or ascending peduncles or sessile 24. Extensae (p. 84) 25. Lower bracts sheathless or very short-sheathing, 38 38. Terminal spike staminate (in C. prasina occasionally bearing a few perigynia), 39 39. Perigynia rounded and minutely beaked at the apex; pistil- late spikes oblong, 1 to 2.5 cm. long 28. Limosae (p. 85) 39. Perigynia tapering into a beak nearly the length of the body; pistillate spikes linear, 2 to 6 cm. long C. prasina in 21. Gracillimae (p. 83) 38. Terminal spike gynaecandrous 29. Atratae (p. 85) 23. Style not articulated, continuous with the achene, persistent, in- durated, 40 40. Perigynia subcoriaceous and firm 33. Paludosae (p. 87) 40. Perigynia membranaceous, 41 41. Perigynia obconic or broadly obovoid, truncately contracted into long subulate beaks 34. Squarrosae (p. 87) 41. Perigynia from lanceolate to ovoid or globose-ovoid, not truncately contracted, 42 42. Perigynia finely and closely ribbed 32. Pseudo-Cypereae (p. 86) 42. Perigynia coarsely ribbed, 43 43. Perigynia 7 to 10 mm. long; achenes 2 to 3 mm. long, 1.25 to 2.25 mm. wide 35. Vesicariae (p. 87) 43. Perigynia 10 to 20 mm. long; achenes 2.5 to 6 mm. long, 2 to 4 mm. wide 36. Lupulinae (p. 88) Section 1. Bracteosae 1. Sheaths tight, inconspicuously or not at all mottled with green and white nor septate-nodulose dorsally; leaf blades 1 to 4.5 mm. wide, 2 2. Perigynia distended and spongy at the base, usually widely spreading or reflexed at maturity, 3 3. Beaks of perigynia smooth, scarcely exceeding the acuminate, deciduous scales C. retroflexa 74 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 3. Beaks of perigynia minutely serrulate, much exceeding the obtuse or somewhat acute, persistent scales, 4 4. Stigmas long, slender, usually not twisted; perigynium tapering into the beak ; leaf blades 1 to 2 mm. wide C. rosea 4. Stigmas short, stout, strongly twisted or contorted; perigynium abruptly contracted into the beak, 5 5. Leaf blades 1.5 to 3 (averaging 2.5) mm. wide; spikes with 6 to 20 perigynia; perigynia 3.25 to 4.5 mm. long C. convoluta 5. Leaf blades 1 to 1.75 mm. wide; spikes with 2 to 6 perigynia which are 2.25 to 3 mm. long C. radiata 2. Perigynia not distended nor spongy at the base, mostly ascending, 6 6. Inflorescence ovoid; spikes densely capitate C. cephalophora 6. Inflorescence oblong or linear-oblong to elongate and interrupted ; spikes not capitate C. Muhlenbergii 1. Sheaths loose, mottled with green and white and usually septate-nodulose dorsally; leaf blades 3 to 10 mm. wide, 7 7 . Mature perigynia membranaceous, narrowly ovate to elliptic, flat ventrally, with a narrow, gradually contracted beak; leaf blades 3 to 7 mm. wide ; spikes approximate or the lower separate C. cephaloidea 7 . Mature perigynia subcoriaceous, ovate, with border raised ventrally, abruptly contracted into a short stout beak; leaf blades 5 to 10 mm. wide C. sparganioides C. retroflexa Muhl. Hudson Valley; widely distributed, but not common. Unknown eastward. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*, CU) ; Blue Hill, House 22676; Kinderhook, 655 (NYS, PENN). C. rosea Schkuhr. Woods and thickets; frequent. Mount Lebanon; Copake Falls; Kinderhook; Clermont; Brainard; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*). C. convoluta Mackenz. Woods and thickets, throughout. Pine Plains, Hoysradt ('CU) ; Queechy Lake, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Green River, 1519 ; North Chatham, House 20459 ; Blue Hill, House 22652. C. radiata (Wahlenb.) Dew. Moist woods and thickets; frequent eastward, but unknown in the Hudson Valley. Mount Lebanon, House 15597* ; No Bottom Pond, 1329; 1.5 miles northeast of Hillsdale, 3548; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY*) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; [Bashbish Gorge, Dobbin 936] . C. cephalophora Muhl. Dry meadows and hillsides; frequent. New Lebanon; Harlemville; Ancram, near Miller Pond; Brainard; North Chatham; Kinderhook Lake; Blue Hill; Tivoli; Elizaville; Chatham, Wheeler (CU); Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU). C. Muhlenbergii Schkuhr. Dry soil, apparently infrequent. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; North Chatham, House 21553; [2 miles southeast of Nassau, House 23610], C. cephaloidea Dew. Known oidy through a specimen from the herbarium of William Boott, now in the New York Botanical Garden, which bears the note “fr. Lyman Hoysradt,” and is probably from Pine Plains. C. sparganioides Muhl. Woods and thickets; apparently rather frequent in the Hudson Valley and less so eastward. Lebanon Springs, Wheeler (CU) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; Rhinecliff, House 19286 ; 2.5 miles west of Clermont, 3267 ; Kinderhook Lake, House 21442. Section 2. Multiflorae 1. Beak of perigynium much shorter than the body; leaves usually shorter than the culms C. annectens FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 75 1. Beak of perigynium about equaling the body; leaves normally exceeding the culms C. vulpinoidea C. annectens (Bickn.) Bickn. Meadows and dry grassy woodlands, frequent or common. 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake, House 20531; Brainard, House 21533; Kinderhook Lake, House 16798, 21439; 2 miles east of Elizaville, 3195; Mount Lebanon, House 15593*-, New Britain, House 23642. Represented in our area by var. xanthocarpa (Kiikenth.) Wieg. The only collection I have seen which approaches typical C. annectens is House 21410, from Brainard. C. vulpinoidea Michx. Wet meadows and swampy places; common. Section 3. Paniculatae 1. Sheaths not copper-colored at the mouth; perigynia 2 to 2.25 mm. long, convex ventrally, lustrous, not concealed by the scales C. diandra 1. Sheaths copper-colored at the mouth; perigynia 2.5 to 3.5 mm. long, flat or concave ventrally, dull, nearly concealed by the scales C. prairea C. diandra Schrank. Wet places; rare. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). Otherwise unknown. C. prairea Dew. Calcareous marshes. Attlebury, Hoysradt (NY*) ; “vicinity of Pine Plains,” Hoysradt (CU, GH*) ; Miller Pond, Ancram, 3114; north of Copake, according to Knowlton (1919). Section 4. Vulpinae 1. Sheaths not thickened at the mouth, cross-rugulose ventrally, easily broken, prolonged upward at the mouth C. stipata 1. Sheaths thickened (often cartilaginous) at the mouth, rarely cross-rugulose ventrally, not easily broken, concave or truncate at the mouth C. laevivaginata C. stipata Muhl. Wet meadows and swampy places; common. C. laevivaginata (Kiikenth.) Mackenz. Wet meadows and swampy places; rare. North Chatham, House 21550; Pine Plains, Hoysradt ('CU). Section 5. Heleonastes 1. Spikes androgynous; perigynia unequally biconvex C. disperma 1. Spikes gynaecandrous ; perigynia planoconvex, 2 2. Lowest bract bristlelike, many times longer than its spike; perigynia 3 to 3.5 mm. long C. trisperma 2. Lowest bract much shorter; perigynia about 2 mm. long, 3 3. Perigynia distinctly short-beaked, loosely spreading; leaves green, 1 to 2.5 mm. wide C. brunnescens 3. Perigynia apiculate, appressed-ascending ; leaves glaucous, 2 to 4 mm. wide C. canescens C. disperma Dew. Wet sphagnous woods, where rather abundant. Un- known in the Hudson Valley. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; 3 miles north of Nassau, House 21761; New Britain, 4301; 2.5 miles east of Chatham Center, 3684; bog 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 3445. Reported by Hoysradt from the “Fingar Swamp,” town of Gallatin. C. trisperma Dew. Sphagnum bogs; local. Averill Park, House 6347*; New Britain, 3641; bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1159; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). C. brunnescens (Pers.) Poir. Mount Everett, 5035 (USNA); Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; House 21270, from New Lebanon, resembles this species. 76 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM C. canescens L. Bogs, usually in sphagnum. Locally abundant. New Lebanon, House 21273 ; 0.5 miles south of Niverville, 867 ; bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1158; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU) ; “Jno. White Swamp” (Pine Plains), Hoysradt (NY*). Represented in our area only by var. disjuncta Fern. Section 6. Stellulatae C. interior Bailey. Swampy places. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*); Kinderhook, 787. Section 7. Deweyanae 1. Spikes narrowly linear; perigynia 1 to 1.3 mm. wide, nerved on both sides C. bromoides 1. Spikes oblong-ovoid; perigynia 1.5 to 2 mm. wide, nerveless ventrally C. Deweyana C. bromoides Schkuhr. Rich or moist woods; infrequent. New Lebanon, House 21271; Spencertown, 4122; Bashbish Gorge, Copake, according to Knowlton (1919); Millerton, House 22399 (in flower only); Pine Plains, Stissing Notch, Hoysradt (NY*). In the Hudson Valley known only through reports from Rhinecliff and Blue Hill (House). C. Deweyana Schwein. Rich or moist woods; apparently rare. 2 miles south of Flatbrook, 3604; rare along Roeliff Jansen Kill near Pine Plains, according to Hoysradt (1875-79) ; [1 mile east of Canaan, 4255. Mount Lebanon and Brainard, according to House]. Section 8. Ovales 1. Scales shorter than the perigynia and noticeably narrower above, largely exposing the perigynia above, 2 2. Wing of perigynium not narrowed near the middle of the body; leaf blades of sterile culms erect or ascending, usually clustered toward the top, 3 3. Perigynia not obovate, widest near the middle or base, 4 4. Perigynia lanceolate to narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 3 to 4 times as long as wide C. scoparia 4. Perigynia ovate-lanceolate or broader, at most twice as long as wide, 5 5. Perigynia 3 to 4 mm. long, narrowly to broadly ovate, 6 6. Leaf blades 1.5 to 4.5 (averaging 2.5) mm. wide; sheaths not mottled with green and white dorsally, 7 7. Perigynia 3 to 3.5 mm. long; spikes closely aggregated, not clavate at base C. Bebbii 7. Perigynia 3.5 to 4 mm. long; spikes aggregated to strongly separate, clavate at base C. tenera 6. Leaf blades 2.5 to 6 (averaging 4.0) mm. wide; sheaths mottled with green and white dorsally; perigynia less abruptly beaked and beak narrower than in C. tenera C. normalis 5. Perigynia 3.75 to 6.5 mm. long, the body suborbicular, 8 8. Perigynia planoconvex, thick, 3.75 to 5.5 mm. long, 9 9. Perigynia ovate, submembranaceous, few-nerved ventrally, broadest near the base, tapering into the beak, the beak broader than in C. brevior, especially toward the base C. molesta 9. Perigynia broadly ovate to suborbicular, coriaceous, usually nerveless or nearly so ventrally, broadest near the middle, abruptly contracted into the beak C. brevior FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 77 8. Perigynia flat and thin, nearly transparent, 5.6 to 6.5 mm. long C. Bicknellii 3. Perigynia obovate, the body widest near the top, 10 10. Spikes densely aggregated; tips of perigynia appressed; perigynia with body rounded at the apex C. cumulata 10. Spikes not aggregated; tips of perigynia spreading; perigynia with body truncate-rounded at the apex C. albolutescens 2. Wing of perigynium rather abruptly narrowed near the middle of the body ; leaf blades of sterile culms widely spreading, not clustered at the apex, 11 11. Perigynia thin and scalelike, scarcely distended over the achene; heads elongate, 12 12. Tips of perigynia appressed or ascending; spike more or less tur- binate, 5 to 12 mm. long ; leaf blades firm ; culm stiff C. tribuloides 12. Tips of perigynia loosely ascending or at length recurved; spikes not turbinate, 4 to 8 mm. long; leaf blades flaccid; culms not stiff C. projecta 11. Perigynia planoconvex, obviously distended over the achene, the tips widely spreading to strongly recurved; culms stiff; heads dense, oblong C. cristatella 1. Scales about the length of the perigynia and about the same width above, concealing the perigynia above or nearly so, 13 13. Perigynia nerveless ventrally or occasionally few-nerved, brownish and at maturity black dorsally, the body usually widest near the base, scales dull or reddish brown C. aenea 13. Perigynia conspicuously many-nerved ventrally, greenish white, the body usually widest near the middle; scales silvery green C. argyrantha C. scoparia Schkuhr. Meadows and thickets, usually in moist soil; com- mon and abundant. C. Bebbii Olney. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*). Otherwise unknown. C. tenera Dew. Moist meadows and thickets; widely distributed. New Lebanon, House 21265 ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; Brainard, House 21414; North Chatham, House 21331; Kinderhook Lake, House 21445. C. normalis Mackenz. On banks, in open woods and thickets, according to House (1924). Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; Brainard, House 21377 ; North Chatham, House 21332. C. brevior (Dew.) Mackenz. Woods and thickets, apparently rare. Kinder- hook Lake, House 21440; Mount Merino, Peck*; clearing north of Brace . Mountain, Northeast, 4485. C. molesta Mackenz. Swamp south of Kinderhook Lake, House 21441. Otherwise unknown. C. Bicknellii Britt. Dry shaly banks, apparently infrequent. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; Little Stissing Mountain, Peck* ; north of North Chatham, House 19623. C. cumulata (Bailey) Mackenz. Shaly banks and ledges; apparently rare. Pine Plains, Hoysradt ('CU) ; Mount Riga, Hoysradt (NY*) ; Bashbish Falls, Hoffmann (NEBC*) ; abundant and weedy in clearings near the sum- mit of Brace Mountain, 4486. C. albolutescens Schwein. A collection from Pine Plains, Hoysradt, was referred to this species [as C. straminea ] by Mackenzie (NY*). Otherwise unknown. C. tribuloides Wahlenb. Wet or muddy places; frequent in the Hudson Valley and apparently decreasing eastward. Unknown from the eastern tier of 78 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM towns. Columbiaville, 3717; New Forge, 3494; 1 mile northeast of Blue Stores, 3207 ; Livingston, Carrie Harrison (CU) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU). C. projecta Mackenz. New Lebanon, House 21286; [East Nassau, House 24627 ; Brainard, House 21413; west face of Brace Mountain, House 24856]. C. cristatella Britt. Wet meadows and swampy places; frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Unknown from the higher elevations to the eastward. North Chatham, House 21552; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Hotaling Island, 3135; Hudson, South Bay, House 20502; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; Long Pond, Ancram, 3432. C. aenea Fern. Dry woods; rare. Summit of Brace Mountain, House 24804; 1.5 miles south of Ancramdale, 3381. Otherwise unknown. C. argyrantha Tuckerm. Rocky woods; apparently rather frequent at the higher elevations eastward; unknown in the Hudson Valley. Brainard, House 7170*; Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 3629; Mount Fray, 'Copake, 2651 (PENN); Stissing Mountain, Peck*; Stissing Mountain, Hoysradt (NY*). Section 9. Polytrichoideae C. leptalea Wahlenb. Bogs, often in sphagnum; locally abundant. Queechy Lake, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; 2 miles southeast of Taghkanic, 3357; cran- berry bog near Omi, 3749; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). Section 10. Phyllostachyae C. Willdenovii Schkuhr. Dry woods in rather acid soil; rare. East of New Forge, 4386; “vicinity of Pine Plains,’’ Hoysradt, June 28, 1878 (CU) ; re- ported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from Lake Charlotte (now Taghkanic Lake). Section 11. Montanae 1. Fertile culms all alike, elongated (7 to 40 cm. long), bearing both staminate and pistillate spikes; basal spikes absent, 2 2. Body of perigynium elliptic to oblong-ovoid, much longer than wide, 3 3. Staminate spike very slender, 4 to 16 mm. long, 0.5 to 1 mm. wide; culms very loosely caespitose, rarely fibrillose at the base C. novae-angliae 3. Staminate spikes relatively stout, 2 to 14 mm. long, 1.25 to 2 mm. wide; culms densely caespitose, conspicuously fibrillose at the base, 4 4. Staminate scales obtuse or short-acute, closely appressed, not cucul- late at the tip, the midvein usually not extending to the tip ; stamF nate spike usually conspicuous; pistillate spikes usually not aggre- gated C. artitecta 4. Staminate scales acuminate, ascending to loosely spreading and cucul- late at the tip, the midvein extending to the tip; staminate spike usually inconspicuous; pistillate spikes closely aggregated C. Emmonsii 2. Body of perigynium suborbicular or somewhat obovoid, about as long as wide, 5 5. Ligule conspicuous, longer than wide; lowest bract truncate or bifid, abruptly awned; leaf blades 2.5 to 4.5 mm. wide; culms little fibril- lose at base, without long, horizontal stolons C. communis 5. Ligule short, much wider than long; lowest bract usually gradually acuminate; leaf blades 2.5 (very rarely 3) mm. wide or less; culms conspicuously fibrillose at the base, with long horizontal stolons C. pensylvanica FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 79 1. Fertile culms of 2 types, some short (1 to 5 cm. long), partly hidden among the densely tufted leaf bases and bearing pistillate spikes only , others elongate (5 to 11 cm. long), and bearing staminate spikes only or both staminate and pistillate spikes, 6 6. Leaf blades rather thin, not stiff, erect or ascending, 1.5 to 3 mm. wide;' perigynia membranaceous, 2.25 to 4 mm. long, the body short-pubescent above, 7 7. Perigynia 2.25 to 3.25 mm. long, 1 to 1.25 mm. wide, the beak about the length of the body; achenes orbicular-obovoid C. umbellata 7. Perigynia 3.25 to 4 mm. long, 1.25 to 1.5 mm. wide, the beak nearly the length of the body; achenes oblong-obovoid, minutely roughened C. rugosperma 6, Leaf blades thick, rigid, widely spreading at maturity, 2 to 4.5 mm. wide ; perigynia subcoriaceous, 3.5 to 4.5 mm. long, the body glabrous or very sparingly pubescent above C. tonsa C. rtovae-angliae Schwein. Dry soil, banks and woodlands. New Lebanon,. House 21264; well known from Rensselaer County, north of our range (Sand Lake*; North Greenbush*). Reported from Little Stissing Mountain by Hoysradt (1875-79). C. artitecta Mackenz. Dry banks, in shady sandy or calcareous soil; frequent, New Baltimore, Greene County, Peck *; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 4245; Becraft Mountain, 4356; Mount Merino, 4079; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 4182; Greendale, 4333; New Forge, 4387 ; Pine Plains, Hoys- radt (NY*) ; east .side of Washburn Mountain, 4222. C. Emmonsii Dew. Known only through a plant in the herbarium of Cornell University, collected by Lyman Hoysradt “in the vicinity of Pine Plains,” June 6, 1878. The specimen is immature, and may possibly be re- ferred to one of the two preceding species. C. communis Bailey. Dry or rocky soil, usually in partial shade; frequent. North side of Bashbish Gorge, 4230; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; New Forge, 4401 ; Queechy Lake, 4288 ; 0.5 mile east of Clermont, 4338 ; Poelsburg, 326 (PENN) ; Stuyvesant Falls, 295 (PENN) ; Mount Merino, 4078; 2 miles east of Spencertown, 4196; 2 miles west of Chatham, 4140; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 4191a. C. pensylvanica Lam. Dry sandy or rocky places; common and abundant eastward and less so in the Hudson Valley. Blue Hill, 598; Mount Merino, 4078; 1 mile south of Germantown, 4138; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 4247. C. umbellata Schkuhr ( C . abdita of Gray’s Manual) Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). Not reported elsewhere. C. rugosperma Mackenz. (C. umbellata of Gray’s Manual). Dry sandy or rocky places. New Lebanon, House 21281; Brainard, House 21373; Spencertown, 4125; 3 miles east of Ghent, 751; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 4188. C. tonsa (Fern.) Bickn. Dry sandy or rocky soil, often in exposed places; throughout. Mount Fray, Copake, 2633 ; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 3504; Kinderhook, 781; Nutten Hook, 851; Germantown, 4137. Section 12. Digitatae C. pedunculata Muhl. Dry rocky woods; frequent or common eastward, at elevations of more than 300 m. ; rare in the Hudson Valley. West of Post Road School, Kinderhook, 279 (PENN) ; Canaan, 4259 ; Red Rock, 4153; Washburn Mountain; Millerton, House 22426; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*). 80 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Section 13. Triquetrae C. hirtifolia Mackenz. Wet meadows and flood plains of streams; frequent. New Lebanon, House 21284; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; New Forge, 4399 ; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 4191; Clermont, 4346; 2 miles east of Greendale, 4321. Section 14. Albae C. eburnea Boott. Limestone ledges; rare. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; Old Chatham, 636; 1 mile south of Canaan Center, 3613 ; 1 mile southwest of West Ghent, 3292. Section 15. Bicolores C. aurea Nutt. Moist rich woods and meadows; apparently rare. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; 3 miles north of Canaan, 2114. Section 16. Paniceae C. tetanica Schkuhr. Calcareous marshes. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; Miller Pond, Ancram, 3113, 3119. Section 17. Laxiflorae 1. Bract sheaths, base of culms, and staminate scales strongly red-tinged C. plantaginea 1. Bract sheaths not red-tinged, base of culms rarely so ; staminate scales greenish white to dull reddish-brown-tinged, 2 2. Perigynia sharply triangular, short-tapering at the base, closely 35- to 50- nerved, 3 3. Spikes erect, nearly sessile; leaf blades very smooth except for the margins, the larger 12 to 25 mm. wide, those of the fertile culms much smaller than those of the sterile C. platyphylla 3. Spikes drooping on filiform peduncles; leaf blades hispidulous on the veins, 2 to 12 mm. wide, those of the fertile culms moderately smaller than those of the sterile, 4 4. Pistillate spikes without a staminate flower at the base; leaf blades 2 to 5 mm. wide, green C. digitalis 4. Pistillate spikes with 1 to 2 staminate flowers at the base; leaf blades 5 to 12 mm. wide, glaucous green C. laxiculmis 2. Perigynia obtusely triangular (at least below), long-tapering at the base, 5 5. Bract sheaths smooth on the edges or shallowly serrulate; beak of the perigynium straight or slightly oblique C. laxiflom 5. Bract sheaths strongly serrulate on the edges, 6 6. Perigynia rather sharply angled above, nerveless or faintly few- nerved, the beak straight or oblique C. leptonervia 6. Perigynia very obtusely triangular, conspicuously nerved, the beak abruptly bent, 7 7 . Sterile shoots reduced to tufts of leaves, not forming culms ; leaf blades 7 to 30 mm. wide ; staminate spike sessile, very slender, in- conspicuous ; pistillate scales half the length of the perigynia or less, strongly divergent at the base, usually truncate C. albursina 7. Sterile shoots developing conspicuous culms; leaf blades 3 to 12 mm. wide; staminate spike sessile to long-pedunculate, conspicuous; pistillate scales more than half the length of the perigynia, not divergent at the base, mucronate to long-awned, 8 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 81 8. Culms not reddish-tinged at the base; lower pistillate spikes not on long capillary peduncles; staminate scales usually white or slightly tinged with reddish brown; staminate spike typically sessile or very short-peduncled ; perigynia obovoid, 3 to 4 mm. long C. blanda 8. Culms reddish-tinged at the base; lower pistillate spikes on long capillary peduncles ; staminate scales strongly tinged with red- dish brown; staminate spike long-peduncled ; perigynia broadly obovoid, 2,5 to 3.2 mm. long C. gracilescens C plantaginea Lam. Rich rocky woodlands. Known certainly only from Lebanon Springs, 3658. “Very rare” at Pine Plains, according to Hoysradt (1875-79). C. platyphylla Carey. Dry wooded hillsides; common. C. digitalis Willd. Dry woods; frequent. Lebanon Springs, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Brainard, House 21371; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; North Chatham, House 21326; Bashbish Falls, Knowlton & Schweinfurth (NEBC) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). Also known from Clermont and Kinderhook. C. laxiculmis Schwein. Dry woodlands; rather frequent eastward, but not reported from the Hudson Valley. Lebanon Springs, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Mount Lebanon, House 16143; Ancram Lead Mines (Ancramdale), Peck *; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*). C. laxiflora Lam. Woods, often in rich soil; widely distributed. Mount Lebanon, House 16134 ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; Blue Hill, Livingston, House 22702; x/i mile southeast of Clermont, 3229. C. leptonervia (Fern.) Fern. Rocky woods; confined, so far as known, to the eastern part of the area. “Columbia Falls,” Austerlitz, Harriet Wheeler, May 16, 1901 (CU) ; Bashbish Gorge, according to Knowlton (1919) ; Canaan, 4257. C. albursina Sheldon. Rich woodlands. New Lebanon, House 21290; Queechy Lake, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Ancram Lead Mines (Ancramdale), Peck*; reported by Hoysradt from Pine Plains (as C. laxiflora var. latifolia). Not reported from the Hudson Valley. C. blanda Dew. Rich woodlands; frequent. Apparently the most abundant species of the section Laxiflorae, except in the higher hills to the eastward, where it is unknown. East Greenbush, House 13898* ; Ancram Lead Mines (Ancramdale), Peck*; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; North Chatham, House 21336; Kinderhook, 659; Hudson, east of Mount Merino, House 22639; Rhineciiff, Dutchess County, House 19288. C. gracilescens Steud. Woodlands and moist thickets; unknown except in the Hudson Valley. North Chatham, House 21330; Poelsburg, 577 ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; New Forge, 4398. Section 18. Granulares 1. Perigynia elliptic-obovoid, 2 to 2.25 mm. long, 1 to 1.5 mm. wide, ascending, not ventricose-squarrose, rounded at the apex, abruptly minutely beaked C. Haleana 1. Perigynia broadly ovoid to broadly obovoid, 2.5 to 4 mm. long, 1.5 to 2.5 mm. wide, soon ventricose-squarrose, tapering at the base, minutely beaked C. granularis C. Haleana Olney ( C . granularis var. Haleana of Gray’s Manual). Moist meadows. Lebanon Springs, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Ancram Lead Mines (Ancramdale) Peck*; 1.5 miles south of Ancramdale, 3385. 82 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM C. granularis Muhl. Moist meadows; frequent. New Lebanon, House 21287; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; east of Blue Hill, House 22694. Section 19. Oligocarpae 1. Bract sheaths glabrous, the lower 0.6 to 2 cm. long; perigynia 4 mm. long or less; leaf blades 2 to 4.5 mm. wide; culms reddish-tinged at the base C. oligocarpa 1. Bract sheaths strongly hispidulous, the lower 2 to 6 cm. long; perigynia 4.5 to 5 mm. long ; leaf blades 3 to 7 mm. wide ; culms brownish-tinged at the base C. Hitchcockiana C. oligocarpa Schkuhr. Dry rocky woods; apparently rare. Pine Plains, Little Stissing Mountain, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). C. Hitchcockiana Dew. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU). There is also a specimen in the Boott Plerbarium in the New York Botanical Garden, marked “fr. L. H. Hoysradt no. 77.”* Otherwise unknown. Section 20. Griseae /. Perigynia elliptic, 1.5 mm. wide; bract sheaths minutely serrulate on the edges ; peduncles of pistillate spikes rough ; leaf blades 2 to 4 mm. wide C. conoidea 1. Perigynia oblong-oval to broadly obovoid, 2 to 2.5 mm. wide; bract sheaths glabrous ; peduncles of pistillate spikes smooth or nearly so ; leaf blades 2 to 18 mm. wide, 2 2. Pistillate spikes 3- to 12-flowered; leaves slightly if at all glaucous, thin and soft; bract sheaths tight C. amphibola 2. Pistillate spikes 15- (rarely 12-) to 35-flowered; leaves very glaucous, thick and firm; bract sheaths enlarged upward C. glaucodea C. conoidea Schkuhr. Moist meadows; frequent or common in the Hudson Valley and adjacent uplands, but unknown from elevations above 300 m. New Lebanon, House 21276; Brainard, House 21372; North Chatham, House 21339; New Baltimore, Peck *; Blue Hill, House 22691; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3313; “Silvernail Bridge meadow” (Silvernails), Hoysradt (NY*). Also known from New Forge, Ghent, Mellenville and Clermont. C. amphibola Steud. Moist or dry thickets; rather frequent in the Hudson Valley, but not reported from the eastern tier of towns. Brainard, House 21376; North Chatham, House 21328; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; 2.5 miles west of Clermont, 3268 ; Rogers Island, 2573 (PENN) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*). The usual representative of this species in eastern New York is var. turgida Fern. C. glaucodea Tuckerm. (C. flaccosperma, var. glaucodea of Gray’s Manual). Stissing Mountain, Hoysradt (CU, NY*), Peck*; Curtis Mountain, Nassau, House 21486. Section 21. Gracillimae 1. Sheaths (except the lower which are dorsally somewhat hispidulous) and leaves glabrous, 2 2. Bracts long-sheathing; perigynia bluntly angled, obtuse at the apex C. gracillima 2. Bracts sheathless; perigynia sharply angled, tapering into a triangular, often twisted beak nearly as long as the body C. prasina 1. Sheaths and often the leaf blades pubescent, 3 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 83 3. Spikes usually all gynaecandrous ; pistillate scales except the lowest obtuse or acute; perigynia 2-ribbed and obscurely nerved, 1.75 to 2 mm. wide C. formosa 3. Lateral spikes pistillate; pistillate scales obtuse to long-cuspidate, 4 4. Perigynia 2 to 2.5 mm. wide, inflated, strongly nerved; leaf blades 3 to 8 mm. wide C. Davisii 4. Perigynia about 1 mm. wide, not inflated, 2-ribbed and obscurely nerved; leaf blades 1.5 to 2.5 mm. wide C. aestivalis C. gracillima Schwein. Moist or rocky woods and meadows; common. New Lebanon; Canaan; 2 miles south-southwest of Green River; 2 miles southeast of Hillsdale; Brainard; Malden Bridge; Kinderhook; Hudson; Blue Hill; Pine Plains. C. prasina Wahlenb. Moist places; rather frequent eastward, but less so in the Hudson Valley. New Lebanon, House 21280; East Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; 2 miles north of Mellenville, 4364; Clermont, 4340; 2 miles southwest of Green River, 3517 ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). C. formosa Dew. “Woods and thickets, in calcareous districts . . . local . . (N. Am. Flora 18: 280. 1935). Known in our area only from Ancram Lead Mines (Ancramdale), Peck*-, and from Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). C. Davisii Schwein. & Torr. "Alluvial woodlands, mostly in calcareous districts’’ (N. Am. Flora 18: 281. 1935). Greenbush, Peck*; Rogers Island, 2570; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). The Hoysradt plant in New York is labeled “Jansen Kill,” which probably means it was collected in the town of Gallatin. C. aestivalis M. A. Curtis. Rocky woods at the higher elevations eastward and northeastward; otherwise unknown. Stephentown, E. G. Whitney 2893 (CU) ; Bashbish Falls, N. L. Britton (CU) ; Mount Riga, town of Northeast, Hoysradt (NY*). Section 22. Sylvaticae 1. Perigynia sessile or substipitate ; scales obtuse to short-acuminate, usually half the length of the perigynia or less; achenes conspicuously stipitate; broadest basal leaves 2 to 4.5 mm. wide C. debilis 1. Perigynia strongly stipitate; scales cuspidate or awned, usually more than half the length of the perigynia; achenes substipitate or sessile; broadest basal leaves 5 to 10 mm. wide C. arctata C. debilis Michx. Rocky woods, on schistose and quartzitic soils, in the southeastern part of our area. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; “Lake Undine, near Bashbish Falls,’’ N. L. Britton, Aug 5, 1900 (CU) ; Brace Mountain, House 24802. Represented in our area only by var. Rudgei Bailey. C. arctata Boott. Rocky woods; frequent eastward, at elevations over 300 meters. Unknown in the Hudson Valley. Mount Lebanon, Blouse 15596*; 2 miles south of Flatbrook, 3603 ; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 702 (NYS, PENN) ; Mount Riga, Hoysradt (NY*) ; a specimen collected by Hoysradt, now at Cornell University, may be from the vicinity of Pine Plains. Section 23. Longirostres C. Sprengelii Dew. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*); grassy bank of Kinderhook Creek near Kinderhook, 4405. Otherwise unknown. 84 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Section 24. Extensae 1. Perigynia 2 to 3 mm. long, little if at all deflexed, the beak much shorter than the body; spikes oblong, 4 to 7 mm. wide, 2 2. Spikes 2 to 7, the lower often separate, the terminal usually staminate, conspicuous; pistillate scales usually reddish-tinged ; plants fruiting from May to July C. viridula 2. Spikes 4 to 15, mostly densely aggregated, the terminal usually an- drogynous with the staminate portion very small and inconspicuous; pistillate scales usually very slightly if at all reddish-tinged; plants fruiting from July to September C. viridula f. intermedia 1. Perigynia 3.5 to 6 mm. long, at least the lower conspicuously deflexed, the beak equaling the body; spikes subglobose, 7 to 12 mm. wide, 3 3. Perigynia 3.5 to 4.5 mm. long, the beak smooth, pale at the tip; scales slightly if at all reddish-tinged, largely concealed by the perigynia; leaf blades 1 to 3 mm. wide C. cryptolepis 3. Perigynia 4.5 to 6 mm. long, the beak serrulate, reddish-tinged, conspicu- ous in the spikes ; leaf blades 3 to 5 mm. wide C. flava C. viridula Michx. Pine Plains, cold shores of Bry. Hoysradt’s sunken marsh, Hoysradt (NY; determined by Mackenzie as C. Oederx). Forma intermedia (Dudley) F. J. Herm. Calcareous meadows; apparently rare. Queechy Lake, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU). C. cryptolepis Mackenz. (C. flava var. fertilis of Gray’s Manual). Wet meadows, usually in calcareous marshes. Waldorf Pond, House 20945; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3345. C. flava L. Rich or calcareous meadows; rather frequent eastward in the calcareous regions of the Harlem Valley and in New Lebanon and Canaan. Infrequent elsewhere. New Lebanon, House 21277; Queechy Lake, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; 1 mile south of Canaan, 742; Millerton, Peck*; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3314. Section 25. Virescentes 1. Terminal spike staminate C. pallescens 1. Terminal spike gynaecandrous, 2 2. Perigynia densely pubescent; spikes about 3 to 4 mm. thick, the lower more or less widely separated and peduncled, 3 3. Pistillate spikes oblong or oblong-globose, abrupt or rounded at the base, the lowest 5 to 20 mm. long; anthers 0.8 to 1.6 mm. long C. Swanii 3. Pistillate spikes linear, attenuate at the base, the lowest 15 to 40 mm. long; anthers 1.5 to 2.5 mm. long C. virescens 2. Perigynia glabrous; spikes 4 to 8 mm. thick, contiguous or nearly so, sessile or subsessile, 4 4. Perigynia more or less flattened ventrally, rounded at the apex, nerved, 2 to 2.5 mm. long; achenes with a somewhat bent short-apiculate tip, 5 5. Leaf blades glabrous or nearly so, stiff, with revolute margins C. complanata 5. Leaf blades conspicuously short-pubescent, flat, not stiff C. hirsutella 4. Perigynia turgid, nearly round in cross section, short-pointed at the apex, coarsely nerved or ribbed, 2.5 to 3.5 mm. long; achenes with a very abruptly bent apiculate tip or style C. Bushii FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 85 C. pallescens L. Meadows and dry banks; rather frequent. Not reported from the higher elevations. New Lebanon, House 21285; Douglas Knob, Canaan, 3622; Boston Corners, Hoysradt (NY*) ; 1 mile south of German- town, 3311. The American representative of this species has been called var. neogaea Fern. C. Swanii (Fern.) Mackenz. Dry woods and thickets; rather frequent. Stephentown, Home 22826; Lebanon Springs, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Stis- sing Mountain, Peck *; 2 miles south of Claverack, 3990. C. virescens Muhl. Dry woods and thickets; apparently infrequent. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; New Forge, 3472; Brace Mountain, House 24828. C. complanata Torr. & Hook. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*). Otherwise unknown. C. hirsutella Mackenz. Dry woods and thickets, or in the open; common. Lebanon Springs ; Green River ; Copake ; Stissing Mountain ; Brainard ; Kin- derhook; Hudson; Blue Stores; Germantown; Elizaville. C. Bushii Mackenz. Rich meadowlands; infrequent. Unknown eastward. Blue Hill, House 22696; 0.5 mile west of Brainard, House 21370; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3318; Rhinecliff, House 19282. Section 26. Hirtae 1. Leaf blades flat, 2 to 5 mm. wide; culms sharply triangular; achenes straight-apiculate C. lanuginosa 1. Leaf blades involute-filiform, 2 mm. wide or less; culms obtusely triangular; achenes bent-apiculate C. lasiocarpa C. lanuginosa Michx. Moist meadows and swamps; known only from the Hudson Valley, where frequent. North Chatham, House 21325; Kinderhook, 2532 (PENN) ; Blue Hill, House 22695; 1 mile east of Clermont, 3251; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). C. lasiocarpa Ehrh. Swampy places, usually in sphagnum bogs. 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, 1131; 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake, House 20519 ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). The American representative of this species has been called var. americana Fern. Section 27. Anomalae C. scabrata Schwein. Swampy woodlands; rather frequent eastward, but unknown from the Hudson Valley. New Lebanon, House 21279 ; 1 mile south of Canaan Center, 3616; 2 miles south-southwest of Green River, 3519; 4 miles southeast of Spencertown, 1860; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). Section 28. Limosae C. limosa L. Sphagnum bogs; infrequent. Sand Lake, Peck*; bog south- east of Knickerbocker Lake, 1023; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). Section 29. Atratae C. Buxbaumii Wahlenb. In swamps; rare and local. Bog in White Mills Woods, Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Pine Plains, peat bogs, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). Section 30. Acutae 1. Beak of perigynium very short, or absent, not twisted; pistillate spikes erect, 2 86 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 2. Culms strongly phyllopodic; fertile culms surrounded at the base by the dried-up leaves of the previous year, 3 3. Perigynia conspicuously nerved ventrally; culms single or in small clumps, strongly stoloniferous C. nigra 3. Perigynia nerveless ventrally; culms densely caespitose, not stolonifer- ous C. substricta 2. Culms aphyllopodic ; fertile culms arising laterally and not surrounded at base by the tufts of leaves from the previous year, 4 4. Leaf sheaths hispidulous, usually with a minute erose-ciliate margin at the mouth ; leaves usually pale green or glaucous C. strict a var. strictior 4. Leaf sheaths glabrous ventrally, without a minute erose-ciliate margin at the mouth; leaves dark green C. stricta 1. Beak of perigynium prominent, twisted when dry; at least the lower pistil- late spikes nodding or recurved C. torta C. nigra (L.) Reichard. “Wet meadows near the coast, Greenland to Rhode Island” (N. Am. Flora 18: 392. 1935). Not reported in this publica- tion from New York, but a specimen in the New York Botanical Garden, collected at Pine Plains by Hoysradt in July 1875, was determined by Mackenzie and later was examined by F. J. Hermann, who confirmed this determination. C. substricta (Kukenth.) Mackenz. (C. aqmtilis, var. altior of Gray’s Manual). Calcareous marshes. Miller Pond, Ancram, 3116; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; reported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from “Drowned Lands above Halstead Station” (in Ancram, about 2 miles northeast of Ancramdale). C. stricta Lam. Wet places; common. Locally very abundant and forming large tussocks (“bogs”). Var. strictior (Dew.) Carey. Wet grassy places. New Lebanon, House 21274; 2 miles north of Canaan, 1267. C. torta Boott. Wet places; often in rocky stream beds; rather frequent eastward. Rare or local in the Hudson Valley. New Lebanon, House 21289; East Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; “Columbia Falls, Austerlitz,” Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Bashbish Brook, Knowlton & Schweinfurth (NEBC) ; Stissing Mountain, Hoysradt (NY*) ; Waldorf Pond, House 21148; Arnold’s Mill, Kline Kill, 4106; 2 miles northeast of Chatham, 4170. Section 31. Cryptocarpae 1. Sheaths rough-hispidulous ; lower pistillate scales rounded to truncate or tapering into the awn C. gynmdra 1. Sheaths smooth; lower pistillate scales emarginate, abruptly contracted into the awn C. crinita C. gynandra Schwein. (C. crinita var. gynandra of Gray’s Manual). Swampy places; distribution not well-known. 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, 3231; 2 miles east of Elizaville, 3200. C. crinita Lam. Swampy places and stream banks; common. New Lebanon, House 21272; New Forge, 3491; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 976 (NYS, PENN); Hotaling Island, 3132 ; Rogers Island, 2558 ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). Section 32. Pseudo-Cypereae 1. Teeth of perigynia not over 0.5 mm. long; perigynia suborbicular in cross section, more or less inflated, membranaceous; ligule not longer than wide, 2 89 Figure 9. Sand flats just north of Nutten Hook. The ground cover is Triplasis purpurea. Figure 10. Vegetation on the mud flats near mouth of Stockport Creek, near the upper limit of tidewater. The reniform leaves in the foreground are those of Heteranthcra reniformis. 90 figure 11. A large Howering specimen of Habenaria f igure 12. Spiranthes cernua in a sphagnum bog west psycodes in a swampy woods about (1 mile north of of Post Road School, Kinderhook. The small-leaved Kinderhook. shrub at left is Potcntilla fruticosa. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 87 2. Staminate scales cuspidate to acute; pistillate spikes linear-cylindric C. Schweinitzii 2. Staminate scales with rough awns; pistillate spikes oblong or oblong- cylindric C. hystricina 1. Teeth of perigynia 0.5 mm. long or more; perigynia flattened-triangular, scarcely inflated, coriaceous ; ligule much longer than wide, 3 3. Teeth of perigynia recurved-spreading, 1.2 to 2 mm. long; beaks of peri- gynia (exclusive of the teeth) 1.5 to 2.2 mm. long, equaling or longer than the bodies; perigynia 6 mm. long C. comosa 3. Teeth of perigynia erect or slightly spreading, 0.5 to 1 mm. long; beaks of perigynia (exclusive of the teeth) averaging 1 mm. long, shorter than the bodies; perigynia 4 to 5 mm. long C. Pseudo-Cyperus C. Schweinitzii Dew. “Swamps or springy banks in calcareous districts . . . .A very local species” (N. Am. Flora 18: 430. 1935). Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*). Otherwise unknown. C. hystricina Muhl. Swampy places; apparently infrequent. 1 mile south of Germantown, 3315; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*). C. comosa Boott. Wet places; common. C. Pseudo-Cyperus L. Marshes around Knickerbocker Lake, 1197 (NYS, PENN) ; [Pikes’ Pond, House 21961], Otherwise unknown. Section 33. Paludosae 1. Beaks of perigynia much shorter than the bodies, the teeth short, about 0.5 mm. long, erect or nearly so; foliage glabrous C. lacustris 1. Beaks of perigynia (including the teeth) nearly as long as the bodies, the teeth prominent, 1 to 3 mm. long, erect to widely spreading, 2 2. Perigynia glabrous ; leaf sheaths pubescent ; at least the lower leaf blades sparsely hairy below toward the base C. atherodes 2. Perigynia hairy; leaf sheaths and blades glabrous C. trichocarpa C. lacustris Willd. Open grassy marshes, especially in calcareous situa- tions; rather frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Unknown else- where. 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 803; North Chatham, House 21170; bog 1 mile south of Hemlock School, Ghent, 564; Kinderhook, 959 ; Rogers Island, 2587. C. atherodes Spreng. Known only from a small pond south of Miller Pond, Ancram, House 20537. C. trichocarpa Muhl. Wet meadows; apparently infrequent. Unknown eastward. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, 3228; Hotaling Island, 3154. Section 34. Squarrosae C. squarrosa L. Wet meadows; infrequent, but widely distributed in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Unknown northeastward. Robinson Pond, House 20618; 0.5 mile west of Brainard, House 21379 ; Mill Creek, Stuyvesant, 2527 ; Rogers Island, 2571; 2 miles south of Germantown, 3158; Tivoli, 2675. Section 35. Vesicariae 1. Pistillate scales not rough-awned, 2 2. Perigynia not reflexed ; bracts moderately exceeding the inflorescence, 3 3. Achenes not excavated on one side ; perigynia 2.5 to 3.5 mm. wide, 4 88 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 4. Culms sharply triangular below the spike, rough ; perigynia ap- pressed or ascending; teeth of perigynia long, or the perigynia tapering into the beak ; ligule much longer than wide C. vesicaria 4. Culms bluntly triangular below the spikes, smooth; perigynia spread- ing or squarrose at maturity; teeth of perigynia short, or the peri- gynia abruptly beaked; ligule slightly if at all longer than wide C. rostrata 3. Achenes deeply excavated on one side; perigynia 5 to 6.5 mm. wide C. Tuckermani 2. Lower perigynia reflexed or widely spreading, somewhat falcate; bracts many times exceeding the inflorescence C. retrorsa l. Pistillate scales rough-awned C. lurida C. vesicaria L. Swampy places; apparently infrequent. Southeast of Brainard, House 21531; Pine Plains, Peck (NYS,* NY*) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*); Stissing Mountain, Hoysradt (NY*). C. rostrata Stokes. Swampy places; frequent. Unknown northeastward. Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3347, 3403 ; 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, 1132 (NYS, PENN) ; 2 miles southeast of Taghkanic, 3360 ; 1 mile south of Tivoli, 2664 (PENN). C. Tuckermani Boott. Open swampy places and wet woods; infrequent. “Jansen Kill, below Ancram,” Hoysradt (NY*) ; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Bells’ Pond, Livingston, 3306; 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, 3223. C. retrorsa Schwein. Swampy places; rather frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Unknown at higher elevations eastward and northeastward. Pond south of Miller Pond, Ancram, House 20539 ; Robinson Pond, 3930; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU, NY*) ; Kinderhook Lake, House 21444; along Hudson River at New Baltimore, House 21624. C. lurida Wahlenb. Wet places; very common. Section 36. Lupulinae 1. Pistillate spikes globose to short-ovoid; style straight or the bend remote from the achene, 2 2. Perigynia radiating in all directions, cuneate at the base, subcoriaceous, usually somewhat hispidulous ; staminate spike subsessile or short- peduncled; achenes obscurely trigonous, almost suborbicular in cross section, the angles inconspicuous C. Grayii 2. Perigynia ascending, rounded at the base, membranaceous, smooth and shining; staminate spike normally long-peduncled ; achenes with blunt angles but conspicuously trigonous C. inturnescens 1. Pistillate spikes oblong to cylindric; style abruptly bent immediately above the achene C. lupulina C. Grayii Carey. Wet woods, usually in alluvial soil; frequent in the Hudson Valley. Unknown elsewhere. New Baltimore, E. C. Howe*; Poels- burg, 892; Nutten Hook, 2221; Rogers Island, 2555; 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, 3224; 2 miles east of Germantown, 2936. C. inturnescens Rudge. Swampy woods; common. C. lupulina Muhl. Swampy places; common in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys; unknown at the higher elevations eastward and northeastward. Pond south of Miller Pond, Ancram, House 20538; Long Pond, Ancram, 3440; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY*) ; Kinderhook Lake, C. A. Brown 99 ; Fowlers’ Lake, 1676; Rogers Island, 2593; 2 miles west of Nevis, 2890; Chatham, Harriet Wheeler (CU). FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 91 ARACEAE (Arum Family) 1. Spadix subtended by a leafy or fleshy spathe; leaves broad, not linear, 2 2. Spadix globose, appearing with the nearly sessile reddish or purplish streaked spathe in earliest spring, much before the leaves; plants with strong skunklike odor 4. Symplocarpus 2. Spadix cylindric or elongated; spathe borne on a peduncle, appearing when the leaves are grown, 3 3. Spathe spreading, not surrounding the short-cylindric spadix, its upper surface white 3. Calla 3. Spathe surrounding the elongated spadix, 4 4. Flowers covering the base of the spadix only; leaves not sagittate 1. Arisaema 4. Flowers covering the entire spadix; leaves sagittate 2. Peltandra 1. Spadix cylindrical, without obvious spathe, 5 5. Spadix terminating the scape; flowers golden yellow; leaves elliptic, not wetted by water 5. Orontium 5. Spadix lateral; flowers green; leaves linear, cattail-like; rootstocks and whole plant aromatic 6. Acorus 1. Arisaema Mart. 1. Leaflets 3; spathe hooded, the hood 2 to 5 cm. wide; spadix blunt at tip, 2 2. Leaves glaucous beneath; tube of spathe not fluted, usually indistinctly striped A. triphyllum 2. Leaves green beneath; tube of spathe fluted, with longitudinal green and white stripes A. Stewardsonii 1. Leaflets 7 to 11; spathe narrow, often twisted; spadix with a long slender point A. Dracontium A. triphyllum (L.) Schott. (A. atrorubens of Gray’s Manual). “Jack-in-the pulpit,” “Indian turnip.” Moist woods; common throughout. A. Stewardsonii Britt. Moist or swampy woods; local, but more abun- dant eastward than in the Hudson Valley. Bog west of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 2117 (PENN) ; 1 mile east of Canaan Center, 2322; Millerton, House 22398; 1 mile southwest of Clermont, 3265; Rogers Island, 2543; New Britain, 4303. A. Dracontium (L.) Schott. Green dragon. Wet woods; rare and local. New Forge, along Taghkanic Creek, 3484; Hotaling Island, Greene County, 3136. Reported from Hudson (Stebbins, 1830) and from Silvernail Falls (Hoysradt, 1875-79). 2. Peltandra Raf. P. virginica (L.) Kunth. Green water arum. Wet places and swamps, in- cluding sphagnum bogs; very abundant in tidal mud along the Hudson, and decreasing eastward. Unknown from the higher elevations. North Chatham, House 20479 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 1078; bog southeast of Knicker- bocker Lake, 1157 ; Hudson, 1106; Rogers Island, 2544. 3. Calla L. Calla palustris L. Wild calla. Swampy woods; rare and local. 2 miles southeast of Stuyvesant Falls, 1386; Canticoke Swamp, Nassau, 1716; New Britain, 3644; south of North Nassau, House 23700. Abundant in the above localities. 4. Symplocarpus Salisb. S. foetidus (L.) Nutt. “Skunk cabbage.” Swampy places and wet woods; 92 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM abundant throughout most of the county, but not recorded from elevations of more than 300 m. 5. Orontium L. 0. aquaticum L. Goldenclub. Tidal mud along the Hudson River, there locally very abundant. Otherwise unknown. Swampy flats south of Stockport Station, 525; Rogers Island, 2542; Hudson, Muenscher & Clausen 4431 (CU) ; Nutten Hook, Muenscher & Clausen 5015 (CU). 6. Acorus L. A. Calamus L. Sweetflag, Calamus. Ditches, wet or swampy places ; com- mon in the Hudson Valley. Infrequent eastward ; not reported from above 300 m. elevation. Pond south of Miller Pond, Ancram, House 20541; Malden Bridge, 907 ; 2 miles east of Kinderhook, 1482; Nutten Hook, 864; Rogers Island, 2546. [Also observed at Brainard ; Kinderhook Lake ; near German- town; Hillsdale; Copake; east of Blue Hill and New Britain.] LEMNACEAE (Duckweed Family) 1. Fronds flat, each with one to several rootlets, 2 2. Fronds purple beneath, 5- to 15-nerved, each with several rootlets 1. Spirodela 2. Fronds green on both sides, 1- to 5-nerved, each with one rootlet 2. Lemna 1. Fronds thick, ovoid, ellipsoid or globular, without rootlets, 0.7 to 1.5 mm. long 3. Wolffia 1. Spirodela Schleid. S. polyrhiza (L.) Schleid. Large duckweed. Floating on ponds and quiet streams ; frequent. Kinderhook Lake, House 15550 ; Bachus Pond, 918 ; Wal- dorf Pond, 3177 ; Robinson Pond, House 20620. Seen also at Fowlers’ Lake and at New Britain. 2. Lemna L. 1. Fronds oblong, long-stalked at base, remaining connected in chains, wholly submerged L. trisulca 1. Fronds nearly circular to obovate in outline, not stalked, soon separating, floating on the surface L. minor L. trisulca L. Floating in ponds and quiet streams; local. Waldorf Pond, 3176; Fowlers’ Lake, 2394; Kinderhook Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4437 (CU) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (MICH). L. minor L. Floating on quiet water; common throughout. 3. Wolffia Horkel W. Columbiana Karst. Floating in quiet water in small ponds; very local. Abundant at a bog at New Britain, 4296, and a small pond 2 miles west of Greendale, 4321. XYRIDACEAE (“Yellow-eyed grass’’ Family) Xyris L. “Yellow-eyed grass’’ 1. Spike narrowly ovoid, 5 to 10 mm. long by 5 to 10 mm. thick, at maturity chestnut-colored Ar. montana 1. Spike narrowly ovid, 7 to 12 mm. long by 5 to 8 mm. thick, at maturity greenish or pale brown X. caroliniana FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 93 X. montana Ries. Well known in northern New York, and at Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, Peck. X. caroliniana Walt. Sphagnum bogs; rare. Bog southeast of Knicker- bocker Lake, 2147 ; “Fingar Marsh,” town of Gallatin, 3579. The last locality was known to Hoysradt, who reported the species as “frequent” at Pine Plains. ERIOCAULACEAE (Pipewort Family) Eriocaulon L. Pipewort 1. Heads when mature white-hairy at summit; involucral bracts at maturity spreading or reflexed, the head hemispherical or nearly spherical E. septangulare 1. Heads never white-hairy; involucral bracts closely appressed even at maturity, the head depressed-hemispheric and the involucre short-cam- panulate E. Parkeri E. septangulare With. Shallow water, margins of ponds; frequent. Some- times emersed, on muddy shores, or in sphagnum bogs. No Bottom Pond; Taghkanic Lake; Forest Lake; pond south of Taghkanic Lake (PENN); Miller Pond, Stissing Mountain. E. Parkeri Robins. Tidal mud along the Hudson Aiver, otherwise un- known. First reported from our area by Svenson (Torreya 35: 119. 1935), who found it in the town of Red Hook, at the mouth of Stony Creek. Poels- burg, 3807 ; shore east of Rogers Island, 2958. COMMELINACEAE (Spiderwort Family) Commelina L. C. communis L. Asiatic dayflower, wandering Jew. Dry soil, weedy. Locally established in the Hudson Valley. Nutten Hook, 1456; south of Kinderhook, 4025. PONTEDERIACEAE (Pickerelweed Family) 1. Plants tall, erect, with a dense many-flowered spike of purplish blue flowers ; stamens 6; leaf blades cordate-ovate, elongate 1. Pontederia 1. Plants submerged, floating or low-growing on mud; flowers 1 to few from a spathe; stamens 3 2. Heteranthera 1. Pontederia L. P. cordata .L. Pickerelweed. Borders of streams and ponds; common in the Hudson Valley, especially in the estuary itself. Less common eastward, and unknown from above 300 m. elevation. Hotaling Island, Taylor 1403 (NY) ; Merwins’ Lake, 1241; Fowlers’ Lake, 717 ; Taghkanic Lake, 2021; North Bay, Tivoli, 2779. Also reported (Muenscher, 1935, p. 232) from Tackawasick, Kinderhook, Queechy and Copake Lakes. 2. Heteranthera R. & P. 1. Plants growing on mud; leaves round-kidney-shaped to cordate; flowers white to pale blue H. reniformis 1. Plants wholly submerged, only the flowers reaching the surface; leaves linear, grasslike; flowers yellow H. dnbia 94 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM H. reniformis R. & P. Common in tidal mud along the Hudson River; there abundant, locally forming large patches. Otherwise unknown. 2 miles north of Castleton, 3972; Poelsburg, 3804; Columbiaville, mouth of Stock- port Creek, 3703 ; flats between Hudson and Athens, Muenscher & Clausen 4452 (CU) ; Rogers Island, 3742; Crugers’ Island, 2896; South Bay below Hudson (Eaton, Man. ed. 3, 213. 1822) (figure 10). H. dubia (Jacq.) MacM. Shallow water in ponds and streams; frequent. Queechy Lake; Kinderhook Lake; Roeliff Jansen Kill, 2 miles east of Ger- mantown ; Hudson ; mouth of Stockport Creek ; Spring Lake, Red Hook. JUNCACEAE (Rush Family) 1. Capsule many-seeded; plants never hairy 1. Capsule containing three large seeds; plants hairy 1. Juncus 2. Luzula 1. Juncus L. Rush 1. 1. Inflorescence appearing lateral, the involucral leaf erect and apparently a continuation of the naked scape, 2 2. Sepals rarely exceeding either the petals or the capsule, 2.5 to 3.5 mm. long /. effusus var. solutus 2. Sepals exceeding both petals and capsule, 2.7 to 4 mm. long J. effusus var. Pylaei Inflorescence terminal, 3 3. Leaves flat, or in age involute, or terete, but never hollow and septate, 4 4. Flowers borne singly on the branches of the inflorescence, not in heads ; each flower with a pair of bracteoles at its base in addition to the bractlet at the base of the pedicel, 5 5. Inflorescence more than half the height of the plant ; small annuals, with flowers scattered along the loose forking branches /. bufonius 5. Inflorescence much less than half the height of the plant, 6 6. Leaf sheaths covering half the stem or more; perianth segments obtuse, incurved /. Gerardi 6. Leaf sheaths covering one-fourth the stem or less; perianth seg- ments acute or acuminate, usually more or less spreading, 7 7. Leaves terete; capsule much exceeding the perianth, reddish or chestnut-colored J. Greenei 7. Leaves flat; capsule little if at all exceeding the perianth, green to straw-colored or dull brown, 8 8. Bracts shorter than the inflorescence; flowers conspicuously secund on the usually incurved branches /. secundus 8. Bracts (at least the lowermost) exceeding the inflorescence; flowers not conspicuously secund, 9 9. Auricles at the summit of the leaf sheaths very thin, white and scarious, conspicuously produced beyond the point of insertion, 1 to 3.5 mm. long J. tenuis 9. Auricles at the summit of the leaf sheaths firm, cartilagin- ous, yellow, brown with age, very rigid and glossy, not conspicuously produced beyond the point of insertion /. tenuis var. Dudleyi 4. Flowers in heads of 5 to 10 flowers each, not bracteolate at base /. marginatus 3. Leaves terete, hollow, septate, the septa felt as hard knots at regular intervals when a leaf is pulled between the fingers, 10 10. Seeds with definite tail-like appendages at the tips, 11 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 95 11. Flowers 5 to 50 in a head, those with mature fruit about 4 mm. long; capsule equaling or moderately exceeding the perianth; seeds, including tails, 1 to 1.8 mm. long, with conspicuous tails; perianth segments subulate-tipped J. canadensis 11. Flowers 3 to 7 in a head, those with mature fruit 2.5 to 3.5 mm. long ; capsule usually much exceeding the perianth ; seeds, including tails, barely 1 mm. long, 12 12. Perianth segments obtuse or essentially so; capsule ovate, gradu- ally narrowed to the tip J. brachycephalus 12. Perianth segments acuminate; capsule oblong, abruptly acute at tip J. brevicaudatus 10. Seeds without tail-like appendages, blunt or short-pointed, 13 13. Stamens 3, opposite the sepals, 14 14. Capsule oblong, gradually attenuate, about twice the length of the perianth /. diffusissimus 14. Capsule ovoid, abruptly acute at tip, scarcely exceeding the perianth J. acuminatus 13. Stamens 6, 15 15. Flowers solitary or in pairs, often reduced to fascicles of small leaves /. pelocarpus 15. Flowers numerous, in spherical or hemispherical heads, 16 16. Involucral bract usually exceeding the inflorescence ; capsule subulate; heads spherical, 7 to 15 mm. wide J. nodosus 16. Involucral bract shorter than the inflorescence; capsule ovoid, acute, not subulate; heads hemispherical, 6 mm. wide or less /. articulatus J. effusus L., var. solutus Fern. & Wieg. Soft rush. Candle rush. Wet places ; common throughout. J. effusus L., var. Pylaei (Laharpe) Fern. & Wieg. Known only from a swampy meadow 1 mile west of Ancramdale, 3396. J. bufonius L. Moist places, roadsides, dooryards and along margins of streams; infrequent. Curtis Mountain, House 21487; roadside 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3410 ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (MO) ; 1 mile south of Cla- verack, 2610 (PENN). Known also from Kinderhook Lake and Mount Lebanon ( H ouse ) . J. Gerardi Loisel. “Black grass.” A halophytic species known only from rocks in the bed of Kinderhook Creek at Stuyvesant Falls, 997. J. tenuis Willd. Moist or dry places, meadows and waste ground; com- mon, often weedy. Var. Dudleyi (Wieg.) F. J. Herm. (/. Dudley i of Gray’s Manual). Damp places, in neutral or calcareous soil ; apparently rather frequent. 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3405; Magdalen Island, 2679 (PENN) ; mouth of Stony Creek, Svenson 6027 (BKL). J. secundus Beauv. Rocky or dry soil, or in clay, often apparently weedy; frequent. 2 miles south of Canaan, 3595; Cedar Mountain, Copake, 3574; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU) ; clay fields south of Columbiaville, 4039. J. Greenei Oakes & Tuckerm. Known only from the rocky summit of Washburn Mountain, Copake, at an elevation of about 450 m., 3328. J. marginatus Rostk. Moist meadows, apparently rather frequent. North Chatham, House 20463; 1 mile west of Ancramdale, 3395; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU) ; 1 mile southeast of Glenco Mills, 4031. J. diffusissimus Buckl. Thompson Pond, Pine Plains, Hoysradt, Sept. 8, 1878 (MO) ; this is apparently the first New York record for this species. A 96 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM second specimen is from Lake Mahopac, Putnam County, J. Carey (MO). J. pelocarpus Mey. Not seen in our area in recent years; “quite rare” at Pine Plains, according to Hoysradt (1875-79) ; Mount Riga, Hoysradt (CU) ; Plantain Pond, Mount Everett, E. C. Townsend (CU). J. articulatus L. Wet places. Kinderhook Creek, south of Kinderhook, 1252; East Nassau, House 21944; [Waldorf Pond, House 23814]. T- nodosus L. Wet meadows and swamps, especially in calcareous regions; rather frequent. Queechy Lake, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Copake Lake, Har- riet Wheeler (CU) ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3333, 3886; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (CU). J. brachycephalus (Engelm.) Buchenau. Wet meadows and shores, fre- quent. Very abundant in the calcareous marshes of the Harlem Valley. Waldorf Pond, House 20942; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Copake Falls, 3912; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3885; Pulvers Corners, 3846; river shore east of Rogers Island, 2957 (PENN) ; mouth of Stony Creek, Red Hook, according to Svenson (1935). J. canadensis J. Gay. Swamps and wet meadows; frequent. New Britain, 3650; 0.5 mile northeast of Hillsdale, 3916; Tackawasick Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4469 (CU) ; Knickerbocker Lake, 3826; south of Kinderhook, 4027; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (MO). J. brevicaudatus (Engelm.) Fern. Wet meadows and shores, rather fre- quent. 2 miles south-southwest of Green River, 3533; Forest Lake, 3769; 1 mile southeast of Glenco Mills, 4030; Pine Plains, in mountains, Hoysradt (MO) ; 1.5 miles north of Kinderhook, 3744. J. acuminatus Michx. Wet shores; common. Abundant on the tidal flats and in the marshes along the Hudson River. 2. Luzula DC. 1. Flowers solitary at the tips of the branches of the inflorescence L. carolinae 1. Flowers several together in dense clusters L. multiflora L. carolinae S. Wats. (L. acuminata of Gray’s Manual). Dry woods; locally abundant. Common or frequent eastward, at elevations of 300 m. or more. Rare or absent in the Hudson Valley. Lebanon Springs, Harriet Wheeler (CU) ; Mount Lebanon, House 16136; Perry Peak, Canaan, House 21176; west of Brainard, House 21354; 1 mile north of Riders Mills, 4066; Copake Falls, Burnham (CU) ; Millerton, House 22402; Washburn Mountain, Co- pake, 4219; Austerlitz, 4114 ; 2 miles west of Red Rock, 4160. Represented in our area only by var. saltuensis (Fern.) Fern. L. multiflora (Ehrh.) Lejeune. Wood rush. Dry woods and open places; common throughout. LILIACEAE (Lily Family) 1. Plants scapose; leaves all basal or nearly so, 2 2. Perianth funnel-form, large, orange, 8 to 11 cm. long 3. Hemerocallis 2. Perianth of separate parts, smaller, not orange, 3 3. Flowers solitary, yellow, 2 to 3 cm. long; leaves mottled with purple 6. Erythronium 3. Flowers several, smaller; leaves green, 4 4. Flowers greenish yellow; fruit blue; leaves oval or elliptic 9. Clintonia FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 97 1. 4. Flowers white, pink, purplish or greenish white; fruit not blue; leaves at flowering time linear or wanting, 5 5. Flowers umbellate, often replaced by bulblets; plants with strong onion odor 4. Allium 5. Flowers subcorymbose ; odor of plants not onionlike 7. Ornithogalum Plants not scapose; leaves cauline, 6 6. Flowers large, 4 to 10 cm. in diameter, yellow or orange, usually spotted; perianth segments all alike 5. Lilium 6. Flowers smaller (if over 4 cm. in diameter, the leaves perfoliate or the calyx green), 7 7. Leaves whorled, 8 8. Blades parallel-veined; perianth segments all alike, greenish yellow 15. Medeola 8. Blades net-veined; calyx green; corolla white or colored 16. Trillium 7. Leaves alternate, 9 9. Blades net-veined, cordate; plants tall, arching or climbing 17. Smilax 9. Blades minute and scale-like or, if larger parallel-veined ; plants not climbing, 10 10. Flowers in the axils of the ordinary stem leaves, 11 11. Perianth tubular, greenish 14. Polygonatum 11. Perianth of separate parts, 12 12. Leaves broad; flowers greenish white or purplish 13. Streptopus 12. Leaves minute and scale-like ; branches threadlike, appearing feathery 8. Asparagus 10. Flowers terminal and solitary, or in terminal spikes, racemes or panicles, 13 13. Flowers terminal, solitary, 15 to 43 mm. long, yellow 12. Uvularia 13. Flowers in terminal spikes, racemes or panicles, 14 14. Flowers paniculate, green ; leaves strongly plaited ; plants tall, often 1 to 2 m. high 2. Veratrum 14. Flowers racemose or paniculate, white; leaves flat or essen- tially so; plants smaller, 15 15. Flowers in a long slender spikelike raceme, dioecious; leaves linear or nearly so 1. Chamaelirium 15. Flowers in panicles or short racemes, perfect, 16 16. Perianth parts and stamens 4 11. Maianthemum 16. Perianth parts and stamens 6 10. Smilacina 1. Chamaelirium Willd. C. luteum (L.) Gray. Blazing-star. Not seen in recent years. [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson, June 1869 (V) ; Pine Plains, Mabel Hunter, June 1914 (Syracuse University)]. Reported from Litchfield by Brace (1822), from Hudson by Stebbins (1830), from Pine Plains by Hoysradt (1875-79), and from Nassau by Wibbe (31st Report N. Y. State Mus. 53. 1879). 2. Veratrum L. V. viride Ait. American white hellebore. Wet woods, along streams, or in pastures; frequent. Very abundant eastward, but less so in the Hudson Valley, where local. 98 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 3. Hemerocallis L. H. fulva (L.) L. “Day lily.” Along streams, in meadows, and by road- sides ; rather commonly established as an escape and growing in large clumps. 4. Allium L. Onion I. Leaves elliptical, 10 to 23 cm. long, 3 to 6 cm. wide, present in spring and disappearing before flowering time; perianth white; bulblets of umbel none A. tricoccum 1. Leaves linear, present at flowering time; perianth pale pink or purple; flowers often replaced by bulblets, 2 2. Stem leafy near the base only ; leaves flat or planoconvex ; bulb coats in age strongly netted A. canadense 2. Stem leafy to or above the middle; leaves terete; bulb-coats fibromem- branous, not strongly netted A. vineale A. tricoccum Ait. Wild leek. Moist rich woods; frequent, especially in cal- careous regions and in alluvial soil. A. canadense L. Wild onion. Alluvial soil along large streams and in wet woods; frequent, especially in the Hudson Valley. Waldorf Pond, House 21151; 1 mile north of Riders Mills, 4068; Arnolds’ Mill, Ghent, 4111 (GA) ; New Forge, 4400 (GH). A. vineale L. Garlic. Fields, pastures and woodlands; widespread and locally very abundant and weedy. 5. Lilium L. Lily 1. Flowers 1 to 3, erect, the sepals narrowed into claws L. philadelphicunt 1. Flowers 1 to 16, nodding, the sepals sessile L. canadense L. philadelphicum L. Wood lily. Dry woods and fields and rocky summits; common in the high hills eastward, and locally found in the rocky soils of the central part of the county; unknown in the Hudson Valley. Stephentown Center; No Bottom Pond; Washburn Mountain; Mount Alander; 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake; 2 miles east of Elizaville; 1 mile east of Pulvers Station, Ghent (PENN). L. canadense L. Meadow lily, Canada lily. Meadows and wet woods; com- mon, especially in the Hudson Valley. 6. Erythronium L. E. americanum Ker. Trout lily, Yellow adders-tongue. Meadows, flood- plains and moist woods; common. 7. Ornithogalum L. O. umbellatum L. Star of Bethlehem. Lawns, meadows and waste places; locally established. 8. Asparagus L. A. officinalis L. Garden asparagus. Often escaped; single plants are com- monly seen in fence rows, orchards etc. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 99 9. Clintonia Raf. C. borealis (Ait.) Raf. Dogberry. Cold moist woods; common northeast- ward and in Bashbish Gorge; unknown below 300 m. elevation. Canticoke Swamp, 1702; New Britain, 3640 ; Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 4282 (GA) ; No Bottom Pond, 468; Canaan Center, 1053; 2 miles east of Spencertown, 4195 (GH) ; Brace Mountain, House 24798; rare on Stissing Mountain, ac- cording to Hoysradt (1875-79). 10. Smilacina Desf. 1. Flowers in panicles, minute (1 to 2 mm. long) S. racemosa 1. Flowers 3 to 5 mm. long, in simple, few-flowered racemes, 2 2. Leaves 7 to 12, with broad and subclasping bases 5. stellata 2. Leaves 2 to 4, narrowed at base, not clasping S. trifolia S. racemosa (L.) Desf. False Solomon’s seal. Woods and shaded banks; common. S. stellata (L.) Desf. Known from four localities, all in the Hudson Valley. 4 miles north of Kinderhook, 162 (PENN) ; 1.5 miles north of Kinderhook, in a springy meadow, 979; 3 miles north of Claverack, on dry limestone rocks, 540 ; 2 miles north of Mellenville, in swampy woods, 4369. Reported from Pine Plains (Hoysradt) and from Hudson (Stebbins). S. trifolia (L.) Desf. In our area known only from a sphagnum bog 1 mile west of East Nassau, where it is abundant ( House 23978, House 24646). 11. Maianthemum Wiggers M. canadense Desf. False lily of the valley. Woods; common. Abundant, especially at the higher elevations. 12. Uvularia L. 1. Leaves sessile, not perfoliate; capsule with three winged angles U. sessilifolia 1. Leaves perfoliate; capsule 3-lobed, angled, not winged, 2 2. Perianth segments granular-pubescent within (2 to 3.5 cm. long) ; leaves glabrous, glaucous, usually 1 to 3 below the fork U. perfoliata 2. Perianth segments smooth within (2.5 to 4.5 cm. long) ; leaves whitish pubescent beneath, not glaucous; stem naked or with a single leaf below the fork U. grandiOnrn U. sessilifolia L. Bellwort. Woods and thickets; common. U. perfoliata L. Bellwort. Woods and thickets; common. U. grandiflora Sm. Large-flowered bellwort. Frequent in moist woods in the clay soils of the ravines near the Hudson River; there very abundant locally. Columbiaville, 526; Becraft Mountain, 2244. Known from ravines just north of Hudson and from a ravine 2 miles west of Stuyvesant Falls. Elsewhere in our region rare ; occurs on limestone talus at Old Chatham, and is reported by Hoysradt from the town of Ancram (“Woods 1.5 miles south- west of Hot Ground”). 13. Streptopus Michx. 1. Leaves glaucous beneath, strongly clasping; flowers greenish white; fruit scarlet S. amplexifolius 1. Leaves green both sides, rounded at base but scarcely clasping ; flowers rose- purple ; fruit cherry red S. roseus 100 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM S. amplexifolius (L.) DC. Cool moist woods; known only from the gorge of Bashbish Brook, Copake, at an elevation of about 250 m., 3562. Repre- sented in our area only by var. americanus Schultes. S. roseus Michx. Twisted stalk. Rocky woods; frequent eastward, at the higher elevations, but unknown below 300 m. elevation. Perry Peak, Canaan, House 21199 ; Washburn Mountain, 3332; Hillsdale, 592. Seen also at Stephen- town and Mount Lebanon (House); 2 miles east of Austerlitz ; Bashbish Mountain. Represented in our area only by var. perspectus Fassett. 14. Polygonatum Mill. Solomon’s seal 1. Cauline bract papery, soon withering; leaves essentially sessile, puberulent beneath; flowers mostly 10 to 12 mm. long P. pubescens 1. Cauline bract green, leaflike, persistent ; leaves somewhat clasping, glabrous ; flowers mostly 14 to 20 mm. long P. canaliculatum P. pubescens (Willd.) Pursh. Woods and thickets, common. P. canaliculatum (Muhl.) Pursh. Moist thickets, often in alluvial soil; frequent in the Hudson Valley. Unknown elsewhere. Hotaling Island, Taylor 1395 (NY) ; Poelsburg, 898; Kinderhook, 1068; along creek 2 miles north of Stuyvesant, 2526; east of Blue Hill, House 22683. 15. Medeola L. M. virginiana L. Indian cucumber root. Moist woods; common. 16. Trillium L. Wake-robin 1. Ovary sharply 6-angled or winged, 2 2. Fruit white or nearly so sometimes tardily red; flower recurved or re- flexed under the leaves ; petals white or very pale pink T. cernuum 2. Fruit dark purple; flower erect or somewhat declined; petals brownish purple or rarely green T. erectum 1. Ovary obscurely 3-lobed; mature fruit scarlet; petals white with a red- purple spot at base of each T. undulatum T. cernuum L. White trillium. Moist woods; locally abundant in the Hud- son Valley; otherwise unknown. 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 673; Waldorf Pond, House 21138; 2 miles east of Greendale, 4326. T. erectum L. Red trillium, carrion flower. Moist woods; common. T. undulatum Willd. Painted trillium. Moist or sandy woods; frequent at the higher elevations northeastward ; unknown below about 300 m. elevation. Canticoke Swamp, 1706; Lebanon Springs, 4291 (GH, GA) ; No Bottom Pond, 457. 17. Smilax L. 1. Stems herbaceous, not prickly S. herbacea 1. Stems woody, beset with prickles, 2 2. Small branchlets more or less quadrangular ; prickles scattered, stout ; peduncles about as long as the petioles S. rotundifolia 2. Small branchlets nearly terete; lower part of stem densely beset with long weak blackish bristle-like prickles; peduncles 2 to 4 times as long as the petioles 5. tamnoides S. herbacea L. Carrion flower. Woods and thickets; common. Apparently most abundant in the Hudson Valley. Waldorf Pond, 218 (PENN) ; Bachus Pond, 925 ; Hotaling Island, Taylor 1375 (NY) ; Kinderhook, 1066; Rogers Island, 2564; Stissing Mountain, summit, 2832. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 101 S. rotundifolia L. Catbrier, greenbrier. Reported from both Dutchess and Rensselaer Counties, but the only known station in our area is on the shore of Upper Twin Lake, Elizaville, where the plant is abundant, 3273 S. tamnoides L. In swamps near the Hudson River; locally abundant. Tidal marshes east of Crugers’ Island, 2905 ; thickets near mouth of Roeliff Jansen Kill; tidal marshes on Rogers Island, 2591; Catskill, Greene County, Peck. Our plants belong to var. hispida (Muhl.) Fern. AMARYLLIDACEAE (Amaryllis Family) Hypoxis L. H. hirsuta (L.) Coville. “Yellow-eyed grass.” Sandy or rocky woods, usually in dry, partially shaded places; frequent. Apparently more abundant at lower elevations. About mile west of Brainard, House 21366; Malden Bridge, near Bachus Pond, 913; 4 miles north of Kinderhook, 167 (PENN) ; Columbiaville, 775; Copake Falls, according to Stetson (1913). DIOSCOREACEAE (Yam Family) Dioscorea L. D. villosa L. Wild yam root. Known only from the moist woods and tidal marshes east of Crugers’ Island, 2666, 3248. IRIDACEAE (Iris Family) I. Flowers 5 to 8 cm. long; style branches broad and petaloid, opposite the anthers 1. Iris 1. Flowers 1 to 2 cm. long; style branches filiform, alternate with the anthers; plant grasslike 2. Sisyrinchium 1. Iris L. I. versicolor L. Blue flag, wild iris. Wet places and marshes; common. 2. Sisyrinchium L. “Blue-eyed grass” 1. Bracts of the spathe subequal, 1.5 to 2 cm. long; stem coarse, conspicuously winged, mostly 3 to 6 mm. wide; umbels of flowers rarely fewer than two in number A. angusti folium 1. Outer bract much exceeding the inner, 2 to 6.5 cm. long; stem simple, 1.5 to 3 mm. wide; umbel solitary or rarely 2 Y. montanum S. angustifolium Mill. Meadows and open fields, or in partial shade, in moist or dry soil; frequent. 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 2286; 2 miles south- southwest of Green River, 3531; east of Poelsburg, 1685 ; Rhinecliff, Dutchess County, House 19267. S. montanum Greene. Meadows and open fields, in moist or dry soil; frequent. New Lebanon, House 21299 ; 1 mile northwest of Brainard, House 21386; wet meadow south of Canaan, 741; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 694; Miller Pond, Ancram, House 20542; south of Fowlers’ Lake, 709. Represented in our area by var. crebrum Fern. ORCHIDACEAE (Orchid Family) 1. Lip of corolla an inflated pouch, anthers 2 1. Cypripedium 1. Lip flat or concave, but not an inflated pouch; anther 1, 2 2. Flowers with a distinct slender spur, this at least 2 mm. long, 3 102 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 3. Lip white; petals and sepals purple; leaves 2, basal 2. Orchis 3. Divisions of the perianth concolorous, variously colored; leaves various 3. Habenaria 2. Flowers not spurred, but sometimes saccate at base, 4 4. Plant with green stems and foliage (leaves sometimes absent at flower- ing time), 5 5. Flowers large, the perianth 1.5 to 4.5 cm. long, 6 6. Leaves linear, more or less grasslike, or reduced to sheaths only, 7 7. Flowers several, in a raceme, inverted (with the lip uppermost) 7. Calopogon 7. Flowers solitary, terminal, not inverted 6. Arethusa 6. Leaves elliptic to ovate, 8 8. Leaf solitary; sepals equaling the lip 4. Pogonia 8. Leaves whorled; sepals narrow, much exceeding the lip 5. Isotria 5. Flowers smaller, the perianth segments 1 cm. long or less, 9 9. Sepals and petals, except the lip, erect and connivent ; flowers essen- tially sessile, in a compact spiral or cylindrical spike, 10 10. Leaves variegated with a network of white veins ; raceme 1- sided or densely flowered 10. Goodyera 10. Leaves green, never variegated; flowers in 1 to 4 ranks in a spirally twisted raceme 9. Spiranthes 9. Sepals and petals free; flowers in a loose raceme, on pedicels at least 2 mm. long, 11 11. Petals filiform or linear, less than 2 mm. broad, 12 12. Leaf solitary 11. Malaxis 12. Leaves 2, basal 12. Liparis 11. Petals ovate, broader; sepals 8 to 10 mm. long; plants coarse, 25 to 60 cm. high 8. Epipactis 4. Plants lacking green coloration, the stems leafless, scaly, yellowish or brownish 13. Corallorhiza 1. Cypripedium L. 1. Plant acaulescent, 2-leaved at base; flower solitary, the lip pink; sepals and petals greenish brown C. acaule 1. Plant leafy stemmed; flowers 1 to 3, 2 2. Lip golden yellow C. Calceolus 2. Lip white, suffused with pink in front C. regime C. acaule Ait. Pink lady’s-slipper. Dry woods, in more or less acid soil, or in sphagnum bogs ; common eastward, except in calcareous regions ; rare in the Hudson Valley. C. Calceolus L. Yellow lady’s-slipper. In rich, often calcareous woods; frequent, except in regions of prevailingly acid soil. West of North Chatham, House 21163; Stuyvesant, Iva Allen, June 30, 1895; Rogers Island, 2560; 2 miles east of Greendale, 4328 (GA) ; well known near Kinderhook, and in the calcareous soils of the Harlem Valley. Represented in our area only by var. pubescens (Willd.) Correll. C. reginae Walt. Showy lady’s-slipper. Known from but 2 localities, these about 1 km. apart ; both in swampy woods in calcareous regions in the town of Ancram, 1082, 3903. Reported also by Hoysradt from the “Fingar Marsh,” town of Gallatin, but has not been rediscovered at this locality. 2. Orchis L. O. spectabilis L. Showy orchis. Rich, often calcareous soil in woods; frequent, except under conditions of prevailingly acid soil. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 103 3. Habenaria Willd. 1. Lip of corolla deeply fringed, 2 2. Lip deeply 3-parted, the divisions fringed, 3 3. Flowers greenish H. lacera 3. Flowers purplish pink; divisions fringed about their depth; lip about 1 to 1.2 cm. wide H. psy codes 2. Lip not deeply 3-parted; flowers bright white H. Blephariglottis 1. Lip of corolla not fringed, 4 4. Leaves usually 2, basal, orbicular or elliptic, 3.5 to 10 cm. broad; scape usually without bracts, with 8 to 20 yellowish green flowers; lip about 1 cm. long H. Hookeri 4. Leaves 2 or more, cauline, narrow, 5 5. Lip lanceolate, entire ; leaves more than 2 H. hyperborea 5. Lip oblong, truncate, 3-toothed at apex; leaves 1 or 2, oblong or often oblanceolate, obtuse H. clavellata H. lacera (Michx.) Lodd. Ragged orchis. Meadows, open fields and woods; frequent. 2 miles south-southwest of Green River, 3541; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3316; near pond, 1.5 miles south of Ancramdale, 3379. Seen also at Lebanon Springs; about 2 miles north-northwest of Copake Falls; near “Fingar Marsh,” Gallatin; meadow north of Kinderhook; pasture at Tivoli. H. psycodes (L.) Spreng. Purple fringed orchis. Swampy woods, or oc- casionally in meadows ; common. One of our three commonest orchids, the others being Spiranthes gracilis and Corallorrliiza maculata. Reports of Habenaria fimbriata from our area doubtless refer to H. psycodes (figure 11). H. blephariglottis (Willd.) Hook. White fringed orchis. Sphagnum bogs; rare. Bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1438 ; reported from Copake Falls (Stetson, 1913) and from Hoags’ Corners by Wibbe (Gordinier & Howe, 1894). H. Hookeri Torr. Reported from the west side of Stissing Mountain by Hoysradt ; occurs on a steep rocky (acid) slope about 1 mile northeast of Riders Mills, 734. At the Riders Mills station it is associated with Lnznla carolinae var. saltuensis, Epigaea repens, Polygala paucifolia and Viola rostrata. H. hyperborea (L.) R. Br. Rocky woods, in both acid and calcareous soils; infrequent. Rare in the Hudson Valley. Old Chatham, on limestone talus, 1403 ; 2.5 miles east of Chatham Center, 3675; north of Robinson Pond, 3942; Washburn Mountain, 3327 ; Copake, H. M. Dcnslow. H. clavellata (Michx.) Spreng. Sphagnous woods, where frequent. Canti- coke Swamp, 1728 (PENN) ; New Britain, 3642 ; 4 miles north of Kinder- hook, 2993; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 3505; known also from the ‘‘Fingar Marsh,” town of Gallatin. 4. Pogonia Juss. P. ophioglossoides (L.) Ker. Open bogs, usually in sphagnum, but some- times in calcareous situations ; abundant in suitable habitats. Bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1021; bog 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, 1129; south of Pulvers Corners, 3861. 5. Isotria Raf. I. verticillata (Willd.) Raf. [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson, June, 1869 104 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM (V)]; reported from Pine Plains as “rather scarce” by Hoysradt. An im- mature plant collected by N. L. Britton at Copake Falls, now at the New York Botanical Garden, is apparently this species. Otherwise unknown. 6. Arethusa L. A. bulbosa L. Sphagnum bogs; rare. Reported as “very rare” at Pine Plains, by Hoysradt. Occurs in a bog about 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, where rather abundant, 1128. 7. Calopogon R. Br. C. pulchellus (Salisb.) R. Br. Open bogs; usually in sphagnum, where locally abundant, but occasionally in calcareous situations. Bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1156; bog south of Niverville, 1143; bog 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 1071; Miller Pond, Ancram, 3115, “Fingar Marsh,” Gallatin, 3577. 8. Epipactis Sw. E. Helleborine (L.) Crantz. Known only from the following localities; limestone talus slope 3 miles north of Claverack, 1301; a similar habitat southwest of West Ghent, 3300; 3 miles east of Stuyvesant, in moist day soil in woods, 1547. A European species not previously reported from our area, and apparently spreading from western New York, where it is extensively naturalized. 9. Spiranthes Richard 1. Flowering stem leafless ; leaves ovate, basal, disappearing before the flower- ing season; lip less than 5 mm. long; flowers opening June to September S. gracilis 1. Flowering stem leafy, at least toward the base; lip 5 to 10 mm. long, 2 2. Lip quadrate, yellowish ; flowering period late May to July S', lucida 2. Lip ovate-oblong, creamy white; flowering period September to October S. cemua S. gracilis (Bigel.) Beck, (inch S. lacera of Gray’s Manual). Dry grassy fields; common. S. lucida (H. H. Eat.) Ames. Silvernails, 1090; Stuyvesant Falls, 935, 3127. In both known localities the plant occurs on shale rocks in the beds of large streams. S. cernua (L.) Richard. In wet meadows and open bogs, or in dry sandy and gravelly fields; frequent. Bog 4 miles north of Kinderhook, 159 (PENN) ; boggy meadow south of Canaan, 2327 (PENN) ; boggy meadow east of Austerlitz, 2288; sandy hillside about 4 miles north of Kinderhook, 2365; f Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)] ; mile south of Pulvers Corners, 3857. The plant of upland, acid soils has been designated as var. ochroleuca (Rydb.) Ames (figure 12). 10. Goodyera R. Br. G. pubescens (Willd.) R. Br. “Rattlesnake Plantain.” Dry woodlands; rare. West of Brainard, House 21523 ; about 3 miles north of Kinderhook, 1472. Reported by Hoysradt from Pine Plains. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 105 11. Malaxis Sw. M. unifolia Michx. Swampy woods; apparently rare. Canticoke Swamp, 1715; bog 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, 1901 (PENN). Reported by Hoysradt from “G. Rowe Woods,” in Gallatin. 12, Liparis Richard 1. Lip of corolla wedge-obovate, purple L. lilifolia 1. Lip oblong or obovate, green L. Loeselii L. lilifolia (L.) Richard. [Stissing Mountain, Egbert Hyatt, in 1873 (V)]. Otherwise unknown. L. Loeselii (L.) Richard. Twayblade. Swampy woods and open bogs; frequent. Occasionally in dry soil. Bog west of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 2118; bog 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 2597 ; about 3 miles north of An- cramdale, 3901; Knickerbocker Lake, 1198; 1.5 miles north of Kinderhook, 1780; dry acid hillside 1.5 miles southwest of Canaan Center, 3598. 13. Corallorhiza Chatelain 1. Lip of corolla 3-lobed, 2 2. Plant yellow, 4 to 20 cm. high ; lip white, not spotted ; plants flowering in May C. trifida 2. Plant purplish or yellowish brown, mostly 20 to 40 cm. high; lip white, spotted with purple, 6 to 8 mm. long; plants flowering July to September C. maculata 1. Lip of corolla unlobed, white, spotted with magenta-crimson, 4 mm. long; plants 20 cm. high or less ; flowering August to October C. odontorhisa C. trifida Chatelain. Known only from wet sphagnous woods at New Britain, 4304. An unverified report of the species from Copake Falls was made by Stetson (1913). C. maculata Raf. Moist shady woods; common. C. odontorhiza (Willd.) Nutt. Known only from woods, in calcareous soil, north of Robinson Pond, 3923. Subclass II. DICOT YLEDONEAE JUGLANDACEAE (Walnut Family) 1. Outer husk of fruit splitting into 4 valves at maturity; nut shell smooth, often angled; pith of twigs solid 2. Carya 1. Outer husk of fruit not splitting at maturity; nut shell furrowed or cor- rugated; pith of twigs in transverse plates dividing the twigs into little chambers 1. Juglans 1. Juglans L. 1. Fruit oblong, the husk sticky; petioles and young twigs sticky; leaf scar with a downy pad at upper edge J. cinerea I. Fruit globose, not sticky; petioles and young twigs minutely downy, not sticky; leaf scar with no downy pad /. nigra J. cinerea L. Butternut. Woods, especially in moist places; common throughout. J. nigra L. Black walnut. In woods and along streams; rare. Not surely native in our area; long in cultivation. Reported from Kinderhook by Wood- 106 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM worth (1840) and as “quite common” at Pine Plains by Hoysradt. Rocky hill south of Spencertown, House 20576; alluvial flats east of Bells’ Pond, along Taghkanic Creek, 3305. At the last-mentioned locality there are several large trees and numerous seedlings becoming established from them. 2. Carya Nutt. 1. Husk of fruit readily splitting to the base into 4 valves, 2 2. Leaf rachis and young branchlets persistently tomentose ; bark not peeling off in strips C. tomcntosa 2. Leaf rachis and branchlets glabrous or slightly downy ; bark often peeling off in long shaggy strips, 3 3. Nut with ridges or angles, somewhat flattened; bark strongly shaggy C. ovata 3. Nut scarcely ridged or angled, nearly globose; bark peeling off, when old, in narrow plates C. ovalis 1. Husk of fruit scarcely splitting or tardily so, often at apex only; bark never peeling off in shaggy strips, 4 4. Leaflets 7 to 11, coarsely toothed; buds scurfy, bright yellow C. cordiformis 4. Leaflets 5 to 7, finely serrate; buds smoothish, gray-brown or darker C. glabra C. cordiformis (Wang.) K. Koch. Swamp hickory. Along streams and in wet woods; common in the Hudson Valley and occurring in the Harlem Valley, but rare and infrequent northeastward. Mill Creek, Stuyvesant, 1555 ; Becraft Mountain, 336 (PENN) ; 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, 3230; Tivoli, 2732 ; 2 miles southwest of Hillsdale, 3557. Reported by Harrison (1887, as C. amara ) from Lebanon Springs. C. ovata (Mill.) K. Koch. Shagbark Hickory. Woods; frequent. Through- out, but never very abundant. C. tomentosa Nutt. Mockernut. Rich or moist woods; frequent in the Hudson Valley. Unknown elsewhere. 3 miles north of Castleton, 3981; Hudson River at Columbiaville, 3726; woods east of Clermont, 3255; Tivoli. C. glabra (Mill.) Sweet. Pignut. W^oods and fence rows; common. C. ovalis (Wang.) Sarg. Apparently infrequent, but distribution unknown. Kinderhook Lake, Brown. If, as suggested by Wiegand and Eames (1926), this species turns out to be a hybrid between C. glabra and C. ovata, we should not expect very much of it in our region, where C. ovata is never rep- resented by large numbers of individuals. MYRICACEAE (Sweet-gale Family) 1. Leaves pinnatifid, with many fernlike rounded lobes 1. Comptonia 1. Leaves serrate or subentire 2. Myrica 1. Comptonia L'Her. C. peregrina (L.) Coult. Sweet Fern. Dry sandy or stony soil; very com- mon eastward, but uncommon or rare in the Hudson Valley. Poelsburg, on bluffs above the Hudson River, 1686. 2. Myrica L. 1. Leaves oblanceolate, mostly 7 to 15 mm. broad ; twigs blackish ; pistillate catkins becoming conelike in fruit M. Gale FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 107 1. Leaves oblong to obovate, 15 to 40 mm. broad; twigs brown; fruits separate, hard, drupelike, wax-coated M. pensylvamica M. Gale L. Bogs, and borders of lakes and streams; infrequent, but locally abundant. Kinderhook Lake, 1227; Waldorf Pond, House 20951; Taplins’ Pond, 2415; Shaver Pond, Copake, 842; south of Mount Riga Station, 3372. M. pensylvanica Loisel. Bayberry. Known only from a sandy field south of Knickerbocker Lake, House 23705, and from a calcareous marsh at the south end of Miller Pond, Ancram, 1073. At Miller Pond the species is associated with Larix laricina, Betula pumila, Valeriana sitchensis, Erio- phorum viridi-carimtum, Iris versicolor and Rhus Vernix. SALICACEAE (Willow Family) 1. Leaves (in our species) broad and more or less heart-shaped or ovate; winter buds covered by several overlapping scales; stamens 8 to 30 or more; flower bracts fringed 1. Populus 1. Leaves (in our species) mostly narrow, long and pointed; winter bud scale 1 only; stamens few (3 to 10) ; flower-bracts entire or merely toothed 2. Salix 1. Populus L. Poplar 1. Buds, 1-year-old branchlets and lower surface of mature leaves densely white-tomentose P. alba 1. Plants not white-tomentose, or the young leaves somewhat so, 2 2. Petioles terete or grooved; buds strongly resinous-sticky; leaves broadly ovate, rounded or cordate at base, smooth on both sides, finely crenate P. balsamifera 2. Petioles strongly flattened laterally, 3 3. Styles with narrow or filiform lobes ; winter buds scarcely resinous, mostly 3 to 7 mm. long; flowering scales silky, 4 4. Leaves finely crenate-serrulate, glabrous even when young P. tremuloides 4. Leaves coarsely undulate-dentate, tomentose when young P. grandidentata 3. Styles with dilated lobes; winter buds strongly resinous, often 1 cm. or more long; flowering scales glabrous or few-haired, 5 5. Leaf blades mostly deltoid, truncate or subcordate at base ; petiole with two glands at upper end P. deltoides 5. Leaf blades rhombic, truncate to rounded at base; petiole without glands P. nigra P. alba L. White poplar. Sometimes established in lawns and fields as an escape from cultivation. P. balsamifera L. Balsam poplar. Mount Lebanon, House 16127; [Stepheu- town Center, D. B. Cook], Otherwise unknown, and perhaps never native. P. grandidentata Michx. Large-toothed aspen. Woods and thickets and along streams; frequent. P. tremuloides Michx. Quaking aspen. With the preceding; common throughout. P. nigra L. Black poplar. Reported by House (1924) as “especially com- mon in the valley of the Hudson River and along tributary streams This report has not been verified, and may be based on the next species, which is abundant and weedy along the Hudson. 108 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM P. deltoides Marsh. Cottonwood; Carolina poplar. In moist soil, near water; frequent. 2. Salix L. Willow A. Key based on fruiting characters1 1. Flower scales (bracts) yellow (see also 5. Bebbiana), deciduous; mature capsules glabrous (except sometimes in Y. interior ) ; aments leafy- peduncled, appearing with the leaves, 2 2. Aments stout, dense; blades serrulate, 3 3. Blades ovate ; introduced ornamental tree 5. pentandra 3. Blades lanceolate; native shrubs, 4 4. Blades green beneath; fruit mature in early summer (June- July) S. lucida 4. Blades glaucous beneath; fruit mature in late summer (August- October) S. serissima 2. Aments slender, lax; leaves various, 5 5. Blades linear, remotely denticulate, green beneath ; native shrub ; stamens 2 Y. interior 5. Blades lanceolate, serrulate, 6 6. Blades green beneath, linear-lanceolate; native tree; stamens 3 to 5 or more Y. nigra 6. Blades glaucous beneath, lanceolate; introduced trees; stamens 2, 7 7. Capsule sessile, ovoid; blades silky on both sides S. alba var. argentea 7. Capsule short-pedicelled, conic; blades glabrous 5". fragilis 1. Flower scales brown to black (yellow in 5. Bebbiana ), persistent; capsules and aments various, 8 8. Capsules glabrous, pedicellate; aments leafy-peduncled, appearing with the leaves; blades glabrous when mature, 9 9. Blades serrate, lanceolate, 6 to 10 cm. long, glaucescent beneath S. rigida 9. Blades entire, elliptic-oblanceolate, 3 to 5 cm. long, glaucous beneath S. pedicellaris 8. Capsules permanently hairy; aments various, 10 10. Capsules silvery pubescent, 11 11. Capsules 2 to 5 mm. long, subsessile; aments small, narrow, sessile, 12 12. Capsules 2 to 4 mm. long, ovate; blades subopposite, glabrous, subentire Y. purpurea 12. Capsules 3 to 5 mm. long, short-conic, blunt; blades silvery pubescent beneath, serrate A. sericea 11. Capsules 5 to 8 mm. long, on pedicels 2 to 4 mm. long; aments broad, leafy-pedunculate, 13 13. Blades glabrous when fully expanded Y. petiolaris 13. Blades more or less silvery silky on both sides when fully grown S. subsericea 10. Capsules white or gray-woolly; aments subsessile, appearing in early spring before the leaves, 14 14. Styles 1 to 1.5 mm. long; capsules 6 to 8 mm. long, white-woolly S. Candida 14. Styles 0.3 to 0.5 mm. long; capsules 7 to 10 (12) mm. long, gray- woolly, beaked, 15 15. Pedicels 1 to 3 mm. long; aments stout, dense, sessile, 16 16. Blades and branchlets glabrous 5. discolor 1 The keys to Salix have been contributed by Dr. Carleton R. Ball. Specimens of Satis, cited in the text below and designated by an asterisk (*), have been identified by Dr. Ball. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 109 1. 1. 16. Blades (beneath) and branchlets pubescent-tomentose 5. humilis 15. Pedicels 3 to 6 mm. long; aments lax, short-pedunculate; scales linear, yellowish; leaves rugose, pubescent S. Bebbiana B. Key based on mature foliage Leaves green on both sides, 2 2. Margins closely serrate or serrulate, 3 3. Blades lanceolate to ovate; petioles glandular, 4 4. Blades lanceolate or broader, long-acuminate 5. lucida 4. Blades ovate or oval, acute to short-acuminate A. pentandra 3. Blades linear-lanceolate; petioles not glandular S. nigra 2. Margins remotely spinulose-denticulate or subentire, 5 5. Blades linear, remotely denticulate S. interior 5. Blades oblanceolate, subopposite, entire or serrulate on distal margin S. purpurea Leaves glaucous or glaucescent beneath, 6 6. Blades lanceolate, closely serrate or serrulate on margins, 7 7. Petioles (usually) glandular apically, 8 8. Blades glabrous at maturity; petioles always glandular, 9 9. Blades finely serrulate, acute S. serissinm 9. Blades coarsely serrulate, long-acuminate S. fragilis 8. Blades sericeous at maturity ; petioles not always glandular A. alba var. argentea 7. Petioles never glandular, 10 10. Mature blades glabrous (except midribs), 11 11. Blades lanceolate or broader, the base rounded or cordate Y. rigida 11. Blades narrowly lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, the base acute A. petiolaris 10. Mature blades silvery silky beneath, 12 12. Blades 5 to 10 cm. long, glabrous above A. sericea 12. Blades 3.75 to 7.5 cm. long, somewhat silky on both sides S. subsericea 6. Blades linear-elliptical to broadly elliptical or oblanceolate, entire to undulate-crenate on margins, 13 13. Blades glabrous at maturity, 14 14. Low bog plant ; blades linear-oblanceolate, entire S. pedicellaris 14. Tall plants of alluvial soil; blades elliptic-oblanceolate, undulate- crenate S. discolor 13. Blades more or less hairy at maturity, at least beneath, 15 15. Bog plants; branchlets and leaves densely white-tomentose ; blades linear-oblong to linear-oblanceolate, rugose, entire S. Candida 15. Plants of uplands ; branchlets and leaves more or less gray-pubescent, 16 16. Plants of dry ground; blades narrowly to broadly oblanceolate, reticulate beneath S. humilis 16. Plants of stream banks ; blades broadly elliptical to obovate, rugose beneath S. Bebbiana S. nigra Marsh. Black willow. Alluvial banks and margins of streams and ponds; frequent. Our only arborescent native willow. Bachus Pond, 3166*; Kinderhook Lake, House 15544*, 16788*. S. pentandra L. Bay-leaved willow. Mount Lebanon, near State line, House 15589*. Otherwise unknown, and probably not established at this locality. S. lucida Muhl. Shining willow. Swamps and wet places; throughout, but rather infrequent. Bachus Pond, 3167*; New Britain, 4297* ; Rogers Island, 2584*; south of Pulvers Corners, 3859*. 110 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM S. serissima (Bailey) Fern. Wet places and bogs; frequent. Especially abundant in the calcareous marshes of the Harlem Valley. Kinderhook Lake, House 15545*; bog south of Hemlock School, Ghent, 566*; Miller Pond, Ancram 3117* ; south of Boston Comers, 1662* ; south of Pulvers Corners, 3864*. Reported by Knowlton (1919) from a “calcareous swamp north of Copake.” S. interior Rowlee. River-bank willow. Sand flats at Nutten Hook, where abundant and forming large patches, 4748* (USNA). Otherwise unknown. S. alba L., var. argentea Wimm. Sand flats at Nutten Hook, 4751* (USNA). Otherwise unknown. S. fragilis L. Crack willow. Often cultivated, and frequently established along streams and in wet places near dwellings. A large tree. 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 4246*] 2 miles northeast of Chatham, 4167*. S. rigida Muhl. Swamps and alluvial grounds, common. Especially abun- dant along the Hudson River and the larger streams. Mount Lebanon, House 16148*] Perry Peak, Canaan, House 21175*, 21187*; Hotaling Island, 3153*; Kinderhook 4406*] tidal marsh south of Tivoli 2660* (PENN). S. purpurea L. Purple willow. Wet ground; infrequent or rare. Hotaling Island, 3144* ; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 4241*. S. Candida Fliigge. Hoary willow. Calcareous marshes, or rarely in acid situations; locally abundant in the limestone regions of the Harlem Valley. About 1 mile east of Fowlers’ Lake, Ghent, 565 ; bog 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 2616* ; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Miller Pond, Ancram, House 20547*] marsh south of Pulvers Corners, 3862. S. sericea Marsh. Silky willow. Wet grounds; common. Hotaling Island, 3150* ; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 4249* ; 1 mile southeast of Churchtown, 4173*; swamp south of Mount Riga Station, 3368. A plant from Pulvers Corners is either this species or S. sericea X V humilis, according to Dr. Ball. S. subsericea (Anderss.) Schneid. Known from a single collection, 3856*, from the calcareous region south of Pulvers Corners. S. petiolaris Sm. (S. gracilis of Gray’s Manual). y2 mile west of Canaan, 4147* ; y2 mile west of Spencertown, 4120*. Both collections are from springy places on rocky hillsides. Otherwise unknown. S. Bebbiana Sarg. In moist soil, or less often in upland situations. Perry Peak, Canaan, House 21186*] 2 miles north of Chatham, 4102*] Millerton, House 22400*. Not reported from the Hudson Valley. S. discolor Muhl. Pussy willow. Springy places and in swamps; common Mount Lebanon, House 16149* ; Perry Peak, Canaan, House 21183* ; swamp south of Mount Riga Station, 3371*] 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 2500*, 2503 * (PENN) ; 1 mile southeast of Churchtown, 4174*. S. humilis Marsh. Prairie willow. Dry sandy or rocky places, usually in partial shade; rather frequent. Southeast of Brainard, House 21524*; Canaan Center, in calcareous soil in woods, 2320* ; sandy soil north of Kinderhook, 2501*, 2502* (PENN) ; Stissing Mountain, 2850* (PENN) ; [1.5 miles west of Austerlitz, 4203]. S. pedicellaris Pursh. Known only from an acid bog 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 3446*. Reported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from a peat bog on Stissing Mountain (as S. myrtilloides L.). Represented in our area by var. hypoglauca Fern. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 111 BETULACEAE1 (Birch Family) 1. Staminate flowers 1 to each bract, destitute of calyx ; pistillate flowers with a calyx, 2 2. Staminate flowers with 2 bractlets ; pistillate flowers 1 to 4, in a dense capitate cluster; nut large, more than 1 cm. high, inclosed by a con- spicuous villous involucre 3. Corylus 2. Staminate flowers with no bractlets ; pistillate flowers in a raceme ; nut small, much less than 1 cm. high, 3 3. Nut inclosed in a bladderlike bract; bark brownish, furrowed, scaling off 2. Ostrya 3. Nut subtended by a large flat leafy 3-cleft bract; bark iron-gray, smooth, not scaly 1. Carpinus 1. Staminate flowers 2 to 6 to each bract; calyx present; pistillate flowers without a calyx, 4 4. Pistillate spikes solitary; fruiting bracts early deciduous, thin, 3-lobed 4. Betula 4. Pistillate spikes racemose ; fruiting bracts long-persistent, woody, not lobed 5. Alnus 1. Carpinus L. C. caroliniana Walt. Hornbeam, ironwood. Moist woods, often along streams ; common throughout. Represented in our area only by var. virginiana (Marsh.) Fern. 2. Ostrya Scop. 0. virginiana (Mill.) K. Koch. Hop hornbeam, ironwood. Dry, especially rocky, woods ; common throughout. 3. Corylus L. Hazelnut 1. Involucre of the fruit short, spreading and exposing the nut; twigs and petioles often glandular-bristly C. americana 1. Involucre of the fruit much prolonged above the nut into a narrow tubular beak; twigs and petioles not glandular-bristly C. cornula C. americana Walt. Woods and thickets, often in dry sandy places; com- mon in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys, but not recorded from the higher elevations to the northeast. Southeast of Brainard, House 21536; 3 miles north of Kinderhook, 1313; Mill Creek, Stuyvesant, 231; north of Tivoli, 29o4 ; [North Chatham, House 20451; west base of Brace Mountain, House 24860], C. cornuta Marsh. Rocky woods; the common hazelnut in the eastern part of the county, but decreasing westward and unknown from the Hudson Valle}’. Southeast of Brainard, House 21537 ; Lebanon Springs, according to Harrison (1887) ; 1 mile east of Pulvers, Ghent, 882; Mount Fray, Copake, 2623; Copake Falls, Britton et at. (NY) ; Long Pond, Ancram, 3433. 4. Betula L. Birch 1. Plants slender, shrubby, sometimes 4 m. high but scarcely treelike, usually much smaller; leaves 2 to 3 cm. long, with 2 to 5 pairs of veins; wings of fruit narrower than the body B. pumila 1. Plants arborescent; leaves 5 to 12 cm. long, with 5 to 11 pairs of veins, 2 2. Fruiting cones short-cylindric, erect, sessile or nearly so; leaves usually with 9 to 11 pairs of veins, 3 Corylaceac of Gray’s Manual. 112 Figure 13. Trunk of a mature tree of Betula lutea in the gorge of Bashbish Brook, Copake. The scale is indicated by a filmpack which is about 11 cm. in length. 113 Figure 14. Sand flats just north of Nutten Hook, looking south. The New York Central ; Railroad is at the left, at the base of the hill. The plant in the foreground is Cycloloma atriplicifolium. This picture was taken on October 6, 1935 ; at the present time much of the sandy area has been occupied by Popiilns deltoides and most of the herbaceous vegetation has been shaded out. Figure 15. A nearly pure stand of Nuphar advena in the South Bay below Tivoli, looking east from the New York Central Railroad. The woods in the background are about 1 km. distant. 114 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 3. Bark dark brown or almost black, not separating in papery layers ; branchlets and bud scales entirely glabrous ; scales of the fruiting cones glabrous, woody B. lenta 3. Bark yellow or yellowish brown, often separating in papery layers ; branchlets and bud scales at least sparsely hairy; scales of the fruiting cones pubescent, the tips thin B. lutca 2. Fruiting cones erect, spreading or hanging on slender peduncles; leaves mostly with 5 to 8 pairs of veins, 4 4. Scales of fruiting cones glabrous; bark of trunk bright white, separat- ing readily into thin layers ; leaves ovate, rounded or shortly wedge- shaped at base, not long-acuminate B. papyrifera 4. Scales of fruiting cones pubescent or tomentose, 5 5. Leaves triangular, abruptly long-acuminate, usually truncate at base, bright green and shining on both sides, except when very young; bark of trunk white (brownish in young plants), not readily sepa- rating in layers B. populifolia 5. Leaves rhombic-ovate, subacute at both ends, pubescent beneath at least on the veins; bark reddish brown, separating freely in large thin papery scales B. nigra B. populifolia Marsh. Gray birch, old field birch. Dry woods and open fields, often becoming a weedlike tree on abandoned land; common. B. papyrifera Marsh. White or paper birch. Rocky woods; throughout. Infrequent in the Hudson Valley except in a few cold swamps and on bluffs along the river, but increasing eastward and becoming almost a dominant tree in the second growth woods on the higher hills. The growing birch is gradually crowded out by white pine and hemlock, but a few trees sometimes persist, even in old stands. B. nigra L. Red birch, river birch. Along the Hudson River and the lower reaches of the larger streams ; rare, in the southern part of our area. Sauger- ties, Ulster County, whence reported by Torrey' (1843), and later collected by Peck and by Muenscher (1936; Muenscher, in lit.); infrequent along the larger creeks at Pine Plains, according to Hoysradt ; Crugers’ Island, ac- cording to Muenscher (in lit.). B. lenta L. Black birch, sweet birch. Moist or rocky woods; common throughout. B. lutea Michx. f. Yellow birch. Rich woods and swamps; common es- pecially eastward. Infrequent in the Hudson Valley, where the species is never abundant (figure 13). B. pumila L. Open calcareous marshes; locally abundant. Miller Pond, Ancram, 1072 ; marsh west of Croghan Hill ; about 3 miles north of Ancram- dale, 811; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (GH, NY). The Croghan Hill locality was known to Hoysradt, and his specimens may' have come from there. The species is thoroughly at home in these marshes, often reaching a height of 4.5 meters or more and fruiting freely. 5. Alnus Hill Alder 1. Leaves elliptic to ovate, usually rounded at base, downy beneath at least on the nerves, sharply and doubly serrate A. rugosa 1. Leaves obovate, acute or wedge-shaped at base, nearly smooth and some- times slightly sticky' beneath, minutely and almost regularly serrate. A. serrnlata FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 115 A. rugosa (Du Roi) Spreng. Wet places in the open and along streams; common. Often a weedy species, taking over old fields. A. serrulata (Ait.) Willd. About the margins of lakes, ponds, and in bogs; common. FAGACEAE (Beech Family) 1. 1. Staminate flowers in a small head on a drooping peduncle; nuts sharply triangular ; bark of trunk smooth and light iron-gray, even in age 1. Fagus Staminate flowers in slender drooping catkins; nuts not triangular; bark in age rough, scaling or cracking, 2 2. Nut wholly inclosed in a hard prickly bur 2. Castanea 2. Nut (acorn) inclosed at base only, the bur (cupule) not prickly 3. Quercus 1. Fagus L. Beech F. grandifolia Ehrh. Rich or moist woods; common. Often gregarious and thus locally very abundant. 2. Castanea Hill Chestnut C. dentata (Marsh.) Borkh. Woods; throughout. Formerly abundant in all woodlands. So far as known, all of the original trees have been killed by the chestnut blight fungus, Endothia parasitica, but seedlings and stump- sprouts are frequently seen. These may reach a diameter of several centi- meters and may occasionally bear fruit before the disease again makes itself manifest. 3. Quercus L. Oak 1. Lobes of leaves obtuse, the ends of the lobes or teeth never bristle-pointed; fruit maturing the first year (white oaks), 2 2. Leaves usually deeply pinnatifid-lobed, or irregularly lobed, rarely shal- lowly lobed or merely toothed, 3 3. Leaves glabrous and glaucous beneath when mature; scales of the cup not awned Q. alba 3. Leaves pubescent or tomentose beneath when mature; upper scales of the cup long-awned, the cup thus fringed Q. macrocarpa 2. Leaves coarsely and regularly sinuate-dentate or serrate, not deeply lobed, 4 4. Fruit sessile or nearly so, 5 5. Leaves with 10 to 16 rounded teeth on each side Q. Prinus 5. Leaves with 3 to 7 acute teeth on each side Q. prinoides 4. Fruit long-peduncled ; leaves usually densely white-tomentose beneath Q. bicolor 1. Lobes or teeth of leaves acute and bristle-pointed (at least in youth) ; fruit maturing the second year (black oaks), 6 6. Mature leaves green on both sides, sometimes pubescent beneath, 7 7 . Principal winter buds 6 to 12 mm. long, distinctly quadrangular, densely pubescent toward the tips; inner bark distinctly orange-colored; mature leaves usually somewhat pubescent beneath, at least in the axils of the veins Q. velutina 7. Principal winter buds mostly 5 mm. long or less; inner bark light pinkish or brownish; mature leaves glabrous beneath or nearly so, 8 8. Buds nearly terete, glabrous or nearly so, shining; longest lobes of the leaf blades about equaling the breadth of the blades between the lobes or shorter ; cup of acorn usually saucer-shaped or flattish Q. borealis 116 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 8. Buds usually slightly quadrangular, dull, somewhat pubescent; lobes of leaves often 2 to 6 times as long as the breadth of the blade between the lobes ; cup of acom deeper, usually with a conical base Q. coccinea 6. Mature leaves densely grayish-tomentose beneath Q. ilicifolia Q. alba L. White oak. Woods; common throughout. Q. macrocarpa Michx. Bur oak; mossy-cup oak. Borders of moist woods; infrequent or rare. Roadside near Hillsdale, House 20594; Copake Falls, Britton et at. (NY) ; reported from Kinderhook Lake by House (verbally) and seen near Stuyvesant Falls. Q. Prinus L. Chestnut oak. In dry, usually rocky, woods; common. Scarce on calcareous soils. Q. prinoides Willd. Dwarf chestnut oak. Bare shaly hillsides; infrequent, in the southern part of the area. Stuyvesant Falls, 5046 (USNA) ; Blue Hill, 596; 1 mile northeast of Blue Stores, 3209, 3211; north end of Fox Hill, Ancram, 3422. Q. bicolor Willd. Swamp white oak. Swamps and wet woods; frequent. Not reported from the northeastern part of the county. Q. velutina Lam. Black oak. Dry woods; known from Stuyvesant Falls southward and southeastward ; rather abundant on the partly metamorphosed shales of the Harlem Valley. About 1.5 miles east of Stuyvesant Falls, 3752; 1 mile northeast of Blue Stores, 3215; Upper Twin Pond, Elizaville, 3274; 2 miles southwest of Hillsdale, 3549 ; Robinson Pond, 3940; 2 miles south of Copake, 3354. Q. borealis Michx. f. (Q. rubra of Gray’s Manual). Red oak. Woods; com- mon. In our area chiefly represented by var. maxima Ashe, but the gray oak, typical Q. borealis, appears with the variety and seems to be the commoner of the two in the hills of the region of metamorphic rocks. Q. coccinea Muenchh. Scarlet oak. Dry woods; widely distributed, but apparently infrequent. Gallatin, near pond south of Taghkanic Lake, House 20527; Fowlers’ Lake, 1667 ; sandy woods north of Kinderhook, 1698. Q. ilicifolia Wang. Scrub oak. Dry hillsides and thickets, in rocky or sandy soil ; rare in the Hudson Valley, but becoming common southeastward and forming dense stands on the higher hills of the towns of Hillsdale, Copake and Ancram. Unknown northeastward. Near Canticoke Swamp, 1700 ; north of North Chatham, House 20453; island at Stuyvesant Falls, 619 (PENN) ; Blue Hill, 613 (PENN). URTICACEAE’ (Nettle Family) 1. Shrubs or trees, 2 2. Fruit fleshy, edible, made up of an aggregate of the fleshy calyces of the pistillate flowers; leaves usually with 1 or 2 thumblike lobes; sap milky 3. Morus 2. Fruit a samara or small drupe; leaves not lobed; sap watery, 3 3. Fruit a samara; flowers on branches of the preceding year 1. Ulmus 3. Fruit a drupe; flowers on branches of the current year 2. Celtis 1. Herbaceous plants, 4 4. Leaves palmately 3- to 5-lobed; pistillate flowers in conelike spikes 4. Humulus Including Ulmaceae, Moraceae and Cannabmaceae of Gray’s Manual. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 117 4. Leaves not lobed, 5 5. Leaves strictly alternate, 6 6. Coarse herbs with large toothed leaves and stinging hairs 6. Laportea 6. Slender herbs with entire leaves; stinging hairs none 9. Parietaria 5. Leaves opposite, 7 7. Plants glabrous, smooth and shining, the stem translucent 7. Pilea 7. Plants variously coarse-pubescent, 8 8. Plants with stinging hairs; flower clusters in panicled spikes 5. Urtica 8. Plants with stinging hairs; flower clusters in simple axillary spikes 8. Boehmeria 1. Ulmus L. Elm 1. Inner bark mucilaginous ; flowers subsessile, in dense clusters, not drooping ; leaves very rough above U. rubra 1. Inner bark not mucilaginous; flowers slender-pedicelled, drooping; leaves smooth or slightly rough above, 2 2. Branches often corky-winged; samaras pubescent all over U. Thomasi 2. Branches usually not corky-winged; samaras glabrous on both sides, the margins ciliate U. americana U. americana L. American elm, white elm. Moist woods and swampy land, or in dry soil ; common. U. rubra Muhl. Slippery elm. Moist woods and along creeks; frequent in the Hudson Valley and well known in the Harlem Valley. Unknown north- eastward except through a report by Harrison (1887) from Lebanon Springs. Copake, Peck; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; 1.5 miles north of Kinder- hook, 262; east of Blue Hill, House 22680; north of Tivoli, 2723. U. Thomasi Sarg. Cork elm. Reported from Pine Plains by Hoysradt. There are in the vicinity of Kinderhook several trees having the twigs with the corky wings characteristic of this species. These, however, have never borne fruit, and other characters seem to indicate that they are merely abnormal individuals of U. americana. 2. Celtis L. C. occidentalis L. Hackberry. Rocky bluffs and ridges; common on the shales and limestones of the Hudson Valley and at Copake; unknown else- where. Poelsburg, on river bluffs; limestone hill 3 miles north of Claverack; Mount Merino ; Blue Hill ; 2 miles east of Germantown. 3. Morus L. M. rubra L. Red mulberry. Rich or moist wooded hillsides; infrequent. Apparently confined to the Hudson Valley. 3 miles north of Claverack, 1307 ; Hudson, Peck; 1 mile east of Clermont, 3254. 4. Humulus L. H. Lupulus L. Hop. Occasionally escaped near dwellings. Hoysradt (1875-79) reports this species as “common . . . and certainly indigenous” at Pine Plains. It was found growing in a tidal marsh east of Crugers’ Island, 2906, and appearing as if native, but House (1924) says “probably never indigenous in this State.” 118 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 5. Urtica L. U. dioica L. (U. procera of Gray’s Manual). Nettle. Thickets, roadsides and borders of woodlands; frequent. Our plant is var. procera (Muhl.) Wedd., according to Hermann (Am. Midi. Nat. 35: 777. 1946). 6. Laportea Gaud. L. canadensis (L.) Gaud. Wood nettle. Swampy woods and cool ravines; frequent, especially eastward. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Hotaling Island, Taylor 1384 (NY); along Mill Creek, Stuyvesant, 1812; south of Columbiaville, 1506; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. 7. Pilea Lindl. P. pumila (L.) Gray. Richweed, clearweed. Wet, usually shady places; common throughout. 8. Boehmeria Jacq. B. cylindrica (L.) Sw. False nettle. Swamps and wet woods; common. 9. Parietaria L. P. pensylvanica Muhl. Dry ledges; apparently rare. Mount Lebanon and Kinderhook Lake, House (verbal reports) ; Magdalen Island, 2678. LORANTHACEAE (Mistletoe Family) Arceuthobium Bieb. A. pusillum Peck. Dwarf mistletoe. Sphagnum bogs; parasitic on Picea mariana; rare. Locally abundant at a bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 2441, and formerly abundant at Taplins’ Pond, 2418. The bog at Taplins’ Pond has now been flooded, apparently through the activity of beavers. SANTALACEAE (Sandalwood Family) Comandra Nutt. C. umbellata (L.) Nutt. Dry woods and hillsides; frequent. Most abun- dant in the dry rocky woods characterized by Quercus Prinus, Vaccinium spp., Gaylussacia baccata and Hieracium venosum. ARISTOLOCHIACEAE (Blrthwort Family) Asarum L. A. canadense L. Wild ginger. Rich moist woods and floodplains; com- mon. Most abundant in calcareous regions. POLYGONACEAE (Buckwheat Family) 1. Sepals 6, the 3 inner ones usually enlarged in fruit 1. Rumex 1. Sepals 5, equal in fruit, 2 2. Leaves triangular-hastate; plants erect 3. Fagopyrum 2. Leaves not triangular-hastate, or, if so, the stem twining or climbing by prickles 2. Polygonum FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 119 1. Rumex L. Dock 1. At least the lower leaves hastate with two spreading lobes at base of blade ; sepals not enlarged in fruit; plants dioecious R. Acetosella 1. Leaves narrowed, truncate or cordate at base, not hastately lobed; three inner sepals much enlarged in fruit, 2 2. Inner sepals with long sharp spreading teeth on the margins R. obtusifolius 2. Inner sepals entire or somewhat toothed, 3 3. Pedicels filiform, of nearly uniform thickness, not conspicuously re- flexed, 4 4. Leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, not crisped, subentire, pale green and glaucescent; pedicels jointed very near the base R. mexicanus 4. Leaves lanceolate to oblong, dark green, not glaucescent; pedicels jointed % to Yz their length above the base, 5 5. Leaves crenate, crisped on margins; pedicels with swollen joints R. crispus 5. Leaves obscurely crenulate, scarcely crisped; pedicels obscurely jointed R. orbiculatus 3. Pedicels gradually enlarged upwards, jointed at base, conspicuously reflexed R. verticillatus R. Acetosella L. Sorrel. Dry fields, woods and hillsides; common. Fre- quently appearing as if indigenous. R. mexicanus Meisn. Waste or swampy ground along the Hudson River; occasional. Nutten Hook, Muenscher & Clausen 4636 (CU) ; flats between Hudson and Athens, Muenscher & Clausen 4635 (CU) ; [south of Castleton, House 24205], R. verticillatus L. Swamp dock. Immature plants from the swamps of Hotaling Island are apparently of this species, 3139. R. orbiculatus Gray. Great water dock. Open swampy ground and borders of ponds; local, throughout, except in the calcareous marshes of the Harlem Valley, where frequent. Waldorf Pond, House 20955 ; south of Mount Riga Station, 3373; Pulvers Corners, 3872. R. crispus L. Curly dock. Waste places and fields, often in cultivated ground; a common weed. R. obtusifolius L. Broad-leaved dock. In situations like those of the last; common. 2. Polygonum L. 1. Stems erect or reclining; not twining vines, 2 2. Stems not armed with prickles, 3 3. Flowers solitary or in small clusters in the axils of the leaves, 4 4. Stems and branches more or less terete; leaves flat, 5 5. Calyx in fruit 2 to 3.5 mm. long; margins of calyx-lobes white or reddish white; plants usually prostrate P. aviculare 5. Calyx in fruit 3.5 to 5 mm. long; margins of calyx-lobes yellowish or yellowish red; plants erect P. erectum 4. Branches rather sharply angled; leaves plicate P. tenue 3. Flowers in terminal racemes or spikelike clusters, 6 6. Styles long and stiff, exserted and persistent on the achene; spikes very long and slender, rigid, greenish P. virginianum 6. Styles short and soft, barely exserted and withering in fruit, 7 7. Leaf sheaths nearly or quite free from marginal cilia, 8 120 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 8. Spikes several, often panicled; plants annual, in wet or dry soil, 9 9. Peduncles strongly glandular-pubescent ; spikes thick, erect, pink; leaves glabrous or sparingly strigose on the midrib be- neath P. pensylvanicum 9. Peduncles smooth or obscurely glandular, 10 10. Achenes 1.5 to 1.8 mm. wide; spikes slender, drooping, pink- ish P. lapathifolium 10. Achenes mostly 2 to 2.5 mm. wide ; spikes more or less erect, greenish P. scabrum 8. Spikes 1 or 2, rarely 3 ; plants aquatic or of marshes, with long perennial rootstocks rooting in the mud, 11 11. Leaves elliptical, obtuse or short-acute; spikes 1.2 to 2.4 cm. long P. amphibium 11. Leaves lanceolate to ovate, usually distinctly acuminate; spikes 3 to 10 cm. long P. coccineum 7. Leaf sheaths bristly-ciliate on the margins, 12 12. Sepals dotted with dark glands, 13 13. Achenes with a dull surface, not glossy; intemodes short, 2 to 4 cm. long; stems often reddish P. Hydropiper 13. Achenes shining; internodes longer, 3 to 8 cm. long; stems green or dull purplish, 14 14. Plants decumbent at base and rooting at the nodes; achenes 3-angled P. pun datum var. majus 14. Plants from fibrous roots, not decumbent, rooting at few nodes or none; achenes mostly lenticular P. punctatum var. confertiflorum 12. Sepals not dotted with dark glands, 15 15. Spikes dense, ovoid or short-cylindric ; flowers dull pale greenish purple or greenish white ; plants annual, often weed}f, in wet or dry soil; leaves often with a purplish spot near the middle P. Persicaria 15. Spikes long and slender ; flowers clear white or pink ; plants perennial, with green leaves, growing in very wet soil P. hydropiperoides 2. Stems armed with hooked prickles; more or less reclining plants with sagittate or hastate leaves, 16 16. Leaves sagittate P. sagittatum 16. Leaves broadly halberd-shaped (hastate) P. arifolium 1. Stems twining, vinelike; leaves broadly ovate, cordate at base, 17 17. Nodes of the stem not bristly-ciliate, 18 18. Angles of the calyx sharply keeled but not winged in fruit; achenes dull P. Convolvulus 18. Angles of the calyx conspicuously winged in fruit; achenes shining, 19 19. Fruiting calyx 10 to 15 mm. long; achene 4 mm. long P. scandens 19. Fruiting calyx 5 to 7 mm. long; achene 2.6 to 3 mm. long P. dutnetorum 17. Nodes of the stems conspicuously bristly-ciliate with reflexed bristles; angles of the calyx obscurely keeled P. cilinode Section 1. Avicularia P. aviculare L. Knot weed. Dooryards and waste ground; a common weed. Probably equally common throughout our area, but collected mostly from the Hudson Valley. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 121 P. erectum L. In our area known only through a collection from north of Nassau Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4627 (CU). P, tenue Michx. Dry shaly (sometimes sandy) hillsides and knolls; abun- dant and characteristic on the loose shales of the Hudson and Harlem Valleys, but not reported northeastward. 1 mile north of Kinderhook, on sandy knoll; north of Stuyvesant Falls; Nutten Hook; northeast of Fowlers’ Lake ; Mount Merino ; Blue Hill ; Silvernails ; 2 miles southwest of Hillsdale. Section 2. Tovara P. virginianum L. ( Tovara virginiana of Gray’s Manual ). Moist soil in woods and thickets and along streams; common throughout. Section 3. Persicaria Smartweed P. amphibium L. Rooted in shallow water around the margins of lakes and ponds; common. The plant occurs both with floating leaves and later, when water level is lowered, in a terrestrial form. Kinderhook Lake ; Queechy Lake; No Bottom Pond; Spring Lake, Red Hook; Robinson Pond; Shaver Pond. The form with foliaceous margins on the ocreae (P. Hartwrightii Gray) occurs locally in grassy marshes; 1 mile southeast of Fowlers’ Lake, 1436; 2 miles southeast of Taghkanic, 3361. P. coccineum Muhl. Swamps and borders of lakes and ponds; infrequent. Kinderhook Lake, House 11309 ; Nassau Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4480 (CU) ; [3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3894], P. scabrum Moench. A collection by Peck, from Kinderhook Lake, labeled P. lapathifolmm, has the thick, erect, greenish spikes and broad achenes of P. scabrum and is apparently of this species. Otherwise unknown. P. lapathifolium L. Moist soil, borders of lakes and streams, often in swampy places ; infrequent. Kinderhook, along Kinderhook Creek, 4023 ; Stuyvesant Falls, 2384; Taghkanic Lake, 2008; Robinson Pond, House 20605. P. pensylvanicum L. In moist soil, in open swamps, ditches and culti- vated ground; frequent. In the Hudson Valley often abundant and weedy; dis- tribution eastward poorly known. In our area represented only by var. laevigatum Fern. P. Persicaria L. Moist places, in waste and cultivated grounds; very common. The most abundant “weedy” smartweed in our area. P. Hydropiper L. Moist soil, waste or cultivated ground; probably more common, but known from relatively few localities. 4 miles north of Lebanon Springs, 3787 ; 1 mile north of Kinderhook ; Brace Mountain. P. hydropiperoides Michx. Wet places near streams and ponds; infre- quent. Hudson River, south of Castleton, House 24184; Wynkoops’ Pond, village of Kinderhook, 1679; Robinson Pond, 3953. P. punctatum Ell. Wet or swampy places; common. Especially con- spicuous and abundant in the tidal marshes of the Hudson River. Represented in our area by var. confertiflorum (Meisn.) Fassett. The var. majus (Meisn.) Fassett (P. robustius of Gray’s Manual) was reported from the Hudson Estuary by Muenscher (1937), but the report is unverified, and Fassett (Brittonia 6 : 374, 378, 1948) does not report this variety from the estuary except in the vicinity of New York. Section 4. Tiniaria Bindweeds P. Convolvulus L. Waste and cultivated grounds; a common weed. Also 122 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM found in rocky woods and other natural habitats, where appearing entirely indigenous. P. cilinode Michx. Thickets and woods, usually in rocky places. Com- mon eastward, especially at higher elevations; rare in the Hudson Valley. Austerlitz, 688, 1970; 2 miles south of Copake, along Bashbish Brook, 3349 ; Valatie, along Kinderhook Creek, 1893 ; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. P. scandens L. Thickets near ponds and streams; climbing over bushes; frequent in the Hudson Valley. Not reported elsewhere. Poelsburg, 2367 (PENN) ; Waldorf Pond, House 20916; 1 mile south of Kinderhook, 4017. P. dumetorum L. (P. cristatum of Gray’s Manual) . Rocky woods; infrequent. Curtis Mountain, 2144 (PENN) ; Blue Hill, 2185; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 3499. Section 5. Echinocaulon Tear thumbs P. sagittatum L. Wet places in swampy woods and thickets and along streams; common. P. arifolium L. With the preceding and about equally common; through- out. In our area represented only by var. pubescens (Keller) Fern. 3. Fagopyrum Mill. F. sagittatum Gilib. Buckwheat. Frequently escaped from cultivation and often persistent and self-sown for some years. CHENOPODIACEAE (Goosefoot Family) 1. Leaves linear, rigid, prickle-pointed 5. Salsoia 1. Leaves flat, linear-lanceolate or broader, not prickly, 2 2. Flowers monoecious or dioecious 4. Atriplex 2. Flowers perfect, 3 3. Fruiting calyx horizontally winged, 4 4. Leaves narrowly linear-lanceolate, entire ; flowers axillary 3. Kochia 4. Leaves broad, coarsely toothed; flowers paniculate 2. Cycloloma 3. Fruiting calyx not winged, herbaceous, greenish 1. Chenopodium 1. Chenopodium L. 1. Plants glandular, more or less aromatic, 2 2. Leaves pinnately lobed ; flowers in open forking cymes which are ar- ranged in loose spikes C. Botrys 2. Leaves toothed or nearly entire; flowers in dense axillary clusters C. ambrosioides 1. Plants neither aromatic nor glandular, often mealy, 3 3. Plants bright green throughout; panicles very loose and open, nearly naked C. gigantospermum 3. Leaves white-mealy on the lower surface, 4 4. Plants low, spreading; sepals not keeled in fruit; some of the seeds vertical C. glaucum 4. Plants tall, erect ; sepals somewhat keeled in fruit (when dry) ; all the seeds horizontal C. album C. gigantospermum Aellen ( C . hybridum var. gigantospermum of Gray’s Manual). Woods and thickets; infrequent. Brainard, House 18419 ; crevices in shale rock southwest of West Ghent, 4004. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 123 C. album L. Pigweed. Fields, gardens and woods; a common weed, often appearing as if indigenous. A specimen from Nassau, 2142 , has been referred by Wald to the newly described C. Foggii Wahl.* This species differs from true C. album by the “readily separable pericarp and thin, narrowly ovate leaves, entire or with basal lobes.’’ C. ambrosioides L. Mexican tea. Waste places along the Hudson River; infrequent. Nutten Hook, 4502; flats between Hudson and Athens, Muen- scher & Clausen 4639 (CU). C. Botrys L. Dry gravelly situations; infrequent. 2 miles east of Valatie, 1887. C. glaucum L. Mud flats south of Hudson, Muenscher & Clausen 4640 (CU). Otherwise unknown. 2. Cycloloma Moq. C. atriplicifolium (Spreng.) Coult. Tumbleweed. At one time forming an extensive growth on the sand flats between Stuyvesant and Nutten Hook, 4057. Several acres of the dredged-up sand were covered thickly by this re- cent immigrant from the Western States (figure 14) ; much less abundant in recent years (McVaugh, 1947). 3. Kochia Roth K. scoparia (L.) Schrad. Frequently cultivated, and occasional as an escape. Niverville, House 13398. 4. Atriplex L. A. patula L. Weed in cultivated grounds; rare. Reported by Hoysradt from the “village roads” of Pine Plains; House 11315, from Niverville, ap- proaches the var. hastata (L.) Gray. 5. Salsola L. S. Kali L. “Russian thistle.” Sand and dry places along the Hudson River, where frequent. Seemingly introduced along the New York Central Railroad. In our area represented only by var. tenuifolia G. F. W. Mey. AMARANTHACEAE (Amaranth Family) 1. Calyx of pistillate flowers none; tall erect plants of marshes 1. Acnida 1. Calyx with 2 to 5 lobes or distinct sepals; weedy species of waste and cultivated ground 2. Amaranthus 1. Acnida L. A. cannabina L. Abundant in tidal mud along the Hudson River. Other- wise unknown. Mouth of Muitzes Kill; Poelsburg; mouth of Mill Creek, Stuyvesant; Nutten Hook (CU) ; Hudson (CU) ; Cheviot; Magdalen Island. 2. Amaranthusf L. 1. Flowers in small dose axillary clusters; stamens and sepals 2 or 3; leaves small, spatulate-oblong or obovate, 1 to 7 cm. long; plants diffuse or prostrate, 2 •Bartonia 27: 19-20. 1954. t Correctly spelled Amarantus, following the original orthography of Linnaeus, but almost always Amaranthus by recent authors. 124 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 2. Plants diffuse ; utricle wrinkled ; leaves toward ends of branches much reduced A. albus 2. Plants prostrate ; utricle smooth ; upper leaves scarcely reduced A. graecizans 1. Flowers in dense panicles terminating the branches ; stamens and sepals 5 ; leaves larger, petioled, ovate-lanceolate, 8 to 15 cm. long; plants rough, erect, 3 3. Branches of the panicle stout, 8 to 20 mm. wide; sepals of the pistillate flowers obtuse, often notched at tip and mucronate A. retroflexus 3. Branches of the panicle slender, about 5 mm. wide above the middle; sepals of the pistillate flowers acute, mucronate A. hybridus A. retroflexus L. Pigweed. Weed in gardens and other cultivated or waste grounds; frequent. A. hybridus L. Pigweed. Situations like the last; common. A. albus L. Tumbleweed. Cultivated or waste places, often in sandy soil; a common weed. A. graecizans L. Waste places; rare. Introduced from the west. Railroad yards, Hudson, 4755 (USNA). PHYTOLACCACEAE (Pokeweed Family) Phytolacca L. P. americana L. Pokeweed. Woods and wooded banks, often in recent clearings; frequent in the Hudson Valley, but not reported eastward. ILLECEBRACEAE1 (Knotwort Family) 1. Leaves awl-shaped; stipules none; calyx urn-shaped, indurated in fruit 1. Scleranthus 1. Leaves flat; stipules present; calyx open, of separate thin sepals 2. Paronychia 1. Scleranthus L. Knawel S. annuus L. A weed in fields and waste places, usually in sandy soil; frequent. 2. Paronychia Mill. 1. Plants pubescent ; flowers nearly sessile ; plants low and spreading P. fastigiata 1. Plants glabrous or essentially so; flowers stalked; plants slender and erect P. canadensis P. fastigiata (Raf.) Fern. Sandy soil along Kinderhook Creek about 1 mile south of Kinderhook, 4015 ; 2 miles east of Spencertown. Otherwise unknown. P. canadensis (L.) Wood. Dry rocky woods and banks; common. NYCTAGINACEAE (Four-O’clock Family) Oxybaphus L’Her. O. nyctagineus (Michx.) Sweet ( Mirabilis nyctaginea of Gray’s Manual ). Dry sandy places, or in cinders; rather frequent along the Hudson River; * Included in Caryophyllaceat in Gray’s Manual. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 125 unknown elsewhere. Seemingly introduced along the New York Central Railroad. AIZOACEAE (Carpetweed Family) Mollugo L. M. verticillata L. Carpetweed. Weed in sandy soil, usually in cultivated grounds; frequent. PORTULACACEAE (Purslane Family) 1. Plants prostrate; leaves many, small, obovate or wedge-shaped, alternate; flowers yellow; capsule opening by a lid 1. Portulaca 1. Plants weakly ascending; leaves 2, elongated, 2.5 to 15 cm. long, opposite; flowers pink or whitish ; capsules opening by three valves 2. Claytonia 1. Portulaca L. P. oleracea L. Pussley. A common weed in gardens and waste places. 2. Claytonia L. 1. Leaves linear-lanceolate, elongated, 7 to 15 cm. long C. virginica 1. Leaves oblong-lanceolate or spatulate-oblong, 2.5 to 5 cm. long C. carolinicina C. virginica L. Spring beauty. Moist woods and alluvial banks ; infre- quent. Widely distributed in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys, but only very locally abundant. 3 miles northeast of Stuyvesant, 370; south of Niverville, 519 ; Stuyvesant Falls, Iva Allen; 2 miles south of Claverack, 4373 ; [Clave- rack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. C. caroliniana Michx. Broad-leaved spring beauty. Moist woods, at the higher elevations northeastward; rare. Mount Lebanon, House 16152; Lebanon Springs, 4293. CARYOPHYLLACEAE (Pink Family) /. Sepals distinct or nearly so, more or less spreading, 2 2. Stipules present; leaves whorled, thread-shaped 5. Spergula 2. Stipules wanting; leaves opposite, 3 3. Capsule splitting into valves; plant glabrous or the stems pubescent in lines, scarcely viscid, 4 4. Leaves linear, thread-shaped; plants low and tufted; styles alternate with the sepals 3. Sagina 4. Leaves linear to broader; if linear, the plants not low and tufted; styles opposite some or all of the sepals, 5 5. Petals entire, not 2-parted 4. Arenaria 5. Petals 2-parted or wanting 1. Stellaria 3. Capsule curved-cylindric, opening by a row of teeth at apex ; petals 2- parted; plants hairy, usually viscid 2. Cerastium 1. Sepals united into a tubular calyx, 6 6. Calyx naked at base, without an involucre of bracts, 7 7. Styles 5 ; calyx 10-nerved, 8 8. Sepals with long herbaceous tips ; styles opposite the petals 6. Agrostemma 8. Sepals not long-tipped; styles alternate with the petals 8. Lychnis 7. Styles 2 or 3, 9 9. Styles 3; calyx 10-nerved 7. Silene 126 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 9. Styles 2 ; calyx obscurely nerved 9. Saponaria 6. Calyx with an involucre of bracts at base 10. Dianthus 1. Stellaria L. 1. Stems and flower stalks glabrous, 2 2. Flower bracts leaflike, resembling the upper leaves S. calycantha 2. Flower bracts scalelike, soon scarious, at least on margins, 3 3. Leaves linear, subacute at both ends ; seeds smooth ; inflorescence soon becoming lateral S. longifolia 3. Leaves lanceolate, broadest just above the base; seeds minutely rough- ened; inflorescence terminal S. graminea 1. Stems hairy in lines Y. media S. calycantha (Ledeb.) Bong. Cool moist places; apparently rather fre- quent in western Massachusetts : Mount Washington, Knowlton & Schivein- furth (NEBC). In our area represented only by var. isophylla (Fern.) Fern. S. longifolia Muhl. Moist grassy places; distribution not well known. New Britain, House 23645; Kinderhook, 974. “Silvernail Marsh, rare,” according to Hoysradt (1874b). S. graminea L. Moist grassy places; frequent. Malden Bridge, near Bachus Pond, 921; New Lebanon, House 21309 ; 1 mile northwest of Brainard, House 21406. S. media (L.) Cyrillo. Chickweed. Weed in lawns, cultivated grounds and woods; frequent. 2. Cerastium L. 1. Petals 8 to 10 mm. long; plants perennial; leaves rather stiff, with fascicles of leaves in the axils C. arvense 1. Petals mostly 5 to 7 mm. long; leaves soft, without axillary fascicles, 2 2. Plants perennial; lower pedicels not over 15 mm. long; petals about equal- ing the sepals C. vulgatum 2. Plants annual; lower pedicels 15 to 50 mm. long; petals longer than the sepals, often twice as long C. nutans C. arvense L. Bare rocky slopes on the higher hills to the southeastward; rare. Cedar Mountain, 3454; Washburn Mountain, 4210 (GH) ; Stissing Mountain, Hoysradt (PENN) ; [Millerton, House 22411]. C. vulgatum L. Mouse-ear chickweed. A common weed in woods and culti- vated grounds. In our area represented only by var. hirsutum Fries. C. nutans Raf. Harvey Mountain, near Massachusetts-New York line, Hoffmann (NEBC) ; shaly quarry bank about 1 mile northeast of Stuy- vesant, 505. Reported from Copake Falls (Burnham, 1913; Hoffmann, 1922) ; Pine Plains (Hoysradt) ; Schodack (Wibbe, in Gordinier & Howe, 1894). 3. Sagina L. S. procumbens L. Springy places and wet rocks, at elevations above 300 m. in the eastern part of the area. West of Berry Pond, Hancock, 3773; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 682 (PENN) ; Bashbish Falls, Dobbin 934. 4. Arenaria L. 1. Leaves 10 to 20 mm. long, elliptical, blunt; plants perennial A. lateriflora 1. Leaves 4 to 8 mm. long, ovate, acute; plants annual A. serpyllifolia FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 127 A. lateriflora L. Wet meadows, often in more or less calcareous situa- tions; also in woods (Lebanon Springs, 2406). Widely distributed, but in- frequent and only locally abundant. North of Kinderhook, 955; east of Clermont, along Roeliff Jansen Kill, 4352; calcareous meadow 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 814. A. serpyllifolia L. Dry gravelly or rocky places, weedy; infrequent. Valatie ; Blue Hill; 2 miles southeast of Germantown. 5. Spergula L. S. arvensis L. Spurry. Weed in cultivated ground; rare. Stephentown Center, House 21683; east of Blue Hill, according to House. 6. Agrostemma L. A. Githago L. Corncockle. Weed in and near grain fields; infrequent. Reported as early as 1836 from Troy (Wright & Hall) and from Kinder- hook in 1839 (Woodworth) ; probably much less frequent now than formerly. 7. Silene L. 1. Calyx strongly bladdery-inflated, papery; plant perennial, glabrous, glaucous S. Cucubalus 1. Calyx not inflated except by the enlarging capsule ; plants pubescent or viscid or both, 2 2. Plant annual, tall, erect, 20 to 90 cm. high, 3 3. Plant nearly glabrous, a part of each internode covered by a dark sticky substance; leaves linear-lanceolate, acute; corolla 2 to 4 mm. broad or wanting S. antirrhina 3. Plant sticky-pubescent; lower leaves large and spatulate; corolla white, large, 15 to 25 mm. broad S. noctiflora 2. Plant perennial, tufted, the stems 10 to 20 cm. high, strongly sticky- pubescent, at least above; flowers pink, about 2.5 cm. across S. caroliniana S. Cucubalus Wibel. Bladder campion. Weed of fields and roadsides; locally abundant. Occasionally appearing as if indigenous, as at Green River, in rocky woods, 1515. S. antirrhina L. Dry rocky woods and banks; infrequent. Often rather weedy. Abundant on Stissing Mountain ; 1 mile east of Pulvers, Ghent ; Poels- burg; North Chatham; Germantown; Clermont; Boston Corners. S. noctiflora L. A specimen in the Beck collection, now at the New York State Museum, collected at New Lebanon in 1823 by G. H. Lawrence, is apparently of this species. S. caroliniana Walt., var. pensylvanica (Michx.) Fern. Dry woods, on shaly or schistose rocks in the southern part of our area. Frequent in the town of Copake: Cedar Mountain, 137 (PENN); north of Robinson Pond, 843; Tom Hill, on limestone, 826; 2 miles south of Copake, 3355; reported by Hoysradt as “common on slate hills north of Pine Plains,” and should be sought in Ancram and Gallatin. 8. Lychnis L. L. alba Mill. White campion. Roadside weed; occasional. [Lychnis Floscuculi L. was reported from Old Chatham upon the authority of Sereno Watson 128 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM by C. L. Shear (Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 18: 60. 1891). This showy red- flowered species with 4-lobed petals has not since been reported from our area. Shear’s note was called to my attention by Dr. House] . 9. Saponaria L. 1. Calyx terete S. officinalis 1. Calyx strongly 5-angled, becoming 5-winged S. Vaccaria S. officinalis L. Bouncing Bet. Waste places and roadsides; common throughout. Most abundant along the Hudson River, near the New York Central Railroad. S. Vaccaria L. Known only through a collection from Greendale, Livingston, June 22, 1925. 10. Dianthus L. D. Armeria L. Deptford pink. Waste places, especially about old yards and roadsides ; frequent. CERATOPHYLLACEAE (Hornwort Family) Ceratophyllum L. C. demersum L. Hornwort. Ponds and sluggish streams, including the Hudson River; common. Fruits but rarely. NYMPHAEACEAE (Water-lily Family) 1. Leaves with a deep notch or sinus on 1 side; petals many, in several rows; ovary 1, with several compartments; flowers white, pink or yellow, 2 2. Petals yellow, small and stamenlike; sepals petallike, yellow (sometimes with a red blotch at base) 2. Nuphar 2. Petals white or pinkish, showy; sepals green 3. Nymphaea 1. Leaves peltate, without a notch at the side; petioles, lower side of young leaves, and inflorescence strongly gelatinous; petals 3 or 4 purplish; pistils 4 to 18, separate 1. Brasenia 1. Brasenia Schreb. B. Schreberi Gmel. Ponds; rare. Reported from Chatham by Eaton (1818), from Pine Plains by Hoysradt and from Malden Bridge by Wibbe (in Gordinier & Howe, 1894). Taghkanic Lake, 2023; Sutherland Pond, Chatham, 2136; Spring Lake, Red Hook, 2747 ; Bells’ Pond, 3302. 2. Nuphar Sm. 1. Flowers 2.5 to 3 cm. in diameter or less; stigma 6- to 10-rayed; leaves 3.5 to 10 cm. long, the basal lobes nearly as long as the body N. micro phyllum 1. Flowers 4 to 6 cm. in diameter; stigma 12- to 24-rayed; leaves 15 to 30 cm. long, the basal lobes about half as long as the body, 2 2. Leaves more or less erect, the blades upright, with an open sinus ; sepals green-tinged inside at the base N. advena 2. Leaves not erect, the blades floating; sinus narrow, often nearly closed; sepals red-tinged inside at base N. advena var. variegatum FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 129 N. microphyllum (Pers.) Fern. Ponds and slow streams; rare. Berry Pond, Hancock, 3775; 1 mile north of Madalin, 2765; Poelsburg, Taylor 1410 (NY). N. advena (Ait.) Ait.f. “Yellow water lily.” Tidal mud along the Hudson River, where very abundant, often forming pure stands many acres in extent (figure 15). It is, in our area, strictly an estuarine species; the com- mon yellow “water lily” of lakes seems always to be the var. varicgata. There seems, however, to be no clear-cut line between the two. On the tidal flats of the river are occasional shallow depressions containing water even at low tide, and here occur plants with the floating leaves and narrow leaf sinuses of the varicgata type, while a few feet away are the plants with upright leaves and broad sinuses which are so characteristic of the habitat. Var. variegatum (Engelm.) Engelm. ( N . variegatum of Gray’s Manual). Ponds and sluggish streams ; common. Probably found in every natural permanent lake or pond in our area; also in Taghkanic Creek near New Forge, 3496. 3. Nymphaea L.1 1. Flowers 7 to 12 (15) cm. in diameter, sweet-scented; sepals often purplish outside; petals generally with an ovate apex; inner filaments narrower than the anthers; seeds 1.5 to 2.3 mm. long; leaves usually purplish be- neath and indistinctly veined; branches of the rhizome not constricted at base N. odorata 1. Flowers 10 to 23 cm. in diameter, scentless or nearly so; sepals green; petals generally rounded at apex; filaments broader than the anthers; seeds 2.8 to 4.4 mm. long ; leaves green beneath, vein ; branches of the rhizome constricted at base, tuberlike, readily detachable N. tuberosa N. odorata Ait. “White water lily.” Margins of ponds and sluggish streams, including the Hudson River; common. N. tuberosa Paine. “Locally common in . . . Kinderhook Lake” (Muen- scher, Suppl. 24th Ann. Report N. Y. State Conserv. Dept. 247, 1935). MAGNOLIACEAE (Magnolia Family) 1. Leaves lobed and appearing as if cut off abruptly at apex; corolla greenish yellow, marked with orange; pistils flat and scalelike, indehiscent, in an elongated cone 1. Liriodendron 1. Leaves oblong, acute at apex, not lobed; corolla glaucous-green tinged with yellow (in our species) ; pistils cohering into a fleshy cone, the individual carpels splitting at maturity, exposing the berrylike seed 2. Magnolia 1. Liriodendron L. L. Tulipifera L. Tulip tree. Rich woods; common in the Hudson Valley, but decreasing northward to Kinderhook, 1027. Occurs infrequently in the Harlem Valley; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY). Not definitely known elsewhere, but reported by Harrison from Lebanon Springs, where it is found at present in cultivation. 2. Magnolia L. M. acuminata (L.) L. Cucumber tree. Swampy woods about 4 miles north of Lebanon Springs, whence reported by Torrey (1843), Harrison (1887) and McVaugh (1936c). Otherwise unknown in eastern New York except in cultivation. 1 The key to this genus is taken over nearly word for word from Wiegand & Eames (1926), as I have had no opportunity to see N. tuberosa in the field. 130 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM RANUNCULACEAE (Buttercup Family) 1. Woody climbing vines with opposite leaves; styles enlarged and plumose in fruit 13. Clematis 1. Plants herbaceous, or, if woody, not as above, 2 2. Plants shrubby; wood yellow; leaves pinnate 4. Xanthorhiza 2. Plants herbaceous, 3 3. Fruit a follicle or many-seeded berry, 4 4. Petals present; leaves compound, 5 5. Petals large, spurred ; flowers 5 cm. long 7. Aquilegia 5. Petals smaller, not spurred, equaling or shorter than the sepals, 6 6. Leaves ternately decompound, 7 7. Flowers in elongated spikelike racemes; fruit a follicle 6. Cimicifuga 7. Flowers in short racemes; fruit a berry 5. Actaea 6. Leaves 3-foliolate, evergreen 3. Coptis 4. Petals absent ; leaves simple, 8 8. Calyx large, showy, bright yellow; flowers cymose; leaves reniform, crenate 2. Caltha 8. Calyx small, greenish white; leaves sharply incised-lobed ; flowers solitary 1. Hydrastis 3. Fruit an achene, 9 9. Sepals and petals both present, the petals more showy, usually yellow 11. Ranunculus 9. Petals absent; sepals often petaloid, never yellow, 10 10. Cauline leaves all alternate, ternately decompound; flowers small and numerous, panicled 12. Thalictrum 10. Cauline leaves opposite, whorled or apparently none; flowers few; sepals large, showy, 11 11. Cauline leaves whorled, distant from the flowers, lobed and in- cised, or ternately decompound, 12 12. Achenes strongly ribbed, mostly 4 to 15 in number; leaves ternately decompound 10. Anemonella 12. Achenes not ribbed, numerous (at least more than 15) ; leaves palmately lobed, incised or divided 8. Anemone 11. Cauline leaves apparently none, reduced to an involucre just beneath the petaloid calyx ; basal leaves with three entire lobes 9. Hepatica 1. Hydrastis Ellis H. canadensis L. Goldenseal. A plant of rich soils of the interior. In eastern New York known only from a patch of woods south of Hudson, Weatherby (GH) ; reported from Hudson by Stebbins (1830). 2. Caltha L. C. palustris L. Cowslip, “Marsh marigold.” Swampy woods and meadows; common. 3. Coptis Salisb. C. groenlandica (Oeder) Fern. Goldthread. Moist, often swampy or sphag- nous woods; common at the higher elevations eastward and northeastward, but rare in the Hudson Valley, where it is now confined to a few small areas. Kinderhook (PENN) ; Niverville (PENN) ; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V) ; North Chatham, House 21165]. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 131 4. Xanthorhiza Marsh. X. simplicissima Marsh. Yellowroot. In woods in an abandoned arbore- tum 1 mile north of Lebanon Springs, 3661. Now thoroughly established and covering nearly an acre of ground. 5. Actaea L. 1. Pedicels stout, in flower 3 to 6 mm. long; fruit white (rarely dull purple) A. alba 1. Pedicels slender, in flower 8 to 15 mm. long; fruit crimson, shining (rarely white) A. rubra A. alba (L.) Mill. (A. pachypoda of Gray’s Manual). White baneberry. Woods; common. A. rubra (Ait.) Willd. Red baneberry. Woods; rather infrequent, but widely distributed. 6. Cimicifuga L. C. racemosa (L.) Nutt. Bugbane. Rich woods; locally abundant in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Kinderhook Lake; Kinderhook; Tom Hill, Copake, on limestone soil, 835 (figure 16). 7. Aquilegia L. A. canadensis L. Wild columbine. Dry rocky banks and woods; com- mon. Apparently most abundant on the shales and limestones of the Hudson Valley. 8. Anemone L. 1. Plants tall, usually not less than 25 cm. tall, often 60 to 90 cm., 2- to several-flowered, 2 2. Cauline leaves sessile ; achenes not woolly ; fruiting head spherical A. canadensis 2. Cauline leaves petioled; achenes densely woolly; fruiting head cylindrical A. virginiana 1. Plants smaller, 8 to 20 cm. tall, 1-flowered; achenes glabrous; cauline leaves petioled A. quinquefolia A. virginiana L. Dry woods and banks; common. The report of a re- lated species, A. riparia, from Pine Plains (Taylor, 1915) is apparently based upon a collection by G. M. Wilber now at the New York Botanical Garden. The plant in question appears to be A. virginiana. A. canadensis L. Wet meadows and along streams; common in the Hudson Valley; reported from Mount Lebanon (House) ; unknown elsewhere eastward. A. quinquefolia L. Wood anemone. Sandy and rich woods; common. 9. Hepatica Mill. 1. Lobes of the leaves and involucral bracts rounded H. americana 1. Lobes of the leaves and invokicral bracts acute H. acutiloba H. americana (DC.) Ker. Hepatica. Dry woods; common. H. acutiloba DC. Dry calcareous woods; known only from the towns of Austerlitz, Canaan and New Lebanon, at elevations of 300 m. or more; there locally abundant. Reported by Hoysradt (1874b) as occurring “sparingly on Stissing.” 132 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 10. Anemonella Spach A. thalictroides (L.) Spach. Rue anemone, windflower. Dry woods; common. Most abundant in the Hudson Valley, where it is often the most conspicuous feature of the spring woodlands. 11. Ranunculus L. Crowfoot, buttercup 1. Flowers white; aquatics with dissected leaves R. longirostris 1. Flowers yellow, 2 2. Leaves linear to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, undivided, entire or barely toothed, 3 3. Stems upright, hollow, rather conspicuously jointed; leaves 4 to 10 cm. long, scarcely denticulate ; achene with a long narrow subulate beak R. ambigerts 3. Stems filiform, creeping and rooting at the nodes ; leaves 0.6 to 2.5 cm. long, nearly entire ; achene very minutely beaked R. reptans 2. Most of the leaves cleft or divided, not narrow and elongated, 4 4. Submersed (or stranded) aquatics with the underwater leaves finely dissected; leaves all repeatedly 3-forked, the emersed ones usually roundish in outline R. flabellaris 4. Terrestrial plants, often in wet places but not submersed aquatics, 5 5. Flower small, 1 cm. across or less, 6 6. Plant glabrous, 7 7 . Basal leaves all 3-lobed or 3-parted ; stems stout, hollow ; heads oblong; achenes very numerous R. sceleratus 7. Basal leaves suborbicular, crenate, not lobed ; stems slender ; heads subglobose, the achenes few in number R. abortivus 6. Plants hirsute, 8 8. Achene with long recurved beak ; head of fruit subglobose R. recurvatus 8. Achene beak straight or nearly so; head distinctly oblong R. pensylvanicus 5. Flowers large, mostly 1.5 to 2.5 cm. across, 9 9. Style (forming the “beak” of the fruit) elongated, 1 mm. or more long in fruit, 10 10. Stems ascending or procumbent and rooting at the nodes, often with long flowerless branches; plants commonly growing in wet or swampy places, 11 11. Achenes 3 to 3.5 mm. broad, with a stout straight beak more than half the length of the achene R. septentrionalis 11. Achenes 2 to 2.5 mm. broad, with the somewhat curved beak half the length of the achene or less ; flowers usually double (in ours) R. repens 10. Stems tufted from a dense cluster of roots, more or less upright and not creeping; plants of dry woodlands and clearings, 12 12. Roots much thickened, fleshy; leaves mostly pinnately cleft or divided, with oblong or linear lobes or divisions R. fascicularis 12. Roots scarcely thickened; leaves palmately or pedately 3- cleft or divided, the divisions broad R. hispidus 9. Style short, recurved, less than 1 mm. long in fruit; large coarse weedy plants with all the leaf divisions sessile and palmate R. acris R. longirostris Godr. White water crowfoot. Lakes and ponds; rare. Wal- dorf Pond, 906; Knickerbocker Lake, 1191; Copake Lake, 3425. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 133 R. flabellaris Raf. Yellow water crowfoot. Muddy ditches and on ex- posed mud in swamps and around small ponds; sometimes in shallow water; infrequent. 2 miles southeast of Stuyvesant Falls, 2028 ; 2 miles south of Ghent, 4013; 2 miles south of Germantown, 3161 ; 3 miles north of Ancram- dale, 3348. R. reptans L., var. ovalis (Bigel.) T. & G. Abundant on the muddy shores of No Bottom Pond, 1953. Otherwise unknown. R. ambigens S. Wats. Ditches, in mud; rare. Flats northeast of Kinder- hook, 1564; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3317. Otherwise unknown. R. abortivus L. Moist woods; common. R. sceleratus L. Wet places; rare. A coastal or salt-marsh species, known in our area only from the shore of the Hudson River south of Hudson, 1603 (PENN). R. recurvatus Poir. Moist woods, common. R. acris L. Tall meadow buttercup. Fields, pastures and roadsides; com- mon. R. pensylvanicus L.f. Moist, often rich, soil; widely distributed but not common. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Becraft Mountain, 2236; Kin- derhook, 1409 ; Knickerbocker Lake, House 23706. R. septentrionalis Poir. Swamp buttercup. Swampy woods and wet borders of streams and ponds ; common. R. hispidus Michx. Early woods buttercup. Wooded hillsides; common in the Hudson Valley; occurs in the Harlem Valley; otherwise unknown. Poels- burg, 374; 2 miles east of Kinderhook, 453 (PENN) ; 3 miles north of Clave- rack, 555 (PENN) ; 2 miles north of Chatham, 4103 (GA) ; Pine Plains, Hoys- radt (PENN) ; Millerton, House 22420. Represented in our area only by var. falsus Fern. R. repens L., forma pleniflorus (Fern.) Fern, in House. Double butter- cup. Cultivated, and occasionally established as an escape, as in the “vlei” at Kinderhook, 680. R. fascicularis Muhl. Dry shaly hillsides in the Hudson Valley; rare. Abundant at the following localities: 1 mile north of Stuyvesant Falls, 4139; Mount Merino, 4071 (GH) ; Blue Hill, 616. 12. Thalictrum L. 1. Filaments capillary, drooping ; petioles of the stem leaves well developed ; flowering period late April to early June T. dioicum 1. Filaments club-shaped, thickest just below the anthers, spreading or ascend- ing until after the flowering period ; petioles of the stem leaves almost none; flowering period late June to August T. polygamum T. dioicum L. Early meadow rue. Dry woods; common. The name “meadow rue,” as applied to this species, is a misnomer, as it is charac- teristically a plant of dry wooded hillsides. T. polygamum Muhl. Meadow rue. Wet meadows and swamps and along streams; common. 13. Clematis L. 1. Flowers white, about 2 cm. across, in cymose panicles C. virginiana 1. Flowers purple, 5 to 7.5 cm. across, usually solitary C. verticillaris C. virginiana L. Woodbine. Moist hedges and thickets; common. C. verticillaris DC. Purple clematis, virgin’s-bower. Rocky woods; widely distributed, on various soils, but infrequent. Mount Alander, 1772 \ east of 134 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Boston Corners, 2274; Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 3628; 3 miles north of Castleton, 3979; Old Chatham, 637; 3 miles north of Claverack, 1306. The first three specimens cited above are from acid soils, on schistose rocks; the Castleton locality is in a rich woods, on shale; the last two are on limestone rocks. BERBERIDACEAE (Barberry Family) 1. Plants shrubby, spiny, with yellow flowers and yellow wood; fruit a red few-seeded berry 1. Berberis 1. Plants herbaceous, 2 2. Flowers solitary, nodding, white; leaves of the flowering stems 2, deeply lobed, 1-sided ; fruit a large fleshy berry, yellow when ripe 3. Podophyllum 2. Flowers racemose, yellowish green, small ; leaf 1, ternately compound ; fruit soon splitting, exposing the two fleshy blue drupelike seeds. 2. Caulophyllum 1. Berberis L. B. vulgaris L. European barberry. Dry woods and hillsides; very com- mon on the shales and clays of the Hudson Valley, especially near Hudson; elsewhere occasional. 2. Caulophyllum Michx. C. thalictroides (L.) Michx. Blue cohosh. Rich woods; frequent. Most abundant in calcareous situations. No Bottom Pond, 478; 2 miles west of Red Rock, 4166 (GA) ; Green River, 1543 ; Ashley Hill, Chatham, 4087 (GH) ; Stuyvesant Falls, 507. 3. Podophyllum L. P. peltatum L. May apple, mandrake. Moist woods; common in the Hudson Valley; otherwise unknown except from Perry Peak, Canaan, at an elevation of about 450 meters, House 21179. MENISPERMACEAE (Moonseed Family) Menispermum L. M. canadense L. Moonseed. Woods and thickets, in dry or moist soil; frequent in the Hudson Valley, unknown elsewhere. Poelsburg, 2252; Wal- dorf Pond, House 20934 ; 3 miles north of Claverack, on limestone talus, 1294; Tivoli, 2690; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]; Magdalen Island, 2684. LAURACEAE (Laurel Family) 1. Leaves with one or two thumblike lobes, or entire; all three sorts of leaves usually on the same plant; flowers in terminal peduncled racemes, appear- ing with the leaves; fruit ovoid, blue, on a fleshy red pedicel 1. Sassafras 1. Leaves entire; flowers in dense subsessile axillary clusters, appearing before the leaves; fruit bright red 2. Lindera FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 135 1. Sassafras Nees S. albidurn (Nutt.) Nees. Sassafras. Dry woods and fields; common in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys; unknown from the higher elevations eastward and northeastward. 2. Lindera Thunb. L. Benzoin (L.) Blume. Spicebush. Moist or swampy woods; common. PAPAVERACEAE (Poppy Family) 1. Petals 8 to 12, white; plants scapose, with 1 flower and 1 leaf from a fleshy rootstock with reddish orange juice 1. Sanguinaria 1. Petals 4, yellow; plants with leafy stems and yellow juice 2. Chelidonium 1. Sanguinaria L. S. canadensis L. Bloodroot. Moist woods; common. 2. Chelidonium L. C. majus L. Celandine. Moist woods and banks; locally abundant, es- pecially near dwellings and towns. FUMARIACEAE1 (Fumitory Family) 1. Corolla with two petals prolonged into spurs at the base of the flower, the enlargement of the petals sometimes slight, 2 2. Plant a delicate climbing herbaceous vine with th rice-pinnate leaves; petals white or purplish, united into a spongy persistent corolla; flowers nu- merous, in a panicle 2. Adlumia 2. Plants low, erect, acaulescent, with ternately compound leaves; petals little united, deciduous, white to cream-colored or tinged with rose ; flowers in racemes of 4 to 10 1. Dicentra 1. Corolla with but 1 petal spurred at base, deciduous after flowering, pur- plish green or rose-colored, with yellow tips 3. Corydalis 1. Dicentra Bernh. 1. Flowers 2-spurred at base, not fragrant ; stem from a fleshy, loosely scaly bulb D. Cuciillaria 1. Flowers merely cordate at base, not spurred, fragrant; stem from a cluster of yellow pealike tubers D. canadensis D. Cucullaria (L.) Bernh. Dutchman’s-breeches. Rich woods; rather infre- quent, but locally abundant. South of Kinderhook, 4237 ; Ashley Hill, Chatham, 4088 (GA) ; Stuyvesant Falls, Iva Allen; Hollowville, 4063 ; “com- mon” at Pine Plains, according to Hoysradt; also reported from near Cler- mont. D. canadensis (Goldie) Walp. Squirrel corn. Known only from New Lebanon, Iva Allen, May 2, 1896. 1 Included in Fapaveraceae in Gray’s Manual. 136 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 2. Adlumia Raf. A. fungosa (Ait.) Greene. Woods; rare. Abundant in Bashbish Gorge, in clearings, 3566; 3 miles east of Elizaville, 3287 ; Washburn Mountain, 3464; 1 mile east of Pulvers, Ghent, 1500. At all the above stations the plants occur in soils underlain by acid rocks rather than in calcareous soils as usually reported. Unknown in the Hudson Valley, although reported from Hudson (Stebbins, 1830). 3. Corydalis Medic. C. sempervirens (L.) Pers. Rocky banks and exposed rocky hilltops, in acid soil. Unknown in the Hudson Valley; rather frequent elsewhere, but only locally abundant. Curtis Mountain, Nassau; Ashley Hill, Chatham; Brainard; Green River ; Hillsdale ; 2 miles east of Elizaville ; Stissing Mountain ; east of Boston Corners. CRUCIFERAE (Mustard Family) 1. Fruit not more than three times as long as wide, 2 2. Flowers white, greenish white or cream-colored, 3 3. Fruit turgid, scarcely at all flattened, ovoid or subglobose ; basal leaves coarse, undivided, 15 to 30 cm. long 5. Armoracia 3. (See also third “3”) Fruit flattened parallel with the broad partition 1. Berteroa 3. Fruit flattened at right angles to the narrow partition, 4 4. Pods obcordate 2. Capsella 4. Pods orbicular or oval 6. Lepidium 2. Flowers bright or pale yellow 3. Rorippa 1. Fruit four to many times as long as wide, 5 5. Flowers yellow or cream-yellow, 6 6. Apex of fruit beyond the valves beaklike, 2 mm. long or more; petals 6 to 20 mm. long, 7 7. Pods indehiscent, spongy; petals with dark veins 16. Raphanus 7. Pods dehiscent, thin-walled; petals clear yellow, 8 8. Apex of fruit beyond the valves more than 4 mm. long, or, if shorter, the leaves thin and often hairy, with dentate lobes 15. Brassica 8. Apex of fruit beyond the valves less than 4 mm. long; leaves semi- succulent, glabrous, with entire or crenate lobes 11. Barbarea 6. Apex of fruit beyond the valves 1 mm. long or less; petals 3 to 10 mm. long, 9 9. Leaves entire or nearly so; stem hairs vertical, attached by the middle 8. Erysimum 9. Leaves pinnatifid; stem hairs, if any, not as above, 10 10. Leaves waxy, shining, glabrous, shallowly crenate, the terminal lobes usually obtuse 11. Barbarea 10. Leaves usually thin and veiny, more or less sharply toothed, the terminal lobes commonly acute, 11 11. Fruiting pedicels thick and stout; valves of the pod with 1 to 3 ribs 9. Sisymbrium 11. Fruiting pedicels slender; valves of the pod veinless 3. Rorippa 5. Flowers pure white or purple, rarely greenish white or yellowish white, 12 12. Fruit indehiscent, thick and spongy, beaked 16. Raphanus 12. Fruit dehiscent, not spongy nor fleshy, 13 13. Leaves palmately divided and cleft 14. Dentaria 13. Leaves pinnatifid or undivided, 14 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 137 14. Petals 15 to 20 mm. long, purple (rarely white); plants coarse; leaves 9 to 15 cm. long, sharply toothed 10. Hesperis 14. Petals small, not exceeding 14 mm. in length, white (rarely purple- tinged), 15 15. Pods flattened, 16 16. Pubescence, if present, of simple hairs; plants, if glabrous, lacking sagittate-clasping leaves 13. Cardamine 16. Pubescence, if present, at least in part of branched hairs; plants, if glabrous, with sagittate-clasping leaves 12. Arabis 15. Pods terete or angular, not flattened, 17 17. Pods angular, the valves conspicuously keeled; plants with odor of onions; leaves deltoid-ovate, simple, not lobed 7. Alliaria 17. Pods terete; leaves pinnatifid, not onion-scented 4. Nasturtium 1. Berteroa DC. B. incana (L.) DC. Roadside weed 1 mile east of Kinderhook, 4766 (USNA). Otherwise unknown. 2. Capsella Medic. C. Bursa-pastoris (L.) Medic. Shepherd’s-purse. Cultivated and waste ground; a common weed. 3. Rorippa Scop. 1. Pods narrowly linear, 6 to 12 mm. long R. sylv.estris 1. Pods ellipsoid to short-cylindrical or almost globose, mostly 5 mm. long or less R. islandica R. sylvestris (L.) Bess. Creeping yellow water cress. East Nassau, House 21943. Introduced from Europe. R. islandica (Murr.) Borbas. Yellow water cress. Wet places along streams; common. 4. Nasturtium R. Br. N. officinale R. Br. Water cress. In streams and springs; locally abundant. 5. Armoracia Gaertn. A. lapathifolia Gilib. Horseradish. Commonly cultivated and occasionally escaping to ditches and alluvial grounds. 6. Lepidium L. 1. Stem leaves clasping at base; plant soft-downy L. campestre 1. Stem leaves not clasping; plant nearly or quite glabrous L. virginicum L. campestre (L.) R. Br. Waste places; local, weedy. Blue Hill, 608 \ 1 mile north of Stuyvesant; Brainard; North Chatham. L. virginicum L. “Peppergrass.” iRoadsides, fields and cultivated grounds; common and weedy. 138 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 7. Alliaria Adans. A. officinalis Andrz. Garlic mustard. Roadsides and cultivated ground; occasional. 8. Erysimum L. E. cheiranthoides L. Garden weed, Kinderhook, 5108 (USNA); 1 mile west of Ancramdale, 3393. Reported from Shekomeko Creek by Hoysradt. 9. Sisymbrium L. 1. Pods 1 to 1.5 cm. long, strongly appressed to the stem S. officinale 1. Pods 6 to 10 cm. long, spreading S', altissimum S. officinale (L.) Scop. Hedge mustard. Waste and cultivated ground; a common weed. S. altissimum L. Tumble mustard. Waste places; infrequent. Miller Pond, Ancram, House 23685; railroad yards, Hudson, 4753 (USNA). 10. Hesperis L. H. matronalis L. Dame’s rocket. Roadsides and along streams; occasional, as an escape from cultivation. 11. Barbarea R. Br. 1. Flowers racemose even during anthesis; pods erect or ascending on spread- ing pedicels B. vulgaris var. arcuata 1. Flowers corymbosely aggregated at summit of the stem in anthesis; pods strongly appressed on erect or ascending pedicels B. vulgaris B. vulgaris R. Br. Winter cress. Cultivated and moist grounds; frequent. With us represented chiefly by var. arcuata (Opiz) Fries. Typical B. vulgaris is occasional. 12. Arabis L. 1. Basal leaves conspicuously pinnatifid; seeds oblong or elliptical, wingless; plants mostly 10 to 30 cm. high A. lyrata 1. Basal and cauline leaves entire, toothed or lobed, not pinnatifid; seeds orbic- ular, more or less winged ; plants at maturity mostly 30 to 90 cm. high, 2 2. Stem leaves clasping at base, 3 3. Leaves hairy; pods closely appressed to the stem A. hirsnta 3. Leaves glabrous, somewhat glaucous; pods widely spreading or some- what drooping A. laevigata 2. Stem leaves narrowed to a sessile base, not clasping; pods very flat and broad, 4 mm. wide, scythe-shaped, hanging A. canadensis A. lyrata L. Rocky ledges and outcrops; common on the shales and limestones of the Hudson Valley; less common or local elsewhere. Washburn Mountain; Brace Mountain; Nutten Hook; Stuyvesant Falls; Blue Hill; Rogers Island. A. hirsuta (L.) Scop. Rocky calcareous ledges; locally abundant. Canaan Center, 2315; Tom Hill, Copake, 830 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3335 ; 1 mile southwest of West Ghent, 3295; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY). Repre- sented in our area by var. pycnocarpa (M. Hopkins) Rollins. A. laevigata (Muhl.) Poir. Rich or moist woods or on ledges; frequent. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 139 A. canadensis L. Sicklepod. Dry woods; frequent in the Hudson Valley, on shales and limestones; rare eastward. West Ghent, 3294; Blue Hill, 2174; 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, 3236; Magdalen Island, 2689. 13. Cardamine L. 1. Leaves simple; plant with tuberous-thickened base of stem and rhizomes C. bulbosa 1. Leaves pinnatifid ; base of stem and rhizomes slender, not tuberous-thickened, 2 2. Plants of swamps, streams and wet grounds; leaflets of the cauline leaves oblong, tending to be confluent along the rachis C. pensylvanica 2. Plants of dry, usually rocky soil; leaflets of the cauline leaves narrow, nearly linear, not confluent along the rachis C. parviflora C. bulbosa (Schreb.) BSP. Wet places, margins of swamps and streams; frequent in the Hudson Valley; unknown elsewhere. Kinderhook Lake, 398; Kinderhook, 175 (PENN) ; 2 miles north of Claverack, 4374 (GA) ; 2 miles north of Mellenville, 4363; Taghkanic Creek, at New Forge, 4392 (GH) ; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (PENN). C. pensylvanica Muhl. Springy places and margins of streams; common. C. parviflora L. Rocky ledges, on schist and quartzite; frequent eastward, at elevations greater than 300 m. Canaan, 3593; Green River, 1516; Wash- burn Mountain, 3463; 1 mile west of Boston Corners, 3423. Represented in our area by var. arenicola (Britt.) O. E. Schulz. 14. Dentaria L. 1. Rootstock long and continuous, not breaking up into separate tubers; cauline leaves 2, subopposite; leaflets ovate, coarsely toothed D. diphylla 1. Rootstock breaking up into a series of spindle-shaped tubers; cauline leaves usually 3, whorled or nearly so; leaflets oblong-linear, conspicuously incised-toothed D. laciniata D. diphylla Michx. Rich woods; common. D. laciniata Muhl. Pepper-root. Rich woods; common, but rather local and often very abundant in the localities where found. “D. laciniata X diphylla” House. Locally very abundant, as at Poelsburg, 4193. It seems best to include the various peculiar plants, occurring where the two species grow together, in this category (see House, 1924, p. 369, and Wiegarid & Eames, 1926, p. 232) ; this includes D. maxima Nutt., and prob- ably D. incisifolia Eames and D. anomala Eames. 15. Brassica L. Mustard 1. Upper cauline leaves with a broad clasping base; plants glaucous, glabrous or essentially so B. campestris 1. Upper cauline leaves narrowed at base; plants not glaucous, somewhat hairy B. Kaber B. campestris L. ( B . Rapa of Gray’s Manual). Waste places and dumps; abun- dant on dumps at Hudson, 4758 (USNA). B. Kaber (DC.) L. C. Wheeler. Summer mustard. A troublesome weed of grain fields, especially in oats; throughout. Brassica nigra (L.) Koch, the black mustard, B. hirta Moench and B. juncea (L.) Coss., all introduced species, have been found in the Hudson Valley but have not yet been definitely recorded from our area. 140 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 16. Raphanus L. R. Raphanistrum L. Wild radish, “mustard.” Cultivated fields and waste grounds; a common weed. CAPPARIDACEAE (Caper Family) Polanisia Raf. P. graveolens Raf. Clammyweed. Sand and gravel bars in the larger streams of the Hudson Valley; frequent. Kinderhook, along Kinderhook Creek, 1248; Valatie, 1886; Hotaling Island, 3148; between Hudson and Athens, Muenscher & Clausen 4654 (CU). SARRACENIACEAE (Pitcher-plant Family) Sarracenia L. S. purpurea L. Pitcher plant. Bogs; abundant in suitable situations in sphagnum (acid) bogs; occurs also in calcareous situations. Knickerbocker Lake, 1998; Kinderhook Lake, Brown 24; south of Niverville, 868; Fowlers’ Lake, 718; 2 miles north of Mellenville, in swampy woods, 4372 (GA) ; Miller Pond, Ancram, 3120; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. DROSERACEAE (Sundew Family) Drosera L. Sundew 1. Leaf blades orbicular or broader than long D. rotundifolia 1. Leaf blades spatulate, tapering into the petiole D. intermedia D. rotundifolia L. Sphagnum bogs; there abundant. Rare in the Hudson Valley, due at least in part to the scarcity of suitable habitats; increasingly frequent eastward. 4 miles north of Kinderhook (PENN); Niverville; Berry Pond, Hancock; Fowlers’ Lake; Canaan Center; Mud Pond, Gallatin; north of Stephentown. D. intermedia Hayne. Sphagnum bogs; locally abundant. Bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 2148 ; Taplins’ Pond, 2421 (PENN) ; 3 miles south- east of Harlemville, 1904 (PENN) ; Mud Pond, Gallatin, 3283. CRASSULACEAE (Orpine Family) 1. Plant not fleshy; carpels united, forming a 5-locular capsule; petals usu- ally none 1. Penthorum 1. Leaves thick and fleshy; carpels 3 to 5, separate; petals present, 2 2. Small tufted annual growing on muddy shores, 1 to 8 cm. high; flowers solitary, axillary, greenish white; stamens 3 or 4 2. Tillaea 2. Creeping or erect perennial plants of dry soil; flowers in cymes or 1- sided inflorescences ; stamens 8 to 10 3. Sedum 1. Penthorum L.1 P. sedoides L. Ditch stonecrop. Wet places; common. 2. Tillaea L. T. aquatica L. Tidal mud at Saugerties, Ulster County, Muenscher & Curtis 5744. To be looked for along the estuary in our area. 1 Frequently transferred to the Saxifragaceae, as in Gray’s Manual. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 141 3. Sedum L. 1. Flowers yellow; leaves closely imbricated, thick-ovate, nearly terete 5. acre 1. Flowers white to pink; leaves broad, 2 2. Plant 7 to 15 cm. high; lower leaves whorled in 3’s, cuneate-obovate, 12 to 25 mm. long; petals white S. ternatum 2. Plant 40 to 70 cm. high; leaves alternate, ovate, mostly 25 to 50 mm. long; petals purplish S. triphyllum S. acre L. Mossy stonecrop. Shaly ledges; thoroughly naturalized just northeast of Stuyvesant Falls, 998. Seen also at Nutten Hook, on sand flats. S. ternatum Michx. Wild stonecrop. Well established and spreading in a lawn at Spencertown, 755. S. triphyllum (Haw.) S. F. Gray (S. purpureum of Gray’s Manual). Live- forever. Roadsides or in woods; occasional as an escape from cultivation. SAXIFRAGACEAE (Saxifrage Family) 1. Shrubs, with simple leaves, 2 2. Leaves alternate; fruit a berry 8. Ribes 2. Leaves opposite; fruit a capsule 7. Deutzia 1. Low or tall herbs, 3 3. Leaves large, decompound 6. Astilbe 3. Leaves simple, 4 4. Peduncle scapelike, 1-flowered; plants glabrous, with the basal leaves rounded or cordate, entire 1. Parnassia 4. Flowers in racemes or panicles or axillary, not solitary on naked peduncles; leaves not entire, 5 5. Petals none; bracts rounded, leaflike; weak-stemmed succulent herbs of wet woodlands 5. Chrysosplenium 5. Petals present; bracts not leaflike, 6 6. Petals pinnatifid; capsule with two equal valves 4. Mitella 6. Petals entire, 7 7. Capsule bilocular, 2-beaked 2. Saxifraga 7. Capsule unilocular, 2-valved, the valves very unequal 3. Tiarella 1. Parnassia L. P. glauca Raf. “Grass of Parnassus.” Calcareous marshes in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys; abundant, in suitable situations. 4 miles north of Kinder- hook, 171 (PENN) ; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Miller Pond, An- cram, 3123; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 806; swamp 2 miles south of Boston Corners, 1663; Pulvers Corners, 3842 (figure 17). 2. Saxifraga L. 1. Sepals reflexed; petals small, greenish to reddish, about equaling the calyx; plants 30 to 60 cm. tall S. pensylvanica l. Sepals ascending, not reflexed; petals white, exceeding the calyx; plants 10 to 30 cm. tall 5". virginiensis S. pensylvanica L. Swamp saxifrage. Deep swampy woods, or less often in wet meadows ; frequent eastward, but rare in the Hudson Valley. Brainard, House 21365; Canticoke Swamp, 1746; 2 miles southeast of North Chatham, 1146; 1.5 miles north of Kinderhook, 977; No Bottom Pond, 484; Canaan Center, 1044; 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 2603; 1.5 miles south of Ancram- dale, 3386. S. virginiensis Michx. Early saxifrage. Rocky ledges and outcrops; common. 142 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 3. Tiarella L. T. cordifolia L. False miterwort. Rich woods and swamps; common eastward. Infrequent in the Hudson Valley; south of Niverville, 391 (PENN) ; Bachus Pond, 927 ; Chatham, Iva Allen; Old Chatham, 624; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. 4. Mitella L. 1. Stems bearing two opposite, subsessile leaves ; leaves acutely lobed ; petals white M. diphylla 1. Stems usually leafless above the base; leaves rounded, scarcely lobed; petals greenish M. nuda M. diphylla L. Miterwort. Rocky woods; common. Abundant through- out. M. nuda L. Cool boggy woods, in moss. In our area known only from 1 mile east of Canaan, 4268, and from Pine Plains, Hoysradt, May 20, 1878 (PENN). 5. Chrysosplenium L. C. americanum Schwein. Rocky brooks and margins of swamps; common eastward, but rare in the Hudson Valley. North Chatham, 306; No Bottom Pond, 481; Spencertown, 4131 (GA) ; 3 miles northwest of Ancram, 383 (PENN). 6. Astilbe Hamilton A. biternata (Vent.) Britt. False goatsbeard. Native of the southeastern United States; well naturalized and spreading in an abandoned arboretum north of Lebanon Springs, 3667. 7. Deutzia Thunb. D. scabra Thunb. Commonly cultivated, and said to be established along a creek near Copake Falls, Burnham. 8. Ribes L. 1. Peduncles 1- to 4-flowered; pedicels not jointed beneath the ovary, the mature fruit not breaking from the pedicel; plants with spines at the nodes, 2 2. Calyx tube longer than the lobes; ovary and berry usually prickly; leaves pubescent, almost velvety beneath R. Cynosbati 2. Calyx tube equaling the lobes; ovary and berry not prickly; leaves some- what pubescent or nearly glabrous beneath R. hirtellum 1. Flowers several in elongate racemes; pedicel jointed beneath the ovary, the fruit breaking from the pedicel; plants without nodal spines, 3 3. Leaves with resinous particles on the lower surface; bracts longer than the pedicels; fruit black R. americanum 3. Leaves without resinous particles on the lower surface, 4 4. Ovary glandular-pubescent ; fruit black ; stems, at least the younger ones, densely bristly R. lacustre 4. Ovary glabrous; fruit red; stems not bristly R. sativum R. Cynosbati L. Wild gooseberry. Rocky woods and banks; frequent. Rather abundant on the shales of the Hudson Valley, and apparently less so elsewhere. R. hirtellum Michx. Swamp gooseberry. Known only from the calcareous marshes of the Harlem Valley; Pulvers Corners, 4455. Reported by Hoysradt (1874b) as “common in cold swamps.” 1*3 § §>•§ O rG w f— ( C/3 l c3 . ■ . ^ b/D O o o JD ' c/3 CL) 3 nd O S Q $ I O ■C0- ^ CM ■Spo $£ 2 J-. S 5 j* ? o r- oj c3 Co H jy 143 144 Figure 18. Patent ilia tridentata in a crevice in the schistose rocks at 1 lie summit of Washburn Mountain, Copake. The plants are about 10 cm. high or less. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 145 R. americanum Mill. Wild black currant. Swampy woods and thickets; frequent. Most abundant in the Hudson Valley. R. lacustre (Pers.) Poir. Cool rocky woods; common in the northern part of the State, but rare in our area. Known only from a gorge west of Berry Pond, Hancock, 3784, and from the gorge of Bashbish Brook, at an elevation of about 250 m., 4226A. R. sativum (Reichenb.) Syme. Red garden currant. Occasionally escaped from cultivation, as along the Kline Kill near Arnolds’ Mill, 4109. HAMAMELIDACEAE (Witch Hazel Family) 1. 1. Tree with deeply 5- to 7-lobed, star-shaped leaves 1. Liquidambar Tall shrub with obovate or oval, wavy-toothed unlobed leaves 2. Hamamelis 1. Liquidambar L. L. Styraciflua L. Sweet gum. Native in southeastern New York, but doubtless always introduced in our area. Chatham, according to Eaton (1818) ; Crugers’ Island, 2947. 2. Hamamelis L. H. virginiana L. Witch hazel. Woods; common. The witch hazel flowers in late autumn, when the leaves are falling. PLATANACEAE (Plane Tree Family) Platanus L. P. occidentalis L. Sycamore, buttonwood. Banks of streams, or occasion- ally elsewhere; frequent. ROSACEAE (Rose Family) 1. 1. Ovary inferior; trees or shrubs with fleshy fruit; carpels 2 to 5, fused in the axis of the receptacle, 2 2. Mature carpels papery or leathery (texture that of an apple “core”), 3 3. Leaves pinnate 12. Sorbus 3. Leaves simple, 4 4. Locules of the ovary as many as the styles; flowers in umbels or corymbs, 5 5. Inflorescence simple 14. Malus 5. Inflorescence compound 13. Aronia 4. Locules of the ovary, at least in fruit, twice as many as the styles; flowers in racemes 15. Amelanchier 2. Mature carpels very hard and bony; plant usually thorny 16. Crataegus Ovary superior, 6 6. Carpel 1 ; fruit a drupe ; trees or shrubs with simple leaves 17. Prunus 6. Carpels 2 to several, distinct, 7 7. Fruit a 2- to many-ovuled follicle; plants shrubby, 8 8. Leaves pinnate 3. Sorbaria 8. Leaves simple, 9 9. Carpels bladdery-inflated in fruit; leaves lobed 1. Physocarpus 9. Carpels not inflated; leaves not lobed 2. Spiraea 7 . Fruit an achene or drupe (the individual fruits sometimes contained in a fleshy receptacle); carpels 1-ovuled; plants shrubby or herbaceous, 10 146 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 10. Carpels permanently inclosed in the receptacle, 11 11. Receptacle dry and woody, with hooked spines, plants herbaceous 6. Agrimonia 11. Receptacle fleshy; plants shrubby 11. Rosa 10. Carpels not permanently inclosed in the receptacle, 12 12. Fruit a dry achene (receptacle may be enlarged and fleshy, simu- lating a fruit) ; bractlets present between the sepals, 13 13. Styles elongated in fruit, hooked, persistent, often plumose 8. Geum 13. Styles not elongated in fruit, 14 14. Receptacle much enlarged in fruit, pulpy, red or white; flowers white 5. Fragaria 14. Receptacle in fruit dry, not or scarcely enlarged, 15 15. Achenes few, mostly 2 to 6; plants scapose 7. Waldsteinia 15. Achenes numerous; plants caulescent 4. Potentilla 12. Fruit a small drupe; bractlets between the sepals none, 16 16. Drupelets many, fleshy; leaves compound or lobed 10. Rubus 16. Drupelets 5 to 10, nearly dry; leaves simple, cordate, crenate; plant herbaceous, creeping 9. Dalibarda 1. Physocarpus Maxim. P. opulifolius (L.) Maxim. Ninebark. Rocky ledges and swamps along the Hudson River; common. Otherwise unknown except from isolated stations at Chatham, 1028, and North Chatham, Home 20454. 2. Spiraea L. 1. Leaves glabrous or sparingly pubescent beneath; petals white or pinkish S. latifolia 1. Leaves densely white or brownish tomentose beneath; petals rose-colored (rarely white) 5. tomentosa S. latifolia (Ait.) Borkh. Meadowsweet. Open swamps and hillsides; com- mon. Abundant, especially eastward, in old fields and pastures; often with the following species. S. tomentosa L. Pink spiraea. Situations similar to the preceding species, in dry or wet soil; common, especially eastward. 3. Sorbaria A. Br. S. sorbifolia (L.) A. Br. Cultivated; occasionally established on roadsides and by old houses; West Taghkanic, 1092. 4. Potentilla L. 1. Calyx and petals reddish purple P. palmlris 1. Petals yellow or white, 2 2. Stems distinctly shrubby, 10 to 80 cm. high ; petals yellow P. fruticosa 2. Stems usually plainly herbaceous, at most slightly woody at base, 3 3. Leaves pinnate, the leaflets 7 to 11; flowers yellowish, 10 to 15 mm. across P. arguta 3. Leaves palmate, 4 4. Flowers solitary from naked peduncles from the axils of the foliage leaves or on the stolons, 5 5. First flower from the node above the first well-developed internode P. canadensis 5. First flower from the node above the second or third well-developed internode P» simplex FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 147 4. Flowers cymose in terminal inflorescences, 6 6. Leaves silvery-tomentose beneath P. argentea 6. Leaves green beneath, pubescent or smoothish, 7 7. Petals white; leaflets wedge-oblong, coarsely 3-toothed at apex; plants low, tufted, smooth or essentially so, rather woody at base P. tridentata 7. Petals yellow ; plants coarse, hirsute, erect, 20 to 90 cm. high, 8 8. Leaflets 3; petals about equaling the calyx lobes P. norvegica 8. Leaflets 5 to 7 ; petals much exceeding the calyx lobes P. recta P. palustris (L.) Scop. Purple cinquefoil. Known only from the swampy borders of Knickerbocker Lake, where very abundant, 1194. P. fruticosa L. Shrubby cinquefoil. Swamps and moist open hillsides; frequent eastward, where very abundant in the calcareous regions of the Harlem Valley and of Canaan and New Lebanon ; rare in the Hudson Valley and adjacent uplands. Bog west of Post Road School, Kinderhook; Mount Lebanon ; Canaan ; Miller Pond, Ancram ; Boston Corners ; pond south of Taghkanic Lake; Copake Falls. P. arguta Pursh. Dry fields and rocky banks of streams; infrequent, but appearing widely distributed; usually semi- weedy. Valatie, 3755; Stuyvesant Falls, 938; Mount Merino, 2307 ; [Brace Mountain, House 24842]. Seen also at North Chatham and at Copake Lake. P. canadensis L. Dwarf cinquefoil. Fields and woods, in dry or sandy soil; frequent. P. simplex Michx. Common cinquefoil. With the last; common and some- what weedy. P. argentea L. Silvery cinquefoil. Fields and pastures, in dry sandy or rocky soil; frequent. P. tridentata Ait. Bare rocky summits above 450 meters elevation, on schistose or quartzitic rocks, in the towns of Copake and Ancram, extending eastward and southeastward into Massachusetts and Connecticut; very abun- dant on all the peaks in this limited area. Mount Fray, 2635; Mount Alander, 1765; 1 mile northeast of Boston Corners, 2266; [Brace Mountain, House 24807] ; summit of Stissing Mountain, according to Hoysradt (1874b), and Peck (28th Report N. Y. State Mus. 83. 1879). P. norvegica L. Rough cinquefoil. Dry fields, often in cultivated and waste land, or in woods; common. Represented in our area only by var. hirsuta (Michx.) Lehm. P. recta L. Fields and roadsides; occasional. Locally very abundant, as in the vicinity of West Copake, 1070. Brainard, House 21363; becoming increas- ingly abundant in meadows in the Hudson Valley. 5. Fragaria L. 1. Lower surface of the leaflets, between the veins, glabrous or practically so; leaflets dull glaucous green above; achenes immersed in pits in the flesh of the receptacle F. virginiana 1. Lower surface of the leaflets silky between the veins; leaflets bright green above; achenes not immersed in pits in the flesh of the receptacle, 2 2. Petioles and peduncles more or less villous with spreading hairs F. vesca 2. Petioles and peduncles mostly sparsely pubescent with somewhat appressed hairs p . vesca var. americana F. virginiana Duchesne. Wild or field strawberry. Fields and woods; in rich soil; common. F. vesca L. Occasional; perhaps always an escape. 148 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM F. vesca var. americana Porter. Wood strawberry. Shaded banks and moist cool woods; frequent, especially eastward, but nowhere abundant. Mount Merino, House 22642 ; New Forge, 3473 ; east of Cannan, 4261 ; [Millerton, House 22408]. 6. Agrimonia L. 1. Rachis of inflorescence covered with minute glandular pubescence interspersed with long, widely spreading hairs; mature fruit 5 to 6 mm. in diameter, the longer bristles 3.5 to 4 mm. long A. gryposepala 1. Rachis closely pubescent, without long spreading hairs; bristles of the fruit not over 2.5 mm. long, 2 2. Leaflets, exclusive of the little intermediate ones, usually 5 to 9, ovate to obovate or elliptic-oblong; hypanthium 3 to 5 mm. long, 3 3. Leaves plainly glandular-atomiferous beneath, downy principally on the veins A. striata 3. Leaves obscurely or not at all atomiferous beneath, the lower surface velvety-tomentose A. pubescens 2. Leaflets, exclusive of the little intermediate ones, 11 to 13, narrow, lanceo- late to narrowly lance-oblong; hypanthium about 2 mm. long A. parvi flora A. gryposepala Wallr. Pastures, roadsides and wooded banks; common. A. striata Michx. Woods and thickets; apparently not frequent. Stephen- town Center, House 21682; North Chatham, Peck; 3 miles east of Stuyvesant, 1549. A. pubescens Wallr. Infrequent or poorly known; Waldorf Pond, House 20907; Kinderhook Lake, House 18861; 1 mile southeast of West Ghent, in alluvial soil, 3696. A. parviflora Ait. Pastures and thickets; infrequent, but locally very abundant. Two miles north of Chatham, 4515; 1 mile north of Linlithgo, 3964; Pine Plains, Peck. 7. Waldsteinia Willd. W. fragarioides (Michx.) Tratt. Barren strawberry. Rocky or rich woods; frequent, but local. Curtis Mountain, House 21471; Riders Mills, 1259; 2 miles west of Red Rock, 4155 (GA) ; Spencertown, 4130; junction of Punsit Creek and Indian Brook, northwest corner of Austerlitz, 4115 (GH) ; 3 miles north of Claverack, on limestone, 561; 2 miles south of Claverack, in clay soil, 3994; 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, 1136; near Baker Mills, German- town, 3249. 8. Geum L. Avens 1. Upper joint of style hairy, deciduous; calyx green; petals white or yellow, 2 2. Petals white or pale greenish yellow, as long as the calyx or shorter; stipules mostly 1 to 1.5 cm. long, 3 3. Receptacle of the fruit glabrous or nearly so; plants bristly-hairy; peduncles stout, hirsute with reflexed hairs G. laciniatum 3. Receptacle of fruit densely bristly; plants slender, soft-hairy; peduncles very slender, not hirsute G. canadense 2. Petals golden yellow, conspicuous, exceeding the calyx ; stipules mostly 1.5 to 4 cm. long G. aleppicum 1. Upper joint of the style plumose; calyx purple; petals purplish cream color G. rivale FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 149 G. laciniatum Murr. Woods and swampy places; common. G. canadense Jacq. Woods and thickets; common. G. aleppicum Jacq. Yellow avens. Wet meadows, thickets and swampy woods; frequent. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Kinderhook, 1224, 1419; Chatham Center, 1398 (PENN) ; 2 miles south of Germantown, 3159; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. In our area represented only by var. strictum (Ait.) Fern. G. rivale L. Purple avens. Wet meadows, open marshes and moist thickets ; frequent eastward, where abundant in calcareous regions ; rare in the Hudson Valley. West of Post Road School, Kinderhook, 721; Brainard, House 21367 ; Canaan, 744; Chatham, Iva Allen; 2 miles southeast of Martin- dale, 584; 1.5 miles south of Ancramdale, 3383. 9. Dalibarda Kalm D. repens L. Cool moist woods; rare in our area. Taplins’ Pond, 2420 ; 1 mile west of East Nassau, 4741 (USNA). 10. Rubus L. 1. Leaves simple, 3- to 5-lobed ; stems not armed with prickles ; flowers purple R. odoratus 1. Leaves compound, with 3 to 7 leaflets ; petals white, 2 2. Leaves white-tomentose beneath; fruit hollow, separating easily from the receptacle, 3 3. Fruit purplish black; canes recurved, purple, strongly glaucous R. occidentalis 3. Fruit red; canes erect, bronzy, not strongly glaucous R. idaeus 2. Leaves green beneath, not white-tomentose; fruit not separating from the receptacle, 4 4. Plants unarmed, low, erect or nearly so, 10 to 40 cm. high, the .stems herbaceous or soft woody at base ; fruit red, not separating easily from the receptacle R. pubescens 4. Plants woody, usually prickly, erect or creeping; fruit usually black, 5 5. Canes erect or arched-ascending, 6 6. Pedicels usually not thorny, rarely with a few weak bristles, 7 7. Pedicels copiously glandular-hispid R. allegheniensis 7. Pedicels glandless or with occasional gland-tipped hairs, 8 8. Lower surface of leaflets, even at maturity, downy to the touch R. frondosus 8. Leaves nearly or quite glabrous beneath, except on the veins R. canadensis 6. Pedicels prickly; canes armed with uniform and very numerous setae R. Groutianus 5. Canes trailing or at least tending to be prostrate toward the ends, 9 9. Fruit reddish purple, of a few sour drupelets; leaves sub-evergreen, firm and often glossy ; body of .sepals about 3 mm. long R. hispidus 9. Fruit black, large, sweet when ripe; leaves thin; body of sepals 5 mm. long or more R. flagellaris R. odoratus L. Purple-flowering raspberry. Woods and thickets; common. Most abundant eastward, where often very conspicuous along roadsides in woods. R. pubescens Raf. Swamps and wet woods, often on sphagnous hum- mocks ; also in calcareous situations ; common eastward, but local and less abundant in the Hudson Valley. Niverville, 413 (PENN) ; Greendale, 4327; Rogers Island, 2585. 150 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM R. idaeus L. Wild red raspberry. Woods, pastures and clearings, in dry or rocky soil; common. Represented in our area by var. strigosus (Michx.) Maxim. R. occidentalis L. Wild black raspberry. With the preceding; common. This species, and the preceding one, form thickets in recently cleared land and so act as weed species, often excluding other woody plants for some years. R. allegheniensis Porter. Highbush blackberry. Fields, thickets, clearings and borders of woods; common, and somewhat weedy. R. frondosus Bigel. This species has not been reported from within the limits of Columbia County, but it is known to occur in both Dutchess and Rensselaer Counties, and doubtless occurs in our area. R. canadensis L. Thornless or mountain blackberry. This species is well known from Sand Lake and Berlin. It has been observed north of Stephentown Center (House), and is increasingly common northward. It is probably more common in the northern part of our area than the collections indicate. R. flagellaris Willd. Dewberry. Dry sandy or rocky soil, in open fields or in thickets; common. R. Groutianus Blanch. Frequent farther north in the State; in our area known only from a swamp at Knickerbocker Lake, House 23703 [specimen determined by L. H. Bailey], R. hispidus L. Running swamp blackberry. Swamps and moist woods, often on sphagnous hummocks ; throughout. Common, but most abundant east- ward, and rather local in the Hudson Valley. [A specimen from near No Bottom Pond, 4522, differs from R. hispidus in having small prickles inter- spersed with the bristles of the primocane, and has been identified by Mr. S. J. Smith as Rubus permixtus Blanch.] 11. Rosa L. Rose 1. Stems with large coarse hooked spines often 1 cm. long; leaflets densely glandular-resinous beneath, 2 cm. long or less R. Eglanteria 1. Stems spineless or with small or needlelike prickles or spines; leaves some- what pubescent or glabrous beneath, 2 2. Calyx lobes after flowering usually deciduous; inflorescence usually glandular, 3 3. Shrubs of bogs and moist shores, often armed with flattened prickles; number of teeth on each side of a normal leaflet about 26 R. palustris 3. Shrubs of rocky shores, dry uplands and plains ; prickles, if present, usually terete; number of teeth on each side of leaflet about 12 R. Carolina 2. Calyx lobes persistent after flowering, erect and persistent on the fruit; inflorescence not glandular; stems glabrous, unarmed or bristly at base only; teeth of leaflets about 12 on each side R. blanda R. Eglanteria L. Sweetbrier. Old fields and pastures, as an escape; fre- quent on the clay soils of the Hudson Valley; occasional elsewhere. Poels- burg, 3184; Mount Merino, 1102. R. palustris Marsh. Swamp rose. Open swampy thickets and wet grounds; common. Very abundant in the calcareous marshes of the Harlem Valley. R. Carolina L. Pasture rose. Woods, pastures and fence rows, in dry or rocky soil ; frequent. Brainard, House 21522; Kinderhook Lake, House 11314; Rhinecliff, House 19261; 2 miles southwest of Hillsdale, 3552. R. blanda Ait. Smooth rose. Thickets in wet places about lakes and ponds; Shaver Pond, Copake, 839; Kinderhook Lake, 904. Doubtless else- where. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 151 12. Sorbus L. 1. Leaflets lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous S. americana 1. Leaflets narrowly oblong, mostly obtuse at tip, pubescent or tomentose at least beneath .S'. Aucuparia S. americana Marsh. ( Pyrus americana of Gray’s Manual). "Mountain ash.” Rocky summits in the eastern towns, at elevations greater than 300 meters ; frequent but local. Otherwise known only from swampy woods bordering a sphagnum bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1010. S. Aucuparia L. (Pyrus Aucuparia of Gray’s Manual). Rowan tree. Occa- sionally spontaneous in woods and along fences; Old Chatham, 632; 1 mile southwest of West Ghent, 3299. 13. Aronia Medic. 1. Inflorescence and lower surface of leaves tomentose; fruit bright red A. arbutifolia 1. Inflorescence and leaves glabrous almost from the first ; fruit black A. melanocarpa A. arbutifolia (L.) Pers. (Pyrus arbutifolia of Gray’s Manual). Red choke- berry. Bogs in the southeastern part of our area ; rare. Miller Pond1, Ancram, 3122; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3898; swamp south of Mount Riga Sta- tion, 3364. A collection from Stephentown Center, House 21679, with imma- ture fruit, is apparently of this species. A. melanocarpa (Michx.) Ell. (Pyrus melanocarpa of Gray’s Manual). Black chokeberry. Swamps and rocky uplands, preferring acid soil ; common except in the Hudson Valley, where infrequent. North Chatham, 1037 ; Niverville, 572; West Ghent, 1117 ; Fowlers’ Lake, 716. 14. Malus Mill. Apple M. pumila Mill. ( Pyrus Malus of Gray’s Manual). Common in cultivation and often escaping to fence rows and old fields. 15. Amelanchier Medic. Shadbush 1. Inflorescence a raceme, mostly 5- to 12-flowered ; leaves folded when young, 2 2. Teeth of the leaves coarse, on mature leaves mostly 3 to 5 per cm.; hy- panithium prominent and cup-shaped on the young fruit; plants shrubby, not treelike, 3 3. Petals 11 to 22 mm. long ; leaves oval, with prominent teeth and straight veins, 4 4. Petals 11 to 15 mm. long; lower pedicels 7 to 20 mm. long; sepals 2 to 3 mm. long; plant somewhat stoloniferous, usually in large clumplike colonies A. sanguinea 4. Petals 16 to 22 mm. long; lower pedicels 27 to 40 mm. long; sepals 3 to 5 mm. long; plants scarcely stoloniferous, with few stems A. anmbilis 3. Petals 7 to 10 mm. long; leaves oblong, with somewhat irregular veins; plants 1.5 meters high or less, stoloniferous A. humilis 2. Teeth of the leaves fine, on mature leaves mostly 5 to 12 per cm., 5 5. Leaves densely white-tomento'se when young, becoming green, 6 6. Leaves rounded or blunt at apex; summit of ovary woolly; low stoloniferous shrub 1.5 meters high or less A. stolonifera 6. Leaves acute or acuminate; summit of ovary glabrous or nearly so; tall shrubs or trees, 7 152 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 7. Leaves oblong or oblong-obovate, acute; petals 6 to 8 mm. long; tall shrubs with an alderlike habit A. canadensis 7. Leaves ovate or obovate, acuminate; petals 10 to 18 mm. long; plant a small or large tree, not in clumps A. arborea 5. Leaves and inflorescence glabrous from the first, the foliage usually reddish when young ; petals 10 to 18 mm. long A. laevis 1. Flowers solitary or mostly in pairs or 3’s ; leaves flat even when very young A. Bartramiana A. arborea (Michx. f.) Fern. Woods and fence rows, in dry sandy or rocky soil ; common. Our most abundant species of shadbush. A. laevis Wieg. Rocky woods, in dry soil on schist and quartzite; frequent eastward, at elevations of more than 300 meters; unknown in the Hudson Valley. Easily distinguished when in flower by the smooth leaves, which are often suffused with red. Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 3625 ; No Bottom Pond, 459; Spencertown, 4201; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 4186; Washburn Mountain, 4218; [Perry Peak, Canaan, House 21190]. A. canadensis (L.) Medic. Calcareous marshes; plants apparently of this species were collected 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3891. A. stolonifera Wieg. Exposed rocky summits above 450 meters elevation, in the towns of Copake and Ancram, extending eastward and southeastward into Massachusetts and Connecticut ; rather abundant on the peaks in this limited area, forming dense patches. Mount Fray, 2642; Washburn Moun- tain, 3457. According to Jones (1946), this species and A. humilis are to be referred to A. spicala (Lam.) K. Koch. A. humilis Wieg. Dry shaly hillsides and bluffs, in the Hudson Valley; in this area rather frequent, but never abundant. Poelsburg, 3186; Nutten Hook, 444; Columbiaville, 3706; Blue Hill, 615. A. amabilis Wieg. Shale and limestone ledges; infrequent. Stuyvesant Falls, on shale bluffs, 437; Old Chatham, on limestone, 633. Not distinct from A. sanguinea, according to the most recent monograph on this genus (Jones, 1946). A. sanguinea (Pursh) DC. Rocky woods, in sterile or acid soil. In our area known only from Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 3626. A. Bartramiana (Tausch) Roem. Collected in 1943 southeast of Taborton, in the game refuge near the line between the towns of Berlin and Stephen- town, House 29350. See note on geographical distribution under Hierochloe odorata. This species is usually easily distinguished from other species of Amelanchier by having the flowers in pairs or 3’s, instead of in racemes. 16. Crataegus L. Hawthorn, Thornapple 1. Leaves deeply pinnately lobed C. monogyna 1. Leaves not deeply pinnately lobed, the blades serrate and incised or shallowly lobed, 2 . i • 2. Leaves conspicuously cuneate at base, the blades widest near the tip or toward the middle, 3 3. Stamens 7 to 10, 4 . 4. Leaves simply serrate, elliptic to obovate, not lobed, coriaceous, dark green and shining above ; spines often long and recurved C. Crus-galli 4. Leaves broader, rhombic-ovate to suborbicular, usually doubly serrate and often incised-lobed, not coriaceous, 5 5. Leaves usually with impressed veins; sepals glandular-serrate C. macracantha 5. Leaves not impressed-veined ; sepals entire, with glandular margins C. chrysocarpa FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 153 3. Stamens 17 to 22; leaves glabrous above, stiff-velvety beneath; twigs glabrous, reddish, polished; sepals broad, strongly serrate C. succulenta 2. Leaves subcordate, truncate, rounded or rarely somewhat wedge-shaped at base; stamens 5 to 12, 6 6. Foliage, corymbs and ovaries rough-hairy and glandular; sepals serrate; winter buds not sticky C. intricata 6. Leaves slightly hairy, becoming glabrate ; inflreorescence usually glabrous ; sepals narrow, entire, reflexed; winter buds sticky, especially when unfolding C. macrosperma C. monogyna Jacq. European hawthorn. Fields, pastures and woods; occasional, as an escape from cultivation. Easily recognized by the finely cut leaves. C. Crus-galli L. Cockspur thorn. Sandy or shaly soil in fields and woods; infrequent. Mount Merino, 2436. C. intricata Lange. Rocky woods; well known in the Hudson Valley (see House, 1924), but elsewhere in our area seen only from a limestone hill 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 797. C. chrysocarpa Ashe. A specimen collected by A. T. Beals, probably at Chatham, is of this species, according to a determination made by the late W. W. Eggleston (NY). C. macrosperma Ashe. Hillsides, fields and thickets, in dry or moist soil; common, and very variable. Kinderhook Lake, House 13406 (var. mature, according to Eggleston) ; Chatham, A. T. Beals (NY ; determined by Eggle- ston) ; Kinderhook, 494; Old Chatham, 642; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 700 ; Copake Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4659 (CU; determined by Muenscher). C. succulenta Link. Known only from Mount Lebanon, House 16236. C. macracantha Lodd. (C. succulenta, var. macracantha of Gray’s Manual). Known only from the edge of a swampy thicket, Shaver Pond, Copake, 840. Perhaps not specifically distinct from the preceding species. 17. Prunus L. 1. Flowers in elongated racemes, 2 2. Calyx persistent on the fruit; large tree with purplish black fruit; leaves crenate-serrate with incurved teeth P. serotina 2. Calyx early deciduous ; tall shrub or small tree with dull red fruit ; leaves sharply serrate with fine, somewhat spreading teeth P. virginiana 1. Flowers in umbels or subcorymbose clusters, 3 3. Plant a dwarf shrub mostly less than 1 meter high; leaves narrow, spatu- late-oblong, pale beneath P. pumila 3. Plants arborescent, 4 4. Fruits 7 to 8 mm. in diameter; flowers 1.5 cm. across or less; leaves very finely and irregularly crenate-dentate P. pensylvanica 4. Fruits 15 to 20 mm. in diameter, or larger; flowers 2 to 3 cm. in diam- eter, 5 5. Leaves convolute in bud; stone flattened; winter twigs usually without a terminal bud P. domestica 5. Leaves folded in bud; stone globose; winter twigs with a terminal bud, 6 6. Leaves firm, waxy, glabrous or nearly so from the first; veins 6 to 8 pairs; fruit sour P. Cerastes 6. Leaves thin, hairy when young; veins 10 to 14 pairs; fruit sweet P. Avium P. domestica L. Garden plum. Established in yards and along fences as an escape; occasional. 154 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM P. pumila L. (Including P. susquehanae of Gray’s Manual). Dwarf cherry. Bare rocky summits; frequent in the southeastern part of our area. Known also from a shaly bluff above the Hudson River at the Columbia-Rensselaer County line, 579. 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 3516; Washburn Moun- tain, 3456; Cedar Mountain, 3575; Stissing Mountain, 3879. The report of P. pygmaca from Green Island, Troy, by Wright and Hall (1836), perhaps is based upon this species, as are reports of P. depressa Pursh. P. Cerasus L., and P. Avium L., the cultivated cherries, are occasionally found as escapes from cultivation. P. pensylvanica L.f. Bird cherry, fire cherry. Dry rocky woods, shaly bluffs and open sandy fields; common. Most abundant eastward, and on re- cently cleared or burned land. Rather local in the Hudson Valley; Niverville, 439. P. virginiana L. Choke cherry. Thickets and fence rows; common. P. serotina Ehrh. Wild black cherry. Woods; common. LEGUMINOSAE (Pea Family) 1. Corolla nearly regular, the petals free from each other or essentially so; stamens distinct, 2 2. Flowers greenish white; large trees with numerous long spines 2. Gleditsia 2. Flowers yellow, showy; plants herbaceous 1. Cassia 1. Corolla papilionaceous; upper petal larger than the others and inclosing them in the bud; two lower petals more or less coherent by their edges and forming a keel, 3 3. Stamens 10, distinct 3. Baptisia 3. Stamens united by their filaments, 4 4. Stamens united in one group (monadelphous) ; anthers of two different shapes, the two sorts alternating, 5 5. Leaves simple; flowers yellow 4. Crotalaria 5. Leaves palmately compound ; flowers blue or white 5. Lupinus 4. Stamens united in two groups (diadelphous), the filament opposite the large petal free from the rest; anthers alike, 6 6. Leaves 3-foliolate (sometimes appearing pinnate because of the two large stipules), 7 7. Leaflets serrulate; pods 1- to 6-seeded, very small, 8 8. Pods curved or coiled 6. Medicago 8. Pods straight or essentially so, 9 9. Flowers in dense heads 8. Trifolium 9. Flowers in elongated racemes 7. Melilotus 7. Leaflets entire (rarely lobed, but not serrulate), 10 10. Plants climbing or twining; pods dehiscent, not jointed, 11 11. Style beardless; keel of corolla almost straight 17. Amphicarpa 11. Style bearded lengthwise on the upper surface; keel long, strongly incurved 18. Strophostyles 10. Plants neither climbing nor twining (sometimes prostrate), 12 12. Flowers yellow; pods dehiscent, not jointed; stipules as large as the leaflets 9. Lotus 12. Flowers whitish to purplish ; pods of one to several 1-seeded joints, indehiscent, 13 13. Leaflets not stipellate; pod 1-seeded, 1- to 2-jointed 13. Lespedeza 13. Leaflets stipellate; pod 2- to several-seeded, several-jointed 12. Desmodium FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 155 6. Leaves pinnate, 14 14. Herbs with pinnate leaves terminated by tendrils, 15 15. Wings (lateral petals) and keel coherent; style filiform, bearded at apex only 14. Vicia 15. Wings nearly free from the keel ; style flattened, bearded down the inner face 15. Lathyrus 14. Leaves odd-pinnate, tendrils wanting, 16 16. Plants woody, shrubby or arborescent 10. Robinia 16. Plants herbaceous, 17 17. Plants twining, vinelike; flowers brownish purple, very fragrant 16. Apios 17. Plants erect, with umbellate rose-colored flowers 11. Coronilla 1. Cassia L. 1. Plant annual, 14 to 40 cm. high ; flowers 4 to 8 mm. broad ; pods 2.5 to 4 cm. long C. nictitans 1. Plant perennial with a woody base, 90 to 120 cm. high; flowers 15 to 20 mm. broad; pods 6.5 to 11 cm. long C. hebecarpa C. nictitans L. Wild sensitive plant. Dry shaly hillsides in the Hudson Valley; rare. Two miles north of Tivoli, 2979 ; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3961. C. hebecarpa Fern. Wild senna. Swamps and wet land along the Hudson River near tidewater; frequent. Three miles north of Castleton, 3966; Stuy- vesant, House; Stockport Station, 1510; also abundant on Rogers Island, and near Poelsburg. 2. Gleditsia L. G. triacanthos 'L. Honey locust. Cultivated, and occasionally spontaneous in woods and fields. 3. Baptisia Vent. B. tinctoria (L.) R. Br. Wild indigo. Dry woods and fields; common. Represented in our area only by var. crebra Fern. 4. Crotalaria L. C. sagittalis L. Rattlebox. Sandy or waste ground, weedy; rare. Railroad bank at Spring Lake, 2746; sandy hillside southwest of Kinderhook, 4024. 5. Lupinus L. L. perennis L. Wild lupine. Dry sandy or shaly soil; rare. Known from a single station, a shaly hillside in the extreme southwestern corner of the town of Hillsdale, 581. Reported from Copake Falls by Stetson (1914) and from Kinderhook by Woodworth (1839). 6. Medicago L. 1. Petals blue to purple; pods twisted, pubescent; plants more or less erect, usually 30 to 60 cm. tall M. sativa 1. Petals yellow; pods nearly glabrous, kidney-shaped; plants decumbent, the stems spreading along the ground for 30 to 60 cm. M. lupulina M. sativa L. Alfalfa. Common in cultivation and often escaped to road- sides and fence rows. 156 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM M. lupulina L. Hop clover. Cultivated and waste ground; locally estab- lished as a weed. 7. Melilotus Mill. 1. Petals white; legume (pod) netted on the surface or almost smooth M. alba 1. Petals yellow; legume with strong transverse ridges, scarcely at all netted M. officinalis M. alba Desr. White sweet clover. Roadsides and waste ground; weedy, common. M. officinalis (L.) Lam. Yellow sweet clover. With the preceding; com- mon. Both species of Melilotus have increased greatly in abundance in recent years, especially along road cuts and fills. 8. Trifolium L. 1. Corolla yellow, conspicuously striate in age; leaflets all sessile T. agrarium 1. Corolla white, pink or purplish, 2 2. Flowers sessile or nearly so, in dense heads, 3 3. Calyx teeth silky-feathery, surpassing the corolla ; heads becoming very soft-silky and grayish T. arvense 3. Calyx teeth hairy or nearly smooth, shorter than the corolla; heads pinkish purple, not silky T. pratense 2. Flowers evidently pedicelled, in rather loose heads, 4 4. Corolla white ; stems creeping, rooting at the nodes, the peduncles arising from the ground T. repens 4. Corolla usually pink or purplish pink; stems ascending, not rooting at the nodes T. hybridum T. agrarium L. Yellow clover. Fields and roadsides; frequent. T. arvense L. Rabbit-foot clover. Dry fields and waste places; common. T. pratense L. Red clover. Fields and meadows; often cultivated and frequently well established. T. repens L. White clover. Lawns and cultivated or waste ground ; common. T. hybridum L. Alsike clover. Fields, meadows and cultivated grounds; often cultivated and frequently becoming established and weedy. 9. Lotus L. L. corniculatus L. Bird’s-foot trefoil. Clays and shaly soils in the Hudson Valley and very recently in the Harlem Valley; common. Often very abundant in pastures and along roadsides, forming dense stands. Poelsburg, 897 ; 2 miles west of Kinderhook, 206 (PENN) ; Nutten Hook, Muenscher & Clausen 4670 (CU) ; 3 miles north of Claverack, 1309; 2 miles south of Germantown, 3157; [roadside south of Hillsdale, House 23674], A recent adventive which is now spreading extensively and may prove to be of considerable value as a forage plant. 10. Robinia L. 1. Branches and petioles glabrous or essentially so; racemes slender, loose; flowers white, fragrant R. Pseudo-Acacia 1. Branches and petioles sticky; racemes densely crowded; flowers rose-colored, nearly inodorous R. viscosa R. Pseudo-Acacia L. Black locust. Woods and thickets; not native in eastern New York, but well established throughout our area and locally very abundant. R. viscosa Vent. Clammy locust. Roadsides and old dooryards; occasion- ally established as an escape; Stuyvesant, 931; West Taghkanic, 1091. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 157 11. Coronilla L. C. varia L. Roadsides; infrequent, occurring locally in patches. Kinder- hook, Wibbe; north of Jackson Corners, 3203; seen also about 1 mile north of North Chatham. 12. Desmodium Desv. Tick trefoil 1. Peduncles very long and leafless; pod on a long stalk within the calyx; leaves all crowded at summit of stem; joints of the pod straight or concave on the back, 2 2. Leaves and flowers on separate stems, the raceme on an ascending naked branch from near the base of the plant D. nudiflorwm 2. Elongated naked raceme at the summit of the leafy stem D. glutinosum 1. Peduncles not conspicuously elongated; stalk of pod never more than twice the length of the calyx; joints of the pod more or less convex on the back, 3 3. Plants trailing, prostrate, soft-hairy all over; leaflets orbicular; racemes simple, axillary and terminal D. rotundifolium 3. Plants more or less erect, glabrous or hairy; racemes panicled; leaflets somewhat elongated, not orbicular, 4 4. Stipules and bracts large and conspicuous, 1 to 1.5 cm. long; plant very smooth except the panicle; leaflets green and glabrous on both sides, lance-ovate and taper-pointed D. cuspidatum 4. Stipules smaller, inconspicuous; joints of the pod about as broad as long, 5 5. Pod on a stalk equaling or slightly exceeding the surrounding calyx, 6 6. Plant essentially smooth throughout D. paniculatum 6. Leaflets pubescent, especially beneath ; stem granular-roughened and often hairy D. perplexum 5. Pod sessile in the calyx, or essentially so D. canadense D. nudiflorum (L.) DC. Dry or moist woodlands, in clay or sandy soils; common, throughout. The fruits of this and the other species of Desmodium are known as “Beggar lice” because of their property of adhering ti.ghtly to clothing. D. glutinosum (Muhl.) Wood. With the preceding species; common throughout, and locally very abundant. D. rotundifolium DC. Dry rocky woods, in the southern part of our area; infrequent. One mile east of Pulvers, Ghent, 2350; Robinson Pond, 3941; Risedorph Hill, Pine Plains, House 21040. Hoysradt (1875-79) reports the species as “common in rocky woods,” at Pine Plains. D. cuspidatum (Muhl.) Loud. Dry soil, in woods; infrequent or rare. Two miles east of Chatham Center, 3677 ; Robinson Pond, 3946. Perhaps increasing in abundance southward; reported by Burnham (1913) from Copake Falls, and by Hoysradt (1875-79) as “rather common” at Pine Plains. D. paniculatum (L.) DC. Dry open places, woods and thickets; through- out, but never very abundant. Kinderhook, 1789 ; Green River, 1514; Robinson Pond, 3938; [southwest of Mount Alander, House 24789]. D. perplexum Schub. Dry rocky woods; rare. Reported several times from our area, but most reports seem to be based upon D. canadense. Plants from 1 mile east of Pulvers, Ghent, 2349, are apparently of this species. D. canadense (L.) DC. Thickets and open banks, often along streams, extending occasionally to roadsides; common along the Hudson River and its larger tributaries, and less so eastward. Niverville; Stuyvesant; Malden Bridge; Chatham Center; Nutten Hook; Boston Corners; Pine Plains. 158 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 13. Lespedeza Michx. 1. Calyx 2 to 5 mm. long, shorter than the pod and much exceeded by the corolla; flowers of two kinds, some bearing petals and others lacking them, 2 2. Stems downy-pubescent, prostrate and trailing L. procumbens 2. Stems erect or spreading, smooth or pubescent, 3 3. Peduncles elongated, filiform, much longer than the leaves; flowers few, 8 to 10 mm. long L. violacea 3. Peduncles stouter, scarcely filiform, some or all of them shorter than the leaves; flowers 5 to 7 mm. long, 4 4. Stems villous; most of the peduncles exceeding the leaves; pods strongly pubescent, mostly 5 to 6 mm. long L. Nuttallii 4. Stems slightly appressed-pubescent or glabrate; peduncles mostly very short, crowded, a few nearly equaling the leaves; pods slightly pubescent or glabrate, mostly about 4 mm. long, 5 5. Leaflets oval or oblong ; petaliferous inflorescences often short- peduncled L. intermedia 5. Leaflets linear to linear-oblong; petaliferous inflorescences crowded, mostly sessile or nearly so L. virginica 1. Calyx 5 to 7 mm. long, exceeding the pod and scarcely shorter than the corolla; flowers all alike, petaliferous and perfect, in close spikes or heads, 6 6. Peduncles mostly shorter than the dense subglobose heads L. capitata 6. Peduncles elongate, mostly equaling the thick cylindric spikes L. hirta L. procumbens Michx. Dry shaly hillsides; rare. In our area known only from Blue Hill, 2167. ‘‘Common on hills” at Pine Plains, according to Hoysradt; becoming much more frequent southward in the State. L. violacea (L.) Pers. Dry shaly hillsides in the Hudson Valley and locally in the Harlem Valley; infrequent. Alvords’ Dock, Stockport, 2223; 2 miles east of Germantown, 2921; Robinson Pond, 3943. L. Nuttallii Dari. Dry rocky woods; rare. A collection from east of Pulvers, Ghent, 2345, resembles a large specimen of L. intermedia, but has the elongated peduncles of L. Nuttallii. L. intermedia (S. Wats.) Britt. Dry soil, in sandy or rocky places in woods or fields; common, perhaps throughout. Abundant in the Hudson Valley and adjacent uplands, on the shales; not reported from the higher elevations east- ward. Curtis Mountain; Poelsburg; Pulvers, Ghent; Churchtown; Blue Hill; Tivoli; Pine Plains. L. virginica (L.) Britt. Dry sandy or shaly hillsides; rare. Known only from a hill about 4 miles north of Kinderhook, in sand, 2360, and from Blue Hill, in shaly soil, 2181. L. hirta (L.) Hornem. Dry sandy or rocky hills and woodlands; rare. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Stissing Mountain, House 21019 ; [North Chatham, House 20915]. L. capitata Michx. Dry soil, in sandy and shaly fields and hillsides; common in the Hudson Valley, but not reported eastward. Kinderhook Lake, House 15977 ; Kinderhook, 2250; Blue Hill, 2188. 14. Vicia L. Vetch 1. Flowers small, 2 to 4 mm. long, bluish; seeds 4 V. tetrasperma 1. Flowers 6 to 18 mm. long, purple-blue; seeds 6 or more V. villosa V. tetrasperma (L.) Moench. Meadows and fields; occasional as a weed, usually in patches. Figure 19. The hog peanut, Amphicarpa bracteata var. comosa, in a swamp just north of Kinderhook FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 161 V. villosa Roth. Fields and roadsides, as an escape; infrequent and usually not long persistent. 15. Lathyrus L. L. palustris L. Wild pea. Tidal swamps of the Hudson River; frequent, but never very abundant. Rogers Island, 2583 ; Crugers’ Island, 3246. Re- ported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from “Hot Ground” (Ancramdale). In our area represented only by var. myrtifolius (Muhl.) Gray. 16. Apios Medic. A. americana Medic. Wild bean. Swamps and margins of streams and ponds; frequent. Deserving of cultivation for its dark green foliage and its sweet-scented and oddly colored flowers. 17. Amphicarpa Ell. 1. Plants appressed-pubescent or glabrate; terminal leaflet 4 to 6 cm. long A. bracteata 1. Plant villous-pubescent, the pubescence spreading, often tawny; terminal leaflet 5 to 8 cm. long A. bracteata var. comosa A. bracteata (L.) Fern. Hog peanut. Woods; common. Most abundant in rich or swampy soils. A. bracteata var. comosa (L.) Fern. Swamps and alluvial grounds; fre- quent in the Hudson Valley; unknown elsewhere. Castleton, House 18868; Stuyvesant, House 13305; Kinderhook, 1983; Nutten Hook, 2220 (PENN) ; Madalin, 2879. (figure 19.) 18. Strophostyles Ell. S. helvola (L.) Ell. Trailing wild bean. Waste land along the Hudson River; rather frequent. Nutten Hook, 4054; between Hudson and Athens, Muenscher & Clausen 4672 (CU) ; 2 miles south of Tivoli, 2769 ; shore near Rogers Island. GERANIACEAE (Geranium Family) Geranium L. 1. Petals about 15 mm. long; plants perennial, from a stout woody base; fruit 25 to 30 mm. long G. maculatum 1. Petals mostly 6 to 12 mm. long; plants annual or biennial ; fruit 17 to 25 mm. long, 2 2. Carpels hairy; beak of ovary hirsute; carpel not separating from beak at maturity G. Bicknellii 2. Carpels and beak smooth, separating at maturity G. Robertianum G. Robertianum L. Herb Robert. Moist rocks and rocky woods, in rich or calcareous soil ; abundant in suitable situations. G. maculatum L. Wild geranium, crane’s-bill. Open swampy grounds and moist woods ; common. G. Bicknelli Britt. On a rocky bluff 2 miles south of Canaan, in acid soil, 3594. Otherwise unknown. 162 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM OXALIDACEAE (Oxalis Family) Oxalis L. 1. Flowers yellow, 2 2. Pedicels in fruit reflexed, but capsules erect; true rhizomes wanting 0. strict a 2. Pedicels spreading, not reflexed ; plant with long slender horizontal stolons 0. europaea 1. Flowers pink, or white with purple veins, 3 3. Flowers white or pale pink, with purple or rose-colored veins ; rootstock creeping; scapes 1-flowered O. montana 3. Flowers pinkish violet; base of plant bulbous; scape umbellately several- flowered O. violacea O. montana Raf. Wood sorrel. Cool moist coniferous woodlands; com- mon in the extreme northeastern part of our area, but very local elsewhere. One mile northwest of Lebanon Springs, 3669; Bashbish Gorge, Copake, 3559; [3 miles north of Nassau, House 22757], Reported from Kinderhook by Woodworth^ (1840, as 0. acetosella), but unknown there at present. O. violacea L. Violet wood sorrel. Moist rich woods; rare, in the Hud- son Valley. Kinderhook, 662. O. stricta L. Yellow wood sorrel. Damp shaded places in waste and cultivated grounds; infrequent. O. europaea Jord. “Sour grass.’’ Waste and cultivated grounds, woods, thickets and pastures ; often in rich soil ; common and weedy. LINACEAE (Flax Family) Linum L. Flax 1. Leaves subulate or linear ; branchlets angular-grooved L. sulcatum, 1. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate or narrowly oblong; stem and branchlets terete L. virginianum L. sulcatum Riddell. Dry sandy or stony soil; rare, but abundant at the two following stations ; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 1208; south end of Mount Merino, 2437. L. virginianum L. Dry woods; infrequent, but widely distributed. Appar- ently mostly in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Three miles north of Kinder- hook, 1314; Forest lake, 2056; Upper Twin Pond, Elizaville, 3279; north of Robinson Pond, 3947. BALSAMINACEAE (Jewelweed Family) Impatiens L. 1. Flowers pale yellow, sparingly dotted with reddish brown I. pallida 1. Flowers orange, thickly .spotted with reddish brown I. capensis I. pallida Nutt. Yellow touch-me-not. Cool ravines and rich soil along streams; infrequent, but locally abundant. East of Valatie, 1891; Becraft Mountain, 2248; creek south of Madalin, 2883. Known also from near Berry Pond, Hancock, and from several places along the Hudson River and the Roeliff Jansen Kill, in the towns of Stuyvesant, Livingston, Clermont and Copake. I. capensis Meerb. Spotted touch-me-not, jewelweed. Wet places, in woods and in the open; common. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 163 LIMNANTHACEAE (False Mermaid Family) Floerkea Willd. F. proserpinacoides Willd. False mermaid. Alluvial soil; infrequent or rare, in the Hudson Valley. Two miles south of Claverack, 4375; 1 mile east of Clermont, 4349. RUTACEAE (Rue Family) Zanthoxylum L. Z. americanum Mill. “Prickly ash.” Woods and thickets, usually in rich soil; frequent, especially in calcareous districts. Often forming pure thickets. Unknown northeastward. West Ghent, 3301; 3 miles north of Claverack, 1303; Spring Lake, 2744; Shaver Pond, 841. SIMARUBACEAE (Quassia Family) Ailanthus Desf. A. altissima (Mill.) Swingle. Tree of heaven. Cultivated and locally established in waste places as a weed species. POLYGALACEAE (Milkwort Family) Polygala L. 1. Flowers 15 to 20 mm. long, rose-colored or purple (rarely white), 1 to 4 in a cluster at the summit of the short (7 to 15 cm.) stem; leaves ovate, crowded at the .summit P. paucifolia 1. Flowers not more than 5 to 6 mm. long, in heads or spikes ; leaves linear to oblong or oblanceolate, 2 2. Plant perennial from a heavy woody rootstock ; flowers white, in a ter- minal spike 2.5 to 5 cm. long; cleistogamous flowers none P. Senega 2. Plants annual or biennial, without heavy woody rootstocks, 3 3. Stems numerous from the biennial root ; flowers rose-colored or purplish, showy, 4 to 6 mm. long, in a loose raceme 2.5 to 10 cm. long ; cleis- togamous flowers usually present, on short subterranean branches P. polygama 3. Plants annual, slender, the stems solitary, branched above; flowers in dense heads or slender spikes, 4 4. Flowers bright red-purple, in globular or broadly oblong heads 8 to 10 mm. across; leaves alternate P. san guinea 4. Flowers white or greenish white, often tinged with pale purple, in slender spikes; some of the stem-leaves whorled P. verticillata P. paucifolia Willd. Woods and shady banks; common throughout. P. polygama Walt. Dry shaly hillsides; rare. Cedar Mountain, Copake, 3571; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3960. P. verticillata L. Dry fields and hillsides; common throughout. P. sanguinea L. Fields and meadows; infrequent and sparse. Unknown northeastward. Ashley Hill, Chatham, 2196; 4 miles north of Kinderhook, 2366; 1.5 miles east of Harlemville, 3918; 2 miles north of Tivoli, 2796; base of Stissing Mountain, 2861; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. P. Senega L. Seneca snakeroot. Rocky (calcareous) woods; infrequent and sparse. 3 miles north of Claverack, 548; Old Chatham, 639; southwest corner of town of Hillsdale, 221 (PENN) ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 821. 164 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM EUPHORBIACEAE (Spurge Family) 1. Plant with milky juice; ovary (apparently) on a stalk projecting from a cuplike and sometimes corolla-like involucre 2. Euphorbia 1. Plant without milky juice; ovary sessile; cuplike involucre none; pistillate flowers surrounded by large and leaflike cut-lobed bracts 1. Acalypha 1. Acalypha L. A. rhomboidea Raf. Three-seeded Mercury. Dry fields and waste places, or in woods; rather weedy. Frequent in the Hudson Valley; not reported northeastward. Kinderhook Lake, House 13413 ; Nutten Hook, 1448; 2 miles west of Stuyvesant Falls, 3835; Germantown, near mouth of Roeliff Jansen Kill, 1588, north of Robinson Pond, 3932; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. 2. Euphorbia L. 1. Peduncles axillary, the flowers not clustered in terminal inflorescences; leaves all opposite, unequal-sided, the bases oblique, 2 2. Stems prostrate, hairy; capsule pubescent; leaves dull green, often with a purple spot E. supina 2. Stems procumbent or erect; capsule glabrous, 3 3. Stems nearly erect, glabrous or essentially so; leaves 1.5 to 3.5 cm. long, usually with a purple spot E. 'maculate 3. Stems low, procumbent, hirsute; leaves 0.8 to 1.4 cm. long, green E. vermiculata 1. Flowers in terminal umbellate or cymose inflorescences ; leaves, at least the lower, alternate, 4 4. Uppermost leaves with conspicuous white petal-like margins; leaves all entire E. marginata 4. Leaves green, or the uppermost white or colored at base and, if so, toothed, 5 5. Glands of the involucre with large white showy petaloid appendages ; leaves entire, linear to oblong E. corollata 5. Glands of the involucre without petaloid appendages, 6 6. Plant topped by a many-rayed umbelliform inflorescence, the floral leaves much broader than the cauline ; perennials with running root- stocks, 7 7. Principal floral leaves 13 to 20 mm. wide; cauline leaves 4 to 9 mm. wide E. virgata 7 . Principal floral leaves 4 to 7 mm. wide ; cauline leaves 1 to 2 mm. wide E. Cyparissias 6. Inflorescence not umbelliform, the flowering involucres in few- flowered cymes at the tips of the stems and branches; leaves all essentially similar; plants annual E. dentate E. supina Raf. Dry sandy or gravelly soil, or along railroads; roadsides, waste places; weedy. Kinderhook, 1597; Poelsburg, 3796; Nutten Hook, 1451. E. vermiculata Raf. In situations like the preceding species; common. E. maculata L. In situations like the two preceding species; frequent in the Hudson Valley; distribution eastward poorly known. Poelsburg, 3800; Mount Merino, 2302; [south of Castleton, House 24174; New Lebanon, House 15604]. E. marginata Pursh. Snow-on-the-mountain. Cultivated, and rarely es- caping. Along Kinderhook Creek, east of Kinderhook, 2083. E. corollata L. Flowering spurge. Dry fields; rare. Niverville, Brown 93; near Fowlers’ Lake, 2391. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 165 E. Cyparissias L. Established in patches along roadsides near old houses and in cemeteries; occasional. Weedy and hard to eradicate when once established. E. virgata Waldst. & Kit. (E. Esula of Gray’s Manual). A weed of dry fields and roadsides; in our area known only from Hillsdale, Muenscher 16216 (CU, NYS). E. dentata Michx. Along the New York Central Railroad at Hudson, Muenscher & Clausen 4676 (CU, NYS). Forma cuphosperma (Engelm.) Fern, is adventive at Tivoli along the New York Central Railroad, 2974. CALLITRICHACEAE (Water- Starwort Family) Callitriche L. 1. Fruit longer than broad, slightly notched at tip; the two lobes of the fruit sharply 2-keeled, the keels separated by a wide groove C. palustris 1. Fruit as broad as long, or broader, widely notched; the two lobes of the fruit obtusely 2-angled, with a narrow groove between the angles C. heterophylla C. palustris L. Shallow streams and pools; frequent. C. heterophylla Pursh. In similar situations; apparently local. West Ghent, 3694; 2 miles south of Ghent, 4012; Tackawasick and Kinderhook Lakes, Muenscher (1935). ANACARDIACEAE (Cashew Family) Rhus L. 1. Leaves pinnate, with 7 to 31 leaflets, 2 2. Leaf rachis plainly wing-margined 2. Leaf rachis terete or nearly so, 3 3. Leaflets entire; fruit grayish white 3. Leaflets serrate; fruit covered with crimson hairs, 4 4. Branchlets and petioles villous-hirsute 4. Branchlets and petioles glabrous 1. Leaves 3-foliolate, 5 5. Terminal leaflet on a distinct petiolule often 1 cm. in length or more; fruit grayish white, glabrous or nearly so ; flowers greenish, in loose clusters, appearing in June or July after the leaves are grown R. Toxicodendron 5. Terminal leaflet wedge-shaped at base, scarcely petiolulate; fruit crimson- hirsute; flowers light yellow, in dense short spikes, appearing in April or May, before the leaves R. aromatica R. copallina L. Rocky summits in the southeastern part of our area, at elevations of 300 meters or more; rare. Stissing Mountain, 2840; 2 miles southwest of Hillsdale, 3553. Known also from Cedar Mountain, Copake. R. typhina L. Staghorn sumac. Old fields, roadsides and thickets, in dry soil ; common. R. glabra L. Smooth sumac. In situations similar to the preceding; very common in the Hudson Valley, but not reported eastward. R. aromatica Ait. Fragrant sumac. Rocky bluffs along the Hudson River; there frequent and locally abundant. Elsewhere known only from a rocky hill 1 mile east of Pulvers, Ghent, and from East Nassau, 2194. Poelsburg, 574; Nutten Hook, 357 (PENN) ; Alvords’ Dock, Stockport, 767 ; south end of Mount Merino, 2435 (PENN) ; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3321; Magdalen Island, 2677. R. copallina R. Vernix R. typhina R. glabra 166 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM R. Vernix L. Poison sumac. Swampy places; common. Very abundant in suitable localities, seeming to prefer large undisturbed swampy areas, whether of acid or calcareous soil. R. Toxicodendron L. (R. radicans of Gray’s Manual). Poison ivy. Woods and fence rows and on rocky banks; common. AQUIFOLIACEAE (Holly Family) 1. Leaves relatively broad, ovate to obovate, pointed, conspicuously serrate; petals oval or obovate ; stamens adhering to the base of the corolla 1. Ilex 1. Leaves relatively narrow, elliptic-oblong, entire or nearly so; petals oblong- linear; stamens free from the corolla 2. Nemopanthus 1. Ilex L. Holly 1. Parts of the fertile flowers mostly in 4’s or 5’s ; nutlets striate-ribbed on the back I. montana 1. Parts of the fertile flowers mostly in 6’s ; nutlets smooth and even I. verticillata I. montana T. & G. Upland woods in the southern Taconic Mountains. Near Guilder Pond, Mount Washington, J. A. Cushman 9820 (GH) ; near Plantain Pond, Mount Washington, Phelps and Weatherby 3020 (GH) ; Plantain Pond, Hoffman, Aug. 11, 1914 (GH). The species was reported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from Stissing Mountain. The data in regard to the specimens at the Gray Herbarium were kindly furnished by Mr. C. A. Weatherby. The species is represented in our area by var. mollis (Gray) Britton. I. verticillata (L.) Gray. Winterberry, “black alder.” Open swamps and wet woods; frequent. Several reports of I. laevigata (Pursh) Gray are seem- ingly based upon occurrences of I. verticillata. 2. Nemopanthus Raf. N. mucronata (L.) Trel. Mountain holly. Swampy woods and sphagnum bogs; locally abundant. Lebanon Springs; No Bottom Pond; 2 miles south of Copake Lake; 1.5 miles south of Ancramdale ; North Chatham; Niverville; bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake. CELASTRACEAE (Staff Trf.e Family) Celastrus L. C. scandens L. Bittersweet. Dry woods and fence rows; common. STAPHYLEACEAE (Bladdernut Family) Staphylea L. S. trifolia L. Bladdernut, rattleberry. Moist or rocky woods, often in rich or calcareous soil; frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys; in- frequent or rare eastward and northeastward. PoelsSurg, 575; North Chatham, House 20465; Stuyvesant Falls, Iva Allen; 3 miles north of Claverack, 558; 1 mile east of Pulvers Station, Ghent, 2347 ; Miller Pond, Ancram, 1657 (PENN) ; Magdalen Island, 2681. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 167 ACERACEAE (Maple Family) Acer L. 1. Leaves simple, palmately lobed, 2 2. Flowers in racemes, appearing after the leaves, 3 3. Racemes drooping; bark green, striped with white A. pensylvanicum 3. Racemes erect; bark reddish brown, not striped A. spicatum 2. Flowers in corymbs or umbel-like clusters, appearing before or with the leaves, 4 4. Flowers capitate, in dense clusters, scarlet or red to yellowish, much preceding the leaves; leaves whitened beneath, 5 5. Leaves deeply cleft, the lobes coarsely toothed; petals none; fruit woolly when young A. sac char inum 5. Leaves sharply lobed ; petals present ; fruit glabrous even when young A. rubrum 4. Flowers drooping, on long slender hairy pedicels, light yellowish green, appearing with the leaves, 6 6. Leaves pale and slightly glaucous beneath, glabrous; stipules small, not covering the axillary bud A. saccharum 6. Leaves usually yellowish green and pubescent beneath, not glaucous ; stipules when full grown often covering the axillary bud A. nigrum 1. Leaves pinnately compound A. Negimdo A. saccharinum L. Silver maple. Banks of large streams; frequent in the Hudson Valley. Hotaling Island, 358; 3 miles north of Castleton, 3969 ; Kin- derhook, along creek, 1256; Columbiaville, 3700. A. rubrum L. Red maple, swamp maple. Swamps and wet woods; com- mon throughout. A. saccharum Marsh. Sugar maple, hard maple. Woods; common. Reach- ing its best development in rich upland woods. A. nigrum Miclix.f. Black maple. A little-known tree in our area and perhaps merely a variety of the preceding. House 21295, from New Lebanon, is apparently this species. A. pensylvanicum L. Striped maple. Rich moist woods; frequent throughout, but most abundant eastward; local in the Hudson Valley. Gorge near Hudson River, at Columbia-Rensselaer County line; Blue Hill; Becraft Mountain; Tivoli; Stephentown Center; Canticoke Swamp. A. spicatum Lam. Mountain maple. Cool moist woods; often on talus below rock ledges, especially in calcareous regions. Common in the higher hills to the eastward, and decreasing westward; occurs rarely in rocky gorges along the Hudson River as at Cheviot, 2823, and Tivoli, 2740. A. Negundo L. Box elder. Often cultivated. Well established at several points along the Hudson River, as at the mouth of the Muitzes Kill ; perhaps always an introduced species, but Gordinier and Howe (1894) report it from Rensselaer county upon the authority of Dt. John Wright as early as 1836 RHAMNACEAE (Buckthorn Family) 1. Flowers axillary, greenish; fruit fleshy; ovary free from the calyx and disk 1. Rhamnus 1. Flowers mostly in terminal, paniculate or corymbose umbels, white; fruit dry; calyx and disk adherent to base of ovary 2. Ceanothus 1. Rhamnus L. 1. Calyx lobes, stamens and petals 4 1. Calyx lobes and stamens 5; petals wanting R. cathartica R. alnifolia 168 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM R. cathartica L. Buckthorn. Dry woods and old pastures; occasionally established and sometimes appearing as if indigenous, as at New Lebanon, 737. R. alnifolia L’Her. Calcareous marshes, where rather abundant. Four miles north of Kinderhook, 722; 1 mile east of Fowlers’ Lake, 567 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 812; south of Mount Riga Station, 3366. 2. Ceanothus L. C. americanus L. New Jersey tea. Dry hillsides and margins of woods; frequent. Locally very abundant, sometimes taking over whole fields in dry gravelly soil. VITACEAE (Grape Family) 1. Leaves simple, often lobcd 1. Leaves palmately compound 1. Vitis L. Grape 1. Tendril or inflorescence normally opposite each leaf ; leaves permanently densely rusty-tomentose beneath ; berries 12 to 20 mm. in diameter V. Labrusca 1. Tendrils and inflorescences intermittent, none opposite each third leaf, 2 2. Leaves loosely rusty-tomentose beneath, or glabrate in age; berries 8 to 12 mm. in diameter V. aestivalis 2. Leaves green beneath, glabrous beneath or sometimes pubescent on the veins; berries 6 to 10 mm. in diameter, blue V. riparia V. Labrusca L. Fox grape. Woods and thickets, often high-climbing; frequent throughout. Perry Peak, Canaan; Brainard; Kinderhook; Stissing Mountain. V. aestivalis Michx. Summer grape. Woods and thickets; rather local, climbing on trees and bushes. Kinderhook Lake ; Alvords’ Dock, Stockport ; Fowlers’ Lake ; 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake ; Blue Hill ; Canaan ; Ancram. The plant with smoothish glaucous leaves, var. argentifolia (Munson) Fern., also occurs locally, as at Brainard, House 21918. V. riparia Michx. Frost grape. Woods and thickets, often forming dense tangles in fence rows; common. 2. Parthenocissus Planch. 1. Plants with adhesive tendrils, often high-climbing on trees and rocks; cymes irregular, paniculate, with unequal branches (not dichotomous) ; fruit 5 to 7 mm. in diameter P. quinquefolia 1. Plants without adhesive tendrils, not high-climbing but resting loosely on bushes, fences and rocks; cymes regularly dichotomous; fruit mostly 8 to 10 mm. in diameter P. vitacea P. quinquefolia (L.) Planch. Virginia creeper. Woodlands and fence rows; common. Most abundant in the Hudson Valley, so far as known. P. vitacea (Knerr) Hitchc. (P. inserta of Gray’s Manual). With the preceding; distribution in our area poorly known, but probably occurs throughout. [North Chatham, House 20473], TILIACEAE (Linden Family) Tilia L. T. americana L. Basswood, American linden. In rich or rocky woods, in various soils; common. 1. Vitis 2. Parthenocissus FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 169 MALVACEAE (Mallow Family) 1. Column of stamens bearing anthers at the top only; carpels 10 to 20, sepa- rating from the central axis in fruit, 2 2. Flowers yellow ; leaves velvety ; carpels 3- to 9-seeded, splitting open at maturity 2. Abutilon 2. Flowers whitish or pinkish; leaves not velvety; carpels 1-seeded, in- dehiscent 1. Malva 1. Column of stamen's bearing anthers over much of its length, and naked and 5-toothed at the very apex; carpels not falling away separately from the axis, but forming a 5-locular capsule 3. Hibiscus 1. Malva L. 1. Flowers in clusters in the axils of the leaves, whitish or pale bluish purple, less than 2 cm. across; stems procumbent M. neglecta 1. Flowers clustered toward the ends of the branches, pink or white, 3.5 to 5 cm. across; stems erect M. moschata M. neglecta Wallr. Dwarf mallow, cheeses. Waste and cultivated grounds; a common weed. M. moschata L. Musk mallow. An occasional adventive in fields and along roadsides, but not well established anywhere. New Concord, 4763 (USNA). 2. Abutilon Mill. A. Theophrasti Medic. Velvetweed. A weed in cultivated ground; locally abundant. 3. Hibiscus L. 1. Flowers pale yellow with dark reddish brown eye, not more than 4 cm. across; a weedy annual H. Trionum 1. Flowers rose-colored to white, up to 20 cm. across; a native perennial H. palustris H. Trionum L. Flower of an hour. A weed in gardens and cultivated grounds; locally abundant. Kinderhook, 1449. H. palustris L. Marsh mallow. In our area known only from tidal marshes east of Crugers’ Island, 2900. Increasingly common south of our area, in the Hudson estuary. HYPERICACEAE (St. John’s -wort Family) Hypericum L. 1. Petals yellow, often black-dotted, 2 2. Styles 5 ; capsule 5-locular ; petals 25 mm. long H. pyramidatum 2. Styles 3; capsules trilocular; petals 15 mm. long or less, 3 3. Stamens very numerous (more than 12), 4 4. Petals with black dots or lines ; stamens in 3 to 5 clusters, 5 5. Flowers 15 to 25 mm. broad; leaves mostly 1 to 2 cm. long; petals bearing black dots only on margin H. perforatum 5. Flowers 8 to 15 mm. broad; leaves mostly 2.5 to 5 cm. long; petals bearing several rows of black dots or lines H. punctatum 4. Petals without black dots ; stamens obscurely if at all clustered ; leaves elliptic-oblong H. ellipticmn 3. Stamens 5 to 12, 6 6. Leaves scalelike or linear-subulate, scarcely leaflike, strongly ascend- ing; stem and bushy branches threadlike, wiry H. gentianoides 170 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 6. Leaves linear to ovate, spreading, leaflike; stem and branches not as above, 7 7. Bracts of the inflorescence foliaceous, resembling reduced leaves H. boreale 7. Ultimate bracts of the inflorescence narrowly linear or setaceous, very different from the leaves, 8 8. Leaves broadly ovate to orbicular; plants diffusely branched H. mutilum 8. Leaves lanceolate; branching strict, the branches erect H. majus 1. Petals flesh-colored or purplish ; stamens mostly 9 H. virginicum H. pyramidatum Ait. Alluvial or rocky soil near large streams; infre- quent. Below Malden Bridge, 1895; Valatie, 1883; Germantown, near mouth of Roeliff Jansen Kill, 1584; Ancram, 1640 (PENN). H. perforatum L. St. John’s-wort. Dry soil in fields and waste ground; a common weed. Naturalized from Europe. H. punctatum Lam. Moist soil, in woods and shady places along streams; common. H. ellipticum Hook. Borders of ponds and lakes; infrequent or rare. Kinderhook, 1374; Stephentown, House, 22823; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (MICH). Reported also from Kinderhook Lake and Brainard. H. boreale (Britt.) Bickn. In our area known only from muddy margins of No Bottom Pond, 1948, and from Kinderhook Lake, House 18859. In- creasingly common northward from our area. H. mutilum L. Wet soil in ditches and meadows and near ponds and streams; common. H. majus (Gray) Britt. Moist meadows and banks of streams; infrequent or rare. East Nassau, House 21939 ; North Chatham, House 20462; Hillsdale, 3543; [Brace Mountain, House 24812], H. gentianoides (L.) BSP. Dry sandy or gravelly soil; frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys; not reported northeastward. H. virginicum L. Swampy places; common. Canticoke Swamp (PENN); 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake; Knickerbocker Lake; seen also in the towns of New Lebanon, Ghent, Claverack and Ancram. [Specimens from Copake Falls, 3913, and No Bottom Pond, 1956, correspond to the var. Fraseri (Spach) Fern.]. ELATINACEAE (Waterwort Family) Elatine L. I. Flowers trimerous; seeds slender-cylindric with 20 to 30 acute cross-ribs E. triandra 1. Flowers dimerous; seeds thick-cylindric or barrel-shaped, with 15 to 18 obtuse cross-ribs E. minima E. triandra Schkuhr (inc. E. americana of Gray’s Manual). Tidal mud along the Hudson River, there common and forming small patches below high-tide level. Poelsburg, 3810; Stuyvesant, 1813 ; Columbiaville, 3702; Rogers Island, 3740; Tivoli, 2792; [mouth of Stockport Creek, Muenscher & Clausen 4519 (CU, NYS)]. Represented in our area by var. americana (Pursh) Fassett. E. minima (Nutt.) Fisch. & Mey. Shallow water, sandy bottoms of lakes and ponds; apparently infrequent. Pikes’ Pond, Nassau, House 21956; Nassau Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4523; [Tackawasick Lake, House 24240] ; also reported by Muenscher (1935) from Copake Lake. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 171 CISTACEAE (Rockrose Family) 1. Petals 5, fugacious, yellow, large and showy in the larger flowers 1. Helianthemum 1. Petals 3, withering-persistent, minute, greenish or purplish 2. Lechea 1. Helianthemum Mill. 1. Larger flowers 5 to 12, in a short terminal raceme, each 1.5 to 2.5 cm. in diameter, with capsules 3 to 5 mm. in diameter; these flowers little if at all overtopped by the later-growing branches H. Bicknellii 1. Larger flowers solitary or rarely 2, 2 to 4 cm. in diameter, with capsules 6 to 9 mm. in diameter; these flowers soon conspicuously overtopped by later-growing branches and becoming apparently lateral H. canadense H. Bicknellii Fern. Frostweed. Dry sandy or gravelly soil, often in old fields; infrequent. One mile north of Kinderhook, 1186; 1 mile northwest of Ghent, 2998; Robinson Pond, 3931; 1.5 miles south of Ancramdale, 3391. H. canadense (L.) Michx. Dry sandy soil on bluffs overlooking the Hud- son River. North of Nutten Hook, 4058; at Columbia- Rensselaer County line, 1688. 2. Lechea L. Pinweed I. Cauline leaves broadly lanceolate to elliptic; pubescence strongly spreading; outer sepals about equaling the inner ones L. villosa 1. Cauline leaves narrowly lanceolate to narrowly linear; outer sepals shorter than the inner ones, 2 2. Seeds 2 to 4, smooth at maturity L. Leggettii 2. Seeds 4 to 6, at maturity with a white-reticulate membranaceous covering L. intermedia L. villosa Ell. Known in our area only from Stissing Mountain, Hoysradt, Sept. 16, 1878 (PENN). L. Leggettii Britt. & Hollick. A plant in the herbarium of the University of Pennsylvania, collected at Pine Plains by Hoysradt, July 16, 1878, has been referred to this species, but may represent an aberrant or immature form of the next. L. intermedia Leggett. Dry fields, thickets and edges of woods; common throughout. Often very abundant in clearings. VIOLACEAE (Violet Family) 1. Flowers greenish white, small; petals about equal in length, none of them spurred ; sepals not auricled ; plants 40 to 80 cm. high, leafy to the top 1. Hybanthus 1. Flowers white, yellow or blue, not greenish; lower petal prolonged into a spur at base; sepals with auriculate lobes; plants acaulescent or low- stemmed, rarely over 40 cm. high 2. Viola 1. Hybanthus Jacq. H. concolor (T. F. Forst.) Spreng. Green violet. Known only through a collection by Lewis C. Beck, now in the herbarium of the New York State Museum, marked “Lebanon, N. Y.” In the 28th Report of the N. Y. State Museum, p. 82 (1879), the species is reported from “New Lebanon, near the Shaker Settlement.” Hoysradt (1874a, p. 37) reports it from “a cold moun- tainous woods about a mile from the village of Pine Plains.” 172 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 2. Viola L. Violet 1. Plants stemless; leaves and flower stalks all from rootstocks or runners, 2 2. Flowers yellow V. rotundifolia 2. Flowers blue or white, 3 3. Flowers blue, sometimes pale but not white; rootstocks short and stout, not long-creeping, 4 4. Leaves heart-shaped in outline, crenate-serrate but without lobes or conspicuous teeth near the base, 5 5. Plants glabrous or essentially so, 6 6. Beard of lateral petals, or a part of it, usually composed of strongly club-shaped hairs ; sepals often ciliate-serrulate toward the apex; flowers usually with a dark eye, on stalks much exceeding the leaves V. cucullata 6. Beard composed of cylindrical hairs; sepals entire toward the apex ; flowers without a dark eye, on stalks which are usually about as long as the leaves, 7 7. Early leaves purplish beneath; petioles and flower stalks mi- nutely granulose along the upper part V. latiuscula 7. Early leaves green beneath ; petioles and flower stalks not granulose but sometimes sparingly pubescent V. papilionacea 5. Plants more or less pubescent, 8 8. Spurred petal villous ; capsules 5 to 8 mm. long V. septentrionalis 8. Spurred petal glabrous or with a few scattered hairs; capsules 8 to 12 mm. long V. sororia 4 Leaves with conspicuous lobes or sharp protruding teeth near base, 9 9. Leaves, except rarely the earliest, palmately 5- to 11-lobed or parted; spurred petal glabrous V. palmata 9. Leaves with conspicuous sharp teeth or short lobes at base of blade, but the blade not strongly palmately parted; spurred petal vil- lous, 10 10. Leaves ovate-oblong, pubescent, spreading-ascending, on short petioles V. fimbriatula 10. Leaves lanceolate, usually glabrous, stiffly erect on long petioles V. sag it tat a 3. Flowers white, sweet-scented; rootstocks slender, often filiform and long-creeping, 11 11. Leaves entirely glabrous, usually much exceeded by the flower stalks, the blades heart-shaped, obtuse; plants green V. pattern 11. Leaves more or less hairy, larger, usually not exceeded by the flower stalks, usually pointed, 12 12. Leaf blades glabrous except for a few hairs above; petioles and flower stalks usually reddish; lateral petals beardless V. blanda 12. Leaves hairy below and on the petioles ; petioles and flower stalks not reddish; lateral petals bearded V. incognita 1. Plants with leafy stems; flowers axillary, 13 13. Flowers yellow, 14 14. Plants strongly soft-pubescent; root leaves usually none V. pubescem 14. Plants sparingly pubescent; root leaves usually 1 to 3 V. pensylvanica 13. Flowers white, blue or violet, 15 15. Petals white within, violet without; stipules entire, at least the lower ones scarious V. canadensis 15. Petals light blue, lavender or violet; stipules bristly-toothed, herba- ceous, 16 16. Spur 4 to 8 mm. long; lateral petals bearded V. conspersa 16. Spur 9 to 13 mm. long; lateral petals beardless V. rostrata FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 173 V. palmata L. Rich wooded hillsides; common. V. papilionacea Pursh. Meadow violet. Moist or wet soil in meadows, thickets, or along streams, often in shaded situations; common. Very abun- dant in the Hudson Valley but apparently less so eastward. V. latiuscula Greene. Dry wooded hillsides; infrequent. 4 miles north of Nassau, House 22761; Waldorf Pond, House 21152; Hudson, below South Bay, House 20489; north of Castleton, 3978. V. sororia Willd. Woolly blue violet. Meadows, thickets and banks, in rather dry soil ; frequent, but local. In our area scarcely to be separated from V. papilionacea, which appears to be hardly more than a glabrous phase of the same species. The glabrous phase greatly exceeds the woolly one in num- ber of individuals. Waldorf Pond, House 21153; 3 miles north of Claverack, 552. V. septentrionalis Greene. Moist woods and upland pastures and mead- ows; rather frequent. Known only from the eastern part of our area, at elevations of about 300 m. or above. Mount Lebanon, House 16139 ; Perry Peak, Canaan, House 21172; 2 miles south of Flatbrook, 3601; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 697. V. cucullata Ait. Swamp blue violet. Wet open places in swampy mead- ows and along streams; frequent. Rather abundant locally, but much less so than V. papilionacea, from which it is usually to be distinguished by the whitish eye of the corolla, the clavate hairs of the lateral petals and the long auricles at the base of the sepals. It is also a plant of moist or wet open places, rather than one preferring light shade as does V. papilionacea. V. fimbriatula Sm. Dry fields, pastures and hillsides; in various soils, but often in clays and other heavy soils; common throughout. Abundant in most dry open grasslands. V. sagittata Ait. Dry fields and pastures; rare in the Hudson Valley. South of Curtis Mountain, House 21475; Waldorf Pond, House 21133; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, in sandy pasture, 4317. This species seems wholly dis- tinct from the preceding one, both in shape and pubescence of leaves and in habit; V. fimbriatula forms a rosette of leaves on the ground, whereas both leaves and flowers of V. sagittata stand stiffly erect. V. incognita Brainerd. Cool moist woods; rare. Well known north of our area in Rensselaer County. One mile northwest of Brainard, House 21415. V. blanda Willd. Sweet white violet. Cool moist woods, in rich soil; common. Our most abundant white violet. V. paUens (Banks) Brainerd. Sweet white violet. Springy places in woods and along streams and on hummocks in swamps; frequent. V. rotundifolia Michx. Round-leaved yellow violet. Cool moist woods; common eastward, at elevations of 300 m. and above. In the Hudson Valley known only from Stuyvesant Falls, 446. V. pensylvanica Michx. Yellow violet. Rich woods, in moist soil; com- mon. In our area represented by var. leiocarpa (Fern. & Wieg.) Fern. V. pubescens Ait. Downy yellow violet. Rich woods, usually in drier soil than the preceding species; common. V. canadensis L. Canada violet. Rich moist woods, usually in somewhat calcareous soil, in the eastern part of the area; infrequent. Unknown in the Hudson Valley. East side of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 4286 (GA) ; 2 miles south of Flatbrook, 3608; No Bottom Pond, 466 (PENN) ; known also from Old Chatham, on limestone talus, and reported from Bashbish Gorge, Copake, by Knowlton (1919). 174 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM V. conspersa Reichenb. Dog violet. Moist rich woods and low grounds; common. V. rostrata Pursh. Long-spurred violet. Dry sunny rocky woods and banks ; frequent eastward, at elevations of 200 meters and above. Unknown from the Hudson Valley. New Lebanon; Canaan; Spencertown; Washburn Mountain; Red Rock; Riders Mills; Old Chatham. CACTACEAE (Cactus Family) Opuntia Mill. O. humifusa (Raf.) Raf. Cactus, “prickly pear.” Dry shaly slopes of Mount Merino, where known as early as 1825 (Stebbins, 1830). Saugerties, Ulster County, according to Taylor (1915). Well known farther south in the Hudson Valley. THYMELAEACEAE (Mezereum Family) 1. Flowers light yellow ; stamens and style exserted ; flowers from an involucre of dark fuzzy-hairy bracts; upright native shrub with exceedingly tough bark and jointed branchlets 1. Dirca 1. Flowers purplish or rose-colored; stamens and style included; low shrub, sparingly introduced along roadsides 2. Daphne 1. Dirca L. D. palustris L. Leatherwood. Rich moist woods; frequent, but nowhere abundant. Throughout, but most abundant on clay soil in the ravines of the Hudson Valley. Poelsburg; Niverville; Ashley Hill, Chatham (GH) ; Perry Peak, Canaan; 2 miles .south of Flatbrook; Chatham; Mount Merino (GA) ; Becraft Mountain; 3 miles east of Elizaville. 2. Daphne L. D. Mezereum L. Cultivated; established near New Britain, House 23640. LYTHRACEAE (Loosestrife Family) 1. Plants annual, small, rarely over 30 cm. high; whole plant strongly sticky- hairy; flowers somewhat irregular, the petals unequal and the calyx en- larged at base on the upper side 1. Cuphea 1. Plants tall and coarse, the stems often 60 to 200 cm. long; plants smooth or downy, not sticky; flowers regular, 2 2. Calyx long-cylindric ; plants stiffly erect, with the numerous flowers in a large conspicuous terminal inflorescence 2. Lythrum 2. Calyx short, bell-shaped; plants recurved, drooping; flowers in clusters in the axils of the upper leaves. 3. Decodon 1. Cuphea P. Br. C. petiolata (L.) Koehne. Tarweed. Fields and meadows; occasional in the Hudson Valley. Unknown from the eastern tier of towns. West Ghent, 4003; Becraft Mountain, 2237 ; Glenco Mills, 4033; 2 miles east of German- town, 2922; 2 miles north of Tivoli, 2977. Seen also at Castleton. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 175 2. Lythrum L. L. Salicaria L. Purple loosestrife. Marshes along the Hudson River; common, often forming dense stands and becoming the dominant plant over large areas. Unknown away from the river except in isolated colonies. This species, now the most conspicuous one in the river marshes, is apparently spreading rapidly. It was not mentioned by Hoysradt in his flora of Pine Plains (1875-79), nor by Gordinier & Howe (“Flora of Rensselaer County,’’ 1894). According to Dr. H. D. House it was uncommon enough before 1920 to be an interesting “find” for a collector. It is now (1937) probably more numerous in individuals than any of the surrounding native species of the river marshes and is gradually extending its range away from the river. 3. Decodon J. F. Gmel. D. verticillatus (L.) Ell. Floating sphagnum bogs and margins of lakes; infrequent. Locally very abundant, forming dense stands on the margins of some bogs. Not reported from the higher elevations eastward. Bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1754; bog south of Niverville, 1802; Taghkanic Lake, 2009. Known also from the towns of Ghent, Livingston and Copake. ONAGRACEAE (Evening Primrose Family) 1. Parts of the flowers in 4’s or more numerous, 2 2. Calyx-tube scarcely or not at all prolonged beyond the ovary, 3 3. Gapsule obovoid-cubical ; seeds naked ; sepals persistent ; petals minute and reddish, or yellow, or wanting 1. Ludwigia 3. Capsule linear; seeds with a tuft of hairs; sepals deciduous; petals purple or white, obovate or obcordate 2. Epilobium 2. Calyx-tube conspicuously prolonged beyond the ovary ; seeds naked, 4 4. Flowers yellow; capsule dehiscent 3. Oenothera 4. Flowers pale pink; fruit hard and nutlike, indehiscent 4. Gaura 1. Parts of the flowers in 2’s 5. Circaea 1. Ludwigia L. 1. Leaves all alternate ; plant erect, terrestrial L. alternifolia 1. Leaves all opposite; plant amphibious; stems creeping or floating L. palustris L. alternifolia L. Open swampy places; rare, in the Hudson Valley. Merwins’ Lake, 2006; 1 mile south of Kinderhook, 4026 ; 2 miles south of Claverack, 3984. Hudson, according to Stebbins (1830) ; Pine Plains, accord- ing to Hoysradt. L. palustris (L.) Ell. Wet places, in various situations, often in mud; common. In our area represented by var. americana (DC.) Fern. & Grisc. 2. Epilobium L. 1. Petals 1 to 2 cm. long ; stigma 4-lobed, 2 2. Stamens and style bent downward ; petals not notched at tip ; plants glabrous or short-puberulent above E. angustifolium 2. Stamens and style not bent downward; petals notched at tip; stem densely hirsute with long spreading hairs E. hirsutim 176 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 1. Petals less than 1 cm. long; stigma entire, not 4-lobed, 3 3. Stems terete, with no decurrent lines from the leaf-bases; leaves narrow, lanceolate or linear, with revolute margins, 4 4. Stems and pods covered with fine short straight spreading hairs E. strictum 4. Stems and pods with appressed or incurved hairs, or glabrous, 5 5. Leaves closely and evenly pubescent above ; well-developed plants freely branching E. leptophyllum 5. Leaves glabrous above or nearly so; plants simple or nearly so E. palustre 3. Stems with decurrent lines running down from the leaf-bases; leaves lanceolate to ovate, mostly toothed, the margins not revolute, 6 6. Seed about 1.5 mm. long, not striate; leaves narrowed at base, closely but irregularly serrate E. coloratum 6. Seed about 1 mm. long, distinctly striate; leaves rounded at base, nearly or quite sessile, somewhat remotely serrate E. glandulosum E. angustifolium L. Fireweed. Woods and low ground, especially in recently cleared or burned land; frequent eastward, but rare and obviously of recent introduction in the Hudson Valley. Kinderhook, in fence-row, 1395; Hotaling Island, 3131. E. hirsutum L. Marshes and roadsides along the Hudson River; rather frequent. Unknown elsewhere. Apparently first reported from eastern New York by Peck (20th Report N. Y. State Museum, App. p. 160. 1868). E. palustre L. var. oliganthum (Michx.) Fern. Known only from a sphag- num bog 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, House 20587. E. leptophyllum Raf. Open swamps and wet meadows, and swampy woods; common. E. strictum Muhl. Swampy meadow 1 mile east of Austerlitz, 2287. Doubt- less elsewhere, especially in the eastern part of the area. E. coloratum Biehler. Moist woods and meadows, and borders of streams and ponds ; common. E. glandulosum Lehm. With the preceding species; common. Represented in our area only by the var. adenocaulon (Haussk.) Fern. 3. Oenothera L. 1. Plants slender, 10 to 60 cm. high ; capsule club-shaped to obovoid, its great- est diameter above the middle; seeds clustered, not in distinct rows; petals 5 to 10 mm. long Oe. perennis 1. Plants coarse, 30 to 150 cm. high; capsule elongated, subcjdindrical, with nearly parallel sides; seeds in two rows in each locule; petals 12 to 25 mm. long, 2 2. Sepals with terminal appendages (resembling soft spiny points) which are in contact in the bud Oe. biennis 2. Sepals with appendages slightly back of the tip and therefore separated in the bud Oe. parviflora Oe. perennis L. Sundrops. Dry or moist soil, in meadows, open swamps and margins of woods ; common, throughout. Oe. biennis L. Evening primrose. Dry places in fields and woods, cul- tivated and waste grounds; common. Very variable as to color of stems, amount of pubescence and size of bracts. Oe. parviflora L. Said to grow in sandy and gravelly, often calcareous soils; reported several times from our area, but actually known only from a single collection, on the shales at Poelsburg, 4536. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 177 4. Gaura L. G. biennis L. Moist alluvial soil along the Hudson River; rather frequent. Mouth of the Muitzes Kill, House 24208; Stuyvesant, House 13296; Tivoli, 2775. Seen also at Poelsburg 5. Circaea L. 1. Leaves firm in texture, mostly rounded at base, shallowly toothed; fruit bilocular, 3.5 to 5 mm. thick, including the bristle-like hairs C. quadrisulcata 1. Leaves thin, flaccid, usually somewhat cordate at base, coarsely sharp- toothed ; fruit 1 to 3 mm. thick, 2 2. Fruit bilocular, 1.5 to 3 mm. thick, the hairs evident C. canadensis 2. Fruit unilocular, 1 to 1.5 mm. thick, the hairs very short and soft C. alpina C. quadrisulcata (Maxim.) Franch. & Sav. “Enchanter’s nightshade.” Moist woods; very common, especially in rich or alluvial soil. In our area repre- sented by var. canadensis (L.) Hara. C. canadensis Hill. “Rocky bed of Bashbish Brook, Mount Washington,” Hoffmann (NEBC). Otherwise unknown. C. alpina L. Cool moist woods, mossy swamps and wet rocks; common in the eastern towns, at elevations of 300 meters and over, but decreasing westward. Unknown in the Hudson Valley. HALORAGIDACEAE (Water-milfoil Family) 1. Flowers 4-parted 1. Myriophyllum 1. Flowers 3-parted 2. Proserpinaca 1. Myriophyllum L. Water-milfoil 1. Leaves whorled, pectinate ; flower bracts entire or denticulate ; stamens 8 ; flowers whorled in an apparently naked spike M. exalbescens 1. Leaves alternate or subopposite (or wanting on flowering stems), simple or pinnate; stamens 4; flowers alternate, 2 2. Flowering stems naked or with a few filiform uncleft leaves M. tenellum 2. Flowering stems leafy M. humile M. exalbescens Fern. Lakes and slow streams; rare, but locally abundant. Stony Creek, 1 mile north of Madalin, 2762; Copake Lake, 3426; Stissing Pond, Peck. M. tenellum Bigel. Ponds; rare and little known. Pikes’ Pond, Nassau, House 21954; Tackawasick Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4543 (CU). M. humile (Raf.) Morong. Known only from tidal mud along Stony Creek, Svenson 6430 (according to Svenson, 1935), and from the rocky edges of Riga Lake, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 4480. 2. Proserpinaca L. P. palustris L. Mermaid weed. Open swamps and borders of ponds, in neutral and calcareous situations; infrequent. Fowlers’ Lake, 2392 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3344; seen 1 mile south of Mount Riga Station. Rep- resented in our area by var. crebra Fern. & Grisc. ARALIACEAE (Ginseng Family) 1. Leaves alternate, more than once compound; carpels 5 1. Aralia 1. Leaves whorled, once compound; carpels 2 to 3 2. Panax 178 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 1. Aralia L. 1. Umbels numerous in a large compound panicle; fruit dull red when ripe; leaves very large, decompound; plant herbaceous A. racemosa 1. Umbels mostly 2 to 7, corymbose or umbellate in arrangement; fruit dark bluish black ; stems somewhat woody at base, 2 2. Stem leafy, 40 to 90 cm. high, often bristly at base, terminated by the inflorescence A. hispida 2- Plant nearly acaulescent, bearing a single ternate leaf with each of the divisions having 5 leaflets ; inflorescence scapose, overtopped by the leaf A. nudicaulis A. racemosa L. Spikenard. Moist rich woods and cool ravines; frequent. One mile north of Kinderhook, 1785; Stuyvesant Falls, 991; 1 mile south of Stockport Station, 1507; Canaan Center, 2314; Tivoli, 2810. Not seen in regions of prevailingly acid soil. A. hispida Vent. Rocky summits and dry rocky woods; infrequent. Four miles north of Lebanon Springs, 3788 ; southeast of Brainard, House 21540 ; Stuyvesant Falls, 996; Rogers Island, 2554 ; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 3512; Boston Corners, 2272. A. nudicaulis L. Wild sarsaparilla. Woods; common. Probably the most universally present herbaceous species in all woodlands. 2. Panax L. 1. Stem 20 to 40 cm. tall ; leaflets long-stalked, usually 5 ; fleshy root large and spindle-shaped, 10 to 20 cm. long; fruit red, shining P. quinquefolius 1. Stem 5 to 20 cm. tall ; leaflets sessile, 3 to 5 ; fleshy root globular, 1 cm. in diameter; fruit yellowish P. trifolius P. quinquefolius L. Ginseng. Rich moist woods; infrequent. Widely dis- tributed, but hardly ever is more than one plant found at a locality. Known from 3 miles north of Castleton ; Stuyvesant Falls ; 2 miles west of Stuyves- ant Falls; Becraft Mountain; Ashley Hill, Chatham; Old Chatham; 2 miles south of Flatbrook ; Green River. P. trifolius L. D*warf ginseng. Moist woods; frequent, forming small patches. Mount Lebanon, House 16146; Austerlitz, 4206 (GA) ; Niverville, 419 ; Stuy- vesant Falls, 435; reported by Stetson (1913) from Copake Falls. UMBELLIFERAE (Carrot Family) 1. Fruit bearing prickles or bristles, 2 2. Leaves, at least the lowest, palmately 3- to 7-foliolate; fruit ribless 1. Sanicula 2. Leaves decompound ; fruit ribbed, 3 3. Involucral bracts cleft or pinnatifid; umbels many-flowered, compact, in fruit suggesting a bird’s nest 2. Daucus 3. Involucral bracts narrow, not cleft or pinnatifid, 4 4. Fruit 0.5 cm. long or less 3. Torilis 4. Fruit 1 to 1.5 cm. long 4. Osmorhiza 1. Fruit neither prickly nor bristly, usually glabrous, 5 5. Umbels simple, axillary; leaves simple, reniform 12. Hydrocotyle 5. Umbels compound ; leaves, at least in part, compound, 6 6. Body of fruit strongly dorsally flattened; lateral ribs winged, 7 7. Flowers yellow 6. Pastinaca 7. Flowers white, 8 8. Plants woolly; leaflets up to 15 cm. broad 7. Heracleum 8. Plants glabrous, or, if tomentose above, the leaflets not more than 2.5 cm. broad, 9 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 179 9. Leaflets incised-cleft, rather finely divided; stylopodium short- conical 8. Conioselinum 9. Leaflets coarse, simply or doubly serrate; stylopodium somewhat flattened 9. Angelica 6. Body of fruit laterally flattened ; ribs not winged, 10 10. Flowers white, 11 11. Leaves ternately decompound, only the terminal divisions of the leaf subpinnate ; involucre usually none 14. Cicuta 11. Leaves pinnate or 3-foliolate, 12 12. Leaves simply pinnate; involucre and involucels present, con- spicuous 13. Sium 12. Leaves 3-divided; involucre and involucels none 5. Cryptotaenia 10. Flowers yellow, 13 13. Leaflets serrate 11. Zizia 13. Leaflets entire 10. Taenidia 1. Sanicula L. 1. Styles recurved, much exceeding the bristles of the fruit, 2 2. Fruit 6 to 7 mm. long, sessile; sepals of the sterile flowers 1.5 to 2 mm. long S', marilandica 2. Fruit 3 to 5 mm. long, somewhat stipitate; sepals of the sterile flowers less than 1 mm. long S. gregaria 1. Styles shorter than the bristles of the fruit, 3 3. Sterile flowers short-pedicelled ; fruit subglobose, 3 to 5 mm. long; calyx inconspicuous S. canadensis 3. Sterile flowers on long slender pedicels; fruit ovoid, 5 to 8 mm. long, tipped by the conspicuous beaklike calyx S. trifoliata S. marilandica L. Woods; common throughout. S. gregaria Bickn. Woods; in moist soil. Frequent in the Hudson Valley, unknown elsewhere. Three miles north of Nassau, House 21769 ; 2 miles northwest of Kinderhook, 1831; Hudson, House 20498; Tivoli, 2694. S. canadensis L. Woods; in moist soil; common in the Hudson Valley and occurring in the Harlem Valley. Unknown northeastward. The fourth species included in the key, S. trifoliata Bickn., is known to occur both north and south of our area and in Greene and Ulster Counties, but has not been reported from within the Columbia County area. 2. Daucus L. D. Carota L. Wild carrot, Queen Anne’s lace. Fields, meadows and road- sides; a common weed. 3. Torilis Adans. T. japonica (Houtt.) DC. Dry fields and roadsides; occasional. South of Madalin, 2874 ; 1 mile west of Ancramdale, 3392. 4. Osmorhiza Raf. 1. Stylopodium and style 0.7 to 1 mm. long; stem and leaves more or less villous-pubescent 0. Claytoni 1. Stylopodium and style 2 to 4 mm. long; stem and leaves essentially glabrous or rarely hairy 0. longistylis O. Claytoni (Michx.) C. B. Clarke. Sweet cicely. Moist rich woods; fre- quent. 180 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 0. longistylis (Torr.) DC. Sweet cicely. Moist rich woods, or often in alluvial soil; rather infrequent, in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Waldorf Pond, 3112; Becraft Mountain, 4357 (GH) ; east of Crugers’ Island, 3244. Known also from West Ghent, Stuyvesant Falls and Hillsdale. 5. Cryptotaenia DC. C. canadensis (L.) DC. Honewort. Moist rich woods; common. 6. Pastinaca L. P. sativa L. Wild parsnip. Meadows and roadsides; common, and locally very abundant; often a troublesome weed. 7. Heracleum L. H. lanatum Michx. (H. maximum of Gray’s Manual). Alluvial meadow 2.5 miles east of Clermont, along Roeliff Jansen Kill, 4767 (USNA) ; 2 miles southwest of Chatham Center, along Kline Kill, 5105 (USNA); [north of Stephentown Center, House 29365], Otherwise unknown. 8. Conioselinum Hoffm. C. chinense (L.) BSP. Swampy woods and shaded places in calcareous marshes; rare. One-half mile northeast of Hillsdale, 3917 ; south of Pulvers Corners, 3860. 9. Angelica L. 1. Umbels, fruit and upper part of plant pubescent; leaflets not more than 2 to 2.5 cm. broad A. venenosa I. Umbels, fruit and whole plant glabrous ; leaflets 2.5 cm. broad or more A. atropurpurea A. venenosa (Greenway) Fern. Dry woods, in clay or shale soils; infre- quent, but widely distributed. Never abundant. Two miles northwest of Kinderhook, 1833 ; 2 miles south of Claverack, 3993 ; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 3501 ; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; seen also about 3 miles southeast of Harlemville. A. atropurpurea L. Wet meadows and open swamps; locally very con- spicuous and abundant, especially in the lowlands bordering the larger streams. New Lebanon, House 21310 ; Kinderhook, 978. Seen at Mount Riga Station, town of Northeast; Stuyvesant, Hudson land Germantown, according to House (verbal reports) ; Pine Plains, where common, according to Hoysradt. 10. Taenidia Drude T. integerrima (L.) Drude. Dry clay and shale hillsides and bluffs; com- mon in the Hudson Valley, especially near the river; occurs in the Harlem Valley. Waldorf Pond, 3111; 1 mile east of Kinderhook, 4404 (GH, GA) ; Nutten Hook, 530; Alvords’ Dock, Stockport, 762 ; Robinson Pond, 3924. 11. Zizia W. D. J. Koch 1. Basal leaves twice or thrice ternate; leaflets ovate to lanceolate, acuminate Z. aurea 1. Basal leaves unlobed, cordate, often suborbicular Z. aptera Z. aurea (L.) W. D. J. Koch. Meadow parsnip. Moist meadows and along streams; common throughout. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 181 Z. aptera (Gray) Fern. Heart-leaved Alexanders. Rich, often calcareous woods, in rather dry soil; rather frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Val- leys. Columbiaville, 3724 ; 2 miles south of Claverack, 3991; 2 miles east of Greendale, 4334; 1 mile south of Madalin, 2668; 3 miles north of Ancram- dale, 3339 ; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY). 12. Hydrocotyle L. H. americana L. Pennywort. Moist low grounds and springy mon throughout. 13. Sium L. places; com- S. suave Walt. Water parsnip. Muddy borders of streams and ponds; common. Most abundant in marshes along the Hudson River. 14. Cicuta L. 1. Leaflets lanceolate; fruit 3 to 3.5 mm. long C. maculatci 1. Leaflets narrowly linear; fruit less than 2 mm. long; plant with bulblets in upper leaf axils in autumn C. bulbifera C. maculata L. “Water hemlock.” Open swamps and margins of streams; common in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys; not reported northeastward. C. bulbifera L. Swamps and wet places; common. CORNACEAE (Dogwood Family) 1. Flowers 4-parted, perfect 1. Cornus 1. Flowers 5-parted, perfect or unisexual 2. Nyssa 1. Cornus L. 1. Flowers in a close cluster, surrounded by a 4-leaved white or pink petal-like involucre, 2 2. Plant a small tree; leaves opposite C. florida 2. Plant low, semiherbaceous, with creeping rootstock and short, erect branches; upper leaves crowded, apparently whorled in 4’s or 6’s C. canadensis 1. Flowers in open cymes without an involucre, 3 3. Leaves opposite; plants shrubby, erect, 4 4. Leaves round-oval or suborbiculiar, woolly beneath; branchlets green, flecked or streaked with purple C. rugosa 4. Leaves lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, glabrous beneath or pubescent only when young; branchlets red to gray, not normally streaked or flecked, 5 5. Branchlets reddish to bright purple-red or purplish, 6 6. Branchlets loosely silky-downy, often rusty ; pith brownish ; fruit pale blue C. Amomttm 6 Branchlets glabrous or with scanty straight appressed pubescence; pith white; fruit white or lead-colored C. stolonifera 5. Branchlets gray, smooth; fruit white, on bright red pedicels; cymes very convex or panicled C. racemosa 3. Leaves alternate, clustered near the ends of the branches ; fruit deep blue ; plant a small tree C. alternifolia C. rugosa Lam. Dry rocky hillsides and bluffs; frequent. Well known on the clays and shales near the Hudson River ; known also on calcareous bluffs, as at Old Chatham and at Croghan Mill ; less abundant on schistose rocks. C. Amomum Mill. Silky dogwood. Open swamps, margins of lakes and streams; common. 182 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM C. stolonifera Michx. Red-twig dogwood, red osier. Open swampy places; common. Rarely in drier situations. C. racemosa Lam. Gray-twig dogwood. Dry woods and fields, and especially along fence rows ; common. C. alternifolia L. f. Woods, or occasionally in fields and fence rows; frequent, but almost always solitary. C. florida L. Flowering dogwood. Woods, or occasionally in fields and fence rows; common in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Rare or infrequent east- ward and northeastward. C. canadensis L. Dwarf dogwood, bunchberry. Rocky uplands in acid soil ; also in wooded sphagnum bogs ; frequent eastward and northward, at eleva- tions of 300 m. or more. Otherwise unknown, except in a moist woods 1. mile north of Kinderhook, 154 (PENN). Known from Stephentown Center; Canticoke Swamp; Berry Pond, Hancock; New Britain; Canaan Center; 1 mile east of Austerlitz ; Bashbish Mountain ; Mount Alander ; Mount Riga, Northeast; Mount Everett; Brace Mountain. 2. Nyssa1 L. N. sylvatica Marsh. Black gum. Swamps and wet woods; frequent and locally abundant in the Hudson Valley, especially southward. Unknown from the eastern tier of towns. South of Niverville, 731; West Ghent, 1121; 2 miles south of Claverack, 3987 ; Rogers Island, 2563; Crugers’ Island, 2946; summit of Stissing Mountain, 2835. ERICACEAE2 (Heath Family) 1. Ovary superior, 2 2. Plants saprophytic, lacking green coloring; pollen grains simple 1. Subfamily Monotropoideae 2. Plants green ; pollen grains compound, 3 3. Corolla polypetalous ; anthers inverted in the flower; low evergreen herbs 2. Subfamily Pyroloideae 3. Corolla gamopetalous (rarely polypetalous); anthers erect; habit of plants various 3. Subfamily Ericoideae 1. Ovary inferior; pollen grains compound; corolla gamopetalous 4. Subfamily Vaccinioideae 1. Subfamily MONOTROPOIDEAE 1. Corolla of separate narrow petals 1. Monotropa 1. Corolla gamopetalous, 5-toothed 2. Pterospora 2. Subfamily PYROLOIDEAE 1. Plants with leafy stems; style very short and top-shaped 5. Chimaphila 1. Plants nearly acaulescent, the leaves clustered near base; style elongated, mostly exserted, 2 2. Flowers racemose; valves of the capsule with cobwebby margins 3. Pyrola 2. Flower solitary; valves of capsule with smooth margins 4. Moneses 1 This genus is frequently separated as an independent family, Nyssaceae, as in Gray’s Manual. 2 The first two subfamilies are frequently placed in a separate family, Pyrolaceae, as in Gray’s Manual. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 183 3. Subfamily ERICOIDEAE 1. Fruit a septicidal capsule; corolla in outline funnel-form or saucer-shaped, 2 2. Leaves rusty-woolly beneath; flowers white, polypetalous 6. Ledum 2. Leaves not woolly ; flowers gamopetalous, 3 3. Corolla regular, with pockets in which the anthers are inserted 8. Kalmia 3. Corolla somewhat irregular, without staminal pockets 7. Rhododendron 1. Fruit a loculicidal capsule or a berry; corolla urceolate or salver-form, 4 4. Corolla salver-form; anthers longitudinally dehiscent; trailing semi-woody herb with oval evergreen leaves 12. Epigaea 4. Corolla urceolate ; anthers with terminal pores, 5 5. Erect shrubs, rarely less than 30 cm. high; fruit a capsule, 6 6. Calyx of imbricated sepals, bibracteate ; flowers in leafy-bracted ter- minal racemes 9. Chamaedaphne 6. Calyx of valvate sepals, naked; flower-bracts not leafy, 7 7. Anthers awned on the back; leaves evergreen, white-glaucous be- neath 10. Andromeda 7. Anthers naked ora the back; leaves deciduous, green 11. Lyonia 5. Plants prostrate or erect, rarely more than 15 cm. high, woody or semi- herbaceous; fruit berrylike, 8 8. Tough trailing shrubs with scattered leaves 14. Arctostaphylos 8. Aerial stems erect, semiherbaceous, 3 to 15 cm. high, the leaves clus- tered near the ends of the stems 13. Gaultheria 4. Subfamily VACCINIOIDEAE 1. Ovary half-inferior ; fruit white when ripe ; anther-cells not prolonged into tubes 17. Chiogenes 1. Ovary wholly inferior; fruit red, blue or black when ripe; each anther-cell prolonged into a tube, 2 2. Leaves resinous-dotted; ovary 10-locular 15. Gaylussacia 2. Leaves not resinous-dotted; ovary 4- to 5-locular, many-seeded 16. Vaccinium 1. Monotropa L. 1. Flowers solitary; plants pure white when fresh, turning black when dry M. uniflora 1. Flowers racemose; plants light yellowish brown to rose-colored M. Hypopithys M. uniflora L. Indian pipe. In woods, especially where leaf mold is abun- dant ; common, usually in small patches. M. Hypopithys L. Rich woods, in leaf mold ; rare. 3 miles east of Stuyvesant, 1932; north of Robinson Pond, 3945; west side of Dbuglas Knob, New Lebanon, 3623. All the plants seen are the hairy extreme designated as M. lanuginosa Michx. A pink form has also been collected at Robinson Pond 3926. 2. Pterospora Nutt. P. andromedea Nutt. Pine drops. This species is unknown in our area at present, but was reported by Stebbins (1830) from Hudson (as Monotropa procera ) . As suggested by House ( 1924) , the numerous reports of this spe- cies in early days would seem to indicate that it was once rather frequent in eastern New York. 184 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 3. Pyrola L. 1. Style strongly bent downward, the apex curved upward ; racemes not secund, 2 2. Leaf blades elliptical or somewhat obovate, thin and dull ; calyx-lobes very short, ovate-triangular P. elliptica 2. Leaf blades orbicular, thick, tending to be glossy, 3 3. Leaf blades 1 to 2.5 cm. wide; raceme few-flowered; flowers greenish white P. virens 3. Leaves broader, 2.5 to 5 cm. wide; raceme elongated, many-flowered; flowers white P. rotundifolia 1. Style straight, not bent downward; raceme dense and spikelike, the flowers all turned to one side P. secunda P. elliptica Nutt. Dry woods, usually in acid soil; common in the eastern tier of towns; decreasing westward and infrequent in the Hudson Valley. P. virens Schweigger. Dry woods; rare. Canaan Center, 2319 \ 2 miles south of Canaan, 3591. Reported from Stissing Mountain by Hoysradt. Repre- sented in our area by forma paucifolia (Fern.) Fern. P. rotundifolia L. Dry woods, in acid soil; frequent eastward, but infre- quent or rare in the Hudson Valley, where suitable habitats are scarce. Known from North Chatham; West Ghent; Claverack; south of Taghkanic Lake; many stations eastward. Represented in our area by var. americana (Sweet) Fern. P. secunda L. Dry woods, in acid soil; rare. Canticoke Swamp, 1710 (PENN) ; west side of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 3624; east of North Chatham, 4007. 4. Moneses Salisb. M. uniflora (L.) Gray. Dry woods, in acid soil; rare. Known only from the west side of Dbuglas Knob, New Lebanon, 3621; [Perry Peak, Mrs. E. S. Deevey in 1944]. 5. Chimaphila Pursh 1. Leaves green throughout, oblanceolate C. umbellata 1. Leaves variegated with white along the veins, oblong-lanceolate or lanceolate C. maculata C. umbellata (L.) Bart. Pipsissewa. Dry woods, usually in acid soil; fre- quent eastward and decreasing westward into the Hudson Valley, where infrequent. Represented in our area only by var. cisatlantica Blake. C. maculata (L.) Pursh. Spotted wintergreen. Dry woods; rare. North of Robinson Pond, 3925; Tivoli, 2699; “very scarce” at Pine Plains, accord- ing to Hoysradt. 6. Ledum L. L. groenlandicum Oeder. Labrador tea. Sphagnous woods; rare. Leba- non Springs, 2401; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (NY). I have been unable to relocate the Hoysradt locality. 7. Rhododendron L. 1. Flowers pink or rose-colored, appearing before or with the leaves (May- June) R. nudiflorum 1. Flowers white (rarely pinkish), appearing after the leaves are grown (June- July) R. viscosum R. nudiflorum (L.) Torr. (inch R. roseunt of Gray’s Manual). Pinkster, wild azalea. Woods and rocky uplands; common. Throughout, but most abundant in acid soil and so occurring rather sparingly in the Hudson Valley. East- ward this plant may be the most abundant shrub in rocky abandoned pasture- land. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 185 R. viscosum (L.) Torr. White azalea. Acid bogs, where abundant, in- cluding var. glaucum (Lam.) Torr. Bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1015; North Chatham, 1035; [New Britain, House 23620 ] ; pond south of Taghkanic Lake, 1235; bog 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 2601; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3902; Stissing Mountain, 2833. 8. Kalmia L. 1. Leaves mostly alternate, bright green on both sides, 5 to 12 cm. long; flowers pale pink to white K. latifolia 1. Leaves opposite or in 3’s, pale green to white beneath ; flowers crimson to rose-purple, 2 2. Leaves pale green beneath, flat; inflorescence lateral (appearing later than the new shoots of the season), glandular K. angustifolia 2. Leaves very white-glaucous beneath, the margins strongly revolute ; in- florescence terminal, glabrous K. polifolia K. latifolia L. Mountain laurel. Woods and upland pastures and hillsides; in acid soil; common eastward. Unknown from the Hudson Valley, although reported by Woodworth (1840) from Kinderhook, and by Stebbins (1830) from Hudson. K. angustifolia L. Sheep laurel. Acid bogs and swampy woods ; rather fre- quent. In the Hudson Valley local and not abundant; Niverville; North Chatham; near Knickerbocker Lake; 2 miles south of Claverack. K. polifolia Wang. Swamp laurel. Acid bogs; rare. 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, 1135; bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1013; seen also at “Fingar Marsh,” 2 miles south of Taghkanic Lake. 9. Chamaedaphne Moench C. calyculata (L.) Moench. Leatherleaf. Acid bogs and' borders of ponds; abundant in suitable situations. Rare in the Hudson Valley. Known from Lebanon Springs; 2 miles south of Copake Lake; Mud Pond, Gallatin; Fowlers’ Lake; Niverville. 10. Andromeda L. A. glaucophylla Link. Bog rosemary. Acid bogs; rare, but locally abund- dant. Taplins’ Pond, 2416; bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1019 ; known also from a bog south of Niverville and from the “Fingar Marsh,” Gallatin. 11. Lyonia Nutt. L. ligustrina (L.) DC. Bogs, wet woods and rocky uplands; frequent east- ward. Unknown from the towns along the Hudson River. West of Post Road School, Kinderhook, 158 (PENN) ; Fowlers’ Lake, 266; West Ghent, 1118; Stissing Mountain, 2834; New Lebanon, House 21313. 12. Epigaea L. E. repens L. Mayflower, trailing arbutus. Dry acid soil in woods; com- mon eastward. Rare in the Hudson Valley; in the towns on the Hudson River known only from a bluff at Poelsburg. 13. Gaultheria L. G. procumbens L. Wintergreen. Dry woods, mostly in acid soil ; common eastward. In the Hudson Valley infrequent or rare, occurring on the sandy soils in the town of Kinderhook and probably elsewhere. 186 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 14. Arctostaphylos Adans. A. Uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. Bearberry. Bare rocky summits above 450 m. elevation, on schistose or quartzitic rocks, in the towns of Copake and An- cram and extending eastward and southeastward into Massachusetts and Connecticut; rather local on all the peaks in this limited area, occurring in large patches. Mount Fray, 2641; Washburn Mountain, 4216 (GH, GA) ; Mount Alander, 1763; 1 mile east of Boston Corners, 2270; [Brace Moun- tain, House 24801]. Our plant is apparently var. coactilis Fern. & Macbr. 15. Gaylussacia HBK. G. baccata (Wang.) K. Koch. Black huckleberry. Dry woods and upland fields, or in bogs ; usually in acid soil. Common eastward, but infrequent or rare in the Hudson Valley. A few stations are known in the towns of Ghent and Livingston, as well as several in the sandy soils and in bogs of the town of Kinderhook. This is one of the true huckleberries; the species of the genus V actinium should properly be known as blueberries. 16. Vaccinium L. 1. Upright shrubs with deciduous leaves; corolla 5-lobed; fruit greenish or. blue-black, 2 2. Corolla open bell-shaped, deeply 5-lobed; anthers 2-awned on the back; berry greenish V. stamineum 2. Corolla cylindric or contracted just below the mouth (urceolate), 5- toothed; anthers awnless; berry blue-black, 3 3. Low shrubs, mostly less than 1 m. high; corolla mostly 4 to 7 mm. long; plants normally of dry upland soils, 4 4. Branchlets and both sides of leaves downy-pubescent V. myrtilloides 4. Branchlets pubescent in lines only; leaves glabrous or somewhat pubescent on the midribs beneath, 5 5. Leaf blade elliptic-lanceolate, acute at base and apex, green on both sides, finely toothed along the margin V. angustifolium 5. Leaf blade obovate or oval, glaucous at least beneath, entire or minutely ciliate-serrulate along the margins V. vacillans 3. Tall shrubs 1 to 4 m. high; corolla mostly 6 to 10 mm. long; plants of swampy places, rarely in dry soil, 6 6. Leaves glabrous or somewhat pubescent beneath ; berries blue to blue- black or quite black, with a waxy bloom V. corymbosuni 6. Leaves densely pubescent beneath ; berries polished black, without bloom V. atrococcum 1. Stem very slender, creeping or trailing; leaves small, entire, whitened be- neath, evergreen ; corolla deeply 4-cleft ; fruit red, shining, 7 7. Inflorescence mostly terminal on the plant; pedicels bearing about the middle two colored bracts 1 to 2.5 mm. long V. Oxycoccos 7. Inflorescence usually surpassed by a long, leafy shoot; pedicels bearing toward the tip two green, leaflike bracts 4 to 10 mm. long V. macrocarpon V. stamineum L. Squawberry. Dry woods, in sandy or shaly soil; fre- quent, especially in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. V. corymbosum L. Highbush blueberry. Swamps, or less often in upland woods; common eastward. Infrequent in the Hudson Valley, and unknown from the towns bordering the river. V. myrtilloides Michx. Dry rocky woods; rare. New Lebanon, House 21308; Brace Mountain, Northeast, House 24816. Well known north of our area. ure 20. Cliiogcnes hispidula in a sphagnous woods about 1 mile west of Lebanon Springs. 2 plant has the aromatic flavor of sweet birch ; the berries are pure white and slightly smaller than a cranberry. apn 188 Figure 21. The starflower, Trienialis borealis, in a sandy woodland just north of Kinderhook FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 189 V. angustifolium Ait. Lowbush blueberry. Dry woods, banks, and rocky up- lands; common. The most abundant species of V actinium in the eastern part of our area, and the principal source of the “huckleberries” sold commercial ly. V. vacillans Torr. Dry sandy or rocky woods, often in acid soil; common. V. atrococcum (Gray) Heller. Black highbush blueberry. Swamps; infre- quent in the southern part of the area. One mile southwest of Clermont, 3259; south of Mount Riga Station, 3363; [North Chatham, Peck]. V. Oxycoccos L. Small cranberry. Acid bogs; frequent. With the follow- ing species, but somewhat more abundant in suitable habitats. V. macrocarpon Ait. Large cranberry. Acid bogs or boggy depressions in rocky uplands; infrequent. 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, 1130; 1 mile east of Austerlitz, 293 (PENN) ; 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake, 1619 (PENN). 17. Chiogenes Salisb. C. hispidula (L.) T. & G. Creeping snowberry. Sphagnous woods; rare. Locally abundant near the northern limits of our area, near the southern edge of the Rensselaer Plateau. Lebanon Springs, 3674; reported from Pine Plains by Hoysradt (1875-79) (figure 20). This is now frequently treated as a species of Gaultheria, as in Gray’s Manual. PRIMULACEAE (Primrose Family) l. Capsule opening by a lid ; low spreading annual herb, with solitary, axillary scarlet or white flowers; petals obovate, obtuse 3. Anagallis 1. Capsule splitting vertically, not with a lid; flowers yellow or white, 2 2. Flowers white, apparently terminal, borne with a whorl of leaves at the summit of the stem; petals finely pointed 2. Trientalis 2. Flowers yellow, often marked with red or purple 1. Lysimachia 1. Lysimachia L. 1. Leaves dotted; corolla twisted (convolute) in bud; anthers oblong or oval; appendages between the fertile stamens none, 2 2. Flowers solitary in the axils of ordinary foliage leaves, 3 3. Plants erect, 30 to 90 cm. high, the lanceolate to ovate leaves whorled in 4’s or 5’s; flowers on long capillary pedicels from the axils; corolla with dark spots or streaks L. quadrifolia 3. Plant creeping; leaves opposite, roundish-ovate; corolla not dark- spotted or streaked L. Numniularia 2. Flowers in. axillary or terminal spikes or racemes, 4 4. Flowers in dense axillary spikes L. thyrsiflora 4. Flowers in a small-bracted terminal raceme L. terrestris 1. Leaves not dotted; each lobe of corolla wrapped around its stamen in the bud; anthers linear ; flowers bearing five slender appendages alternating with the fertile stamens £ ciliata L. quadrifolia L. Whorled loosestrife. Woods and fields, usually in dry soil ; common. L. terrestris (L.) BSP. Swamp loosestrife. Wet places, in various soils, often along shores; frequent. L. Nummularia L. Moneywort. Near dwellings and in moist situations ; weedy.. Frequently established and sometimes very abundant. L. thyrsiflora L. Tufted loosestrife. Swamps and borders of ponds; infre- quent. Widely distributed and locally abundant. New Britain, 3639; Canaan Center, 1052; Shaver Pond, 838; Kinderhook, 958; Nutten Hook 863- Ancram, 808. ’ ’ L. ciliata L. Fringed loosestrife. Moist meadows, thickets and along streams • common. ’ 190 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 2. Trientalis L. T. borealis Raf. Starflower. Dry woods, or in sphagnum bogs, usually in acid soil; common eastward. Infrequent in the Hudson Valley, where known from several localities in the town of Kinderhook, and in Claverack (figure 21). 3. Anagallis L. A. arvensis L. Scarlet pimpernel. Fields and waste grounds; occasionally established as a weed in the Hudson Valley. Known from near Fowlers’ Lake; Hudson; Mount Merino; near mouth of Roeliff Jansen Kill, German- town. OLEACEAE (Olive Family) 1. Trees with pinnate leaves and dry winged fruits (samaras) 1. Fraxinus 1. Shrubs with simple leaves ; fruit a small fleshy drupe 2. Ligustrum 1. Fraxinus L. 1. Lateral leaflets nearly or quite sessile, 7 to 11 in number F. nigra 1. Lateral leaflets short-stalked, 5 to 9 in number, 2 2. Body of fruit terete, the wing terminal and not extending down the sides ; whole plant glabrous F. americana 2. Body of fruit partially winged along the sides and gradually dilating into the wing ; branchlets and petioles velvety-pubescent F. pennsylvanica F. americana L. White ash. Upland woods, or sometimes in wet places ; common. Abundant throughout. F. pennsylvanica Marsh. Red ash. Swampy woods, stream banks and bor- ders of ponds; common along the Hudson River and decreasing eastward. Known to occur in the Harlem Valley, at Mount Riga Station, Northeast. Unknown northeastward. F. nigra Marsh. Black ash. Swampy woods, frequent. Throughout, but restricted to permanently wet places, and nowhere very abundant. 2. Ligustrum L. L. vulgare L. Privet. Persistent or sometimes spreading in old yards or about the sites of former dwellings; infrequent. Syringa vulgaris L., the lilac, is also seen occasionally about old dwelling sites where it shows considerable tendency to spread and persist. GENTIANACEAE (Gentian Family) 1. Leaves opposite, simple, entire, sessile, 2 2. Stems very slender and delicate, almost threadlike; leaves scalelike, awl- shaped; flowers white, very small, 3 to 4 mm. long 2. Bartonia 2. Stems coarser, not threadlike; leaves flat, green, not scalelike; flowers blue or purple, large, never less than 1 cm. long 1. Gentiana 1. Leaves alternate, long-petioled, 3 3. Leaves trifoliolate; flowers in a raceme on a naked scape; corolla bearded inside 3. Menyanthes 3. Leaves simple, rounded, at least some of them floating; flowers in umbels near the summit of the petiole ; corolla not bearded inside, or bearded on the margins only 4. Nymphoides FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 191 1. Gentiana L. 1. Corolla lobes conspicuously fringed on margins ; flowers about 5 cm. long, solitary at the ends of the peduncles G. crinita 1. Corolla lobes not fringed on the margin, 2 2. Corolla 1 to 2 cm. long, the lobes entire, acute, without folds between them; flowers in clusters of 3 to 7 at the ends of the branches, and also axillary G. quinquefolia 2. Corolla mostly 2 to 5 cm. long, with folds (plaits) between the lobes, 3 3. Lobes of the corolla broad, rounded, 2 to 8 mm. long, as broad as or broader than the intervening 2- or 3-cleft plaits; margins of the plaits entire or nearly so G. clausa 3. Lobes of the corolla nearly obsolete, narrow, narrower than the inter- vening plaits which are minutely fimbriate-dentate on the margins G. Andrewsii G. crinita Froel. Fringed gentian. Wet springy hillsides and meadows, usu- ally in calcareous soil ; rare, but locally abundant. Definitely known from Kinderhook, Claverack and Ancram, and said to grow in Canaan and New Lebanon. Hoysradt considered it “common” at Pine Plains, probably be- cause of the several calcareous marshes in the vicinity. G. quinquefolia L. Rocky upland woods; frequent in the eastern tier of towns and decreasing westward. Rare in the Hudson Valley, where it occurs along the Hudson River near Columbiaville, 4037. G. Andrewsii Griseb. Closed gentian. Moist soil in thickets and pastures and along streams; locally abundant along the Hudson River and in the adjacent valley; not reported eastward. Wet banks along the river, Poels- burg, 2375; Waldorf Pond, House 20919 ; pastures northeast of Claverack, 3014; mouth of Stony Creek, Red Hook, according to Svenson (1935). In the eastern part of our area replaced by the next species. G. clausa Raf. Borders of ponds and along streams, and often in woods, in sandy or clay soil ; frequent or common eastward, at the higher elevations, but rare or absent in the Hudson Valley. 4 miles north of Lebanon Springs, 2409 ; Stephentown Center, House 22349 ; No Bottom Pond, 4524; Robinson Pond, 3954; 2 miles east of Chatham Center, 3825. 2. Bartonia Muhl. B. virginica (L.) BSP. Bogs, usually in sphagnum; frequent. Perhaps more abundant than it seems, as it is inconspicuous. 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 4537 ; bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1755; Fowlers’ Lake, 1672; Canaan Center, 2323 (PENN) ; 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 3452. Known also from the “Fingar Marsh,” Gallatin, and from New Britain. 3. Menyanthes L. M. trifoliata L. Buckbean. Bogs and swamps, usually in calcareous situa- tions; abundant in suitable places. Niverville, 568; bog 1 mile east of Fowlers’ Lake, 563; Rogers Island, 2549; Mud Pond, Gallatin, 3284; Miller Pond, Ancram, 3121. Represented in our area only by var. minor Michx. 4. Nymphoides Hill 1. Flowers white; petiole with a cluster of short and spurlike roots near sum- mit, along with flowering umbel N. cordatum 1. Flowers yellow; petiole naked H. peltatum 192 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM N. cordatum (Ell.) Fern. (N. lacunosum of Gray’s Manual ). Floating heart. Ponds; rare. Tackawasick Lake, Muenscher & Clausen 4547 (CU) ; Riga Lake, Litchfield County, Conn. [Observed by House at Pikes’ Pond, Rens- selaer County]. N. peltatum (Gmel.) Ktze. This species, reported by Muenscher (1935, p. 248) as forming dense beds in the Hudson River between Waterford and North Troy, was found for the first time in our area at Nutten Hook, Sept. 13, 1936, 4512 (See House, Torreya 37: 80-82. 1937). APOCYNACEAE (Dogbane Family) 1. Trailing evergreen plants with purplish blue flowers 1. Vinca 1. Upright herbs with pink or white flowers 2. Apocynum 1. Vinca L. V. minor L. Periwinkle. Occasionally established and spreading in cemeteries and yards and along roadsides. 2. Apocynum L. 1. Flowers 6 to 9 mm. long; corolla pink A. androsaemifolium 1. Flowers 3 to 4.5 mm. long; corolla white A. cannabinum A. androsaemifolium L. Dogbane. Dry fields and thickets; common. A. cannabinum L. (inch A. sibiricum of Gray’s Manual). Indian hemp. Grav- elly or sandy shores, or as a weed in fields; common. Rather local; most abundant along the larger streams, on gravel banks. ASCLEPIADACEAE (Milkweed Family) 1. Stems erect, not twining ; flowers greenish, white, orange, pink or purple, not dark purplish red ; crown of five hooded bodies, these each usually with a sharp incurved horn 1. Asclepias 1. Stems twining; flowers very dark purplish red; crown flat, simple 2. Cynanchum 1. Asclepias L. Milkweed 1. Sharp incurved horns of the crown wanting A. viridiflora 1. Homs present, 2 2. Flowers orange; leaves mostly alternate A. tuberosa 2. Flowers white, pink or purple; leaves opposite or whorled, 3 3. Leaves linear, in whorls of 3 to 7 ; corolla greenish white A. verticillata 3. Leaves lanceolate or broader, 4 4. Pods pubescent, covered with soft spines ; plant stout, finely soft- pubescent ; corolla lobes dull purple to white, 6 to 9 mm. long A. syriaca 4. Pods essentially glabrous, smooth and spineless; plants mostly gla- brous, 5 5. Leaves thick, sessile, cordate-clasping at base, obtuse and mucronu- late at apex, wavy or crinkly-margined ; umbel solitary, ter- minal ; corolla greenish purple A. amplexicaulis 5. Leaves narrowed or rounded at base, petiolate, the petiole mostly 6 to 30 mm. long; umbels 1 to many, 6 6. Middle leaves whorled in 4’s, the others opposite; corolla pink or nearly white, its lobes 4 to 6 mm. long; hood white; flower- ing in May and June A. qmdrifolia FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 193 6. Leaves all opposite, 7 7. Leaves lanceolate; corolla red or rose-purple; hoods pink or purplish ; corolla lobes about 4 mm. long A. incarnata 7. Leaves ovate or oblong; corolla and hoods greenish white or pale purplish ; corolla lobes 6 to 8 mm. long A. exaltata A. tuberosa L. Butterflyweed. Dry sandy or shaly soil; infrequent, and sometimes appearing as if adventive. Near Canticoke Swamp, 1699; Old Chatham, on a railroad embankment, 1399; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson in 1869 (V)]; seen also at Alvords’ Dock, Stockport, and near Fowlers’ Lake. A. incarnata L. Swamp milkweed. Swamps and wet grounds; frequent. A. amplexicaulis Sm. Sandy fields; rare. North Chatham, House 21555; Kinderhook, 1067. A. exaltata L. Poke milkweed. Dry or moist woods; infrequent or rare in the Hudson Valley; somewhat more frequent eastward. 1 mile north of Riders Mills, 1260; North Chatham, House 21547 ; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 2283; 1 mile south of Taghkanic Lake, 1234. A. quadrifolia Jacq. Dry woods and thickets; frequent, especially in cal- careous regions. Brainard, House 21384 ; 3 miles south of Kinderhook, 192 (PENN) ; Stuyvesant Falls, Iva Allen; Alvords’ Dock, Stockport, 773; Nutten Hook, 860; 1.5 miles east of Clermont, 3234; Washburn Mountain, Copake, 3465; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 802. A. syriaca L. Common field milkweed. Fields, pastures and along streams; common, often a weed. A. verticillata L. Dry shaly hillsides; infrequent, in the Hudson Valley from Becraft Mountain southward. Becraft Mountain, 2422 (PENN) ; Blue Hill, 2161; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3320. Reported from the summit of Little Stissing Mountain by Hoysradt (1875-79). A. viridiflora Raf. Green milkweed. Known only from dry shaly slopes, eastern base of Blue Hill, Livingston, 2187. 2. Cynanchum L. C. nigrum (L) Pers. Roadsides and woods near dwellings; occasional. Seen at Stockport and at Nutten Hook. CONVOLVULACEAE (Morning-glory Family) 1. Leafless parasitic twining herbs lacking green coloration, the stems yellow or orange 1. Cuscuta 1. Erect or twining herbs with green stems and leaves and large pink or white funnel-shaped flowers 2. Convolvulus 1. Cuscuta L. 1. Stigmas capitate; perianth segments obtusely rounded. C. Gronovii 1. Stigmas linear; perianth segments acute C. Epithymum C. Gronovii Willd. Dodder, love-vine. Parasitic on various herbs and shrubs, often forming dense tangled masses; common, throughout. New Lebanon, Harrison; Boston Corners, 4473; Kinderhook Lake, House 18853; Schodack Island, House 24199; flats between Hudson and Athens, Muensclier & Clausen 4707 (CU) ; North Bay, Tivoli, 2771. C. Epithymum Murr. European dodder. Found once in our area, on a leguminous host, at Ghent, V. D. Waterman. 194 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 2. Convolvulus L. 1. Calyx inclosed in two broad leafy bracts; stigmas oval or oblong, 2 2. Stem low, erect (or the tips sprawling) ; petiole not more than one-fourth as long as leaf blade; bracts narrowed1 at base C. spithamaeus 2. Stem long-twining or trailing; petioles longer; bracts broad and usually cordate at base C. Sepium 1. Calyx bractless at base; stigmas filiform C. arvensis C. spithamaeus L. Dry sandy or shaly fields and hillsides; infrequent. Brainard, House 21351; Kinderhook Lake, 903 ; Stuyvesant Falls, Iva Allen; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 1083 (PENN). C. Sepium L. Bindweed. Woods, thickets and cultivated ground; com- mon, often a troublesome weed. C. arvensis L. Bindweed. Dry fields and roadsides; an introduced spe- cies locally established as a weed. POLEMONIACEAE (Phlox Family) Phlox L. 1. Plants tall, often 50 to 150 cm. high ; leaves broad, oblong or ovate-lanceolate P. paniculata 1. Plants tufted, creeping; leaves awl-shaped or narrowly linear P. subulata P. paniculata L. Garden phlox. Occasionally established; 1 mile east of Pulvers Station, Ghent; Yz mile south of Madalin, 2869. Both of the above stations are in woods, and the plants apparently not introduced, but Dr. E. T. Wherry, who is an authority on the genus Phlox, considers the species not to be indigenous at either locality. P. subulata L. “Moss pink,” moss phlox. Cemeteries and yards; occasion- ally well established (as a clone). HYDROPHYLLACEAE (Waterleaf Family) Hydrophyllum L. 1. Cauline leaves pinnately parted or divided H. virginianum 1. Cauline leaves orbicular to reniform, palmately lobed or divided H. canadense H. virginianum L. Waterleaf. Rich moist woods, usually in somewhat calcareous soil, in the eastern part of our area; infrequent. Unknown to me from the Hudson Valley. West of Berry Pond, 3779 ; No Bottom Pond, 1940; 2 miles south of Flatbrook, 3607 ; Brainard, House 21343 ; gorge of Bashbish Brook, Copake, 3567 ; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson in 1869 (V)]. [H. canadense L. Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson in 1869 (V). Determina- tion by House]. A rare plant in eastern New York, and unknown from our area except from this specimen. BORAGINACEAE (Borage Family) I. Flowers irregular, blue, showy; plant upright, coarse and weedy, rough- hirsute 6. Echium 1. Flowers regular, 2 2. Nutlets armed with barbed prickles, 3 3. Nutlets flattened, spreading, covered with prickles 1. Cynoglossum 3. Nutlets erect, with prickles on the margins or on the back, 4 4. Pedicels recurved or reflexed in fruit; style shorter than the nutlets; plants biennial or perennial 3. Hackelia 4. Pedicels erect ; style longer than the nutlets ; plants annual 2. Lappula FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 195 2. Nutlets unarmed, 5 5. Racemes without bracts 4. Myosotis 5. Racemes with bracts at base of pedicels 5. Lithospermum 1. Cynoglossum L. C. officinale L. Hound’s tongue. Woods and waste places; occasional. Three miles north of Claverack, 1302. 2. Lappula Moench L. echinata Gilib. Waste places; occasional. Poelsburg, 2379; Hudson, 4756 (USNA). 3. Hackelia Opiz H. virginiana (L.) I. M. Johnst. Dry woods; common in the Hudson VaF ley and decreasing eastward. 4. Myosotis L. Forget-me-not I. Plant bristly-hirsute, with spreading hairs; at least some of the hairs of the calyx minutely hooked; corolla white M. verna 1. Plant appressed-pubescent ; calyx hairs all straight; corolla blue, with yel- low or white eye, 2 2. Corolla 5 to 8 mm. broad ; calyx lobes shorter than the tube M. scorpioides 2. Corolla 2 to 4 mm. broad ; calyx lobes as long as the tube or longer M. laxa M. verna Nutt. Dry shaly hillsides; Blue Hill, Livingston, 601 (PENN), 5032 (USNA). M. scorpioides L. Along brooks and springy places; occasional. Near Valatie, 1874. M. laxa Lehm. Wet places along streams and by ponds; frequent in the Hudson Valley. Decreasing eastward and unknown from the eastern tier of towns. 3 miles north of Castleton; Hotaling Island1; Niverville; Brainard; Stuyvesant Falls; Hudson; Rogers Island; Nevis; Silvernails. 5. Lithospermum L. L. officinale L. Dry soil, in waste places; occasional. Hillsdale, 3544. 6. Echium L. E. vulgare L. Blue devil. Dry fields and waste places; a common weed in the Hudson Valley and adjacent uplands, especially in clay and shaly soils; somewhat less frequent eastward. VERBENACEAE (Verbena Family) Verbena L. 1. Leaves narrowly lanceolate, sessile V. simplex 1. Leaves ovate to lanceolate, petioled, 2 2. Flowers white V. urticifolia 2. Flowers violet-blue V. hastata V. simplex Lehm. Dry shaly slopes; Becraft Mountain, 2239; [Pine Plains, Hoysradt (GH)]. Appearing as if adventive. 196 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM V. urticifolia L. White vervain. Waste places and pastures; common, often weedy. V. hastata L. Blue vervain. Pastures and wet places; common. Abun- dant in moist meadows and along streams, but also often weedy, in pastures and cultivated ground. LABIATAE (Mint Family) 1. Upper lip of corolla apparently none, the lower lip apparently 5-lobed 1. Teucrium 1. Corolla 2-lipped or nearly regular, 2 2. Ovary deeply 4-lobed, 3 3. Corolla lobes spreading; stamens little exserted 2. Isanthus 3. Corolla lobes all declined; stamens much exserted 3. Trichostema 2. Ovary of four distinct or nearly distinct nutlets, 4 4. Calyx with a crest or protuberance on the upper side 4. Scutellaria 4. Calyx without a crest or protuberance, 5 5. Corolla strongly 2-lipped; lips unlike, the upper concave and usually arched as seen from the side, 6 6. Stamens with anthers 4, 7 7. Upper pair of stamens longer than the lower one, 8 8. Anthers not approximate in pairs, plainly exserted, the upper ones declined 5. Agastache 8. Anthers approximate in pairs, scarcely extending beyond the upper lip 6. Nepeta 7. Upper pair of stamens shorter than the lower pair, 9 9. Calyx closed in fruit; bracts large, broad and reniform 7. Prunella 9. Calyx open in fruit ; bracts not as above, 10 10. Calyx membranous, inflated in fruit, faintly nerved 8. Physostegia 10. Calyx not inflated, firmer and strongly nerved, 11 11. Calyx teeth rigid and spine-tipped, 12 12. Leaves not lobed, simple and pinnately veined, the mar- gins toothed 9. Galeopsis 12. Leaves palmately 3- to 5-lobed or incised, at least the lower ones 10. Leonurus 11. Calyx teeth not spine-tipped, 13 13. Nutlets sharply 3-angled1, truncate at apex ; lower lip of corolla sharply constricted at base 11. Lamium 13. Nutlets obscurely angled, rounded at apex; lower lip of corolla scarcely constricted 12.. Stachys 6. Stamens with anthers 2 13. Monarda 5. Corolla slightly 2-lipped or almost regular; upper lip nearly flat, erect or spreading, not arched, 14 14. Flowers in more or less crowded clusters or whorls or axillary, 15 15. Corolla more or less 2-lipped, 16 16. Stamens with anthers 2 14. Hedeoma 16. Stamens with anthers 4, 17 17. Stamens curved, often converging or ascending under the upper lip of the corolla 15. Satureja 17. Stamens straight, often diverging, never converging as above, 18 18. Plants tall, erect ; calyx nearly regular, 19 19. Clusters of flowers subtended by large colored bracts 16. Origanum FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 197 19. Clusters of flowers subtended by inconspicuous green- ish bracts 18. Pycnanthemum 18. Plants low, creeping; calyx 2-lipped 17. Thymus 15. Corolla regular or essentially so, 20 20. Stamens with anthers 2 19. Lycopus 20. Stamens with anthers 4 20. Mentha 14. Flowers in loose leafless panicles, not more than 2 or 3 at a node ; stamens 2 21. Collinsonia 1. Teucrium L. T. canadense L. Edges of tidal mud along the Hudson River; there common. Otherwise infrequent, in the Hudson Valley; Kinderhook, 1368; Waldorf Pond, House 21754; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson in 1869 (V)]. 2. Isanthus Michx. I. brachiatus (L.) BSP. Dry sandy or shaly hillsides; rare, in the Hud- son and Harlem Valleys. Poelsburg, 1822; Blue Hill, 2163; Rogers Island, 4462; 2 miles northwest of Copake Falls, 3587. 3. Trichostema L. T. dichotomum L. Blue curls. Dry sandy or gravelly soil; common in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Unknown northeastward. 4. Scutellaria L. Skullcap 1. Flowers small, 5 to 8 mm. long, in axillary secund racemes S. lateriflora 1. Flowers larger, about 2 cm. long, solitary in the leaf axils S. epilobiifolia S. lateriflora L. Swamps and wet woods; common. S. epilobiifolia A. Hamilton. Low places, swamps and rarely on moist cliffs; common. 5. Agastache Gronov. A. scrophulariaefolia (Willd.) Ktze. Pine Plains, C. H. Peck. “Rather com- mon” at Pine Plains, according to Hoysradt. Otherwise unknown. 6. Nepeta L. 1. Plant coarse, erect; flowers in rather dense axillary and terminal clusters, whitish, with purple spots ; upper floral leaves much reduced N. Cataria 1. Plant creeping and trailing; flowers in loosely few-flowered axillary clus- ters, light blue; leaves all alike N. hederacea N. Cataria L. Catnip. Waste places and woods, usually near dwellings, common. N. hederacea (L.) Trevisan ( Glechoma hederacea of Gray’s Manual). Ground ivy. Moist shady places, especially near dwellings ; commonly estab- lished and weedy. 7. Prunella L. P. vulgaris L. Heal-all. Woods and fields; common and weedy. Repre- sented in our area by var. lanceolata (Bart.) Fern. 8. Physostegia Benth. P. virginiana (L.) Benth. Dragon-head. Moist banks near streams; rare, in the Hudson Valley. Perhaps always an escape. 2 miles west of Nevis, 2895; Stony Creek, near Madalin, Svenson 6113, 6432 (Svenson, 1935). 198 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 9. Galeopsis L. G. Tetrahit L. “Hemp nettle.” Fields and roadsides; occasional as a weed. Riders Mills; Chatham; Copake. 10. Leonurus L. L. Cardiaca L. Motherwort. Waste places and in woods; common and weedy. 11. Lamium L. L. amplexicaule L. Henbit. Gardens and moist banks; occasional, weedy. 12. Stachys L. 1. Stems glabrous on the sides, the angles beset with long reflexed bristles; leaves, at least the lower, on petioles 7 to 30 mm. long S. tenuifolia 1. Stems pubescent uniformly on the sides and on the angles; leaves sessile or the lower with petioles 3 to 6 mm. long S. palustris S. tenuifolia Willd. Edges of tidal mud along the Hudson River; there common. Otherwise very local; Kinderhook Lake, according to House (ver- bal report) ; Kinderhook, along creek, 1367 ; Brainard, House 18426. Repre- sented in our area by var. platyphylla Fern. S. palustris L., var. homotricha Fern. A plant collected at Lebanon Springs by A. K. Harrison, Aug. 18, 1893, is apparently this variety. This specimen was referred by House (1924) to Y. arenicola Britton. 13. Monarda L. M. fistulosa L. Wild bergamot. Dry fields, banks and edges of woods; common eastward. In the Hudson Valley infrequent; found mostly on shales, near the river. North Chatham, House 20467 ; Mount Merino, 1097 ; Blue Hill, 2423. In our area the var. mollis (L.) Benth. can be recognized only as isolated individuals lacking the long scattered hairs of the typical plant; there appears to be no geographical distinction between the two so-called varieties. 14. Hedeoma Pers. H. pulegioides (L.) Pers. Pennyroyal. Dry woods and in clearings; com- mon throughout. 15. Satureja L. S. vulgaris (L.) Fritsch. Basil. Dry fields and margins of woods; fre- quent. No Bottom Pond, 1351; Robinson Pond, 1927 (PENN) ; Poelsburg, 2254; Ashley Hill, Chatham, 2205 ; Mount Merino, House, 22637 ; Clermont, 3226. 16. Origanum L. O. vulgare L. Wild marjoram. Roadsides and fields; local. Known only from the calcareous regions of the Harlem Valley ; 2 miles south of Copake. 3443. A pest on limestone soil at Pine Plains, according to Hoysradt (1875- 79). 17. Thymus L. T. Serpyllum L. Wild thyme. Old fields and roadsides; common on the shales and limestones of New Lebanon and Canaan; unknown elsewhere. Locally very abundant and forming large patches. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 199 18. Pycnanthemum Michx. 1. Leaves ovate-oblong, mostly 1.5 to 4 cm. wide, densely white-hoary beneath P. incanum 1. Leaves narrowly lanceolate or linear, not more than 1.3 cm. wide, mostly glabrous, not white-hoary, 2 2. Leaves linear, the larger 2 to 4 mm. wide; calyx teeth subulate, firm- tipped, evident on the head of flowers P. tenuifolium 2. Leaves lanceolate, the larger 6 to 13 mm. wide; calyx teeth short-tri- angular, obscure, scarcely firm-tipped P. virginianmn P. incanum (L.) Michx. Dry shaly hillsides; infrequent. Curtis Mountain, 2145 ; Alvords’ Dock, Stockport, 2224 ; Blue Hill, 2182 ; Stissing Mountain, 2863. P. tenuifolium Schrad. Fields and meadows, often in dry soil; frequent. Not reported northeastward. P. virginianum (L.) Durand & Jackson. Meadows and dry banks; frequent. Often with the preceding species but usually less abundant. Not reported from the northeastern part of the area. Kinderhook, 1568, 1783; Valatie, 1826; 1 mile southeast of Clermont, 3227 ; Forest Lake, 2073; Copake Falls, 3911. 19. Lycopus L. 1. Lower leaves incised-pinnatifid; calyx lobes awn-tipped, rigid, longer than the nutlets L. arnericanus 1. Leaves not incised-pinnatifid, the margins merely serrate; calyx lobes del- toid or lanceolate, thin and blunt, not or scarcely exceeding the nutlets, 2 2. Stems from a slender (not tuberous- thickened) base; flower clusters dense, at maturity 8 to 15 mm. broad L. virginicus 2. Stems with tuberous base ; flower clusters at maturity usually 4 to 9 mm. broad L. uniflorus L. arnericanus Muhl. Moist or wet soil; common. L. virginicus L. Wet places along streams; apparently not frequent. Kin- derhook Lake, House 11304; 2 miles north of Kinderhook, 1842. L. uniflorus Michx. Moist or wet soil; frequent. Stuyvesant Falls, 2031; Forest Lake, 2075; 4 miles southeast of Spencertown, 1853; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY). 20. Mentha L. Mint 1. Stems pubescent, at least on the angles; leaves green, lanceolate to oblong- lanceolate, acute at base; corolla 4 to 5 mm. long; calyx 2.5 to 3 mm. long, 2 2. Stems pubescent on the sides ; leaves pubescent M. aruensis var. villosa 2. Stems glabrous on the sides, minutely pubescent on the angles ; leaves glabrous M. aruensis forma glabrata 1. Stems glabrous or rarely with a few scattered hairs; leaves ovate to obo- vate, often white-blotched; corolla 2 mm. long; calyx 1.7 mm. long M. gentilis M. arvensis L. Wild mint. Wet meadows and banks of streams; com- mon. Mostly represented by var. villosa Benth. The less pubescent f. glabrata (Benth.) S. R. Stewart is apparently infrequent or rare; No Bottom Pond, 1954 ; 2 miles south of Tivoli, 2787. M. gentilis L. Along Kinderhook Creek, 2 miles east of Valatie, 1879. Doubtless introduced elsewhere. 21. Collinsonia L. C. canadensis L. Stoneroot. Moist rich woods; common. 200 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM SOLANACEAE (Nightshade Family) 1. Fruit a berry, 2 2. Calyx bladdery-inflated in fruit, inclosing the berry 1. Physalis 2. Calyx not inflated in fruit (if inclosing the fruit, the plant prickly), 3 3. Corolla wheel-shaped; anthers connivent, opening by pores at the tip 2. Solanum 3. Corolla short funnel- form; anthers separate, opening by longitudinal slits 3. Lycium 1. Fruit a prickly capsule; flowers white or purplish, large, S to 15 cm. long 4. Datura 1. Physalis L. 1. Plant glandular-pubescent, more or less sticky; berry yellow P. heterophylla 1. Plant glabrous or nearly so; berry purple P. subglabrata P. heterophylla Nees. “Ground cherry.” Pastures, roadsides and clearings, in dry soil ; frequent, but rather local, in the Hudson Valley. Not reported eastward. One mile east of Poelsburg, 1687 ; Waldorf Pond, House 20930; Becraft Mountain, 2240; Rhinecliff, H ouse 19257. P. subglabrata Mackenz. & Bush. Dry roadsides or in waste places; occa- sional along the Hudson River. Stuyvesant, House 13315. Also collected by House at New Baltimore, Greene County. 2. Solanum L. 1. Plants with long straggling or climbing stems, woody at base; corolla usually purple; berries bright red, smooth; leaves often with two lobes near base S. Dulcamara 1. Plants annual or perennial, erect, not climbing nor straggling; fruits never bright red, 2 2. Plants not prickly; leaves entire or undulate; corolla white, 3 to 8 mm. broad; berry black Y. nigrum 2. Plants usually prickly; leaves lobed or pinnatifid; corolla white, lavender or yellow, 3 3. Corolla lavender or white ; berry naked, smooth, orange-yellow .S', carolinense 3. Corolla yellow ; berry wholly inclosed by the spiny calyx S. rostratmn S. Dulcamara L. Climbing nightshade. Waste places; common. Also in swamps; this species is found in the deepest swamps, in the most remote parts of our area, and is seemingly absolutely indigenous; it is one of the commonest swamp plants, and abundant everywhere. S. nigrum L. (inch S. americanum of Gray’s Manual). Nightshade. Waste places and cultivated grounds; weedy, occasional. Kinderhook; Nutten Hook; Becraft Mountain. S. carolinense L. “Horse nettle.” Cultivated or waste grounds; rare, adventive from farther south. Near mouth of Muitzes Kill, House 24198. S. rostratum Dunal. A western species, found at Philmont in 1927; de- termined at the New York State Museum. Not seen elsewhere. Solanum tuberosum L., the potato, and Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., the tomato, are often spontaneous about cultivated grounds, but are not persistent. 3. Lycium L. L. halimifolium Mill. Matrimony vine. Cultivated, and sometimes spread- ing and long-persistent around dwellings and in waste ground. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 201 4. Datura L. D. Stramonium L. Jimson weed. Dooryards and in cultivated or waste ground; a common weed. SCROPHULARIACEAE (Figwort Family)1 1. Fertile stamens (those with anthers) 5 ; corolla nearly regular, rotate 6. Verbascum 1. Fertile stamens 2 or 4, 2 2. Corolla with a spur on lower side at base, 3 3. Flowers solitary in the axils of the upper leaves; plants conspicuously glandular-pubescent 11. Chaenorrhinum 3. Flowers in terminal racemes ; plants glabrous or nearly so 10. Linaria 2. Corolla without a spur, 4 4. Fertile stamens 2, 5 5. Corolla tubular, evidently 2-lipped; stamens not strongly exserted, 6 6. Calyx 5-parted ; upper lip of corolla about equaling the lower, 7 7. Two sterile filaments slender, elongated, somewhat exserted 3. Lindernia 7. Sterile filaments minute or none 1. Gratiola 6. Calyx 4-toothed; upper lip of corolla obsolete, much shorter than the lower 4. Hemianthus 5. Corolla rotate or, if tubular, the stamens long-exserted, 8 8. Corolla rotate; capsule obcordate or emarginate, flattened 13. Veronica 8. Corolla tubular-funnel-form; capsule ovoid, not flattened 12. Veronicastrum 4. Fertile stamens 4, 9 9. Plants scapose, growing in mud ; leaves subulate or threadlike 5. Limosella 9. Plants with leafy stems, 10 10. Flowers with a sterile stamen (without anther) in addition to the 4 fertile stamens, 11 11. Flowers greenish yellow to brownish purple ; sterile stamen flattened, nearly as wide as or wider than long 9. Scrophularia 11. Flowers white to pink or purplish; sterile stamen slender, fili- form, 12 12. Pedicel bibracteolate ; inflorescence simple 7. Chelone 12. Pedicel not bracteolate; inflorescence compound, the flowers in axillary peduncled cymes 8. Penstemon 10. Flowers lacking a fifth (sterile) stamen, 13 13. Corolla 2-lipped, with the throat closed by a prominent palate; calyx prominently 5-angled 2. Mimulus 13. Throat of corolla not closed by a palate; calyx not angled, 14 14. Corolla scarcely or not at all 2-lipped, 15 15. Corolla golden yellow 14. Aureolaria 15. Corolla pink or purplish 15. Gerardia 14. Corolla strongly 2-lipped, the stamens ascending under the upper lip, 16 16. Leaves pinnately lobed; bracts not spiny 16. Pedicularis 16. Leaves entire; bracts distinctly spiny 17. Melampyrum 1 Specimens of Scrophulariaceae, designated by an asterisk ( * ) , have been determined by Ur. b rancis W. Pennell of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 202 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 1. Gratiola L. G. neglecta Torr. Wet or muddy places; common. 2. Mimulus L. 1. Leaves petioled; stems winged at the angles M. alatus 1. Leaves clasping by a cordate base; stem square M. ringens M. alatus Ait. Wet places along streams; infrequent, in the Hudson Val- ley. Hotaling Island, Taylor 1391* (NY); Stuyvesant, 1550* ; New Forge, along Taghkanic Creek, 3477 ; Tivoli, 2937 ; 0.5 mile south of Madalin, 2870 (PH). M. ringens L. Monkey flower. Wet places; common. 3. Lindernia All. 1. Pedicels as long as or longer than the subtending bracts, 10 to 20 mm. long, usually divaricately spreading L. dubia subsp. dubia ' 1. Pedicels shorter than the bracts, usually less than 10 mm. long, and ascend- ing, 2 2. Plant erect, often dwarf; fruiting pedicels 3 to 5 mm. long; leaf blades oval, all broadly rounded or obtuse L. dubia var. inundata 2. Plant diffuse; fruiting pedicels at least 5 mm. long; leaf-blades oblanceo- late to ovate-lanceolate, usually only the lower ones obtuse or rounded at apex L. dubia subsp. major L. dubia (L.) Pennell, ssp. dubia (var. riparia of Gray’s Manual ). A plant from Niverville, 1798, is doubtfully referred here. Pennell (1935) cites no material from the lower Hudson Valley. Ssp. major (Pursh) Pennell (typical L. dubia of Gray’s Manual). Wet or muddy places along streams and by ponds; common in the Hudson Valley; unknown eastward. Kinderhook Lake, House 16786*; Stuyvesant, House 13313*; East Nassau, House 21938; Valatie, 1873; Stuyvesant Falls, 2035; 2 miles south of Kinderhook, 1245. Var. inundata (Pennell) Pennell. Tidal mud along the Hudson River; common. Abundant on the mud flats between tide levels. Unknown else- where. Hudson, 1611* ; Rogers Island, 3741; Stony Creek, Madalin, accord- ing to Svenson (1935). 4. Hemianthus Nutt. H. micranthemoides Nutt. ( Micranthemum of Gray’s Manual). Tidal mud at mouth of Stony Creek, south of Madalin, Svenson 6109* (PH). An estu- arine species which apparently reaches its northern limit at this point. 5. Limosella L. L. subulata Ives. Tidal mud along the Hudson River; rather frequent, but only locally abundant. Poelsburg, 3817 ; Little Nutten Hook, Muenscher & Clausen 4555* (PH, CU) ; Rogers Island, 4471; mouth of Stony Creek, Madalin, according to Svenson (1935). 6. Verbascum L. I. Plant densely woolly; flowers nearly sessile, in a dense spike V. Thapsus 1. Plant green and smoothish, not woolly; flowers pedicelled, in a loose raceme V. Blattaria V. Thapsus L. Mullein. Fields, roadsides and waste places; a common weed. V. Blattaria L. Moth mullein. Fields, pastures and roadsides; occasional. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 203 7. Chelone L. C. glabra L. Turtlehead. Wet places in woods and open swampy mead- ows, often along streams ; common. 8. Penstemon Mitchell Beard-tongue 1. Plants glabrous or nearly so; corolla tube much inflated, only slightly 2- ridged within; sterile stamen only slightly bearded; corolla lobes all about the same length, 2 2. Anthers normally somewhat bearded; sepals ovate, acuminate-tipped P. Digitalis 2. Anthers glabrous; sepals linear-lanceolate, long-attenuate P. calycosus 1. Plants evidently pubescent or hirsute, especially below ; corolla tube strongly 2-ridged within; sterile stamen densely bearded; lower lip of corolla projecting considerably beyond the upper, 3 3. Corolla white, lined with purple; leaves densely and softly pubescent, velvety to the touch P. pallidus 3. Corolla tube purple, the lobes white; tube not lined with deeper color; leaf blades early glabrous P. hirsutus P. Digitalis Nutt. Roadsides and fields; occasionally established and lo- cally abundant. 3 miles south of Kinderhook, 1212; Chatham Center, 1050; 1 mile west of Ghent, 1000; Ancramdale, 1084*; 3 miles east of German- town, 3156; [first known collection from our area is Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson in 1871 (V)]. P. calycosus Small. In a field north of Chatham Center, 1055*. Unknown elsewhere. P. pallidus Small. Dry sandy or shaly fields; occasional, and locally abundant. Brainard, House 21393 ; Niverville, 729; Kinderhook, 780* \ 1 mile east of Pulvers Station, Ghent, 844; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 824. P. hirsutus (L.) Willd. Dry shaly hillsides and bluffs; frequent in the Hudson Valley. Poelsburg, 885 ; 1 mile north of Stuyvesant Falls, 777 ; Nut- ten Hook, 849; Mount Merino, 1095*; Blue Hill, House 22651. 9. Scrophularia L. 1. Corolla 7 to 11 mm. long, lustrous greenish brown; petioles 1 to 3 cm. long; flowering period May to July S. lanceolata 1. Corolla 5 to 8 mm. long, dull brown; petioles 3 to 8 mm. long; flowering period July to September S. marilandica S. lanceolata Pursh. Woods and thickets, or in pastures, in rather dry soil; common in the Hudson Valley; occurs in the Harlem Valley; unknown northeastward. S. marilandica L. Woods and pastures, in rich or moist soil; apparently infrequent. Becraft Mountain, 2245; Riders Mills, 2208; New Lebanon, House 15607*. 10. Linaria Mill. 1. Flowers yellow; corolla IS to 20 mm. long L. vulgaris 1. Flowers violet-purple; corolla about 10 mm. long L. canadensis L. vulgaris Hill. Butter-and-eggs. Roadsides, pastures and in waste or cultivated grounds; a common weed. L. canadensis (L.) Dumont. Blue toadflax. Dry soil, or in rocky open woods; occasional, in the eastern part of our area. Usually appearing as if introduced. Berry Pond, Hancock, 3782; l.S miles southwest of Canaan Cen- ter, 3597; Long Pond, Ancram, 3438. 204 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 11. Chaenorrhinum Reichenb. C. minus (L.) Lange. Railroad embankments; occasional and locally abundant. 1 mile east of Pulvers Station, Ghent, 1490. 12. Veronicastrum Fabricius V. virginicum (L.) Farw. Culver’s root. Moist meadows and alluvial soil along the larger streams; frequent, in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Schodack, 1557*; 1.5 miles north of Kinderhook, 1423*; Waldorf Pond, House 20918* ; Copake Falls, Meredith* (PH) ; along Roeliff Jansen Kill, Ancram, House 20532* ; Pine Plains, Peck*. 13. Veronica L. Speedwell 1. Main stem ending in an inflorescence, its flowers densely crowded or remote and axillary, in all cases the upper bract leaves alternate, 2 2. Plants perennial from a creeping matted base; corolla whitish with blue- violet lines V. serpyllifolia 2. Plants annual with delicate fibrous roots, not creeping, 3 3. Plant smooth or essentially so; corolla white V. peregrina 3. Plant hairy; corolla deep blue V. arvensis 1. Main stem never ending in an inflorescence, the leaves opposite throughout and the flowers all in axillary racemes, 4 4. Capsule pubescent ; stem and leaves pubescent ; plants of dry soil, 5 5. Leaf blades sessile or nearly so; sepals unequal, the longer 4 to 5 mm. long; corolla 5 to 10 mm. long, 6 6. Corolla 7 to 10 mm. long, violet-blue; capsule longer than wide; leaf blades coarsely dentate V. latifolia 6. Corolla 5 to 6 mm. long, pale violet-blue; capsule wider than long; leaf blades crenate V. Chamaedrys 5. Leaf blades crenate-serrate, narrowed to a petiolar base; sepals equal, 2 to 3 mm. long; corolla 3 to 4 mm. long; stem prostrate, ascending at tip V. officinalis 4. Capsule glabrous or with a few gland-tipped hairs; stems and leaves glabrous or nearly so; plants more or less aquatic, 7 7. Leaf blades linear or lanceolate; capsule much wider than long; pedi- cels filiform, reflexed in fruit V. scutellata 7. Leaf blades not narrow; oblong-ovate to lanceolate; capsule scarcely wider than long; pedicels ascending-spreading in fruit, 8 8. Leaf blades all petioled, lanceolate to ovate, widest near the base V. americana 8. Leaf blades, at least the upper on the flowering stems, sessile and clasping, 9 9. Sepals acute to acuminate; capsule not or scarcely notched; race- mes usually 30- to 60-flowered V. Anagallis-aquatica 9. Sepals obtuse to subacute ; capsule evidently notched ; racemes usually 15- to 30-flowered V. connata V. serpyllifolia L. Meadows, pastures and moist banks; frequent, weedy. V. arvensis L. Woods and fields; apparently rather frequent; weedy. V. latifolia L. Fields and roadsides; occasional. Curtis Mountain, House 21478 ; Chatham Center, 1056. V. peregrina L. Damp places, in waste and cultivated ground; occasional. V. Chamaedrys L. An immature plant, from north of the Canaan Shakers, Canaan, House 21205, is apparently this species. V. officinalis L. Woods and fields; weedy, common throughout and often appearing as if indigenous. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 205 V. americana (Raf.) Schwein. Brooklime. Springy places and along streams; frequent. Bachus Pond, 3169; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 779*; 1 mile northwest of Brainard, House 21399; Berry Pond, Hancock 3776 ; 3 miles south of Boston Corners, 3413. V. Anagallis-aquatica L. Springy places and along streams, often in cal- careous situations; infrequent. Locally abundant in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. 2 miles south of Copake, 3351; 1 mile south of Ancramdale, 3376; Millerton, House 22396; 1.5 miles southeast of Clermont, 3239. V. connata Raf. (V. comosa of Gray’s Manual). Wet places along streams; rare, in calcareous regions. Becraft Mountain, 4005 ; Miller Pond, Ancram, 3444. V. scutellata L. Ditches and swampy places; frequent throughout. 14. Aureolaria Raf. 1. Corolla glandular-pubescent on the outside; plant sticky-glandular; leaves finely dissected A. pedicularia 1. Corolla glabrous on the outside; plant smooth or pubescent, not glandular: leaves entire to coarsely bipinnatifid, not finely dissected, 2 2. Stem and leaves permanently downy-pubescent; capsule densely brown- pubescent; pedicels 1.5 to 3 mm. long A. virginica 2. Stem glabrous, glaucous; capsules glabrous; pedicels 5 to 25 mm. long A. flava A. pedicularia (L.) Raf. ( Gerardia of Gray’s Manual). Dry sandy or rocky woods, usually in acid soil; rather frequent in the Harlem Valley; rare in the lower Hudson Valley, and reported from as far north as Kinderhook (Wright & Hall, 1836). Copake Falls, Britton et al* (NY) ; Robinson Pond, 3957 ; Long Pond, Ancram, 3437 ; Upper Twin Pond, Elizaville, 3278; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. A. virginica (L.) Pennell ( Gerardia of Gray’s Manual). Downy false fox- glove. Dry sandy or rocky woods, usually in acid soil ; frequent. Kinderhook Lake, House 18866* ; 3 miles south of Kinderhook, 1437* ; Forest Lake, 2045; 1 mile east of Pulvers Station, Ghent, 1493; Blue Hill, 2186; Tivoli, 2767* (PENN). A. flava (L.) Farw. ( Gerardia of Gray’s Manual). Smooth false foxglove. Habitat of the preceding species ; frequent eastward, but unknown in the Hudson Valley. Lebanon Springs, Harrison (US) ; No Bottom Pond, 1936; 2.5 miles east of Chatham Center, 3676; Forest Lake, 2041; 1 mile north of Copake, 828; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (US). 15. Gerardia L. 1. Pedicels not more than twice the length of the calyx G. pauper cula 1. Pedicels 2 to 6 times the length of the calyx G. tenuifolia G. pauper cula (Gray) Britt. Calcareous marshes in the Harlem Valley; locally very abundant. Copake Falls, Britton et al* (NY) ; north of Copake Falls, 3906; Pulvers Comers, 3852. Reports of G. purpurea L. from our area (Hoysradt, 1875-79, and House, 1924), are probably based on occurrences of G. paupercula. G. tenuifolia Vahl. Dry shaly hillsides, woods and meadows; frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Unknown northeastward. 16. Pedicularis L. Lousewort 1. Leaves opposite, nearly sessile ; plant often 50 cm. high or more ; flowering period August to October P. lanceolata 206 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 1. Leaves alternate, long-petioled ; plant 10 to 30 cm. high; flowering period May to June P. canadensis P. lanceolata Michx. Moist banks along the Hudson River, above tide- level ; infrequent, but locally abundant. South of Poelsburg, 3795; Columbia- ville, 4036; Madalin, mouth of Stony Creek, according to Svenson (1935). P. canadensis L. Woods and meadows, especially in sandy soil; common throughout. 17. Melampyrum L. M. lineare Desr. “Cow wheat.” Dry acid soil in woods and on wooded banks; common. Represented in our area only by var. latifolium (Bart.) Bart. LENTIBULARIACEAE (Bladderwort Family) Utricularia L. Bladderwort 1. Plant apparently scapose, the flowering stem erect, 4 to 30 cm. high, 1- to 5-flowered; creeping stems immersed in mud or peat, so delicate that they are rarely seen ; bracts at base of pedicel accompanied by two smaller bracteoles; spur of corolla sharp, 10 to 12 mm. long U. cornuta 1. Plants with elongated slender creeping or floating stems, some or all of the leaves bearing bladders ; pedicel bracts without bracteoles, 2 2. Leaves 2 to 5 cm. long, pinnate, with numerous capillary divisions; stems free-floating except for one point of attachment U. vulgaris 2. Leaves less than 2 cm. long, forking rather than pinnate; stems creeping on bottom in shallow water or near it, 3 3. Leaves on branches without bladders ; bladders on branches almost with- out leaves; divisions of the leaf toothed, linear, flat, not capillary; corolla 1 to 1.5 cm. broad U. intermedia 3. Branches all equally bladder-bearing; divisions of the leaves capillary or nearly so ; corolla 4 to 8 mm. broad, 4 4. Pedicels recurved in fruit; bladders 1.5 to 1.8 mm. long; spur almost none U. minor 4. Pedicels erect in fruit; bladders 1 to 1.5 mm. long; spur blunt, conic, shorter than the lower lip U. gibba U. cornuta Michx. Acid bogs; rare. Locally abundant at Taplins’ Pond, Stephentown, 2419 ; “Finger Marsh,” Gallatin, 3580. Reported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from Pine Plains. U. vulgaris L. Lakes and ponds; common, throughout. Represented in our area only by var. americana Gray. U. intermedia Hayne. Muddy borders of ponds; locally abundant. Knick- erbocker Lake, 1231; 2 miles northwest of Copake Falls, 3588; seen also in a calcareous marsh at Pulvers Corners. U. minor L. In our area known only from shallow water in a calcareous bog west of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 2125 U. gibba L. In our area known only from Sutherland Pond, Chatham, where it is rather abundant in shallow water, 2129. OROBANCHACEAE (Broom-rape Family) 1. Flowers solitary on naked peduncles; plants unbranched above the base 1. Orobanche 1. Flowers racemose, the upper sterile, with long filaments and style, the lower fertile; plants much branched 2. Epifagu* FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 207 1. Orobanche L. 0. uniflora L. Broom-rape. Moist woods and thickets; rather infrequent. Cedar Mountain, Copake, 136 (PENN) ; Kinderhook, 663; [1 mile north of Nassau, Wibbe], 2. Epifagus Nutt. E. virginiana (L.) Bart. Beechdrops. In woods, under beech trees; fre- quent. Mount Lebanon; 4 miles north of Nassau; Stuyvesant Falls; 2 miles east of iSpencertown ; 4 miles north of Lebanon Springs; north of Brace Mountain. PHRYMACEAE (Lopseed Family) Phryma L. P. Leptostachya L. Lopseed. Moist soil in woods; frequent. PLANTAGINACEAE (Plantain Family) Plantago L. Plantain 1. Plants scapose, with basal leaves, 2 2. Leaves broadly elliptic, ovate or cordate, abruptly contracted to long petioles, 3 3. Ribs of the leaves arising from the midribs (that is, the blade pinnately veined) P. cordata 3. Ribs of the leaves arising from the contracted base of the blade (blade appearing palmately veined), 4 4. Capsule circumscissile about the middle, ovate ; sepals and bracts rounded, obtuse P. major 4. Capsule circumscissile much below the middle, long-cylindric ; sepals and bracts strongly keeled, more or less acute P. Rugelii 2. Leaves lanceolate to oblong or linear, tapering to a short petiole, 5 5. Leaves lanceolate to lance-oblong, strongly ribbed; scape 20 to 70 cm. high; bracts not exceeding the flowers P. lanceolata 5. Leaves narrowly lanceolate; scape rarely more than 15 cm. high; bracts spikelike, 2 to 6 times as long as the flowers P. aristata 1. Plants with some or all the leaves cauline, opposite or whorled P. indlca P. cordata Lam. Rocky coves and near mouths of streams; abundant near high tide level along the Hudson River; unknown elsewhere. Hotaling Island, 3133; Nutten Hook, 853; Rogers Island, 4466; mouth of Roeliff Jan- sen Kill, 1583; Cheviot, 2826; Magdalen Island, 2686. P. major L. Fields, meadows and lawns, and in wet places; very common, and often a persistent weed. P. Rugelii Dene. Seen along the Hudson River in several localities; weedy. Doubtless elsewhere. P. lanceolata L. English plantain, “rib grass.” Fields, lawns and waste places; a very common weed. P. aristata Michx. Dry sandy or gravelly soil; rather infrequent and only locally abundant; weedy. Kinderhook Lake, Brown 81; Kinderhook, 1183; [Knickerbocker Lake, House 23704]. P. indica L. On cinders along the New York Central Railroad at Cheviot, 2817. Adventive from Europe. RUBIACEAE (Madder Family) 1. Slender herbs with whorled leaves; stems square; fruit of two dry globular indehiscent 1-seeded carpels 4. Galium 208 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 1. Leaves opposite (or in 3’s in the shrubby genus Cephalanthus) ; fruit not as above, 2 2. Shrub or small tree with white flowers in dense spherical peduncled heads 2. Cephalanthus 2. Herbs with flowers solitary or in few-flowered clusters, 3 3. Flowers in pairs with the ovaries united ; corolla white, densely bearded inside; plants trailing on the ground, evergreen; fruit a red insipid berry 3. Mitchella 3. Flowers solitary or in small cymes, bluish or purplish ; stems erect, not evergreen ; fruit a bilocular loculicidal capsule containing 4 to 40 seeds 1. Houstonia 1. Houstonia L. 1. Peduncles 1-flowered, filiform, erect, 2 to 5 cm. long; leaves oblong-spatu- late, 6 to 9 mm. long H. cacrulea 1. Flowers in small terminal clusters on short pedicels ; leaves oblong-lanceolate to linear, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long H. longifolia H. caerulea L. Bluets, Quaker ladies. Meadows and moist woods; com- mon in the eastern tier of towns. Unknown elsewhere, although re- ported by Woodworth (1840) from Kinderhook. New Lebanon, Iva Allen; Canaan, 4142 (GH) ; Canaan Center, 3615; Austerlitz, 706; Green River, 3524; Boston Corners, 382 (PENN) ; [north of Brace Mountain, House 24820], H. longifolia Gaertn. Dry sandy or rocky hillsides; infrequent. Curtis Mountain, House 21472; Perry Peak, Canaan, 3651; 1 mile northwest of Kinderhook Lake, 902; seen also on Crugers’ Island, Hudson River. 2. Cephalanthus L. C. occidentalis L. Buttonbush. Swamps and margins of ponds, or often in stagnant water in small boggy depressions; frequent. 3. Mitchella L. M. repens L. Partridge berry. Woods and grassy banks, in dry soil, or on hummocks in bogs and swamps; common. 4. Galium L. Bedstraw I. Ovary and fruit bristly or hispid, 2 2. Erect or ascending plants, neither the stems nor leaves retrorsely sca- brous, 3 3. Flowers sessile or nearly so, along the primary branches of the inflor- escence, 4 4. Leaves lanceolate-acuminate ; flowers deep purple, glabrous G. lanceolatuin 4. Leaves oval or oblong, obtuse; flowers greenish yellow, commonly pubescent G. circaezans 3. Flowers distinctly pedicelled, in compact or leafy panicles, 5 5. Leaves oval, hairy; flowers greenish purple G. pilosum 5. Leaves narrowly lanceolate, glabrous ; flowers bright white G. boreale 2. Matted, reclining or ascending plants, the stems retrorsely scabrous, 6 6. Leaves mostly 8 at each node, linear or narrowly oblanceolate G. Aparine G. triflorum 6. Leaves 6 at each node, elliptic FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 209 2. Ovary and fruit glabrous or sometimes minutely roughened, 7 7. Flowers yellow verum 7. Flowers white, 8 8. Leaves cuspidate, the blade tipped with a sharp and rigid point, 9 9- Leaves 6 at a node on the main stems, 4 or S on the branches ; plants very rough, the leaves almost prickly G. asprellum 9. Leaves 8 at a node on the main stems, 6 on the branches ; plants only very slightly rough G. Mollugo 8. Leaves not tipped by a rigid spinelike point, 10 10. Flowers numerous in a terminal panicle G. palustre 10. Flowers solitary or in 2’s or 3’s, 11 11. Corolla 4-lobed, the lobes acute; stems mostly smooth, 12 12. Leaves ascending, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long; fruit 2.5 to 3.5 mm. in diameter G. obtusum 12. Leaves mostly strongly reflexed, 0.5 to 1.5 cm. long; fruit 1 to 1.5 mm. in diameter G. labradoricum 11. Corolla commonly with three obtuse lobes; stems retrorsely sca- brous, 13 13. Pedicels straight, glabrous G. tinctonum 13. Pedicels slender, arcuate, scabrous G. trifidum G. verum L. Yellow bedstraw. Fields and roadsides; common in the northern part of the Hudson Valley; occasional elsewhere. Malden Bridge, 929; Valatie, 4762 (USNA). G. Aparine L. Cleavers, “goose grass.” Moist woods and ravines; rather frequent on the clay and limestone soils of the Hudson Valley. Apparently infrequent eastward. Nutten Hook, 855; 3 miles north of Claverack, 559 ; Columbiaville, 451 (PENN). G. pilosum Ait. Dry shaly hillsides; rare. Blue Hill, 2424 (PENN) ; Cedar Mountain, Copake, 3569. G. lanceolatum (Torr.) Torr. Dry loamy, sandy or rocky woods; frequent, throughout. G. circaezans Michx. Dry woods; common, throughout. Represented in our area only by var. hypomalacum Fern. G. boreale L. Dry banks, in shaly or clay soil; rare. Curtis Mountain, House 21476; Columbiaville, 3728; 1 mile west of Stuyvesant Falls, 4745 (USNA). G. triflorum Michx. Sweet-scented bedstraw. Woods, thickets and wooded swampy places ; common. G. Mollugo L. Stockport weed. Fields and roadsides; extensively natural- alized and often a pest on the clays and shales of the Hudson Valley ; else- where occasional, spreading. Outside of the Hudson Valley known from Canaan, Peck; south of Mount Riga Station, 3375. G. obtusum Bigel. Moist woods and swampy borders of ponds; infre- quent. Poelsburg, 894 ; Waldorf Pond, House 20917 ; west of Brainard, House 21470; near small pond south of Miller Pond, Ancram, House 20536; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3890. G. labradoricum (Wieg.) Wieg. Open calcareous marshes, in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys; locally abundant. 1 mile east of Fowlers’ Lake, 1432; Copake Falls, 3910; Miller Pond, Ancram, House 20546 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3406. G. trifidum L. Open swamps and borders of ponds, often in sphagnous situations ; frequent eastward. Apparently rare in the Hudson Valley. North Chatham, House 20472; Knickerbocker Lake, 1574; Fowlers’ Lake, 1673 ; 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 3449; 2 miles southeast of Taghkanic, 3359 ; seen also at New Britain. 210 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM G. tinctorium L. Moist wooded swamps and borders of ponds, often in sphagnous situations; frequent eastward. Little known in the Hudson Val- ley. Stuyvesant Falls, 2027 ; New Britain, 3634; No Bottom Pond, 1957 ; 2 miles south of Copake Lake, 3450; 1.5 miles south of Ancramdale, 3377; [Knickerbocker Lake, House 23709], G. palustre L. Wet places along streams; infrequent or rare. One-half mile west of Brainard, House 21364; Kinderhook, along Kinderhook Creek, 1364; North Bay, Tivoli, 2662 (PENN). G. asprellum Michx. Moist thickets and open swamps; frequent. 3 miles southeast of Harlemville, 1902 (PENN) ; Boston Corners, 1660 ; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson in 1870 (V)]. Seen also in the towns of Kinderhook (House), Canaan and Copake. CAPRIFOLIACEAE (Honeysuckle Family) 1. Plants erect, herbaceous ; flowers sessile in the axils of the upper leaves, solitary or in small clusters; fruit a hard drupe, bright orange-red, con- taining 3 bony nutlets 3. Triosteum 1. Plants shrubby, erect or climbing, 2 2. Leaves pinnate; flowers white, in broad compound cymes; fruit red or dark purple, containing 3 to 5 seeds, juicy 1. Sambucus 2. Leaves simple, 3 3. Fruit a slender pointed bilocular many-seeded pod; leaves serrate, pointed; flowers yellow 5. Diervilla 3. Fruit fleshy, 1- to several-seeded; flowers white or colored, 4 4. Leaves entire; corolla tubular or funnel-form, usually irregular; fruit a bilocular or trilocular fleshy berry containing several seeds ; flowers in axillary clusters 4. Lonicera 4. Leaves toothed or lobed, rarely entire; corolla wheel-shaped, regu- lar; fruit a 1-seeded drupe; flowers in compound cymes 2. Viburnum 1. Sambucus L. 1. Flowering period in May; pith reddish brown; fruit bright red Y. racemosa 1. Flowering period June to July; pith white; fruit purplish to almost black Y. canadensis S. racemosa L. (Y. pubens of Gray’s Manual). Red-berried elder. Cool rocky woods; frequent eastward, especially at elevations above 300 meters; rare in the Hudson Valley. Stuyvesant Falls, 510; 2 miles east of Ghent, 754; Red Hook, 4154 (GA) ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3342. S. canadensis L. Elderberry. Moist grounds; common. Very abundant in the Hudson and Harlem Vallejs, and decreasing eastward. Infrequent at elevations above 300 meters. 2. Viburnum L. 1. Marginal flowers of the cyme much enlarged and very showy, neutral, 2 2. Leaves pinnately veined, not lobed, rusty-scurfy beneath, round-ovate, heart-shaped at base V. alnifolium 2. Leaves palmately veined, 3-lobed, nearly glabrous ; petioles bearing 2, often pedicelled, glands at apex V. Opulus 1. Flowers all small and uniform, perfect, 3 3. Leaves palmately veined, 3-lobed, soft-downy beneath ; fruit purple-black V. acerifolium FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 211 3. Leaves pinnately veined, subentire or variously toothed, but not lobed, 4 4. Leaves prominently, usually coarsely, toothed; main veins straight, more or less parallel, conspicuous, 5 5. Twigs, buds and leaves more or less densely stellate-tomentose ; win- ter buds naked, without covering scales V. Lantana 5. Twigs, buds and leaves smooth or glandular, not stellate-tomentose; winter buds scaly, 6 6. Leaf very short-petioled, often almost sessile; stipules slender, conspicuous, often exceeding the petiole; leaf downy beneath V. Rafinesquiamtm 6. Leaf relatively long-petioled, the petiole much longer than the small or obsolete stipules ; leaf very nearly glabrous beneath V. recognition 4. Leaves finely crenate-serrate or subentire; veins irregular and incon- spicuous, curved and running together, 7 7. Cyme usually 5-rayed, on a peduncle shorter than itself ; leaves short-pointed, not long caudate-acuminate; fruit 6 to 9 mm. long V. cassinoides 7. Cyme usually 3- to 4-rayed, sessile; leaves, at least the upper, long caudate-acuminate; fruit 10 to 15 mm. long. V. Lentago V. alnifolium Marsh. Hobblebush. Ravines and cool woods; rather fre- quent northeastward, at elevations of 300 meters or more ; unknown west- ward. Canticoke Swamp, 1701 (PENN) ; Lebanon Springs, 2414; south of Perry Peak, Canaan, 3656; No Bottom Pond, 472 ; gorge of Bashbish Brook, Copake, 3560. V. Opulus L. (V. trilobum of Gray’s Manual ) Highbush cranberry. Swamps, or rarely in dry woods; frequent eastward. Rare in the Hudson Valley. North Chatham, Ring-, west of Post Road School, Kinderhook, 264-, Tivoli, 2989 ; New Lebanon, House 21294; Austerlitz, 2290; 3 miles southeast of Harlem- ville, 1125; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 1077 ; Pulvers Corners, 3870; [Claverack, Rev- A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. Represented in our area by var. americanum Ait. V. acerifolium L. Arrow-wood. Woods and thickets; common throughout. V. Rafinesquianum Schultes. Dry rocky hillsides, usually in neutral or noncalcareous soils; rather infrequent, but widely distributed and locally abundant. Old Chatham, 641 ; Cedar Mountain, 135 (PENN) ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 799 ; Kinderhook Lake, House 13416; Stuyvesant Falls, 617 ; 2 miles east of Ghent, 749 ; Blue Hill, 614; [Brace Mountain, House 24848; Stissing Mountain, House 21019; North Chatham, House 20940], V. recognitum Fern. Arrow-wood. Open swamps and in moist woods; common. V. cassinoides L. Wild raisin. Swamps and borders of ponds; rather infrequent, especially in the Hudson Valley, but widely distributed. New Britain, 3637; New Lebanon, 2402; No Bottom Pond, 462; Copake Falls, 3586; bog southeast of Knickerbocker Lake, 1012; West Ghent, 1119 ; [Cla- verack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. V. Lentago L. Swamps and moist woods; frequent. V. Lantana L. Wayfaring tree. A plant, apparently of this species, was collected at Mount Merino, House 22643. Not known elsewhere. 3. Triosteum L. T. perfoliatum L. “Horse gentian.” Dry or moist woods and thickets, often in calcareous soil; rather frequent. Malden Bridge, 909 [var. glau- cescens (Wieg.) Wieg.] ; Kinderhook Lake House 18862- Kinderhook, 778; Columbiaville, 4044; 2 miles east of Greendale, 4331 (GA) ; Green River, 1529; 3_ miles north of Ancramdale, 800. Represented in our area by var. auran- tiacum (Bickn.) Wieg. ( T. aurantiacum of Gray’s Manual). 21 2 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 4. Lonicera L. Honeysuckle 1. Upright bushy shrubs with flowers on 2-flowered axillary peduncles ; leaves all distinct, the upper ones not connate ; calyx teeth deciduous, 2 2. Peduncles short, 3 to 7 mm. in length ; berry blue, formed of two united ovaries L. villosa 2. Peduncles long and slender, 1.4 to 3 cm. in length, 3 3. Corolla greenish yellow ; leaves ciliate L. canadensis 3. Corolla rose-colored or white; leaves entirely glabrous L. tatarica 1. Twining shrubs with flowers in sessile whorled clusters in the axils of the usually connate upper leaves ; calyx teeth persistent on the berry, 4 4. Branches glandular-hairy ; leaves hairy on both sides L. hirsuta 4. Branches and leaves glabrous; leaves glaucous beneath L. dioica L. hirsuta Eat. Dry sandy soil at edge of woods, 1 mile west of Lebanon Springs, 4290. Also reported from Lebanon Springs by Dr. A. K. Harrison (in lit.). Otherwise unknown. L. dioica L. Dry rocky woods and banks; common throughout. L. tatarica L. Tartarian honeysuckle. Common in cultivation, and occa- sionally established in woods and along roadsides. L. canadensis Marsh. Ravines and rocky woods; rather frequent on the shales in the Hudson Valley; common eastward, at elevations of 300 meters and above; elsewhere infrequent. Poelsburg, 352; bluff near mouth of Roeliff Jansen Kill, 369; Stuyvesant Falls, 517; Canaan Center, 1046; along Kleine Kill, southeast of Chatham, 4110 (GA) ; Taghkanic Creek at New Forge, 3475 ; Washburn Mountain, Copake, 3331. L. villosa (Michx.) Muhl. var. tonsa Fern. In a wooded sphagnum bog west of New Britain cemetery, New Lebanon, 4307. Otherwise unknown. 5. Diervilla Mill. D. Lonicera Mill. Bush honeysuckle. Dry woods and thickets; common throughout. VALERIANACEAE (Valerian Family) 1. Some of the leaves pinnatifid ; ovary unilocular, 1-seeded; sepals resembling plumose bristles 1. Valeriana 1. Leaves mostly entire, never pinnatifid; ovary trilocular, 1-seeded; sepals minute, not plumose 2. Valerianella 1. Valeriana L. V. sitchensis Bong, subsp. uliginosa (T. & G.) F. G. Mey. ( V. ultginosa of Gray’s Manual). Valerian. Calcareous marshes; frequent and locally very abundant in the Harlem Valley; occurs in the Hudson Valley. West of Post Road School, Kinderhook, 724; Miller Pond, Ancram, 1075 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 809; Pulvers Corners, 3866; Pine Plains, Hoysradt (GH, NY, US). 2. Valerianella Mill. 1. Fruit trilocular, the single fertile compartment l/$ to Yi the combined width of the 2 sterile compartments ; fruits generally glabrous V. umbilicata 1. Fruit trilocular, the fertile compartment equalling or wider than the com- bined width of the sterile compartments; fruits generally pubescent V. radiata V. umbilicata (Sulliv.) Wood. Corn salad. New Baltimore, Howe in 1870 (according to Dyal, Rhodora 40: 195. 1938). Otherwise unknown. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 213 V. radiata (L.) Dufr. Corn salad. This species and the preceding one were reported from New Baltimore, Greene County, by E. C. Howe (24th Report N. Y. State Mus. 56-57. 1872). His specimens are now in the her- barium of the museum, but are in such poor condition as to make it impos- sible to name them with assurance. DIPSACACEAE (Teasel Family) Dipsacus L. D. sylvestris Huds. Teasel. Fields and pastures; occasional, locally established. CUCURBITACEAE (Cucumber Family) 1. Leaves shallowly 5-angled; corolla of the sterile flowers 5-lobed; fruit dry and indehiscent, 1-seeded 1. Sicyos 1. Leaves deeply and sharply 5-lobed ; corolla of the sterile flowers deeply 6-parted; fruit fleshy, bursting at summit, 4-seeded 2. Echinocystis 1. Sicyos L. S. angulatus L. One-seeded cucumber. Moist thickets along streams; frequent in the Hudson Valley and known to occur in the Harlem Valley. Unknown northeastward. Stuyvesant, House 13292; Kinderhook, 1984; Columbiaville, 3699; Becraft Mountain, 2246; 2 miles east of Germantown, 2931; Pine Plains, House 21056. 2. Echinocystis T. & G. E. lobata (Michx.) T. & G. Wild or bur cucumber. Moist thickets along streams ; frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys and northeastward in the valley of the Kinderhook Creek. Apparently not found away from the larger streams. Stuyvesant, House 13304; Niverville, 1792; Riders Mills, 1265; Chatham, 1760; Kinderhook, 2093; along Jansen Kill (that is, prob- ably in the town of Ancrarn), according to Hoysradt (1875-79). CAMPANULACEAE (Bellflower Family) 1. Flowers pedicelled, in a terminal inflorescence ; capsule broad, obconic to globose 1. Campanula 1. Flowers sessile, solitary or 2 or 3 together in the axils of the broad clasp- ing leaves; capsule slender-cylindric 2. Triodanis 1. Campanula L. 1. Flowers short-pedicelled, nearly sessile, in terminal spikes or racemes, 2 2. Style declined ; capsule with pores near apex C. americana 2. Style straight; capsule with pores at base C. rapunculoides 1. Flowers few to many, on slender peduncles or in loose inflorescences, 3 3. Flowers intense purplish blue; stems erect, smooth, not scabrous on the angles £ rotundifolia 3. Flowers white or very pale bluish, drying bluish white ; stems reclining among marsh herbs, retrorsely scabrous on the angles C. aparinoides C. rotundifolia L. Harebell. Steep rocky hillsides and bluffs ; frequent, show- ing no lime preference. C. rapunculoides L. European bellflower. Roadsides and old dooryards; common and locally abundant, often forming considerable patches. 214 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM C. aparinoides Pursh (including C. uliginosa of Gray’s Manual). Wet mead- ows, swamps and borders of ponds; frequent, in neutral or calcareous soils. North Chatham, House 20474; Knickerbocker Lake, 1573; Brainard, House 18416, House 21929; Kinderhook Creek near Valatie, 1890; Kinderhook, 1371 (PENN), 1421; 1 mile east of Fowlers’ Lake, 1433; shore opposite Rogers Island, 2959 ; 2 miles southeast of Taghkanic, 3358; rocky ravine 1 mile northeast of Queechy Lake, 3653 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3346; Miller Pond, Ancram, 1652 (PENN) ; south of Mount Riga Station, 3367. C. americana L. Unknown at present, and perhaps never a member of our flora, but reported several times: Hudson, by Stebbins (1830; as C. acuminata) ; Kinderhook, by Woodworth (1839) ; Troy, by Wright and Hall (1836) ; Amenia, by Winchell (1851). The recent discovery of such species as Magnolia acuminata and Hydrastis canadensis in our area lends weight to the opinion that Campanula americana may once have occurred there. 2. Triodanis Raf. T. perfoliata (L.) Nieuwl. ( Specularia of Gray’s Manual). Venus’ looking- glass. Dry woods and clearings, and sandy banks; common, weedy. LOBELIACEAE1 (Lobelia Family) Lobelia L. 1. Flowers red (rarely white), mostly 3 to 4.5 cm. long when straightened out L. Cardinalis 1. Flowers blue or purplish, sometimes pale, 2 2. Flowers about 2.5 to 3 cm. long when straightened out; calyx hirsute, the sinuses with conspicuous reflexed foliaceous auricles L. siphilitica 2. Flowers smaller, not over 2.2 cm. long; auricles none or very small, not foliaceous, 3 3. Plants aquatic; leaves basal, linear, terete, hollow L. Dortmanna 3. Plants terrestrial ; leaves flat, some cauline, 4 4. Leaves linear to linear-oblanceolate ; pedicels with two tiny bracteoles about the middle L. Kalmii 4. Leaves broader, elliptic to ovate; pedicels with bracteoles at base, 5 5. Stem much branched, especially in age, usually long-hirsute; cap- sules much inflated in fruit L. in flat a 5. Stem strict, simple, never long-hirsute (merely short-pubescent near base) ; capsules firm, not inflated in fruit, 6 6. Anthers blue; calyx flatfish in anthesis L. spicata 6. Anthers white ; calyx roundish in anthesis L. spicata var. campanulata L. Dortmanna L. In shallow water, in lakes and ponds with sandy or gravelly bottom. Common northward, and on Long Island, but in our area probably occurs only at Riga Lake, Litchfield County, 4481. L. Cardinalis L. Cardinal flower. Margins of streams and ponds, and in wet meadows ; common in the Hudson Valley, but apparently much less so eastward. No Bottom Pond, 1342; Robinson Pond, 1920 (PENN) ; pond south of Miller Pond, Ancram, House 20535; [Kinderhook Lake, House 13408]. L. siphilitica L. Wet woods and swamps; common in the Hudson Valley; occurs in the Harlem Valley, where known from a station 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3883; at New Lebanon, according to House; otherwise unknown eastward. 1 Frequently considered a subfamily of Campanulaceae, as in Cray’s Manual. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 215 L. spicata Lam. Pastures, rich fields and wooded banks; common in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys, and on the high hills of the towns of Copake and Ancram. Unknown northeastward. Var. campanulata Mc- Vaugh, occurs with the typical variety but is much less abundant. L. inflata L. “Indian tobacco.” Dry soil in fields, woods and along road- sides; common, weedy. L. Kalmii L. Calcareous marshes and meadows, or in circum-neutral soil around lakes; very abundant in suitable situations. Bog west of Post Road School, Kinderhook, 3006 (GA) ; from the same locality a white- flowered form, 2000; Knickerbocker Lake, 1996; Canaan, £. C. Howe; Co- pake Falls, 3905 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3895 ; Pulvers Corners, 3845. COMPOSITAE (Aster Family) 1. Flowers of the head all with strap-shaped corollas; juice usually milky, 2 2. Pappus of scales, or of scales and bristles together, 3 3. Flowers blue or whitish 1. Cichorium 3. Flowers yellow 2. Krigia 2. Pappus of capillary or plumose bristles, 4 4. Pappus bristles plumose 3. Tragopogon 4. Pappus bristles all capillary, 5 5. Achenes minutely spiny near apex ; plants acaulescent ; head solitary, on a smooth hollow peduncle 4. Taraxacum 5. Achenes not spiny near apex; plants not as above, 6 6. Achenes flattened, 7 7. Body of achene truncate at summit; heads large, 10 to 40 mm. in diameter 5. Sonchus 7. Body of achene with a narrow neck or beak; heads small, 4 to 10 mm. in diameter 6. Lactuca 6. Achenes not flattened, but cylindric-columnar or oblong, 8 8. Flowers white, cream-colored or pinkish 8. Prenanthes 8. Flowers yellow or orange 7. Hieracium 1. Flowers with tubular corollas, or the outer ones prolonged and straplike, or those of the pistillate flowers reduced or wanting, 9 9. Pistillate flowers apetalous or with much-reduced corollas; anthers nearly free, merely converging about the stigma, 10 10. Involucre not closed and woody; staminate and pistillate flowers in the same head 9. Iva 10. Staminate and pistillate flowers in different heads, the pistillate invo- lucre closed and woody, 11 11. Pistillate heads forming a bur with hooked spines 11. Xanthium 11. Pistillate heads small, not burlike 10. Ambrosia 9. Flowers all petaliferous, the corolla tubular or strap-shaped; anthers cohering in a tube, 12 12. Corollas all tubular; rays (strap-shaped corollas) none, 13 13. Pappus of capillary bristles, 14 14. Involucral bracts scarious throughout; plants more or less woolly, 15 15. Basal leaves much larger than the cauline leaves and differing from them in shape 19. Antennaria 15. Basal leaves none or, if present, similar to the cauline leaves, 16 16. Involucre papery white, the bracts spreading 20. Anaphalis 16. Involucre yellowish white or brownish, the bracts more or less appressed 21. Gnaphalium 14. Involucral bracts not wholly scarious, or, if apparently so, the plants not white woolly, 17 216 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 17. Involucral bracts in one series, often with minute bracts at base, 18 18. Plants climbing or twining 14. Mikania 18. Plants neither climbing nor twining, 19 19. Marginal flowers pistillate only; heads 15 to 20 mm. long 35. Erechtites 19. Marginal flowers perfect ; heads 7 to 10 mm. long 36. Senecio 17. Involucral bracts in 2 to many series, 20 20. Foliage spiny ; pappus plumose 38.Cirsium 20. Foliage not spiny, 21 21. Involucral bracts fimbriate or dentate ; corolla deeply lobed 39. Centaurea 21. Involucral bracts entire, 22 22. Pappus double, the outer of very short, the inner of longer bristles 12. Vernonia 22. Pappus bristles all alike 13. Eupatorium 12. Pappus of scales, awns, a short crown, or none, 23 23. Involucral bracts hooked, forming a bur; pappus of scales 37. Arctium 23. Involucral bracts not forming a bur, 24 24. Pappus of 2 or 4 often barbed awns 26. Bidens 24. Pappus none or a short crown, 25 25. Corolla large, deeply lobed ; flowers pink or purple ; invo- lucral bracts mostly fimbriate 39. Centaurea 25. Corolla small, dentate ; flowers yellow or yellowish white, 26 26. Receptacle elongated, conic 31. Matricaria 26. Receptacle flat or convex 33. Tanacetum 12. Both tubular and strap-shaped corollas (“disk” and “ray” flowers) present, 27 27. Pappus of capillary bristles ; receptacle not chaffy, 28 28. Rays yellow (white in Solidago bicolor), 29 29. Involucral bracts in one series, often with minute bractlets at base, 30 30. Heads solitary, on scapose scaly-bracted stems, appearing before the leaves 34. Tussilago 30. Heads several in a corymbose cyme ; plants with leafy stems 36. Senecio 29. Involucral bracts in 3 to many series, 31 31. Heads large, 2.5 to 10 cm. in diameter 22. Inula 31. Heads small, .5 to 1.5 cm. in diameter 15. Solidago 28. Rays violet, purple, blue or white, 32 32. Bracts of the involucre in 1 or 2 series 18. Erigeron 32. Bracts of the involucre in 3 to 5 series, 33 33. Rays 3 to 8 ; pappus-hairs all of same length ; inflorescence a flat-topped corymb ; leaves tapered to rounded at base 16. Sericocarpus 33. Rays usually more numerous; if 8 or less, plants not with combination of characters listed above 17. Aster 27. Pappus of awns, scales, a short crown, or none, 34 34. Pappus of 2 or 4 often barbed awns 26. Bidens 34. Pappus not as above, 35 35. Pappus of scales, which are sometimes deciduous, 36 36. Receptacle chaffy, 37 37. Rays white; heads very small 27- Galinsoga 37. Rays yellow; heads large 25. Helianthus FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 217 36. Receptacle not chaffy; rays yellow; stem strongly winged 28. Helenium 35. Pappus none or a mere crown, 38 38. Receptacle not chaffy, nearly flat ; rays white ; disk flowers yellow 32. Chrysanthemum 38. Receptacle chaffy, 39 39. Rays white or pinkish, 40 40. Heads long-peduncled, terminating the branches, more than 1 cm. in diameter 30. Anthemis 40. Heads short-peduncled, in a large flat-topped inflores- cence, less than 1 cm. in diameter 29. Achillea 39. Rays yellow, 41 41. Leaves finely dissected ; head 2.5 to 3.5 cm. broad 30. Anthemis 41. Leaves undivided or the lower lobed or pinnately parted; heads 5 cm. broad or more, 42 42. Leaves opposite 23. Heliopsis 42. Leaves alternate 24. Rudbeckia 1. Cichorium L. C. Intybus L. Chicory. Fields and roadsides; common, weedy. Locally abundant, especially on the clays of the Hudson Valley, where it is often the most conspicuous plant over considerable areas. 2. Krigia Schreb. K. virginica (L.) Willd. Dwarf dandelion. Dry shaly hillsides, in fields and woods ; infrequent, in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Unknown else- where. West Ghent, 1113; 1 mile southwest of Clermont, 3264; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown, 3515; reported from Copake Falls, Stetson (1914). 3. Tragopogon L. T. pratensis L. Goat’s beard. Roadsides and waste ground; frequent. 4. Taraxacum Wiggers 1. Leaves coarsely and shallowly pinnatifid; heads 3 to 5 cm. broad; achene olive-green or brownish T. officinale 1. Leaves deeply and sharply pinnately cut; heads 2 to 3 cm. broad; achene bright red or red-brown T. erythrospermmn T. officinale Weber. Dandelion. Lawns, cultivated grounds, moist fields and woods ; a very common weed. T. erythrospermum Andrz. Red-seeded dandelion. Woods and shaded banks; infrequent. Kinderhook, 664. 5. Sonchus L. Sow-thistle 1. Plants perennial, with creeping rootstocks S. arvensis 1. Plants annual S', oleraceus S. arvensis L. Waste places, in moist soil; frequent along the Hudson River. Perhaps only the following variety in our area. [var. glabrescens Guenth., Grab. & Wimm. Stuyvesant, 4049 ; Greendale, Mrs. H. Livingston in 193/.] Differs from the typical variety in having the involucres and peduncles glabrous, not glandular-setose; a dangerous weed in some areas. S. oleraceus L. Waste places around dwellings; locally abundant. 218 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 6. Lactuca L. 1. Leaves glabrous; flowers pale yellow; pappus white L. canadensis 1. Leaves nearly glabrous; flowers pale blue; pappus tawny L. biennis L. canadensis L. Wild lettuce. Moist grounds; frequent, but rather local. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; 2 miles south-southwest of Green River, 3527 ; 1 mile southwest of West Ghent, 3293; Forest Lake, 2061; 2 miles south of Germantown, 3326 L. biennis (Moench) Fern. Blue lettuce. Moist or swampy grounds; frequent. Austerlitz, 3822 ; 2.5 miles east of Chatham Center, 3682; Stuyves- ant, House 13306; Kinderhook, 2157 ; Columbiaville, 3727. 7. Hieracium L. 1. Plants scapose, the leaves chiefly basal, 2 2. Flowers orange H. aurantiacum 2. Flowers yellow, 3 3. Scapes bearing 1 to 4 heads; leaves white-tomentose beneath H. Pilosella 3. Scapes bearing several to many heads; leaves not tomentose beneath, 4 4. Plant with slender creeping rootstocks and a few elongated stolons; inflorescence rather dense H. pratense 4. Plants with short stout rootstocks and without elongated stolons; inflorescence loose, 5 5. Leaves glaucous, not purple-veined, oblanceolate or spatulate, rather narrow H. florentinum 5. Leaves usually purple-veined above, obovate or elliptic-oblong, often conspicuously broadened H. venosutn 1. Plants with leafy stems, 6 6. Heads 2.5 to 4.5 cm. broad; leaves coarsely toothed H. canadense 6. Heads 1 to 2.3 cm. broad; leaves remotely toothed or subentire, 7 7. Plant essentially glabrous (except at base), slender; leaves lanceolate, acute, few-toothed H. paniculatimi 7. Plant rough-hairy, stout; leaves elliptic to spatulate-obovate, obtuse, subentire H. scabrum H. canadense Michx. Dry fields and woods, in rocky or sandy soil; in- frequent. in the eastern part of the area. 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 3820; 2 miles south of Canaan, 3596; [Stephentown Center, House 21673]. H. paniculatum L. Dry woods, often in acid soil ; common, especially eastward, over schistose and quartzitic rocks. H. scabrum Michx. Dry fields and open hillsides; infrequent. Austerlitz, 2284; Kinderhook, 3829; Nutten Hook, 2216; seen also about 2 miles north of Jackson Corners, in Gallatin. H. venosum L. Rattlesnake weed. Dry woods and clearings, in sandy or gravelly soil; common. H. florentinum All. King devil. Dry soil along roadsides, in fields and in waste grounds; frequent. Kinderhook Lake, Muenscher 4763 (CU). H. Pilosella L. Dry fields; occasional, in patches. Curtis Mountain, House 21479; North Chatham, House 21321; Kinderhook Lake, 905; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 782 (PENN). H. pratense Tausch. Hawkweed. Fields and roadsides, in dry or sterile soil, often a persistent weed in pastures and old fields; common. H. aurantiacum L. Orange hawkweed. Situations similar to the preced- ing species and usually growing with it; common. Not reported from our area before 1889 (see Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 16: 136. 1889). FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 219 8. Prenanthes L. 1. Principal involucral bracts 6 to 8; flowers 8 to 12 in a head, 2 2. Pappus deep reddish brown P. alba 2. Pappus whitish or brownish white P. trifoliolata 1. Principal involucral bracts 5; flowers 5 to 6 in a head P. altissima P. alba L. Lion’s foot. Dry banks, woods and swamps, in rich soil ; com- mon. Rare or absent in regions of prevailingly acid soil. P. trifoliolata (Cass.) Fern. Moist woods; apparently frequent. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; Brace Mountain, 4484; Stuyvesant Falls, 2026; North Chatham, 4006. P. altissima L. Moist rich woods; infrequent or poorly known. No Bot- tom Pond, 1964 ; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY); Poelsburg, 2256 (PENN); Columbiaville, 4038; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. 9. Iva L. “Marsh elder” I. xanthifolia Nutt. Weed in waste grounds; rare. Chatham, in a barn- yard, Muenscher 4765 (CU). 10. Ambrosia L. 1. Leaves deeply 3-lobed, opposite A. trifida 1. Leaves bipinnatifid, much dissected, in part alternate A. artemisii folia A. trifida L. Great ragweed. Moist, usually alluvial soil along the larger streams ; common along the Hudson River, often forming dense thickets of some extent; less abundant eastward along Kinderhook Creek and Roeliff Jansen Kill. Kinderhook, 2086; Cheviot, 2828. A. artemisiifolia L. Common ragweed. Fields, roadsides and waste grounds ; a common weed. 11. Xanthium L. X. orientale L. Cocklebur. Moist or cultivated grounds and in waste places ; common. In the Hudson Valley the abundant phase of the cocklebur is that with hairy burs. The correct name of this plant is uncertain; see the dis- cussion by Wiegand and Eames (1926), and a recent discussion by Fernald (Rhodora 48: 66-74. 1946). 12. Vernonia Schreb. V. noveboracensis (L.) Michx. Ironweed. Wet meadows and swamps; abundant at one locality at Madalin, 2881, and southward in the Hudson Valley. 13. Eupatorium L.1 1. Flowers white ; leaves opposite, 2 2. Leaves united at base around the stem (connate-perfoliate) E. perfoliatum 2. Leaves separate, sessile or petioled, 3 3. Leaves sessile, rounded at base E. sessilifolium 3. Leaves long-petioled E. rugosum 1. Flowers purplish or flesh-colored, sometimes pale ; leaves whorled, 4 4. Florets 9 to 15, scarcely exserted; stem usually solid, decidedly pubes- cent, not glaucous E. macula turn1 1 The purple-flowered species of Eupatorium, known as Joe Pye weeds, are treated here as suggested by Wiegand and Weatherby (Rhodora 39: 297-306. 1937); see also Mackenzie (Rhodora 22: 157-165. 1920). 220 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 4. Florets 3 to 7 (rarely 8), 5 5. Stem purple and plainly glaucous, hollow ; florets scarcely exserted, the corolla 5 mm. long or less E. fistulosum 5. Stem usually green with purple nodes, solid, scarcely glaucous ; florets strongly exserted beyond the pale bracts, the corolla more than 5 mm. long E. purpureum E. maculatum L. Wet or moist soil, in open swampy meadows, along streams and in ditches ; common. Especially abundant in the swamps along the Hudson River, where it forms a conspicuous element of the flora. New Lebanon, House 15603; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 3821; Kinderhook, 1972; Stuyvesant, House 13307 . E. fistulosum Barratt. Thickets, edges of woods, borders of ponds and streams, in rather moist soil ; frequent in the Hudson Valley, but never as abundant as the preceding species. Not reported eastward. 2 miles south of Claverack, 3988; seen also at Kinderhook. E. purpureum L. Rich or moist soil, in woods, usually in rather shady places; common, but never very abundant. New Lebanon; Chatham Center; Bashbish Falls; Kinderhook; Stuyvesant Falls; Tivoli. E. sessilifolium L. Dry rocky hillsides; rare. Limestone talus, 3 miles north of Claverack, 1300; thin soil on acid rocks, Cedar Mountain, Copake, 3570; [Risedorph Hill, Pine Plains, House 21037, and reported from the same locality by Hoysradt (1875-79)]. E. perfoliatum L. Boneset. Wet places, usually in open meadows and swamps; common. E. rugosum Houtt. White snakeroot. Moist woods and thickets; common. 14. Mikania Willd. M. scandens (L.) Willd. Climbing boneset. Swampy woods in the Hud- son and Harlem Valleys; frequent in the tidal swamps of the river from Rogers Island southward ; rare elsewhere in the southern part of our area. Rogers Island, 2545; Madalin, along Stony Creek, 2871; Crugers’ Island, 2948; along Taghkanic Creek, at New Forge, 3478; 3 miles north of An- cramdale, 1080. The last locality was known to Hoysradt, who reported the species from a “marsh east of Croghan Hill.” 15. Solidago L. Goldenrod. 1. Heads in an ample terminal corymbose inflorescence which is flat-topped or nearly so, 2 2. Leaves narrow, lance-linear, 5 to 13 cm. long ; heads in clusters S. graminifolia 2. Leaves broader, oval or oblong, the basal 10 to 30 cm. long; heads separate S. rigida 1. Heads in a panicle or thyrse, or in axillary clusters, the inflorescence not flat-topped, 3 3. Involucral bracts strongly squarrose S. squarrosa 3. Involucral bracts with erect or appressed tips, 4 4. Flowers white or cream-colored S. bicolor 4. Flowers yellow, 5 5. Heads in small clusters in the axils of the leaves, at least the lower clusters much surpassed by the subtending leaves; stems glabrous or essentially so, 6 6. Leaves lanceolate ; stem glaucous S. caesia 6. Leaves ovate; stem green _V. flexicaulis FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 221 5. Heads in a terminal panicle, 7 7. Leaves markedly increasing in size down the stem ; lower and radical leaves usually present, 8 8. Heads not at all or scarcely secund on the branches of the terminal thyrsoid panicle, 9 9. Plants hoary or grayish with soft hairs ; involucral bracts obtuse -S', hispida 9. Plants glabrous or slightly pubescent, 10 10. Bracts of the involucre linear-subulate, very acute; stem puberulent A. pubcrula 10. Bracts of the involucre oblong or linear-oblong, somewhat obtuse; plants mostly glabrous up to the inflorescence, 11 11. Inflorescence a dense, very narrow wandlike panicle; plants growing in boggy places A. Purshii 11. Inflorescence an ample pyramidal panicle ; plants of drier upland soils 5. speciosa 8. Heads secund on the spreading or recurved branches of the panicle, 12 12. Leaves glabrous and smooth, or essentially so, 13 13. Lower leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, inconspicu- ously toothed, 14 14. Branches of the panicle pubescent; panicle narrow; plants growing in boggy places A. uligmosa 14. Branches of the panicle glabrous; panicle widely spread- ing; plants of dry soil A. juncea 13. Lower leaves elliptic-oval, sharply and coarsely serrate ; branches of panicle pubescent; plants of dry soil A. argnta 12. Leaves very scabrous or crisp-puberulent and canescent, 15 15. Leaves very scabrous to the touch ; branches of panicle mostly distant and strongly divaricate A. patula 15. Leaves and stems ashy or whitish with close crisp pu- berulence; panicle not as above A. nemoralis 7. Leaves not markedly increasing in size downward ; lower and radi- cal leaves usually absent at flowering time, 16 16. Leaves prominently triple-nerved, elongate, linear to lance- oblong, 17 17. Stem smooth and glaucous, except in the panicle A. gigantea 17. Stem puberulent or hairy, at least above; not glaucous, 18 18. Involucre 3.2 to 4.5 mm. long; leaves subentire or incon- spicuously toothed A. altissima 18. Involucre 2 to 2.8 mm. long ; leaves sharply toothed A. canadensis 16. Leaves with prominent rugose veins, not triple-nerved, 19 19. Branches of the panicle long and wide-spreading, mostly flowerless toward the base ; stem glabrous or puberulent toward the summit A. ulmifolia 19. Branches of the panicle floriferous for most of their length ; stem villous or rarely glabrous A. rngosa S. squarrosa Muhl. Rocky well-drained slopes, in woods or less often in the open ; throughout, usually on shale or schistose rocks, but occasionally on limestone. Frequent and abundant on the shales of the Hudson Valley; infrequent elsewhere. Poelsburg; Alvords’ Dock, Stockport; Columbiaville ; Valatie, on shale rocks in Kinderhook Creek; Tivoli; 1 mile east of Pulvers Station, Ghent ; Robinson Pond, on limestone. S. caesia L. Blue-stemmed goldenrod. Woods and thickets, in dry or rich soil; common throughout. NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 222 S. flexicaulis L. Rich moist soil in woods, or on talus slopes, often in calcareous situations; throughout, in suitable habitats. Very abundant where limestone occurs. Lebanon Springs; 1 mile east of Austerlitz; Canaan Cen- ter ; Old Chatham ; Copake Falls ; Stuyvesant Falls ; Becraf t Mountain. S. bicolor L. White goldenrod, silver-rod. Dry fields and woods, in rocky or sandy places; common and abundant throughout. S. hispida Muhl. Dry sandy or stony soil, in fields; infrequent. 1 mile north of Riders Mills, 2199 ; 4 miles north of Kinderhook, 2356 (PENN) ; Old Chatham, 2446 (PENN) ; 2 miles east of Austerlitz, 3818; reported from Copake Falls by Taylor (1915). Taylor’s report was apparently based upon a specimen collected by Stetson (NY). In our area this plant occurs but sparingly, in fields with 5. bicolor, and, as has been suggested, may not be distinct from that species. S. puberula Nutt. Bare rocky summits above 450 m. elevation, on schis- tose or quartzitic rocks, in the towns of Copake, Ancram and North- east, extending eastward and southeastward into Massachusetts and Con- necticut; occurring rather sparsely on all the peaks in this limited area. Mount Alander, 3794; east of Boston Corners, 2278; [Brace Mountain, North- east, House 24797]. Reported from Stissing Mountain by Hoysradt (1875- 79). S. Purshii Porter. Marshes and wet meadows, in calcareous soil; very abundant in the marshes of the Harlem Valley; local elsewhere. Calcareous bog west of Douglas Knob, New Lebanon, 2126; bog west of Post Road School, Kinderhook, 2262; Copake Falls, 3914; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3897; Pulvers Corners, 3848. S. speciosa Nutt. Dry shaly hillsides, in fields and thickets; rare. Locally abundant in the Harlem Valley. North of Robinson Pond, 3935; Risedorph Hill, Pine Plains, 2431 (PENN). S. rugosa Mill. Thickets, fence rows, borders of woods and in open fields, in dry or moist soil ; common. S. patula Muhl. Rough-leaved goldenrod. Wet woods and swamps, in rich, or calcareous soil; frequent. Present throughout, in suitable situations. 4 miles north of Kinderhook, 2261; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3888; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. Seen also at Canaan, Canaan Center, Ghent, Copake Falls and Pulvers Corners. S. ulmifolia Muhl. Dry rocky woods and slopes, in shaly or calcareous soil; frequent in the Hudson Valley. Not reported from the higher hills eastward and northeastward. Brainard; Kinderhook Lake; Nutten Hook; Alvords’ Dock, Stockport ; 3 miles north of Claverack ; Canaan Center ; Blue Hill; 1 mile east of Pulvers Station, Ghent; Pine Plains. S. uliginosa Nutt. Grassy calcareous marshes; rare. Pulvers Corners, 4456. S. juncea Ait. Early goldenrod. Dry fields and woods, in various soils; common. Beginning to flower in June, before any other species of Solidago. Often taking over whole fields and pastures in poor or sterile soils, and becoming, with S. nemoralis, a persistent weed. S. arguta Ait. In woods, in rich or rocky soil; common, throughout. An upland plant which can stand considerable shade; it is more tolerant of shade than either .S', squarrosa or .S', ulmifolia. S. canadensis L. Rich soil in woods and by roadsides; in our area known only from a roadside 2 miles west of Stuyvesant Falls, in clay soil, 3834. S. gigantea Ait. Wet or moist soil along streams and ditches, in open grassy swamps and around ponds; frequent. S. altissima L. Tall goldenrod. Fields, roadsides and thickets, in dry or moist soil ; common. Often very abundant and conspicuous, through the month of September, along roads and fences and in old fields. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 223 S. nemoralis Ait. Gray or field goldenrod. Fields, open hillsides and rocky or dry woods ; common. Especially abundant in old fields, in sandy soil, where it becomes a weed. S. rigida L. Dry shaly hillsides; locally abundant in the lower part of the Hudson Valley and in the Harlem Valley. Blue Hill, 2165; Mount Me- rino, 2309; Robinson Pond, Copake, 3937. The Copake locality was perhaps known to Peck (see 31st Report N. Y. State Mus. p. 52. 1879). Reported by Hoysradt (1875-79) from Risedorph Hill, Pine Plains, but search at that locality has failed to reveal it. S. graminifolia (L.) Salisb. Narrow-leaved goldenrod. Fields, roadsides, pastures and open grassy swamps ; common. 16. Sericocarpus Nees S. asteroides (L.) BSP. Dry woods and fields; frequent, usually in acid soils. 4 miles north of Kinderhook; Forest Lake; Long Pond, Ancram; Tivoli; 2 miles southeast of Churchtown; Brace Mountain; Pine Plains. 17. Aster L. 1. Leaves, at least the lowest ones, cordate and petioled, 2 2. Stem leaves mostly cordate-clasping A. undulatus 2. Stem leaves petioled or sessile, not clasping, 3 3. Heads in a corymbose inflorescence, 4 4. Involucre and peduncles pubescent but not glandular; rays white, 5 5. Involucre 4 to 6 mm. long; tufted basal leaves few or none A. divaricatus 5. Involucre 7 to 9 mm. long; large tufted basal leaves abundant A. Schreberi 4. Involucre and peduncles minutely glandular-pubescent; rays lavender or rarely white A. macrophyllus 3. Heads paniculate; rays bluish lavender; leaves slightly scabrous above, slightly or not at all wing-petioled A. cordifolius 1. None of the leaves at once cordate and petioled, 6 6. Leaves clasping by a cordate base, 7 7. Leaves elongate, very inconspicuously clasping; rays white or whitish A. simplex 7. Leaves evidently clasping, often strongly so; rays violet or purple, 8 8. Plant wholly glabrous and glaucous A. laevis 8. Plants neither wholly glabrous nor glaucous, 9 9. Peduncles covered by stipitate glands A. novae-angliae 9. Peduncles not stipitate-glandular, 10 10. Leaves contracted below the middle and again dilated at base, strongly serrate A. prenanthoides 10. Leaves not as above, 11 11. Leaves entire, with rough-ciliate margins A. patens 11. Leaves, at least the lower, serrate A. junciformis 6. None of the leaves cordate-clasping, 12 12. Bracts of the involucre with green tips, 13 13. Bracts of the involucre spreading-tipped, bristly-ciliate ; plants pale- hoary with minute close pubescence A. ericoides 13. Bracts of the involucre all appressed, 14 14. Upper leaves and involucral bracts with definite firm subulate tips A. pilosus 14. Upper leaves and involucral bracts without subulate tips, 15 15. Rays violet or rose-pink (seldom white) ; involucre more than 5 mm. high A. junciformis 224 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 15. Rays white or barely purple-tinged; involucre S mm. high or less, 16 16. Heads in more or less 1-sided racemes; rays mostly 7 to 14 A. later i florus 16. Heads on ascending-paniculate branches ; rays mostly 14 to SO A. simplex 12. Bracts of the involucre without green tips, 17 17. Leaves linear; rays violet A. linariifolius 17. Leaves lanceolate or broader; rays white, 18 18. Leaves coarsely and sharply toothed A. acumimtus 18. Leaves entire or with minutely ciliate-serrate margins, 19 19. Involucre 3 to 5 mm. long; leaves lanceolate to ovate A. umbellatus 19. Involucre 5 to 7 mm. long ; leaves, at least the lower, obovate A. infirmus A. divaricatus L. White wood aster. Dry soil, in woods and thickets; common throughout. A. Schreberi Nees. Woodlands, often in dry soil; frequent, especially about the margins of woods. Apparently throughout, although not well known from the northeastern part of our area. East Nassau, House 23967 ; 2 miles east of Chatham Center, 3681; Columbiaville, 3722; Hudson, 1600; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY). A. macrophyllus L. Dry woodlands, in dry or stony, often acid soil; frequent. Rather abundant eastward, in the acid soils over schistose rocks; infrequent or rare in the Hudson Valley. East Nassau, House 24229; Perry Peak, Canaan, 3652; 3 miles south of Kinderhook, 2291; Forest Lake, 2049; 1 mile east of Pulvers Station, Ghent, 2348 ; 3 miles south of Boston Corners, 3411; Brace Mountain, Northeast, 4483. A. cordifolius L. Blue wood aster. Woods, thickets, fence rows and roadsides, in moist or dry soil; common. Often very abundant and showy. A. undulatus L. Dry sandy or stony soil; woods, roadsides and open banks ; common throughout. Found everywhere, but never very abundant. A. patens Ait. Dry hillsides and open banks, in sandy or stony soil; frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys, but not reported northeast- ward. Kinderhook, 2364; Ghent, 191 (PENN) ; Alvords’ Dock, Stockport, 2232; Blue Hill, 2177 ; 1 mile south of Germantown, 3959. A. novae-angliae L. New England aster. Fields and pastures, edges of woods and swamps ; common in the Hudson Valley, and especially abundant on the clay soils near the river. Not seen eastward at elevations greater than 300 m. A. puniceus L. Purple-stemmed swamp aster. Wet places, in swampy woods, open grassy marshes and roadside ditches ; common throughout. A. prenanthoides Muhl. Moist soil along streams, or in rich woodlands; infrequent. Locally abundant eastward, and somewhat less so in the Hudson Valley. Lebanon Springs, 2397 ; 1 mile north of Austerlitz, 4519; Arnolds’ Mills, Ghent, 4517; Schodack Island, House 24191; Stuyvesant Falls, 2036. A. laevis L. Smooth aster. Dry fields, banks and roadsides ; very common in the Hudson Valley, and especially abundant on the clays and shales near the river. Occurs in the Harlem Valley, but unknown northeastward. A. junciformis Rydb. Northern bog aster. "Columbia County,” according to House (1924). Otherwise unknown. A. lateriflorus (L.) Britt. Fields, thickets and grassy swamps, and along streams, in moist or dry soil; common. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 225 A. ericoides L. Open fields, pastures and thickets, in dry clay or sandy soils; frequent in the Hudson Valley and probably elsewhere. East Nassau, House 24234; Kinderhook, 2361; Stuyvesant, 4060; Mount Merino, 2433. A. simplex Willd. Wet meadows, open swamps and borders of woods; common. Occurs abundantly in and near the tidal marshes along the Hud- son River. A. pilosus Willd. Open fields and hillsides, in dry sandy or rocky soil, or less often in woods and near streams; common and abundant in the Hudson Valley; occurs in the Harlem Valley, but unknown northeastward. The prevailing phase of the species here is the var. demotus Blake. A. linariifolius L. Dry rocky or sandy banks, or in woods ; rare. Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY) ; rocky (schistose) summit of Mount Fray, at an elevation of about 450 m., 2643; sandy bank above the Hudson River at Tivoli, 2808. A. acuminatus Michx. Mountain aster. Rocky woods, in acid soil; also in sphagnum bogs; abundant in clearings. Common eastward, at elevations of more than 300 m. Rare and local in the Hudson Valley : 2 miles south of Claverack, 3996; Tivoli, 2987. A. umbellatus Mill. Wet woods, sphagnous swamps, pastures and rocky clearings, often in acid soil ; widely distributed but very local, Kinderhook, in open sedgy swamps, 1980 ; 2 miles south of Claverack, in moist clay soil in woods, 3997 ; common and abundant in wet places along the trails on the higher hills in the towns of Copake, Ancram and Northeast. A. infirmus Michx. Dry sandy or shaly banks and woodlands; frequent in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Valatie; Kinderhook Lake; Alvords’ Dock, Stockport; 1 mile east of Pulvers’ Station, Ghent; Forest Lake; Long Pond, Ancram ; Copake Falls. 18. Erigeron L. Fleabane 1. Ray flowers much exceeding the disk, conspicuous, 2 2. Heads large, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. in diameter; rays about 50, 1 mm. wide, light bluish purple E. pulchellus 2. Heads usually 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter; rays less than 1 mm. wide, 3 3. Rays very numerous (100 to 150), pinkish; cauline leaves clasping E. philadelphicus 3. Rays 50 to 75, white ; cauline leaves narrowed and not clasping at base, 4 4. Leaves coarsely and sharply toothed; pubescence scattered, spreading E. annuus 4. Leaves entire or nearly so; pubescence appressed E. strigosus 1. Ray flowers very short, scarcely if at all exceeding the disk, inconspicuous ; heads very numerous and small, panicled E. canadensis E. pulchellus Michx. Rich woods, in moist or rocky soil, often in cal- careous situations; rather frequent. New Lebanon, House 21300; New Forge, 3474; Robinson Pond, 3944; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3336; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 653. E. philadelphicus L. Moist pastures and woods and along streams; fre- quent. Abundant and conspicuous in soil pockets and crevices in the shales, near the water, along the Hudson River and the larger creeks. E. annuus (L.) Pers. Fields, pastures and waste places; common and weedy. E. strigosus Muhl. Situations similar to the preceding species; common and weedy. E. canadensis L. Fireweed, horseweed. Woods, fields, cultivated grounds and waste places ; a common weed. 226 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 19. Antennaria Gaertn. Cat-feet; Indian tobacco 1. Rosette leaves comparatively small, 0.2 to 2.1 cm. wide, with only one vein (the midvein) prominent to the tip; lateral veins short or wanting, 2 2. Middle and upper cauline leaves terminated by a flat or merely involute scarious appendage; rosette leaves mostly oblanceolate, subacute, 3 3. Basal leaves, especially those of the stolons, dull and more or less hairy above; stolons long-creeping, with much reduced leaves, the apical leaves later enlarging A. neglecta 3. Basal leaves, especially those of the stolons, bright green and glabrous above; stolons usually comparatively short, leafy, forming dense mats A. canadensis 2. Middle and upper cauline leaves sublate-tipped or mucronate, without a scarious appendage; rosette leaves mostly spatulate or obovate, rounded and mucronate at tip, dull and more or less hairy, especially those of the stolons A. neodioica 1. Rosette leaves comparatively large, 0.7 to 5.5 cm. wide, with 3 to 7 some- what prominent long veins beneath; middle and upper cauline leaves with firm subulate tips, 4 4. Rosette leaves, at least those of the stolons, dull and hairy above, 5 5. Pistillate involucre 5 to 7 mm. high A. plantaginifolia 5. Pistillate involucre usually 8 to 11 mm. high, 6 6. Rosette leaves rhombic-ovate, narrowed from near the middle to the subacute or blunt tip A. fallax 6. Rosette leaves spatulate to narrowly spatulate-obovate, rounded at apex A. mimda 4. Rosette leaves, especially those of the stolons, bright green and glabrous above A. Parlinii A. canadensis Greene. Dry fields and pastures, in sandy or stony soil; common. Usually associated with A. neglecta, A. neodioica, or both. A. Parlinii Fern. Wooded slopes and roadside banks, often in rich or cal- careous soil; rather frequent, but local. Stuyvesant (PENN); Kinderhook; Tackawasick Lake; 1.5 miles north of Queechy Lake; 3 miles north of Claverack (PENN); Mount Merino; Livingston. A. munda Fern. Gravelly or rocky soil, usually in dry woods, but some- times in moist places; frequent throughout. Common in the Hudson Valley. A. fallax Greene. Poorly known, but apparently throughout, in situations like the preceding species. Kinderhook, 4248. A. plantaginifolia (L.) Hook. Dry woods and fields, often in stony soil; common throughout. Abundant on shales and schistose rocks. A. neglecta Greene. Dry fields, pastures and open woods, in poor or stony soil; common. Often very abundant in old fields and pastures. A. neodioica Greene. In situations with the preceding species; common. 20. Anaphalis DC. A. margaritacea (L.) B. & H. Pearly everlasting. Dry fields and edges of woods; common. 21. Gnaphalium L. 1. Plants tall, erect, 30 to 90 cm. high; herbage fragrant when crushed; heads about 5 mm. high, 2 2. Leaves lanceolate, tapering at base, not decurrent G. obtusifolium 2. Leaves linear-lanceolate, with a clasping base, the margin decurrent on the stem G. Macounii 1. Plants low, diffuse or nearly prostrate, rarely more than 30 cm. high; herbage not or scarcely fragrant; heads about 2 mm. high G. uliginosutn G. obtusifolium L. Sweet everlasting. Dry fields and edges of woods ; common and often somewhat weedy. X ffi FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 227 G. Macounii Greene. Sweet everlasting. Fields and roadsides ; infrequent, usually appearing as if introduced. East Nassau, House 21949; Kinderhook, 2351; south of Pine Plains, House 21057; Hudson, according to Stebbins (1830). G. uliginosum L. Wet places; often in ditches and along roadsides; frequent. 22. Inula L. I. Helenium L. Elecampane. Dry fields and roadsides; locally abundant. New Lebanon; Canaan; widely distributed in the clay soils of the Hudson Valley. 23. Heliopsis Pers. H. helianthoides (L.) Sweet. False sunflower. Moist banks of streams; common along the Hudson River and locally abundant along the large creeks in the Hudson Valley; unknown elsewhere. Poelsburg; Stuyvesant; Stock- port; Hudson; Germantown; Tivoli; Kinderhook. 24. Rudbeckia L. I. Disk of flowering heads greenish yellow; stem smooth R. laciniata 1. Disk of flowering heads brownish or dark purplish brown; stems rough- haired, 2 2. Leaves, at least some of them, 3-lobed or 3-parted; chaff of receptacle awned, smooth R. triloba 2. Leaves entire or nearly so; chaff subacute, hairy at the tip R. hirta R. triloba L. Coneflower. Various situations, in dry or moist soil ; infre- quent, but locally abundant. Usually along roadsides, where evidently introduced, but sometimes along streams and near lakes, where appearing to be indigenous. Poelsburg, at edge of tidal mud, 2373; Kinderhook Lake, House 11307; 2 miles east of Germantown, 2919 ; 1 mile south of Madalin, 2880. R. hirta L. (inch R. serotina of Gray’s Manual). Black-eyed Susan. Mead'ows and fields, or in light shade ; common and weedy. R. laciniata L. Coneflower. Swamps and along streams; common. The common Golden Glow of gardens is a form of this species. 25. Helianthus L. Sunflower 1. Disk dark brown or purple; leaves narrowly linear, often 25 to 50 times as long as wide H. salicifolius 1. Disk yellow or light brown, 2 2. Leaves elongated-lanceolate, the upper ones alternate, not 3-nerved H. grosseserratus 2. Leaves opposite, 3-nerved, mostly ovate-lanceolate, 3 3. Leaves sessile or nearly so, with a broad base H. divaricatus 3. Leaves tapering to an acute base or to a petiole, 4 4. Leaves rough, whitish beneath, very indistinctly toothed H. strumosus 4. Leaves green beneath, coarsely serrate, 5 5. Stem hirsute-pubescent; rootstocks tuberous-thickened ; rays 12 to 20, deep yellow H. tuberosus 5. Stem smooth below; rootstocks not thickened but creeping; rays about 10, light yellow H. decapetalus . salicifolius A. Dietr. Niverville, House 13399. Otherwise unknown. . grosseserratus Martens. Abundant in a small water-filled depression south of Mount Merino, 2434. Otherwise unknown. 228 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM H. divaricatus L. Dry woods and open rocky hillsides; common through- out. H. decapetalus L. Woods and banks of streams; frequent, usually in rich or moist soil. H. strumosus L. Dry woods and thickets; infrequent, but widely distrib- uted and locally abundant. Poelsburg, 2258; 1 mile north of Kinderhook, 2300; Columbiaville, 4048; Lebanon Springs, 2399; Copake Falls, Britton et al. (NY). H. tuberosus L. Jerusalem artichoke. In and around old yards and gar- dens; occasionally established. 26. Bidens L. I. Plants aquatic, mostly submerged; submerged leaves finely dissected; ray flowers showy, golden yellow B. Beckii 1. Plants terrestrial ; leaves not finely dissected, 2 2. Ray flowers showy, much exceeding the disk ; leaves sessile, connate at base; fruiting heads often drooping; disk-flowers never reddish B. cernua 2. Ray flowers small or wanting, rarely exceeding the disk, 3 3. Leaves pinnate, with 3 to 5 leaflets, 4 4. Outer involucre of 5 to 8 leafy bracts ; achenes 2 to 3.3 mm. broad B. frondosa 4. Outer involucre of 10 to 16 leafy bracts ; achenes 3.3 to 4 mm. broad B. vulgata 3. Leaves simple, some of the lower sometimes deeply parted, 5 5. Margins of the achenes downwardly barbed for their entire length, 6 6. Summit of the achene convex and cartilaginous B. hyperborea 6. Summit of the achene not convex and cartilaginous B. comosa 5. Margins of the achene upwardly barbed, at least at the very base, 7 7. Terminal heads with 8 to 30 flowers, 8 8. Achenes without midribs; awns at least half as long as the body of the achene B. bidentoides 8. Achenes with conspicuous midribs ; awns not more than one- third as long as the body of the achene B. Eatoni 7. Terminal heads with 30 to 60 flowers B. connata B. cernua L. Wet places; ditches, borders of lakes and ponds, open grassy marshes; common throughout. Very abundant in calcareous marshes, where it makes a striking display in mid-September. It is also a conspicuous element of the flora of the tidal marshes of the estuary. The very similar Bidens laevis (L.) BSP., with reddish disk-flowers, is reported by Svenson (1935) from Stony Creek. B. connata Muhl. Ditches, stream banks and wet places around springs and ponds ; common in the Hudson Valley. Most abundant in the tidal marshes, but much less conspicuous than the preceding species. Not reported eastward. B. comosa (Gray) Wieg. Wet shores of lakes; apparently infrequent. Kinderhook Lake, Peck; Tackawasick Lake, House 24242. B. frondosa L. Pitchforks, Spanish needles. Wet or moist soil, near ponds and streams ; common, often becoming a troublesome weed in cultivated and waste grounds. B. vulgata Greene. Pitchforks, Spanish needles. Ditches, roadsides and cultivated grounds; locally very abundant. Niverville; Kinderhook; Copake Falls; [Claverack]. B. hyperborea Greene. In tidal mud along the Hudson River, where fre- quent; an estuarine species unknown elsewhere in our area. Mouth of the FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 229 Muitzes Kill, House 24209; Rogers Island, 4472; mouth of Stony Creek, according to Svenson (1935). B. bidentoides (Nutt.) Britt. Habitat of the preceding species; there common and abundant. New Baltimore, House 24286; Nutten Hook, 4055 ; Hudson, according to Svenson (1925); mouth of Stony Creek, according to Svenson (1935). B. Eatoni Fern. Habitat of the two preceding species; there frequent. Mouth of the Muitzes Kill, House 24202; Nutten Hook, 4514; Hudson, Svenson (GH) ; mouth of Stony Creek, according to Svenson (1935). The Hudson River material seems all to conform to var. major Fassett; Sven- son’s collection from Hudson was cited by Fassett (1925). B. Beckii Torr. ( Megalodonta Beckii of Gray’s Manual). Water marigold. In water around the margins of lakes and ponds; rare. Rather abundant at Waldorf Pond, House 21751; Pine Plains, Peck. 27. Galinsoga R. & P. 1. Peduncles and stems near the nodes clothed with coarse spreading white stiffish hairs intermixed with glandular hairs G. ciltata 1. Peduncles and stems near the nodes with appressed soft hairs, these usu- ally not glandular G. parviflora G. parviflora Cav. Waste and cultivated grounds; locally abundant as a weed, but apparently much less frequent than the following species. Stock- port Creek, above Columbiaville, 4494. G. ciliata (Raf.) Blake. Waste and cultivated grounds; locally abundant as a weed, and rapidly spreading. 28. Helenium L. H. autumnale L. Sneezeweed. Tidal swamps and along creeks; common along the Hudson River, and infrequent along streams in the Hudson Valley as far east as Glenco Mills. 3 miles north of Castleton, 3968; Poelsburg, 2374 ; 2 miles east of Germantown, along Roeliff Jansen Kill, 2916; Cheviot, 2819; 2 miles west of Nevis, 2892; [Claverack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V)]. 29. Achillea L. A. Millefolium L. Yarrow. Fields, roadsides and woods; common and often weedy. 30. Anthemis L. 1. Rays white; plant strong-scented; heads 2.5 cm. broad A. Cotula 1. Rays yellow; heads 3 to 4 cm. broad A. tinctoria A. Cotula L. Fetid camomile. Cultivated grounds; dooryards and waste places; a common weed. A. tinctoria L. Cultivated; collected once, as an escape, near Kinderhook, 1063 (PENN). 31. Matricaria L. M. matricarioides weed. (Less.) Porter. Roadsides and waste places; 32. Chrysanthemum L. a common C. Leucanthemum L. Ox-eye daisy. Fields and roadsides; a common weed. Represented in our area by var. pinnatifidum Lecoq & Lamotte. 33. Tanacetum L. T. vulgare L. Tansy. Roadsides, old yards and along streams; common but local. Forming large patches where established. 230 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 34. Tussilago L. T. Farfara L. Coltsfoot. Moist places along roadsides and streams, usu- ally in clay soil; frequent. Most abundant on the clays of the Hudson Valley. 35. Erechtites Raf. E. hieracifolia (L.) Raf. Fireweed. Woods and swamps, especially in clearings; frequent throughout. 36. Senecio L. 1. Plants perennial ; rays present, 2 2. Lowest leaves obovate, or occasionally subrotund or oblong, gradually narrowed into a narrowly winged petiole Y. obovatus 2. Lowest leaves broad-ovate, deeply cordate, long-petioled Y. aureus 1. Plants annual ; rays none Y. vulgaris S. aureus L. Golden ragwort. Wet places, in pastures and rich or swampy woods; frequent, but rather local. Lebanon Springs, Harrison (US); New Britain, 4311 (GA) ; North Chatham, 4009 ; Kinderhook, 667 ; Rogers Island, 2547. S. obovatus Muhl. Shaly or calcareous hillsides and outcrops; frequent,, especially eastward. Infrequent or rare in the Hudson Valley. Lebanon Springs, Harrison (US) ; Mount Lebanon, House 16154; Washburn Moun- tain, Copake, 3459 ; 3 miles north of Ancramdale, 3337; Millerton, House 22417; Blue Hill, 611 (PENN). S. vulgaris L. Groundsel. Garden weed in Hudson, 5101 (USNA) ; re- ported from Pine Plains by Hoysradt; otherwise unknown. 37. Arctium L. 1. Heads subcorymbose, 3 to 5 cm. broad A. Lappa 1. Heads racemose or subracemose, 1.5 to 3 cm. broad A. minus [A. Lappa L. Great burdock. Moist soil in waste ground; rare. Millerton, Peck; observed at Mount Lebanon by House]. A. minus (Hill) Bernh. Common burdock. Moist soil in waste places, roadsides, thickets and open woods ; common and weedy. 38. Cirsium Mill. Thistle 1. Heads numerous, small, 2.5 cm. in diameter or less; involucral bracts spine- less or the outer ones barely prickly-pointed; plants with extensively creeping rootstocks C. arvense 1. Heads larger, 3 cm. or more in diameter; plants without creeping root- stocks, 2 2. Bracts of the involucre all tipped with spreading prickles ; leaves decur- rent, woolly beneath C. vulgare 2. At least the inner bracts of the involucre soft and spineless; leaves not decurrent, 3 3. Leaves matted white-woolly beneath, outer bracts spine-tipped C. discolor 3. Leaves green beneath or sparingly cobwebby, 4 4. Heads large, 4 to 8 cm. broad; outer bracts spine-tipped C. pumilum 4. Heads 3 to 4 cm. broad; outer bracts pointed, but not spiny C. muticum C. vulgare (Savi) Tenore. Bull thistle. Fields and pastures; widely dis- tributed but local. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 231 C. discolor (Muhl.) Spreng. Fields, roadsides and alluvial grounds; fre- quent on the clay soils of the Hudson Valley. Linlithgo, 3963; [Claver- ack, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson (V) ]. C. pumilum (Nutt.) Spreng. Pasture thistle. Fields and pastures; fre- quent, but never abundant. C. muticum Michx. Swamp thistle. Swampy woods and open calcareous marshes; frequent. Kinderhook; Canaan Center; Copake Falls; Pulvers Corners; Brainard. C. arvense (L.) Scop. Canada thistle. Pastures and grain fields, road- sides and cultivated grounds; a common and troublesome weed. A plant collected at Nutten Hook, 1459, has been referred to var. integrifolium Wimm. & Grab. 39. Centaurea L. 1. Lower leaves pinnatifid into linear or lanceolate segments ; middle and outer involucral bracts with the tips pectinate C. maculosa 1. Leaves merely toothed (rarely lobed), not at all pinnatifid; bracts not pec- tinate, but with abruptly much dilated tips C. Jacea C. maculosa Lam. Knapweed. Roadsides and waste grounds; locally abundant as a weed. Apparently spreading rapidly and becoming common. C. Jacea !L. Roadsides and old fields ; locally established, and sometimes very abundant. At Columbiaville it is very abundant over many acres. Also at East Chatham, Mrs. C. E. Marstens. EXCLUDED SPECIES The following have been reported in literature from the Columbia County area, but none of the reports has been substantiated, and the species and vari- eties in question have been excluded from the above catalog. Certain reports are known, or thought, to have been based on misidentifications or other errors. Some of the names are not certainly identifiable. When important range exten- sions have depended upon published records, without verifying specimens, some mention of these individual records has been made in the systematic account. A separate list is given below to include some additional species reported by Hoysradt from the vicinity of Pine Plains. Botrychium silaifolium Pinns mitis Cupressus thyoides Cupressus dis fichus Sparganium simplex var. fluitans Bromus mollis Glyceria fluitans Poa debilis Triticum violaceum Trisetum palustre Panicum microcarpon Panicum columbianum Panicum xanthophysum Andropogon virginicus Cyperus dentatus Eleocharis Robbinsii Eriophorum polystachyon var. paucinervium Carex Mulilenbergii var. enervis Carex alopecoidea Carex sterilis Carex echinata Carex tenera var. major Carex adusta Carex debilis Carex irrigua Carex bullata Carex lupuliformis Lemna perpusilla Xyris flexuosa Lilium superbum Ixia chinensis Habenaria bracteata Cypripedium arietinum Orchis flava Habenaria flmbriata Habenaria orbiculata Spiranthes Romanzoffiana 232 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Cymbidium hyemale Saururus cernuus Populus balsamifera var. candicans Populus heterophylla Quercus falcata Quercus palustris Chenopodium Boscianum Cerastium semidecandrum Arenaria stricta Anemone cylindrica Ranunculus allegheniensis Ranunculus bulbosus Thalictrum purpurasccns C ardamine hirsuta Ribcs prostratum Prunus americana Indigofera tinctoria Desmodium marilandicum Desmodium obtusuin Ilex laevigata Sida spinosa Viola Selkirkii Epilobium palustre Hippuris vulgaris Myriophyllum vcrticillatum Conium maculatum Sium angustifolium Thaspium aureum Levisticum officinale Azalea arborescens Vaccinium dumosum Vaccinium frondosum Lysimachia lanceolata Asclepias purpurascens Convolvulus repens Cuscuta arvensis Cuscuta Coryli Monarda didyma Lycopus rubellus Veronica agrestis Gerardia purpurea Viburnum nudum Hyoseris amplexicaulis Hieracium Gronovii Nabalus Fraseri Solidago erecta Solidago thyrsoidca Solidago odora Solidago stricta Aster longifolius Aster dumosus Aster novi-belgii Aster sagittifolius Aster Tradescanti Gnaphalium purpureum The species in the following list were reported by Hoysradt from the vicinity of Pine Plains but have not since been found in the area of the present study : Triglochin palustris Festuca tenella Holcus lanatus Sporobolus serotinus Eleusine indica Panicum glabrwn Panicum filiforntis Paspalum sctaceum Ryncliospora fusca Scleria pauciflora Muscari botryoides Habenaria viridis var. bracteata Habenaria virescens Spiranthes Beckii Microstylis monophyllos A plectrum hyemale Salix alba var. vitellina Celtis occidentalis var. crassifolia Cannabis sativa Morus alba Morus nigra Polygonum orientale Cerastium viscosum Nigella damascena Pa paver somniferum Corydalis aurea Fumaria officinalis Arabis glabra Cardamine pratensis T rifolium procumbens Tephrosia virginiana Vicia sativa Geranium carolinianum Linum usitatissimum Hypericum canadense Viola lanceolata Ammannia humilis Aetlmsa Cynapium Vaccinium corymbosum var. amoenum Ipomoea purpurea Cynoglossum virginicum Symphytum officinale Marrubium vulgar e Lophanthus nepetoides Blephilia hirsuta Mentha spicata Mentha piperita Leucanthemum Par then ium Artemisia Absinthium Onopordum Acanthium FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 233 PART 2: GENERAL CONSIDERATION OF THE REGION AND ITS VEGETATION GEOLOGY OF THE REGION The topographic lowland which forms the area of the present study is somewhat set off geologically from the rest of southeastern New York. The rocks are mostly sedimentary, of Cambrian and Ordovician age, deposited in the great Appalachian Geosyncline off the west coast of the hypothetical Paleozoic continent, Appalachia. They are thus related geologically to the rocks of the present Appa- lachian Mountains rather than to those of the Hudson highlands, which are Precambrian crystalline rocks, to those of the Catskills and Helderbergs, which are mostly Devonian in age, or to those of the Adirondacks, which are also Precambrian. The rocks of the Columbia County area of the Hudson Valley are to be thought of as continuous with those of western New England (the Taconic Moun- tains). During Cambrian time, especially during the Upper Cambrian, the sea covered most of what is now southeastern New York; this sub- mergence continued during the Cambro-Ordovician interval (Miller, 1913) and during the Ordovician. As a result, considerable strata were deposited during these periods, from sediments washed from the uplands of Appalachia. These strata include Cambrian sandstones, shales and limestones, as well as similar rocks of Ordovician age. At the close of the Ordovician period occurred the Taconic Revolu- tion, which raised the present Taconic Mountains and caused severe metamorphosis, due to intense folding and a series of overthrust faults from east to west. The orthography of the word “Taconic” has occasioned some dis- cussion. At present the above spelling, being simpler, is largely used in referring to the range of mountains and to the Tri-State Park situated where New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut adjoin. The town and village in Columbia County, however, use the spelling “Taghkanic.” Dewey (1818) gives a short discussion of the matter in speaking of the “Taconick” range; according to him, previous usage had sanctioned “Taghconnuc” or “Toghconnuck.” The most severe metamorphosis of the Taconic Revolution was along a line (“Logan’s line”) passing through our area, running generally N 20° E (Ruedemann, 1930) ; that is, nearly parallel to the New York-Massachusetts line. West of this hypothetical line, near the Hudson River, the prevailing rocks are nearly unchanged 234 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM shales and limestones. The disturbance becomes increasingly more evident eastward, where the prevailing rocks are schists and quartzites. The periods succeeding the Ordovician have left few traces in the eastern half of the valley of the Hudson River ; the Silurian is repre- sented by Manlius limestone and the Devonian by several strata of limestones and shales, all of which are found in our area solely at Becraft Mountain, near Hudson. According to Grabau (1903) Be- craft Mountain and a small outlier a few miles to the north are probably isolated remnants of the Helderberg formations of the lower Devonian, which have escaped erosion. Geologically speaking, Becraft Mountain is famous because of the exposures of fossiliferous rocks which occur there ; notes concerning it are found at least as early as the fourth volume of Silliman’s Journal (Jenkins, 1822), and it has given its name to the limestones of Becraft age. In the north-central part of Columbia County and extending north- ward into Rensselaer County is a belt of the much discussed Rens- selaer Grit, which is considered to be of Upper Devonian age (Ruede- mann, 1930). The Devonian strata are in part undisturbed, but show some folding due to the Appalachian Revolution and uplift at the close of the Paleozoic. The close of the Paleozoic marks the end of deposition of marine strata in eastern New York. Except for the relatively modern glacial age, the Devonian period was the last in which new rock and soil materials were added in this region. Briefly, then, the strata in the Columbia County area are mainly of Cambrian and Ordovician age, with a strike generally N-S or NNE-SSW. The unchanged sedi- mentary rocks are shales, sandstones and limestones ; all show some folding of strata, brought about by the Taconic Revolution (at the close of the Ordovician) or the Appalachian Revolution (late Paleo- zoic). Metamorphism becomes gradually more pronounced eastward to the eastern boundary of the region, the shales being replaced by schists and gneisses, the sandstones by quartzite (Dana, 1885) and the limestones by more highly crystalline rocks. In general, meta- morphism is evident east of a line marked roughly by the 600-foot (183-meter) contour line. During most of the Mesozoic, eastern New York stood well above sea level, due to the Appalachian uplift, and peneplanation took place; that is, the streams of that time gradually wore the hills down to a nearly level plain. In late Cretaceous or early Tertiary time (Paleo- cene, according to Grabau, 1921) the whole Appalachian region, FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 235 including the Taconic Range, was lifted bodily through a distance of 2,000 or 3,000 feet (roughly 600 to 900 meters). The level of this ancient uplifted peneplain is now shown by the general level of the tops of the Berkshires (Miller, 1913), the Helderberg and Rensselaer Plateaus (Ruedemann, 1930) and the secondary peaks of the Cats- kills (Rich, 1935). Following this uplift, the Hudson River cut its course into the rocks of the peneplain and during the progress of the Tertiary Period, established a new grade. After this secondary level had been established, however, a further uplift took place; the valley was again raised bodily some 600 feet (180 meters), and at the close of the Tertiary a second elevated peneplain was thus brought about. This secondary peneplain is discussed by Ruedemann (1930) as the “Albany Peneplane.” According to him, it was a broad plain which was about 200 feet (60 meters) above sea level at Albany and which rises slowly to about 600 feet elevation at the foot of the Rensselaer Plateau. This inner peneplain apparently existed at the close of the Tertiary period, which is thought to have been at least two million years ago (Eames, 1936). During the latter part of Tertiary time the climate of North Amer- ica was growing progressively colder, and the last major geological change in the Hudson Valley was brought about by the advance of great glacial ice sheets from the north. These ice sheets advanced and receded periodically, with each advance carrying huge amounts of rock and soil scraped up in their passage and depositing a part of this load along the way. The last ice sheet to invade eastern New York, the so-called Wisconsin sheet, is thought to have receded finally about 30,000 years ago. The ice pushed down the river valley in its last advance and seemingly traveled southeastward through Columbia and Berkshire Counties (Taylor, 1903). So far as is known, the glacial ice covered the whole area. Evidence of this is present every- where in the numerous low rounded hills and the abundant unassorted till (mixed stones, clay and sand, of all descriptions, dropped from the melting ice). The ice sheet is thought to have been near its southern limit at this point, and the till in question is mostly derived from rocks of nearby areas. The glacier seems to have become stagnant at its maximum exten- sion, and subsequently to have receded northward and northwestward, leaving the lower end of the Hudson Valley blocked by a tongue of unmelted ice which overlapped the rock terraces east of the river (Cook, 1930). It was at this time that the clays and sands of the present valley were brought down by streams and deposited, in part as terrace deltas, against the ice (Woodworth, 1905). As sediments 236 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM were brought down it is thought they may have backed up the incom- ing waters and created many more or less temporary lakes in which additional sands were deposited at various levels (Cook, 1930). As the glaciers receded and the great weight of the ice sheet was removed from the land, there seems to have been a wavelike uplift of the land in our area (Fairchild, 1919). This amounted to an uplift of 250 to 350 feet (about 75 to 100 meters) in Columbia County. The final great change in the region has taken place since the dis- appearance of the glacial ice. After the modern streams, including the Hudson River, had established their present courses, the whole valley was depressed somewhat, from Albany southward, allowing the sea to invade the river and the lower parts of the stream valleys and thus making the lower Hudson an arm of the sea (an estuary) (Woodworth, 1905 ; Cook, 1930) . DESCRIPTION OF REGION The Columbia County area of the Hudson Valley, including the parts outside of the political boundaries of Columbia County as de- scribed above, may be thought of as a rectangle with its longer axis extending nearly north and south. It is divided into two nearly equal parts, not only topographically and geologically but floristically as well, by a line parallel to the long axis. This line roughly approxi- mates that of the 600-foot contour as mapped by the United States Geological Survey (see sketch map, figure 22). West of this imaginary line the country is relatively flat with a considerable number of meandering or slow streams with well-devel- oped flood plains. There is an abrupt drop of 100 to 200 feet at the Hudson River so that the nearly level valley is terminated at its western edge by cliffs, blufifs or steep wooded slopes above the river, the river itself thus lying in a great trough or inner valley. The soils of this western part of the area are mostly derived from water-laid sands and clays or from the native sedimentary rocks, and are not strongly acid except on the more sandy types. There are a number of isolated rocky knobs, from 300 to 600 feet (90 to 180 meters) in height, which may represent the remnants of the old Albany Peneplain. The flora of this part of the Columbia County area is made up, for the most part, of species which have their affinities with those of warmer or more southern parts of North America. In the following study, this little-elevated western half of the county will be spoken of as the Hudson Valley. The term is thus restricted to a portion of the “valley” in the larger sense ; that is, to FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 237 Figure 22. Sketch map of the topography of 'Columbia County. Hudson River at sea level; elevations shown in feet; areas above 2000 feet elevation shown in solid black. Numerous small isolated elevations are not shown. a portion of the rising land between the river itself and the summits of the Taconic Mountains. This restriction seems advisable because of the rather sharp line of demarcation which may be drawn between the flora of the Hudson Valley (in the restricted sense) and that of the rest of the area. As used hereafter, therefore, the term “Hudson Valley” will be used to designate that portion of our area lying west of an irregular line running from the north end of Stissing Mountain and the village of Elizaville to a point about 2 miles north of Nassau Lake. Under 238 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM this interpretation the Hudson Valley includes a considerable portion of the town of Taghkanic, in the valley of Taghkanic Creek. East of the above line (that is, in general, east of the 600-foot contour line), except as noted below, the country presents quite a different aspect. The topography is much more rugged and the streams are smaller, fewer and swifter, with numerous small rapids and falls. Due to the generally hilly land and rocky soils, farming is relatively difficult and much of the land has been abandoned in recent years. Soils are predominantly of the Dutchess series, acid in nature, and influenced to some extent by the underlying rocks which are mostly strongly metamorphosed schists and quartzites. Many of the hills of 1,400 to 1,800 feet (about 425 to 550 meters) elevation appear to be remnants of the early Tertiary peneplain, which have escaped erosion. The flora of this part of the Columbia County area includes many species usually thought of as characteristic of mountainous districts and, to a limited extent, of more northern regions. The statements in the preceding paragraph are generally true for the half of the Columbia County area that lies east of the Hudson Valley. It should be explained, however, that this more rugged area is much less uniform than the Hudson Valley. The highlands are much dissected by streams, so that a number of deep valleys are formed. In addition to this, considerable strata of Ordovician lime- stone (Dana, 1887) are exposed along the western side of the Taconic Range. These relatively soluble strata have resisted erosion much less than the harder and less soluble schists and quartzites, with the result that broad valleys have been formed where the limestones are exposed. The most important of these valleys, from our standpoint, is the one which will hereafter be referred to as the Harlem Valley. Beginning in the town of Hillsdale, it runs southward through Copake and Ancram, with its eastern boundary about a mile from the New York-Massachusetts boundary line and terminated abruptly by the precipitous slope of the mountains. In Ancram the valley broadens out and spreads westward to include part of the town of Gallatin and continues southward into Pine Plains and Northeast (see map, figure 22, and soil map, figure 23). It should be noted that the calcareous soils are somewhat more restricted in area than is the actual valley as shown on the topographic map. The Harlem Valley narrows in Dutchess County, and is interrupted by the Hudson High- lands. In our area the Harlem Valley is occupied by the Roeliff Jansen Kill, which rises in Hillsdale, flows generally southward and south- westward through Copake, Ancram and Gallatin to the Dutchess County line ; here it turns westward and follows roughly the boun- FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 239 dary between the counties for some miles, north of the great mass of Stissing Mountain (see map, figure 22). Subsequently, upon reach- ing the Hudson Valley, it turns northwestward and finally flows into the Hudson not far south of where it rises. The Roeliff Jansen Kill occupies a lowland which thus connects the Harlem Valley in the southeastern part of our area with the Hudson Valley farther west. Much of the Harlem Valley is relatively level and closely similar to the Hudson Valley in aspect and in composition of the vegetation. Much of its area is less than 600 feet (180 meters) above sea level and possesses relatively rich soil, so that its vegetation is in striking contrast to that of the rocky hills that rise steeply a thousand feet above it to the eastward. A second lowland, formed where limestone strata are exposed, lies in the towns of New Lebanon and Canaan. This is a much less striking feature than the Harlem Valley, and one with a much less characteristic flora. The general elevation is greater, being nowhere less than 1,000 feet (300 meters) above sea level. The limestone strata are less freely exposed, so that small valleys alternate with forested hills of acid rocky soils. The largest of these valleys is that of Flat Brook, which cuts through the hills west of the State line, branches out and runs interruptedly to Canaan and on to Queechy Lake, New Lebanon and Lebanon Springs. This valley is well shown by the map of the geological formations of the county (figure 24). The soils of the Harlem Valley are generally fertile and mostly occupied by farms, dairying being the common farm occupation. The calcareous regions north of the Harlem Valley are less easily farmed, being somewhat more rugged in topography and including large areas of poorly drained land. SOILS Since the end of the glacial period and the deposition of post- glacial sands and clays, the processes of decomposition and disinte- gration of rocks, together with the admixture of organic materials, have produced the soils of the Columbia County area. According to the Soil Survey of Columbia County (Lewis & Kinsman, 1929), the area of the county proper comprises 408,320 acres. The soils of about 25 percent of the area are derived from postglacial water-laid mate- rial; about 50 percent of the area has soils derived from glacial till ; 14.2 percent is mapped as being too broken and rocky to support a definite soil type. Miscellaneous types, including recent alluvial soils, highly organic soils (muck) and tidal marshes make up the remainder. A somewhat more detailed analysis of these soil-types will be of interest. 240 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 23. Sketch map of main features of distribution of soil types in Col- umbia County : 1 ) shaded areas represent regions of prevailingly calcareous soils ; 2) areas marked “D” are those in which soils of the Dutchess series predominate ; soils mostly acid and influenced to some extent by the under- lying rocks; 3) area marked “B” is one of : a) shallow, slightly calcareous, shaly soils (Cossayuna series) and b) water-laid soils, mostly of the Hud- son and Hoosic series. Outcrops of limestone are indicated by X. Small outlying soil areas of all sorts have been omitted except one in Ghent and one in Clermont belonging to the Dutchess series. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 241 Figure 24. Sketch map of the geology of Columbia County, taken from the Hudson-Mohawk sheet of the Geologic Map of 'New York (1901) Legend : Dok — Oriskany Shi — Helderberg Shrm — Hudson River, metamorphosed Shr — Hudson River Esm — Cambro-Silurian metamorphosed E — Cambrian, undivided Egs — Georgia 242 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 25. Sketch map of the geology of the western part of Columbia County, showing approximate extent of the principal formations. Data for this map were available through the kindness of Dr. Rudolf IRUedemann and ‘Miss 'Winifred Goldring. Numerous small outcrops not shown. The eastern part of the county has not been thoroughly studied since the publication of the Geologic Map of 1901 (figure 24). Eastward the Nassau beds (En) are replaced about as shown in figure 24 by the harder metamorphic schists and quartzites. Legend: On — Normanskill beds. South of Hudson the Normans- kill grit is exposed near the river, while farther east the Normanskill chert predominates. Es — Schodack beds En — • Nassau beds FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 243 Following the procedure of the Soil Survey (Lewis & Kinsman, 1929), the soil series are arbitrarily arranged in groups, as follows: 1. Soils derived from water-laid materials, lying above stream over- flow and containing little or no lime in the parent material. Hoosic, Merrimac, Ghent, Claverack, Hinckley and Otisville series. 2. Soils derived from water-laid materials with some lime present in the parent materials. Hudson, Copake and Groton series. Most of the acreage of the water-laid soils is to be found in the Hudson Valley, at elevations of 300 feet (90 meters) or less. As mentioned above, the sands and clays from which these soils were derived are thought to have been deposited by streams against an unmelted ice tongue in the river valley. In general, these soils are intensively cultivated, although some of the Otisville and Hinckley series and several thousand acres of the Hudson silty clay loam occupy slopes too steep for cultivation. Practically all the land has been cleared, so that native vegetation has been destroyed or greatly modified. The Hoosic and Otisville series, which together make up about 10 percent of the total area of the county, are for the most part sandy or gravelly loams, often highly acid in reaction (pH 4.5 to 5.5). The native vegetation has been largely superseded by crop plants. A soil type such as the Hoosic coarse sandy loam, for example, nearly 5,000 acres (about 2,000 hectares) of which occur in and near the village of Kinderhook, is planted almost solidly to orchards. The only important exceptions are the cemetery and a part of the village itself, both of which occupy valuable apple land. As a consequence of such wholesale clearing of the land, a student of the vegetation has to glean such things as he may from old records and from such plants as now exist nearby on steeper uncultivated slopes; the latter, however, may prove untrustworthy, as conditions prevailing at pres- ent in second-growth areas may be quite different from those for- merly in existence in the original forested lands. The Hudson soils, which make up about 8 percent of the area of the county, are for the most part silty or clay loams, rather poorly drained, rather acid at the surface, but under undisturbed conditions somewhat less so than the sandy soils of the Hoosic series (the pH of the Hudson soils is usually 5.5 to 6.5). These soils occupy most of the area within the river towns of Stuyvesant and Stockport ; farther south, in Greenport, Livingston, Germantown and Clermont, they are less extensive and occur intermingled with areas of the Cossayuna series. The vegetation of the Hudson soils is now mostly a man-made one, except for the steep slopes and ravines along the river, where cultivation is impossible and native species flourish. 244 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 3. Soils derived from deep, unassorted glacial till and containing lime in the parent material. Stockbridge and Lyons series. 4. Soils derived from deep glacial till material, unassorted and con- taining no lime. Gloucester and Bernardston series. 5. Slightly calcareous soils derived from thin glacial till over hard rock. Pittsfield and Cossayuna series. 6. Soils derived from shallow or deep till material, influenced to some extent by the underlying bedrock and containing little or no lime. Dutchess and Mansfield series. When the soils derived from glacial till are considered as a whole, it may be seen that four types only are extensive enough in our area to merit separate consideration. The Stockbridge series occupies much of the lower slopes of the limestone valleys in Canaan and New Leb- anon where cultivation is extensive and much of the land is used for pasture. Rock outcrops are frequent and steep wooded slopes are mixed with the pastured areas. The soils of the Pittsfield series occupy nearly 5 percent of our area, occurring both in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Probably 80 to 85 percent of this soil type has been cleared (Lewis & Kinsman, 1929). The surface reaction may be acid (pH 5.5 to 6.5), but the lower horizons are neutral or alkaline. These soils occur on the lower slopes of limestone hills and uplands. The underlying limestone out- crops frequently on the steeper slopes and some of the soil may be unfit for cultivation because of the proximity of the bedrock to the surface. In the Hudson Valley, soil of the Pittsfield series occurs principally in the vicinity of Becraft Mountain. The native vegeta- tion of the Pittsfield series, like that of the soil types previously dis- cussed, is known but poorly, and that only from study of steep slopes unfit for farming. In the Hudson Valley most of the soil which lies more than 300 feet above sea level (90 to 100 meters) is referred to the Cossayuna series. The Cossayuna soils comprise roughly 36,000 acres, or about 8.8 percent of the county, and are gravelly loams derived from a mixture of shale, sandstone and limestone, with a surface acidity usually between pH 5.5 and 6.5. These soils are often shallow, with many rock fragments intermingled, and occur in small units inter- rupted by many outcrops of shale or, less often, limestone. They occupy a series of north-south ridges, with the bedrock often exposed on the sides of the ridges and the soil formed between them. This sort of topography is very characteristic of the towns of Germantown and Clermont and of a broad belt running through the central part of the town of Chatham and on southward through Ghent and Cla- verack. Practically all of the Cossayuna soils have been cleared, but FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 245 a great many small areas are too steep and rocky for cultivation or even for pasture. We know little regarding the original vegetation of the farmed areas, but it is probable that the many characteristic species found on the shale ledges and outcrops in the Hudson Valley have persisted there since before the advent of the white man. The Cossayuna soils, like those of the Hoosic series, are now of some importance as apple-growing soils. Both series include well- drained soils, light textured and varying but little in the upper 4 to 6 feet (about 1 to 2 meters), and without a heavy subsoil or other substratum. Batjer and Oskamp (1935) have shown that there is a definite correlation between deep-rooted trees and those of high pro- duction. Hence the Hoosic and Cossayuna soils (where the latter are deep enough) are well suited to apple production. On the other hand the Hudson soils, with relatively heavier subsoils (sometimes as much as 90 percent of colloidal material within 30 inches of the surface), are much less productive. The most extensive soil series in the Columbia County area is the Dutchess series, the soils of which occupy roughly 30 percent of the entire county. In the region of metamorphic rocks (that is, east of the Hudson Valley) these are the predominating soils. They are derived from till and from underlying schists. Their reaction is usu- ally acid (scarcely ever more alkaline than pH 6.0 to 6.5) and the content of organic matter is generally low. In addition to the area mapped as "soils” by Lewis & Kinsman, 56,832 acres (13.9 percent of the county area) are mapped as “Rough Stony Land.” Most of this occurs along with the soils of the Dutchess series on slopes too steep and broken to support much soil. The underlying rocks are, of course, similar to those from which the “soils” have been derived, so that about 40 percent of the entire area is seen to be characterized by this type of substratum. It is the prevailing type east of the Hud- son Valley, except in the Harlem Valley and in the smaller lowland in Canaan and New Lebanon (see soil map, figure 23). The Dutchess soils are, in general, upland soils, fairly well drained and relatively shallow. Rock fragments are frequent in the soil itself, and the bedrock frequently outcrops on the steeper slopes. So far as known there is no virgin timber remaining, but many of the steeper hillsides are covered with second growth forests. Much land that was once cultivated has reverted to pasture and is growing up to forest, or has been abandoned altogether. The vegetation is doubtless quite different from that originally present, and is mainly of dry, acid soil woodland types. 7. First bottom (alluvial) soils. Ondawa, Livingston, Hotaling and Saco series. These soils are not extensive in Columbia County, occur- 246 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM ring only along the larger streams. Considerable areas are poorly drained and are often used for pasturage. 8. Soils derived from organic matter (muck). As mapped by Lewis & Kinsman, muck occupies 3,520 acres in Columbia County, in small, widely scattered areas. The vegetation of these areas is in part undisturbed, or nearly so, although some of them are pastured. 9. Miscellaneous soils and conditions. These include :1) lands too rough and stony to support a definite soil type; 2) tidal marsh, of which 896 acres are mapped; 3) made-land, along the Hudson River. At the time of the soil survey 192 acres were mapped, but this has now been considerably increased by additional dredging along the river; 4) meadow. This last is extensive in the county, comprising roughly 15,000 acres of poorly drained strips along streams, about ponds and in similar situations. It is mostly pastured and the vegetation has been somewhat modified thereby. The figures given in the preceding discussion for acreage occupied by the various soil types, as well as those dealing with the percentages of the total area occupied by individual soils, refer solely to the area dealt with by the Soil Survey of Columbia County, and are taken directly from that publication. The area included in the present study extends considerably beyond the political boundaries of Columbia County, especially northward, but it is impracticable to secure exact figures of acreages of soil types except for the actual county units. The soils of the part of Rensselaer County covered by the present study are essentially like those of the eastern part of Columbia County, including the Dutchess and related series. The topography is also similar to that of the eastern part of Columbia County proper, and the floras of the two areas are essentially the same. CLIMATE The vegetation of any given region depends largely upon the com- bination of the factors of soil and climate. While some plants thrive under widely varying conditions of both soil and climate, and hence are found widely distributed over the earth’s surface in all sorts of situations, the majority are greatly influenced either by the chemical and physical properties of the soils in which they grow (edaphic factors) or by the conditions of light, moisture, temperature and other climatic factors. In any study like the present one it thus becomes necessary to make an examination of the climatic factors involved as well as the edaphic ones. Unfortunately for the student of plant life, the climatic factors which are most important in deter- mining the distribution of plants are not always the factors which are commonly studied and recorded by our weather bureaus. For FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 247 example, the weather bureau records the amount of precipitation, which is the amount of water that actually falls ; the water which affects the plant, however, is not that which falls but that which stays in the soil and in the air surrounding the plant. Figures of this sort are not available except for areas which have been especially studied, but are of the greatest importance to the farmer as well as to the scientist. The climate of the Columbia County area is in general a moderate and uniform one. The area discussed under the heading “climate” will include the whole area of the present study, while the discus- sion of soils was limited somewhat to the actual political boundaries of the county. The two most important climatic factors, temperature and moisture, vary but little throughout the area. Data are now available for a number of localities east of the Hud- son River, both in Columbia County itself and in the adjoining coun- ties to the north and south. The following figures were taken in great part from “The Climate of New York State” (Mordoff, 1934), but some of them were furnished through the kindness of John C. Fisher of the United States Weather Bureau, Ithaca, N. Y. Table 1 Duration of Records Station Number of years of record MONTHLY MAX. MIN. FROST MONTHLY TEMP. TEMP. TEMP. DATES PRECIP. SNOW WIND Chatham 17l 17 17 16 17l 16 17 Canaan 3 3 Hudson 25 25 25 25 29 9 9 Kinderhook 17 17 Lebanon Springs . . 5 Spencertown 6 1 Records for Chatham were made at Canaan from September 1900, to June 1904. Table 2 Mean Monthly Temperature JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. Canaan 19.7 20.6 36.3 44.8 55.4 61 9 Chatham 23.7 22.5 34.0 40.6 57.7 66.0 Hudson 23.0 23.5 34.9 46.9 58.2 66.3 Kinderhook 22.9 23.3 33.7 46.3 57.3 65.5 Lebanon Springs .... 20.3 21.3 30.3 43.4 56.1 66.1 248 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Table 2 Mean Monthly Temperature JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. Canaan 68.2 67.1 60.3 50.2 36.1 22.6 Chatham 71.8 69.4 62.2 51.9 38.5 27.3 Hudson 71.6 68.7 62.6 51.8 39.6 27.8 Kinderhook 70.2 68.5 60.3 47.5 38.3 25.2 Lebanon Springs .... 68.1 67.0 58.9 46.5 36.7 25.5 Table 3 Mean Minimum Temperature JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. Chatham 15.7 13.1 24.3 35.5 45.4 54.0 Hudson 16.2 14.5 25.7 36.3 46.8 55.4 JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. Chatham 60.2 58.0 51.3 41.6 30.5 19.9 Hudson 60.9 58.3 52.1 41.4 31.4 20.2 Table 4 Mean Maximum Temperature JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. Chatham 32.8 31.9 43.6 57.7 69.5 77.9 Hudson 32.6 32.5 44.1 57.4 69.5 77.3 JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. Chatham 83.6 80.7 73.2 62.1 46.4 34.8 Hudson 82.3 79.4 72.8 61.9 47.7 35.2 Table 5 Lowest Temperature JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. Chatham ^18 ^24 ^9 16 ~24 34 Hudson —21 —18 —6 9 28 37 JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. Chatham 42 38" 15 20 8 ^20 Hudson 42 36 30 19 6 —19 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 249 Table 6 Highest Temperature JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. Chatham 65 57 81 90 96 99 Hudson 62 60 82 90 94 100 JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. Chatham 103 100 95 86 71 64 Hudson 102 103 95 86 74 67 Table 7 Frost Dates — last frost in spring first frost in fall earliest average latest earliest average latest — Chatham Apr. 16 May 11 May 27 Sep. 11 Oct. 4 Oct. 26 Hudson Apr. 11 Apr. 29 May 12 Sep. 15 Oct. 9 Oct. 27 Table 8 Length of Growing Season (days) longest average shortest Chatham 177 146 118 Hudson 187 163 126 — Table 9 Percent of Recorded Growing Seasons Less Than 120 days 130 days 140 days 150 days Chatham 13 13 44 50 Hudson 0 4 8 12 Table 10 Mean Monthly Precipitation (inches) JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. Chatham 224 2iT 106 170 104 199 Hudson 2.70 2.66 2.66 3.09 3.17 190 Kinderhook 2.21 1.53 2.48 2.97 3.41 4.49 Spencertown 2.59 1.57 1.56 4.62 190 4.05 250 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Table 10 Mean Monthly Precipitation (inches) JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. Chatham 3.77 3.93 3.49 3.36 2.28 2.74 Hudson 3.87 3.65 3.14 3.89 2.95 3.18 Kinderhook 4.36 3.23 2.84 3.26 2.69 2.76 Spencertown 3.84 3.74 3.00 2.61 2.66 2.83 Table 11 Precipitation: Average Number of Days Having 0.01 Inch or More JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. Chatham 9 8 10 11 12 11 Hudson 6 5 5 7 8 10 JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. Chatham 10 11 11 9 9 9 Hudson 8 9 6 5 6 6 Table 12 Annual Precipitation (inches) MEAN HEAVIEST LIGHTEST Chatham 38.11 51.04 26.50 Hudson 38.86 48.71 25.72 Kinderhook 36.23 51.46 25.95 Table 13 Growing-Season Precipitation (inches) May 1 to September 30 MEAN HEAVIEST LIGHTEST Chatham 18.22 29.28 12.17 Hudson 17.73 27.88 10.24 Kinderhook 18.33 26.03 13.04 Table 14 Mean Monthly Snowfall (inches) JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. Chatham 10.5 15.0 12.1 2.8 T 0 Hudson 17.3 16.2 6.8 2.5 0 0 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 251 Table 14 Mean Monthly Snowfall (inches) JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC Chatham 0 0 0 T 3.5 10.2 Hudson 0 0 T 0.2 1.9 8.9 Analysis of the above figures brings out a number of interesting points. It has been pointed out repeatedly that means of temperature and precipitation records have less significance for plants than do extremes. In growing a perennial crop, like peaches, it is important to know not only how cold the winter usually gets, but how cold it may get ; a single week of extreme cold may kill a peach orchard which has survived 30 ordinary winters. The same thing is true of native vegetation, with the important difference that the native plants have no way of reestablishing themselves quickly. As a consequence, the native species making up the vegetation in any given region are those which, having entered the region, have survived the most severe winters. The same reasoning applies to conditions of moisture, although native plants are much less affected by a very dry season than are the less well-adapted cultivated ones. It must be remem- bered also that climatic records have been kept for a relatively short time. A continuous climatic record of 100 years is a long one as climatic records go, but plants have been living in the Hudson Valley for perhaps 10,000 years. The present flora of the Columbia County area is made up, at least in part, of species which have been able to survive the coldest and driest times of that long period. At the present time an equilibrium has been established, and where winters chance to be a little more severe than usual, or the droughts slightly more severe, we find the native species relatively little affected by these extremes. a. Mean and extreme temperatures. Examination of tables 2 to 4 shows that mean monthly temperatures run consistently lower at the two upland weather stations, Lebanon Springs and Canaan (eleva- tions roughly 250 to 275 meters above sea level) than at the three Hudson Valley stations of Hudson, Kinderhook and Chatham (eleva- tions from sea level to about 150 meters). It will be noted also that the mean minimum temperatures run consistently lower at Chatham than at Hudson, while the mean maxima are about the same for the two stations. b. Frosts and length of growing season. In tables 7 to 9 the data indicate that Hudson, at sea level on the river, has a growing season which averages 17 days longer than that at Chatham, which is near 252 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM the eastern edge of the Hudson Valley at an elevation of about 150 meters. It is probable that this is a significant difference from the standpoint of vegetation. While figures for the eastern parts of our area are not available, the indications are that the growing season is notably shorter at the higher elevations. The vegetation is consider- ably later in its development in the spring at the higher elevations. In May 1936, at several localities in the towns of Austerlitz and Canaan, at elevations of 300 to 600 meters, Dutchmans’ Breeches (. Dicentra CucuUaria) , Hepatica {H. americana), Rue Anemone ( Anemonella thalictroides ) and Pepperroot ( Dentaria diphylla) were in full flower (May 1 to 5). In the vicinity of Kinderhook, in the Hudson Valley, the same species had been at the same stage of development at least 10 days earlier. It is probable also that lower temperatures prevail in winter at the higher elevations. While unoffi- cial temperatures in the Hudson Valley range as low as — 30° F., the lowest officially recorded at either Chatham or Hudson is —24° F. ; at Austerlitz and Spencertown unofficial temperatures ranging from —40° to — 48° F. are recorded. c. Precipitation. Tables 10 to 14. The average annual precipita- tion over all our area ranges from 35 to 40 inches (roughly 90 to 100 centimeters). The minimum is about 25 inches and the maximum about 50 inches. These figures are comparable to those for most of the forested lands of northeastern United States. The rainfall is rather evenly distributed throughout the year, with the lowest monthly precipitation from November to February and the highest from April to August. The summer months are not those of least rainfall, as they are popularly regarded, but the high temperatures prevalent in July and August increase surface evaporation and the visible effects of a light summer shower soon disappear, leaving the ground appar- ently dry. Another point which may be considered is that while precipitation may be ample in total amount it may be poorly distributed as far as plants are concerned. Table 11 shows that the average number of days with 0.01 inch or more of precipitation (that is, days when it rains more than a few drops) is only 7 to 12 per month during the summer months. The remaining two or three weeks of the month are without rain. The Hudson Valley has from 20 to 30 thunder- storms every year; these storms are more frequent there and on Long Island than in any other part of New York (Mordoff, 1934). Much of the summer rain thus falls in a relatively few storms, so that a given month may have rain on but two days, for example, and still have a total of 4 or 5 inches of precipitation. A climate of this kind, where rain falls mostly in ample but infrequent showers, FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 253 is well suited to the growth of forests. The same amount of precipi- tation evenly distributed in many small showers would be better suited to the growth of shallow-rooted plants like grasses. SETTLEMENT The first white settlements in the Columbia County area were doubt- less in the lowlands along the Hudson River. Henry Hudson ascended the river which now bears his name in 1609, reaching a latitude of 42° 18' (Collier, 1914, p. 2). The name Kinderhook appears on Adriaen Block’s (possibly Cornelius Hendrick’s) “Carte Figurative” dated 1614-16, and so is thought to be earlier than any other present- day place name in the State (Collier, 1914). Settlers, most of them Dutch, soon followed Hudson’s trail. The Indians of this part of the country were Mohicans, a tribe of the Lenni-Lenape, and were usually on friendly terms with the settlers. According to Collier they were apparently “numerous and strong at the time of Hudson’s visit and for twenty years thereafter.” Under the regime of the Dutch and, after 1664, that of the English their lands were generally bought from them so that they remained friendly. They refused, indeed, to sell land, even at the site of Fort Orange (Albany) until after 1625, but were disastrously weakened by battles with their Mohawk enemies soon after this and white settlers began to come here in greater numbers. Under the white man’s rule the number of Indians dwindled rapidly, and in 1689 there were but 250 left in the entire county of Albany (at that time including most of Columbia County). Seven years later the number of Indians was reduced to 90 (Collier, 1914). The first white settlements in what is now Columbia County seem to have been about 1640, and as early as 1651 Kinderhook was al- luded to as one of the principal settlements on the river. The oldest house in the county, the Staats house near the Stockport station of the New York Central Railroad, is thought to date approximately from this time. The Colonial Assembly of 1683 established Albany County, which then included Albany, “Schonectade” and all the land east of the Hudson River as far south as “Roeliffe Jansen’s creeke.” Roeliff Jansen, according to French (1860) was “Overseer of the Orphan Chamber,” an office similar to that of Surrogate under the Dutch government. The Livingston manor was patented in 1686 and comprised over 160,000 acres, including most of what is now the southern half of Columbia County. Settlement was slow, and in 1701 there are said 254 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM to have been but four or five houses on it. In 1710 a group of Ger- mans from the Palatinate settled along the river at the present site of Germantown, and the following year there were 1,178 settlers in the town, a population not far from that of the town of Germantown today. The country back from the river was somewhat less accessible and was settled slightly later than that adjoining the waterway. Chatham dates from about the year 1725, and Ghent from a few years later (about 1735), while Greenport was settled about 1750. About the middle of the 18th century the eastern part of our area was also occupied by emigrants from Massachusetts and Connecticut. Canaan, Copake, Hillsdale and Ancram were established as early as the decade 1750-60, while Austerlitz dates from between 1745 and 1750. The present town of New Lebanon was occupied as early as 1760 by people from New England, and more of these same travelers reached Canaan and Chatham about the same time. The above historical sketch, together with a part of what follows, is taken from French (1860). After 1750 settlement and civilization advanced apace. The Copake Iron Works began operations in 1756 and later became nationally famous, several furnaces having been established in Copake and An- cram. An article in the American Journal of Science (6: 180. 1823) reads as follows : Mr. Walter Patterson, in charge of the Ancram iron furnace, said that it was the first erected in the colonies of North America, or at least in New York. The presence of zinc is said not to affect the properties of iron, since the bar-iron of Ancram is in great demand at $120 a ton, a higher price than that paid for any im- ported iron. No other pigs are used at the West Point foundry for the heavy guns (32 and 42 pounders) now casting for the United States’ navy. The iron works at Copake was not abandoned until the closing years of the 19th century. Another thriving industry arose through the utilization of the large deposits of carbonate ore in the Hudson Valley just south of Hudson. These, the so-called Burden mines, had a large output and a spur railroad, now abandoned, to the New York Central. The output of carbonate ore in 1888, according to Smock (1889), was 112,000 tons. The limonite ores of the Hudson Valley in that year produced only 43,000 tons in Dutchess and Columbia Counties combined. Another early industry was that of the Ancram lead mine, which gave its name to a village. The same village, now known as Ancram- dale, appears on maps of 1845-50 as “Hot Ground.” and is thus FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 255 designated by Hoysradt (1875-79). The lead mine, according to an early note in the American Journal of Science (Lee, 1824) was worked for four or five years and then abandoned. At present all that is visible is a rocky hole, partially filled, in a hillside near Ancramdale. By 1787 New Lebanon came to be considered the central home of the Shakers, the followers of “Mother Ann” Lee, and in 1823 there are estimated to have been about 600 of the believers living in the village (Andrews, 1933). Columbia County was formed from Albany County in 1786; the first newspaper had been established in the new city of Hudson the previous year; a paper mill appeared in Stuyvesant Falls in 1802 and a cotton “factory” in 1813 at the same place (French, 1860). The towns of Canaan, Claverack, Germantown, Hillsdale, Kinder- hook and Livingston were established under the new regime in 1788, while Clermont was a year older. The town of Chatham was made up from parts of Canaan and Kinderhook in 1795, and in 1803 “Gallatin” and “Granger” were separated from Livingston. These changed their names in 1814 to Ancram and Taghkanic, respectively. In 1818 the town of Austerlitz was blocked out on the eastern side of the county. New Lebanon was made a town apart from Canaan, and Ghent was established from parts of Chatham, Claverack and Kinderhook. Stuyvesant, which had been a part of Kinderhook since early days, was separated from it in 1823, and the next year Copake was made a town from a part of Taghkanic. A new town of Gal- latin was separated from Ancram in 1830, Stockport was established in 1833 and Greenport was set up, independent of Hudson city, in 1837. The whole of Columbia County was thus loosely organized polit- ically as early as 1788; it apparently reached nearly its present status about 1820, and took final political shape about a century ago. The one exception was the thousand-acre tract called the “Boston Cor- ners,” which was adjacent to the town of Ancram but belonged to the town of Mount Washington, Mass. It was separated from the rest of Mount Washington, including the majesty of the law, by the 1500-foot wall of the mountains which rise there sheer above the valley. Thus favored by nature, it became a favorite haunt of gamblers and other lawbreakers and fugitives from Massachusetts justice! It was finally ceded to Ancram in 1857 (French, 1860). Although such early organization existed, the condition of the country was by no means the same then as now. A map of Kinder- hook drawn in 1798 (Collier, 1914, facing page 124) shows fewer than 100 houses in all the territory now occupied by the combined 256 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM towns of Kinderhook and Stuyvesant, which have a present total population of 4,544 (census of 1930). In 1802 were published some “Notes on the Natural History of Kinderhook’’ (Warden, 1802) which bear out the same contention. Much of Reverend Warden’s material has nothing to do with our subject, but in the midst of other matters he mentions the dry summer of 1799 when all the in- habitants of the village were obliged to be very careful of their fires in order to avoid setting the woods afire. The implication is that the woods were considerably more extensive than at present. Warden also mentions riding horseback just north of Kinderhook Lake ; any land dry enough for horseback travel there is now closely grazed pasture, but in his day he tells of forcing his horse with difficulty between the gigantic trunks of oak and pine growing closely together. Some additional evidence exists which seems to show that clearing of the woods was rather a slow process. It has been pointed out (McVaugh, 1935) that a number of species of plants recorded from the Hudson Valley in 1838 and 1839 are now rare in the same area or entirely wanting. These are for the most part plants characteristic of the cool woods of northern latitudes; they apparently existed in the original forests of the Hudson Valley but have mostly disap- peared along with the forests themselves. There remain to this day scattered localities, some of them within a few hundred yards of the Hudson River, where are found in abundance such upland or boreal species as Taxus canadensis, Coplis groenlandica, Acer spicatum and Viola rotundifolia. These localities are, without exception, those that seem to have been undisturbed by fire, grazing or agriculture. Essen- tially the same conclusions have been drawn from a study of the virgin forest in northwestern Connecticut (Nichols, 1913) : “Strik- ing is the relative abundance of northern species which elsewhere in the state are either absent or confined to cool ravines.” Habitats suitable for species like the above are scarce in the Hud- son Valley today. A century ago they were somewhat more frequent and the probability is that at least a part of the original forests still persisted. The Hudson Valley is stressed in the above paragraphs for two reasons. The first reason is the very practical one that most of the available records come from that part of the area. The second is that this was the first part of the area to be settled, and so was doubtless cleared of its forests first. If parts of the original vegeta- tion persisted there, they surely did so elsewhere. While much of the timber was probably still standing in 1800, the older census records show that by 1835, at least, the areas of “improved land” in the county were as extensive, if not more so, FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 257 than the nonforested lands at the present time (table 15). The number of acres of improved land in 1835 was 307,354 (Gordon, 1836). The number of acres of land in farms in the county in 1920 was 339,560 (Lewis & Kinsman, 1929). While in 1835 at least a part of the “unimproved” land was covered by virgin forest, all of the land now listed as nonfarm land is covered with second growth woodland or with weeds and bushes. In 1821, according to Spafford (1824), there were 67 sawmills in the county. In 1835 the number had dwindled to 46 (Gordon, 1836). These figures would seem to indicate that while large amounts of timber were still being cut in 1835 (annual value of $40,305, accord- ing to Gordon), the peak of production had been passed a few years before. Table 15 Acreage of Improved Land in Columbia County DATE t \ TOWN 1821 1835 1858 Ancram1 * 26,217 21,519 21,135 Austerlitz 18,780 21,163 22,805 Canaan 13,837 15,476 16,501 Chatham 19,671 25,225 26,856 Claverack 18,560 22,695 25,055 Clermont 11,850 12,726 10,231 Copake 3 17,913 18,344 Gallatin1 14,116 17,588 Germantown 3,626 5,477 5,768 Ghent5 17,342 20,470 22,506 Greenport * 9,866 Hillsdale 23,912 23,386 21,058 Hudson *.* 8,695 12,226 373 Kinderhook4 21,965 18,258 15,865 Livingston 18,587 21,539 20,648 New Lebanon 15,525 18,778 16,218 Stockport5 7,146 5,650 Stuyvesant 4-6 13,361 10,820 Taghkanic’ 26,233 15,908 16,991 1 Gallatin included in Ancram until 1830. 1 Copake included in Taghkanic until 1824. 3 Greenport included in Hudson City until 1837. 4 Stuyvesant included in Kinderhook until 1823. * Stockport formed from parts of Hudson, Ghent and Stuyvesant in 1833. In the period from 1821 to 1835 the area of improved land in- creased by 62,554 acres, while in the 23 year period from 1835 to 1858 the area decreased by 3,077 acres. Tabulated by towns, the figures are as follows : 258 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Table 16 Change in Number of Acres of Improved Land, 1821 to 1858 INCREASE IN ACRES, INCREASE IN ACRES, TOWN 1821 TO 1835 1835 TO 1858 Ancram-Gallatin 9,418 3,088 Austerlitz 2,383 1,642 Canaan 1,639 1,025 Chatham 5,554 1,631 Claverack 4,135 2,360 Clermont 876 —2,495 Copake-Taghkanic 7,588 1,514 Germantown Ghent- Greenport 1,851 291 Hudson-Stockport Kinderhook-Stuyvesant 23,495 —6,381 Hillsdale —526 — 2,328 Livingston 2,952 —891 New Lebanon 3,253 —2,560 Analysis of table 16 shows that the towns lying wholly or mostly in the Hudson Valley (Stuyvesant, Kinderhook, Ghent, Stockport, Hudson, Greenport, Livingston, Germantown and Clermont) showed a total increase of 29,138 acres of improved land during the period 1821 to 1835. This amounts to an increase of 35.5 percent over the area improved in 1821. During the period from 1835 to 1858, how- ever, the improved acreage in the same towns decreased by a total of 9,476 acres, or 8.5 percent of its area in 1835. When the figures for the remaining towns of the county are tabu- lated, the increase in improved acreage for the period 1821 to 1835 is seen to be 33,444 acres or 20.5 percent of the area in 1821. During the period 1835 to 1858 the increase continued, adding a total of 8,372 acres or 4.2 percent of the area in 1835. The above figures are taken to indicate that the Hudson Valley was cleared somewhat earlier than the eastern portion of the county as the towns along the river were more easily accessible, were settled earlier and were possessed of more easily disposable timber. Appar- ently the peak of expansion was reached, as far as agricultural use of land is concerned, about 1835 or soon thereafter. By 1858 expan- sion had stopped and the less fertile areas or those difficult to culti- vate were being allowed to revert to woodland. In the less accessible parts of the county, where conditions were less favorable for agri- culture, expansion was slower but continued until much later. The conclusions drawn from the preceding evidence may be summed up as follows: Extensive clearing of the forests was not carried on until about 1800, although there were settlers in all parts FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 259 of Columbia County by 1760. In the Hudson Valley the peak of the clearing operations may have been in the period from 1815 to 1830, while in the eastern part of the county it was somewhat later. Although virgin forests are said to have existed in scattered patches here and there, even in the Hudson Valley, as late as 1900, examina- tion of the rotting stumps does not bear out this contention. Few if any of the trees which stood in such localities exceeded 200 years in age or 36 inches in diameter. Such size and age are not by any means indicative of a virgin forest of white pine or hemlock, and it may well be that such remnants of the “original” forests are in actuality among the earliest of the second growth woodlands of New York; in 1700 Kinderhook and Claverack were both thriving com- munities, and a forest cut over at that time by the settlers of the vicinity may well have given rise, in two centuries’ time, to another forest of the same general nature. A remnant of such a mature second growth forest still stands on what are now the grounds of the Leake and Watts School at Tivoli, Dutchess County, and figures are available for a small number of trees. The trees are now widely scattered over several acres of ground, but their uniformly straight trunks and the general scarcity of branches indicate that most of their growth was made in a forest. The site occupied is the steep hillside immediately above the Hudson River. Most of the trees are white pines, ranging in age from 100 to 150 years. The following table indicates the maximum size and age attained by the several species present : Table 17 Maximum size and age of species in mature second growth forest at Tivoli, Dutchess County SPECIES MAXIMUM SIZE ESTIMATED AGE Tsuga canadensis (Hemlock) 38 220 Pinus Strobus (White pine) 31 200 Quercus alba (White oak) 31 150 Fraxinus americana (White ash) 21 130 (The size is inches in diameter, breast high; the age is estimated by use of the increment borer.) PREVIOUS BOTANICAL INVESTIGATIONS A complete botanical survey of this region has never before been attempted. The published material dealing with the vegetation of the area consists of a number of short papers and local floras, all rela- tively narrow in scope. Many of them are mere lists of plants and nearly all are out of date. In addition to the papers dealing with the 260 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM immediate fields of the present study, there are a few important papers concerned with regions adjoining the Columbia County area. The valley of the Hudson River, offering as it did a means of travel in early days when most of the country was thickly wooded and thinly settled, was rather well known to the early botanists, although few of them were well acquainted with what is now Colum- bia County. Pehr Kalm, the Swedish disciple of the great Linnaeus, passed through Albany in 1749; mention of his writings will be found further on in this study (p. 278) (Benson, 1937). Andre Michaux sailed up the Hudson to Albany in the course of his trip to Canada in 1792; on the return trip, as related in his journal, he botanized near Poughkeepsie late in November (Michaux, 1889). Pursh, the German gardener who wrote a famous flora of North America, passed down the river in 1807 after a summer spent in botanizing in central New York and in Vermont. Some of the plants from Pursh’s 1807 trip still exist, but few if any of them are from the Hudson Valley (McVaugh, 1936b). None of the above men, so far as is known, stopped in our area or collected plants therein. Somewhat later, however, the eccentric genius of the early 19th century, Constantine Samuel Rafinesque- Schmaltz, spent some time in Columbia County. He passed part of the winter of 1815-16 at Clermont, acting as a teacher of Italian, drawing and botany to the three daughters of the influential Living- ston family (Rafinesque, 1836, pp. 49-50). Later, in the autumn of 1827, Rafinesque stopped at Lebanon to see the famous spring and to meet Garrett Lawrence, the botanist-gardener of the Shakers who was himself much interested in the native plants (Rafinesque, 1836, p. 85). The first resident botanist of this part of the Hudson Valley was Amos Eaton, who was born at Chatham in 1776. He lived at Cats- kill, Greene County, for a number of years and later became famous as a botanist and educator. He taught at Williams College and at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which he was instrumental in found- ing. Eaton’s “Manual of Botany” was first published in 1817 at the request of his enthusiastic classes at Williams; it was issued the fol- lowing year in a revised and much enlarged edition as “A Manual 6f Botany for the Northern and Middle States.” This was the manual which doubtless was used by all the early local botanists in our region, and which was supplanted only by the more comprehensive works of Torrey and Gray. Numerous species are cited by Eaton as occurring in Columbia County, including several estuarine species with which he probably became familiar while living at Catksill. For further discussion of Eaton’s life and work see Smallwood (1937). FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 261 The first known publication dealing directly with a part o£ the area of the present study was Stebbins’ “Catalogue of Plants Grow- ing in the Vicinity of the City of Hudson” (1830). This was a list of some 40 species and has been fully discussed in an earlier paper (McVaugh, 1936a). The names published in Stebbins’ list were said to be those of the “most interesting” species, and examination of the list seems to show that a considerable proportion of them were species characteristic of the lowlands of the Hudson Valley, many of them approaching here the northern or northeastern limits of their ranges. Stebbins’ paper had been preceded in point of time by John Pierce Brace’s flora of Litchfield, Conn. (Brace, 1822). Some of the species mentioned in Brace’s list provide interesting comparisons with those of the Columbia County flora, although his area is not included in that of the present study. An interesting analysis of Brace’s work has been made by C. A. Weatherby (1914). In 1836 there appeared a comprehensive catalog of the plants native to the vicinity of Troy, by John Wright and James Hall. Some of the records from this 42-page pamphlet were used by Gordinier and Howe in their “Flora of Rensselaer County,” published in 1894. Soon after the publication of Wright and Hall’s list there were printed two similar but less comprehensive ones for the plants native about Kinderhook (Woodworth, 1839, 1840). These two lists to- gether included about 250 species, which were “analyzed by the Botanic Class” of the Ladies’ Department of the Kinderhook Acad- emy, of which Woodworth was the principal. The 2-volume “Flora of the State of New York” by John Torrey, published in 1843, makes numerous general references to the vegeta- tion of the Hudson Valley. A few years later Alexander Winchell, the geologist, brought out a list of plants native to Amenia, in the eastern part of Dutchess County (1851). A Reformed Church clergyman, Rev. A. P. Van Gieson, made a collection of about 120 herbarium specimens in the vicinity of Claverack between 1869 and 1871 but apparently did not publish any notes relative to these, although certain species which he collected are exceedingly rare in Columbia County. About this time began the careful and critical work of Lyman Hoysradt (1848-1933), who made the greatest single contribution to the knowledge of the plants of our area during the 19th century. Hoysradt was a school teacher whose avocation was botany. His home was in Pine Plains, and the results of his botanical explora- tions in the vicinity of that place were published while he was still a young man. The “Flora of Pine Plains” appeared in eight parts 262 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM as a series of supplements to the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club over the period 1875 to 1879. The area embraced was that of a circle having a radius of 5 miles, with the center at the village of Pine Plains. All the vascular plants are included except ferns. Although Hoysradt was much interested in ferns and mentioned them several times incidentally in describing the habitats of other species, the part of the flora dealing directly with them was never published. In the flora itself the name of each plant is followed by some statement as to habitat and abundance in the Pine Plains area, often with accompanying notes on specific localities and facts of special interest. Although the study of plant associations was not so popular then as now, Hoysradt often included some words concerning the species accompanying the particular one in question. The exact localities which he cites show that he did not confine himself strictly to his stated area; plants are included from as far east as Bashbish Falls and the summits of the Taconic Range, and from as far north as Lake Charlotte (now Taghkanic Lake). It is evident throughout Hoysradt’s work that he was a very enthusiastic and careful field worker. I have recently visited a num- ber of the localities mentioned in the “Flora,” many of them stations for rare and local plants, only to find conditions much like those described 60 years before. Hoysradt did not trust to his own iden- tifications of the more difficult groups of plants but corresponded with many of the notable botanical figures of his time and secured their opinions. He sent a number of specimens to Asa Gray at Cambridge, and some of these are still preserved at the Gray Her- barium. Gray was particularly interested in Hoysradt’s discovery of Valeriana sitchensis, subsp. nliginosa in the Harlem Valley (Gray, 1875; Hoysradt, 1875). The determinations of several groups of Hoysradt’s plants were checked by experts in these fields ; among these were the Gramineae, by Dr. George Thurber, Carex, by William Boott, Juncus by Dr. George Engelmann, and Potamogeton, by Dr. J. W. Robbins. Although many of Hoysradt’s stations have not been relocated and some have doubtless been destroyed, it appears that the great majority of the records are trustworthy ones, so that some species have been included in the present catalog solely upon his authority. Several others are known from the Columbia County area only through Hoysradt’s specimens that are still in existence. About 250 specimens from the Hoysradt herbarium have been located in vari- ous botanical institutions. The more important sources of these are as follows : FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 263 New York Botanical Garden 78 Cornell University 86 University of Michigan 43 University of Pennsylvania 30 In addition, there are a number of sheets of Juncus in the her- barium of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and miscellaneous collec- tions at the U. S. National Herbarium, the Gray Herbarium, Pomona College and doubtless elsewhere. I had the pleasure of talking with Mr. Hoysradt a few months before his death in 1933. He had retained his youthful interest in botany although he said that he had not done any field work for 40 years. He remembered vividly his association with Asa Gray and other great personages of the past century. It is with sincere appre- ciation of such a botanist of an older generation that the present study is undertaken. It is only after the careful and critical work of local students like Lyman Hoysradt that more comprehensive studies over longer periods of time can be successfully carried out. In the closing years of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th, several articles appeared which dealt with the flora of the eastern part of Columbia County. The earliest of these (Harrison, 1887) was a list of woody plants about Lebanon Springs, comprising 64 species. Among the plants included was the mountain magnolia ( Magnolia acuminata), which had been reported from the same locality by Torrey in 1843 and was subsequently rediscovered (Mc- Vaugh, 1936c). A few papers dealing with the flora of Copake Falls and the nearby gorge of Bashbish Brook appeared soon after 1900. These included a note on mosses (Britton, 1901) and several lists of vas- cular plants observed and collected in the vicinity (Stetson, 1913, 1914; Burnham, 1913; Knowlton, 1919). The flora of the Hudson Estuary was dealt with by Dr. H. K. Svenson in two short papers (1925, 1935), and the aquatic vegetation of the Hudson River and some of the larger lakes in our area have been studied in detail by Dr. W. C. Muenscher (1935, 1937). Finally there must be some mention of several general works hav- ing some bearing upon the flora of the Columbia County area. “The Flora of the Vicinity of New York” (Taylor, 1915) included the Hudson Valley as far north as Columbia and Greene Counties and contains numerous records from the former, many of which cannot now be verified. The “Flora of Berkshire County, Massachusetts” (Hoffmann, 1922) covers that part of our region lying in the towns of Hancock and Mount Washington. Dr. H. D. House’s “Annotated List of the Ferns and Flowering Plants of New York State” was 264 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM published in 1924 and gave the most complete information then available about the vegetation of the State, including many specific references to localities in Columbia County. Since 1930 there has been a considerable amount of field work in Columbia County in botanical and allied subjects. The New York State Biological Survey finished its work on the Hudson River watershed in 1936. This included chemical and biological studies of aquatic life, of which the most pertinent to the present paper are those of Doctor Muenscher referred to above. In the field of geology Dr. Rudolph Ruedemann and Miss Winifred Goldring of the New York State Museum have been working intensively on the Catskill and Coxsackie Quadrangles, respectively. Dr. H. D. House, the State Botanist, has been much interested in the flora of the area and has made many trips to various parts of it. His collections, amounting to many hundreds of specimens, have been studied in the preparation of the present paper. My own botanical field work in the area comprises about 350 days, distributed as follows : A few days each in 1930, 1931 and 1932 The entire summer of 1933, from April 1 to October 1 Much of the time between July 1 and September 15, 1934 The summer of 1935, from June 23 to October 8 The spring of 1936, from April 18 to May 19 Most of the month of September 1936 THE VEGETATION The vegetation of the Columbia County area, like that of any other area on the earth's surface, consists of a number of species of plants, each represented by one or more individuals and each influenced in its life not only by its innate (hereditary) capacities but by conditions around it. The vegetation which is to be discussed below is more or less uniform in composition throughout, but its aspect changes slightly as one goes from place to place. All of this part of New York is thought to have been covered, at one time, by dense forests ; this means, naturally, wherever forest trees could grow. It is obvious that no trees ever grew on the sheer faces of cliffs ; these cliffs support a wholly different sort of vegetation and always have. It is equally apparent that forests cannot grow and never could grow in the tidal marshes which are inundated twice daily; these marshes support a luxuriant flora of another kind. Before proceeding to a more detailed consideration of the vege- tation, it is well to have clearly in mind the environmental factors FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 265 which influence every plant. These may be summed up as follows (modified from Nichols, 1923) : 1. Climatic factors. All factors which are associated with atmospheric conditions. The principal conditions of this kind are a) moisture, b ) temperature and c ) light. Climate may be thought of in terms of widespread atmospheric conditions ; for example we may speak of the climate of North America. It should also be re- membered, as Nichols points out (p. 20), that "strictly speaking, no two spots on the face of the earth have the same climate.” Local changes in climate are brought about by the presence of hills, val- leys, forests, large bodies of water and by the presence of plants themselves. 2. Physiographic factors. Influences associated with peculi- arities in the form, structure and behavior of the earth’s surface. So far as we are concerned at present, the principal factors are a) topography and b) conditions due to the physical or chemical nature of the soil. These things are important since they are directly related to the amounts of water retained by the soil, the amount of light and heat absorbed by the soil and the amount of light, water and minerals available to plants. 2a. Mechanical factors. Purely mechanical influences may be considerable. They include those of heavy winds, hail and ice storms, drifting snow and sand, water currents, wave action and landslides. Mechanical factors may, if desired, be classified partly as climatic and partly as physiographic. 3. Biotic factors. Influences associated with the activity or effect of animals or other plants. The principal factors of this sort are a) shade usually brought about by other vegetation that may influence not only light relations but also atmospheric humidity and temperature; b) root competition, especially for water; c ) accu- mulation of humus through decay of organic matter that may affect directly most of the physical and chemical properties of the soil and so exert a profound influence on the vegetation ; and d ) micro- organisms, including both plants and animals. 3a. Anthropeic factors. The influence of man. The great im- portance of the works of man in modifying the face of the earth can scarcely be overstressed. Swamps are drained, forests cleared, lakes raised or lowered, rivers dredged or diverted, streams dammed up, cliffs blasted away and stock allowed to graze over hills and woods. All other types of habitat factors are strongly modified locally by this one. 266 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 4. Pyric factors. Fire not only destroys whole plant commu- nities, but also modifies existing ones through destruction of humus and reduction of shade. It is thus evident that any plant in any locality is subject to the action of a number of different forces acting upon it simultaneously. The resultant of the factors thus influencing the plant is the environ- ment of the plant. The plant itself, moreover, if it is to survive and flourish, must be adapted to withstand periodic changes, within cer- tain limits, in any or all of these factors. The seasonal changes in temperature, for example, in New York State may be as much as 200° F. at the surface of the ground. The various factors of the environment are so greatly modified locally by each other that an area like Columbia County is not to be thought of as being strictly uniform but as being broken up into many smaller areas, each with its own set of environmental conditions. An example will serve to make this clear : Figure 26. Ideal section through a ridge which has limestones exposed on the steep north face and schists on the more nearly level southern exposure. Figure 26 represents a section through a hill or ridge which runs east and west, with the northern exposure rather steep and the southern exposure gently sloping or nearly level. As in many locali- ties where the earth’s crust has been subjected to much movement, the bedrock is of several kinds; one side (the south) of the hill has an underlying acid schist, while the steeper north side has numerous outcrops of limestone. To the casual observer, conditions would appear to be the same on both sides of the ridge. Upon analy- sis, however, the following differences appear: FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 267 1. The steep north side receives almost no direct sunlight. As a consequence, the air and the soil there remain cooler, moister and more shaded than on the south side. That is, the plants on the north side live in a cooler, moister climate than those on the south side. 2. The prevailing wind is from the north (as is actually the case in many Columbia County localities). As a consequence, plants on that side are more exposed to wind and get somewhat more rain than those on the more protected south side. 3. Erosion is much more rapid on the steep north side than on the other. As a result, plants there are subjected to additional action of water, soil particles and rocks, and to increased leaching out of soil minerals. The soil is better drained than on the south side. 4. Chemical conditions are quite different on the two sides of the hill, as the soil derived from limestone is basic in reaction, while that derived from the schist is strongly acid. In summation it may be said that on the same ridge, where points due east and west of each other may have identical conditions of temperature, moisture and light, wholly different sets of conditions are established on the north and south sides of the ridge at points a few hundred feet apart. Along with such local variation in the factors of soil and climate is found a corresponding variation in the kinds of plants making up the vegetation. It is commonly recognized that the relation be- tween the plant and its environment is a most important one. Ecol- ogy, the study of this relationship, is a major branch of botanical science. Although it has been known since earliest times that dif- ferent plants were dependent upon different factors for their con- tinued existence, it is only within recent years that a truly scientific approach has been made to the subject. In any given habitat or set of living conditions we expect to find plants characteristic of that habitat; that is, species which have become particularly well adapted, through centuries of racial exist- ence, to the conditions prevailing there. We expect to find water lilies in the pond itself, and violets in damp shady places near the pond rather than in the water! Any group or community of plant species which occupy a common habitat may be spoken of as a plant asso- ciation. Thus simply defined, the number of different kinds of associations depends only on the number of kinds of habitats. A convenient starting point, then, for the study of the vegetation of an area is with the various types of habitats available to plants. The complicating factor in the study of habitats is the fact that 268 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM associations are not static things, but are constantly undergoing a process of change; as conditions of moisture and light are modified by the growth of the plants themselves, and as soil conditions are being changed by deposition of humus and in other ways, the situa- tion may become suitable for new groups of species which then replace the old. Consequently, any given group of species constitut- ing an association is not to be considered a permanent occupant of a certain locality, but merely as one stage in a succession of associa- tions. An example is a sand plain along a stream, which may be at first bare of vegetation and then occupied successively by a group of annual weeds, by perennial weeds and grasses, by shrubs and finally by large trees. Present conditions of the habitat are, as Nichols says (1923, p. 167), “to a very high degree — a heritage of the past: they represent the cumulative effect of processes and phenomena which not only have originated in the past, but some of which have long ceased to operate. A classification (of plant associations) which takes into account these facts ... in the minds of many . . . affords the only method by which plant associations may be naturally grouped in their relation to environment.” The question may naturally be raised, does such a succession continue indefinitely, or is a stage finally reached where equilibrium is maintained between the asso- ciation and its environment, so that no further succession takes place? The answer is that in any region a certain climax vegetation is thought to be reached. Under existing conditions of climate and physiography no further succession is thought to be possible. In much of the eastern United States this climax vegetation is a de- ciduous forest; in midwestern United States it is a grassland; in parts of the western United States it is a desert. In general it may be said that regional climatic factors have the most influence on the development of the climax vegetation, except where local physio- graphic conditions bring about various local climates and localized habitats. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VEGETATION When the glaciers receded from eastern New York thousands of years ago there were left exposed large areas which had been denuded of vegetation by the advancing ice. These areas may con- veniently be divided into two classes on the basis of moisture present and available for plants. Those habitats in which moisture for plant growth is deficient, either because of high evaporation or low avail- ability or both, are termed xerophytic habitats. This type includes bare rocks and cliffs, and uplands in general. At the end of the FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 269 glacial period xerophytic conditions were intensified for several rea- sons. Evaporation was high, for soils were freely exposed to the sun’s rays and there was no shading vegetation. The humus con- tent of some of the soils was low, so that their water-retaining powers were accordingly low. The soils of the uplands were thus doubtless desiccated much of the time. The other main type of habitat, that in which water is present to excess, is termed hydrophytic. Situations of this sort included depressions of one sort or another, left by the glaciers ; such depres- sions soon filled with water from precipitation or from streams, thus forming lakes and ponds. The hydrophytic habitats also in- cluded the saturated margins of these depressions, margins of streams and the streams themselves. It will be noted that mesophytic habitats, those which show neither an excess nor a deficiency of water, are almost lacking in the picture drawn above. It is a generally accepted concept that succession is toward a more mesophytic condition : that is, with the development of more mature association-types, xerophytic and hy- drophytic habitats will become progressively scarcer and more and more of the plants making up the associations will be those adapted to average or median conditions of humidity. To express the progress of succession in these primary types of habitats, Cooper (1913) introduced the terms xerarch and hydrarch. The former is applied to “those successions which, having their origin in xerophytic habitats . . . become more mesophytic in their successive stages” ; the latter refers to “those which, originating in hydrophytic habitats such as lakes and ponds, also progress toward mesophytism.” Nichols (1923) proposed to name a third series, the mesarch, “those which originate in mesophytic habitats, such as afforded by moist, rich soils, and in which the vegetation . . . be- comes progressively more and more advanced as a result of devel- opment. The advance here may take the form, more especially, of increasing complexity.” Many ecologists believe that the mesarch series are of more recent origin than the others, as they cannot become established until suitable conditions prevail in the original hydrarch or xerarch series. 270 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM DETAILED CONSIDERATION OF THE ASSOCIATIONS THE HYDRARCH SUCCESSIONAL SERIES AND THEIR PLANT ASSOCIATIONS 1. The association-types of tidal waters. No plant associations in the Columbia County area are more characteristic than those of the tidal waters of the Hudson River. Although the number of species concerned is relatively small, the number of individuals is large, so that estuarine vegetation is dense over considerable areas. In our area the estuary varies in width between a maximum of slightly more than 2 km. (opposite North Germantown) and a minimum of slightly more than 0.5 km. of open water (at Hotaling Island) (figure 27). The water is raised and lowered twice daily by tidal action, the variation in level being from 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 meters). The water is relatively shallow, except in the main channels, where the depth varies from 20 to 65 feet (6 to 20 meters), the average depths becoming greater southward toward the mouth of the river. For bottom depths at a number of points in our area, the reader may consult Faigenbaum (1935, 1937). The channels are crooked, winding from one side of the river to the other, due in part to the presence of numerous islands and rocky headlands, not to mention many docks and breakwaters, some of which project one-half mile or more into the river (figures 28, 29). The result has been the production of a series of shallow bays and backwaters at various places along the river. At low tide hundreds of acres are exposed as nearly level or gently sloping mud flats (figure 30). According to Lewis and Kinsman (1929) the area of tidal marsh in Columbia County alone is 896 acres. As Muenscher (1937) has stated, the tidal marsh vegetation is almost wholly limited to shallow bays, shoals and mouths of tribu- taries, where the water is less than 10 feet deep at high tide. The principal large areas of this kind are as follows: the North and South Bays just south of Tivoli; the north end of Rogers Island and the nearby mainland; the North and South Bays at Hudson; the mouth of Stockport Creek ; a bay in the vicinity of Nutten Hook and a similar one just south of Poelsburg; and finally an area at the mouth of the Muitzes Kill. Numerous smaller tidal bays have been cut off by the tracks of the New York Central Railroad, which runs a straight course along the shore and has isolated many small areas which support the characteristic estuarine plants. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 271 Figure 27. The Hudson River, looking southwest from the bluffs about 1 km. north of Poelsburg. Hotaling Island occupies the center of the picture and hides the main channel of the river, which is between the island and the hills in the background. Note the shallow “bay” cut off by the railroad. NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 28. A rocky cove on the northwestern side of Crugers’ Island, looking north. Magdalen Island may be seen in the distance. Figure 29. Shale bluffs on the river side of Nutten Hook, looking north. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 273 The vegetation of the region is not influenced to any extent by the saline waters of the Atlantic Ocean. True halophytes are not found in the river north of the vicinity of West Point. Muenscher (1937) mentions two marine algae, Caloglossa Leprieurii and En- teromorpha intestinalis, which range north to Constitution Island, just above West Point. Among the flowering plants Spartina alter- niflora, Spartina cynosuroides, Juncus Gerardi and Lilaeopsis chi- nensis have a similar geographic range. The following table shows a correlation between the occurrence of halophytic species, like the above, and relatively high chloride concentration (data from Faig- enbaum, 1937, except the linear distances between points) : Table 18 Concentration of Chlorides in the Hudson River at Various Points Between Yonkers and Hudson LOCALITY APPROXIMATE DISTANCE IN MILES FROM NEW YORK HARBOR CHLORIDES, PARTS PER MILLION Yonkers 17 7,040-8,560 Nyack 28 4,210-4,800 Croton Bay 34 2,710-8,520 Haverstraw-Harmon 36 1,710-4,330 Caldwells-Lents’ Cove 42 1,700-2,290 Bear Mountain Bridge 45 1,143-1,485 West Point 50 763-1,045 Moodna Creek-Bannerman’s Island 56 400 -900 Newburg-Dennings Point Above Newburg, between Beacon #20 and 57 68 -382 Brockway 60 18 - 35 Danskammer Point 63 9.5 -11.0 Blue Point to Mine Point 71 3.0 - 4.5 Esopus Island 81 2.5 - 4.9 \lA miles above Rondout Light 89 2.8 - 5.7 Barrytown 95 3.5 - 5.0 Turkey Point to South Bay (Tivoli) .... 96 2.2 - 3.8 Above Saugerties 100 4.0 - 5.4 Green Point 107 4.4 - 7.4 Roeliff Tansen Kill 109 2.2 mile below mouth of Catskill Creek. . . . 110 4.0 - 4.2 Hudson 114 3.4 - 5.4 The concentration of the river water is seen to vary but little throughout our area. The maximum concentration of chlorides, in parts per million, is about 7.4. The hydrogen-ion concentration of the water is likewise rather uniform throughout, the reaction vary- ing from neutral (pH 6.8 to 7.2) to somewhat alkaline (pH 8.0 to 8.5), but usually standing at a figure between 7.2 and 7.6 (data from Faigenbaum). 274 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM The vegetation of the estuarine waters falls into three rather sharply defined groups. The first, comprising a few species but many individuals, includes plants which are wholly submerged, even at low tide. The principal species are : Vallisneria americana Anacliaris Nuttallii Najas Muenscheri Potamogeton perfoliatus Najas minor Shallow stagnant channels and depressions are often choked by a thick growth of one or more of these species (figure 31). The second habitat group is made up of about 10 species of low- growing plants which are exposed on the mud flats at low tide but are submerged or nearly so at high tide : Isoetes riparia Sagittaria Eatoni Sagittaria subulata Eriocaulon Parkeri Heteranthera dnbia Heteranthera reniformis Elatine triandra var. americana Limosella subulata Hemianthus micranthemoides Lindernia dnbia var. inundata These plants are found mostly in small colonies scattered about on the otherwise bare wet mud exposed at low tide. Individual plants of other species, such as Orontium aquaticum, may be intermingled with them, but in general the plants of this zone are small and low- growing and rarely form a dense association. When the mud flats are nearly level, so that broad expanses are exposed at low water, the association is best developed. Where the shores are steeper and the line between the tide levels is narrower, these plants are often found in company with the larger species of the next group. The third group of species gives the characteristic aspect to the tidal marshes. They are for the most part tall plants, so that at least their tops are above water even at high tide. The dominant species are again few in number, but large in number of individuals, so that dense pure stands are sometimes formed over hundreds of acres. The species involved are : Equisetum fluviatile Typha latifolia Typha angustifolia Sparganium eurycarpum Sagittaria latifolia Sagittaria rigida Zizania aquatica Scirpus fluviatilis Peltandra virginica Orontium aquaticum Pontederia cordata Acnida cannabina Nuphar advena Sium suave Stachys tenuifolia Bidens bidentoides Bidens connata Bidens hyperborea Bidens Eatoni Helenium autumnale FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 275 Figure 30. Tidal flats along the Hudson River at low water. The land across the channel is Rogers Island and in the middle distance is the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. Figure 31. One of the channels near the mouth of Stockport Creek, at low tide. The exposed areas are thickly covered by aquatics. 276 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 32. The line of demarcation between the zone occupied by Nuphar and that occupied by Zizania, on the shore of the Hudson east of Rogers Island. The tops of the water lilies are barely covered by water at high tide. Figure 33. View across the channel to Rogers Island at low tide. Back of the closely massed water lilies may be seen a zone occupied by w'ild rice and sedges (Scirpiis flumatilis). FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 277 The most abundant plants, by far, are the wild rice, Zizania , and me yellow water lily, Nuphar. The river sedge, Scirpus fluviatilis, or the cattail, Typha latifolia, is next in abundance. Either Zizania or Nuphar may occupy large areas to the practical exclusion of other species (figure 15, p. 113), while the two other dominants are more often associated with other vegetation and less often form pure stands. A remarkable zonation is often visible along the channels of the river. Following the zone of mud plants which are submerged at high tide there is in many cases a closely succeeding zone made up wholly of Nuphar. Immediately following this may be Zizania (figures 32, 33) or a mixture of Zizania and Scirpus. The line of demarcation is apparently set by the slope of the substratum. Nu- phar seems capable of existing and thriving in wetter situations than the other plants, whereas it is incapable of competing with them where the ground is slightly higher. As the ground becomes higher and the water at high tide shallower, other species make their ap- pearance, so that nearer shore an almost impenetrable growth of Scirpus, Typha, Sagittaria latifolia, Peltandra, Acnida, Stachys and Equisetum is found. The dominant vegetation is usually 2 to 3 meters high ( Zizania , Scirpus, Typha). Under natural conditions in the estuary, succession was probably rather slower than at present. The influence of the tides tends to exclude many species, and land building is relatively slow because of the wash of the tidal waters. Under present conditions, how- ever, it is possible to observe a rapid succession in many of the “bays” and shallows which have been cut off from the main part of the river by the railroad (figure 27). The railroad was put through about the middle of the last century, and men now living can remember when the North and South Bays below Tivoli were open water. The same thing applies to the “bays” above and below Hudson. As late as the 1880’s and 1890’s these are said to have supported little vegetation and to have been open bodies of water. At present, however, the Tivoli bays are nearly filled with the tall and aggressive perennials just discussed. The mass of vegetation is intersected here and there by narrow channels, but most of the area is now dry enough to walk over at low water. These large bays, which are nearly a kilometer wide and each over a kilometer long, have thus been filled by sediments and root growth in a relatively short time. A similar fate has overtaken the Hudson bays (figure 34). In somewhat dryer soil, nearly out of the influence of the tides, a further stage in succession is evidenced by the abundance of semi- amphibious plants like Peltandra, Orontium, Acnida, and the vari- 278 NEW YORK STATE MIUSEUM ous species of Bidens. In this zone appear also such plants as Spar- tina pectinata, Stachys tenuifolia var. platyphylla, Teucrium c ana- dense and Lobelia Cardinalis. Some shrubs, particularly Alnus serrulata Physocarpus opidifolhis, Cornus Amomum and Cornus alternifolia, grow nearly or quite in the water at high tide. Above high tide level shrubs and trees usually are abundant, in- cluding not only those named above but Ulmus americana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Fraxinus nigra and Acer rubrum. Characteristic herbaceous plants of this zone are Cassia hebecarpa, Gaura biennis, Gentiana Andrewsii, Heliopsis helianthoides and Ambrosia trifida. Where tidal marshes are more or less level and extensively devel- oped, as at Rogers Island, the succession goes through a swamp- forest stage dominated by Ulmus americana, Acer rubrum, Fraxinus pennsylvanica and Fraxinus nigra. On Rogers Island, the “white cedar,” Thuja occidentalis, occupies a conspicuous place in the association. The forest floor is always wet, with a number of tidal channels breaking up the island into smaller areas. The principal species under the trees are the two dogwoods referred to above, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Smilax tamnoides, Physocarpus, Mikania scandens and Lathyrus palustris var. myrtifolius. At Hotaling and Schodack Islands the land level is somewhat higher and this swamp forest is replaced by one of slightly dififerent composition. Dominant here are Ulmus americana, Acer sacchari- num and Acer rubrum, with a considerable admixture of Fraxinus nigra, F. americana, F. pennsylvanica, Platanus occidentalis, Quer- cus bicolor, Populus deltoides and Salix nigra. The islands are notable for the absence of gymnosperms and of the group of species with southern affinities which occur on Rogers Island (e. g. Smilax tamnoides, Mikania, etc.). When Kalm visited Albany in 1749, he spent a short time on one of the islands below the city. His account of it shows conditions not greatly different from those prevailing today: An Island near Albany. This afternoon (June 19, 1749) I went to see an island which lies in the middle of the river about a mile below the town. This island is an English mile long, and not above a quarter of a mile broad. It is almost entirely turned into plowed fields. . . . Here we saw no woods, except a few trees which were left round the island on the shore and formed as it were a tall, large hedge. The red maple ( Acer rubrum ) grows in abundance in several places. Its leaves are white or silvery on the under sides and, when agitated by the wind, they make the tree appear as if it were full of white flowers. The water beech ( Platanus occidentalis ) grows to a great height and is one of the best shade trees here. The water poplar is the most common tree hereabouts, grows exceedingly well on the shores of the river, FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 279 Figure 34. The “South Bay” at Hudson, looking north toward the city. Open water formerly extended to a point not far from where the picture was taken. Figure 35. Gravelly beach on the northwestern side of Crugers’ Island showing almost total lack of vegetation. Note that at left the cliffs come down almost directly into the water. 280 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 36. A view across one of the lakes of Columbia County (Fowlers’ Lake). Note that the swamp forest on the farther shore extends almost to the water’s edge, with but a slight intervening shrub zone. Figure 37. Floating-leaved aquatics at the north end of Upper Twin Pond, Elizaville. Most of the floating leaves are those of pondweeds (Potamogeton spp ). FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 281 and is as tall as the tallest of our aspens. . . . The wild plum trees are plentiful here and full of unripe fruit. . . . Sumach {Rhus glabra ) is plentiful here, as also the wild grapevines which climb up the trees and creep along the high shores of the river. . . . The American elm tree ( Ulmus americana) forms several high hedges. The soil of this island is a rich mould, mixed with sand, which is chiefly employed in corn plantations. (Benson, vol. 1:338.1937). Where the tidal marsh succession goes through a series from mud flats to sandy beach to gravelly beach to boulder beach, the stages deserve separate consideration. Along the western side of Rogers Island, Magdalen Island and Crugers’ Island, as well as at the bases of many capes and promon- tories of the mainland, such a succession may be seen. Where direct exposure to weather is greatest, as on the river side of the islands, little vegetation is to be seen except above high tide level (figure 29). In slightly sheltered situations, however, a characteristic succession may be studied. As a rule extensive mud flats are not developed in connection with this series, as the beach is usually quite steep. A sparse or dense growth of Orontium, Peltandra and Pon- tederia may appear at depths where the plants are partially or wholly covered at high water. The association of small mud plants is rep- resented here by scattered individuals or not at all. Nearer shore, wholly or partially emersed at low tide, the dominant plant is often Scirpus americanus, with scattering plants of Zizania also present. On the gravelly beach (figures 28, 35) little or no plant life is present, with the exception of occasional individuals of Mimulus ringens, Lobelia Cardinalis, Lindernia dubia var. inundata , Acnida and the various species of Bidens. Nearly at the limit of the influence of the tides, there is often a conspicuous boulder-beach zone, usually at the very base of a more or less precipitous bluff. Among the stones grow several characteristic species, the principal ones being Plantago cordata, which in our area is practically confined to this habitat, Isoetes riparia, Eleocharis ovata, Scirpus Smithii and Cy- perus rivularis, all of which may also be found in the mud flats. 2. The association-types of lakes and lake swamps. The vegetation of the small bodies of water and their imme- diate surroundings may be considered as a unit. Practically all the water-filled depressions in the Columbia County area are of common (glacial) origin, and differ from each other in size and depth only. The apparent differences in the plant associations and association- types may be due to the presence of different developmental stages. 282 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM all leading toward the mature or climax vegetation, and perhaps also in part to local conditions of soil or topography. There are in the area of this study about 40 bodies of water large enough to be worthy of the name of “lake” or “pond,” together with numerous small depressions which are now nearly or quite filled with vegetation or have at most a few square meters of open water in the center. The largest body of water in Columbia County is Copake Lake, with an area of 0.57 square miles (Douglas, 1928) and a maximum depth of 34 feet (Odell, 1935). Certain features are common to almost all of these lakes, ponds and potholes, as follows : 1 ) they occupy shallow depressions scooped out by ice action during the last glaciation, dammed up by morainal deposits or originating as potholes in the sands and gravels deposited along the melting glacier; 2) the shore line is usually gently sloping and the depth is not great in proportion to the area; 3) marginal swamps, floating bogs and mucky bottoms are usually present. Although several of the lakes are surrounded by rocky hills in localities where rocky substrata prevail, the lake shores themselves are not rugged, except very locally; 4) a fairly constant water level is maintained, due to the presence of an ample water supply from springs and incoming streams (figure 36). Many of the larger lakes and some of the smaller ones have been altered in recent times by raising the water level. Kinderhook Lake, whose outlet is now blocked by a dam about 13 feet high, was first raised in 1786 (Warden, 1802) : In 1786 an Iron Forge was erected on the stream which runs from these lakes. A mound of earth was raised, and a sluice to confine the water or suffer it to flow at pleasure. It was allowed occasionally to rise six feet above its natural level, overflowing the meadows, swamps and borders of the lakes which were cov- ered with wood. Robinsons’ (Browns’) Pond, in the town of Copake, is said to have been dammed originally in the 18th century and is now raised some 12 feet above its original level. Copake Lake has been raised several feet. Forest Lake, in Claverack, which now serves as a source of water for the village of Philmont, is dammed at the lower end and kept partially clear of weeds. Bells’ Pond, in Livingston, is said to have been a cranberry bog within the last 75 years, the lake having been created by raising the water a few feet. Natural con- ditions have thus been destroyed to some extent, particularly in the larger bodies of water which are used for recreational and other purposes, but enough of the smaller lakes remain undisturbed so FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 283 Table 19 LAKES AND PONDS Name Area IN SQUARE MILES Depth IN FEET pH Oxygen MILI Surface —10 ft. , parts/ .ion 10—20 feet Copake Lake 0.57 34 7 . 2—7 . 6 6.9— 7.6 5. 1—6.0 Kinderhook Lake .... 0.28 22 73—7.9 5 . 3—9 . 2 4 . 5—5 . 3 Taghkanic Lake 0.25 41 6.6— 6.8 7 . 0—7 . 4 5.0— 6.8 Tackawasick Lake, . . . 0.21 38 6.0— 6.8 7.6 1.1— 7.6 0.14 Queechy Lake 0.14 44 8.4 8.0— 9.2 8.8 Rhoda Pond (upper). . 0.11 46 8.2— 8.4 8.0 7.6— 8.0 Rhoda Pond (lower) . . 0.10 57 8.4— 8.6 (8.2- -14.0) Bells’ Pond 0.09 Smith Pond 0.06 7* 7.5— 7.6 3.7— 6.8 Knickerbocker Lake. . 0.06 36 7.4— 8.4 7.0 2 . 7—3 . 4 Chrysler Pond 0.05 8.6— 8.7 7.5— 8.9 Forest Lake 0.05 Long Pond (Ancram) . 0.04 Miller Pond (Ancram) 0.04 Snyder Pond 0.04 Taplins’ Pond 0.04 Twin Pond (upper). . . 0.04 88 7.0— 7.6 5 . 6—8 . 8 5 . 6—1 . ? Twin Pond (lower) . . . 0.04 Sutherland Pond 0.03 8 . 0 (surface*) Bachus Pond 0.01 18 6 . 4—7 . 6 7.7 ?? —0 0 Barrett Pond 0.01 Fowlers’ Lake 0.01* 15* Merwins’ Lake 0.01* 12* 8 . 0 (surface*) Mud Pond 0.01* No Bottom Pond .... 0.01* 6* 9.0* Waldorf Pond 0.01* 17* • Total area, lakes and ponds: 2.45 square miles (1,568 acres). The areas in the above table are taken from Douglas (1928) except those designated by an asterisk (*); depths, except those marked by an asterisk, are from the New York State Biological Survey reports (1935, 1937). The pH values, except those marked with an asterisk, are from Faigenbaum (1935, 1937); oxygen concen- tration values are from Faigenbaum. 282 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM all leading toward the mature or climax vegetation, and perhaps also in part to local conditions of soil or topography. There are in the area of this study about 40 bodies of water large enough to be worthy of the name of “lake” or “pond,” together with numerous small depressions which are now nearly or quite filled with vegetation or have at most a few square meters of open water in the center. The largest body of water in Columbia County is Copake Lake, with an area of 0.57 square miles (Douglas, 1928) and a maximum depth of 34 feet (Odell, 1935). Certain features are common to almost all of these lakes, ponds and potholes, as follows : 1 ) they occupy shallow depressions scooped out by ice action during the last glaciation, dammed up by morainal deposits or originating as potholes in the sands and gravels deposited along the melting glacier; 2) the shore line is usually gently sloping and the depth is not great in proportion to the area; 3) marginal swamps, floating bogs and mucky bottoms are usually present. Although several of the lakes are surrounded by rocky hills in localities where rocky substrata prevail, the lake shores themselves are not rugged, except very locally; 4) a fairly constant water level is maintained, due to the presence of an ample water supply from springs and incoming streams (figure 36). Many of the larger lakes and some of the smaller ones have been altered in recent times by raising the water level. Kinderhook Lake, whose outlet is now blocked by a dam about 13 feet high, was first raised in 1786 (Warden, 1802) : In 1786 an Iron Forge was erected on the stream which runs from these lakes. A mound of earth was raised, and a sluice to confine the water or suffer it to flow at pleasure. It was allowed occasionally to rise six feet above its natural level, overflowing the meadows, swamps and borders of the lakes which were cov- ered with wood. Robinsons’ (Browns’) Pond, in the town of Copake, is said to have been dammed originally in the 18th century and is now raised some 12 feet above its original level. Copake Lake has been raised several feet. Forest Lake, in Claverack, which now serves as a source of water for the village of Philmont, is dammed at the lower end and kept partially clear of weeds. Bells’ Pond, in Livingston, is said to have been a cranberry bog within the last 75 years, the lake having been created by raising the water a few feet. Natural con- ditions have thus been destroyed to some extent, particularly in the larger bodies of water which are used for recreational and other purposes, but enough of the smaller lakes remain undisturbed so 283 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA Table 19 LAKES AND PONDS Name Area in SQUARE MILES Depth IN FEET pH Oxygen, parts/ million Surface —10 ft. 10—20 feet Copake Lake 0.57 34 7 . 2—7 . 6 6.9— 7.6 5.1— 6.0 Kinderhook Lake .... 0.28 22 7 . 3—7 . 9 5.3— 9.2 4.5— 5.3 Taghkanic Lake 0.25 41 6 . 6—6 . 8 7.0— 7.4 5.0— 6.8 Tackawasick Lake. . . . 0.21 38 6 . 0—6 . 8 7.6 1.1— 7.6 0.14 Queechy Lake 0.14 44 8.4 8 . 0—9 . 2 8.8 Rhoda Pond (upper). . 0.11 46 8.2— 8.4 8.0 7.6— 8.0 Rhoda Pond (lower) . . 0.10 57 8.4— 8.6 (8.2- -14.0) Bells’ Pond 0.09 Smith Pond 0.06 7* 7.5— 7.6 3.7— 6.8 Knickerbocker Lake. . 0.06 36 7.4— 8.4 7.0 2 . 7—3 . 4 Chrysler Pond 0.05 8.6— 8.7 7.5— 8.9 Forest Lake 0.05 Long Pond (Ancram) . 0.04 Miller Pond (Ancram) 0.04 Snyder Pond 0.04 Taplins’ Pond 0.04 Twin Pond (upper). . . 0.04 88 7.0— 7.6 5.6—88 5 . 6—1 . ? Twin Pond (lower) . . . 0.04 Sutherland Pond 0.03 8.0 (surface*) Bachus Pond 0.01 18 6 . 4—7 . 6 7.7 ?? —0.0 Barrett Pond 0.01 Fowlers’ Lake 0.01* 15* Merwins’ Lake 0.01* 12* 8.0 (surface*) Mud Pond 0.01* No Bottom Pond .... 0.01* 6* 9.0* Waldorf Pond 0.01* 17* Total area, lakes and ponds: 2.45 square miles (1,568 acres). The areas in the above table are taken from Douglas (1928) except those designated by an asterisk (*); depths, except those marked by an asterisk, are from the New York State Biological Survey reports (1935, 1937). The pH values, except those marked with an asterisk, are from Faigenbaum (1935, 1937); oxygen concen- tration values are from Faigenbaum. 284 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM that a fair estimate can be made of the original surroundings of all of them. The preceding table lists the principal bodies of water in the Col- umbia County area, together with the surface area of each, and, where known, the greatest depth, acidity value of the water, and concentration of dissolved oxygen. Certain of the lakes in Rens- selaer County, in the northern part of the area, have been omitted for lack of data. The pH values indicate that in general the waters are neutral or alkaline ; the alkalinity is greatest in the lakes of the calcareous areas of the eastern part of our region. None of the lakes has an acidity value greater than that of pH 6.0, and most of them have an acidity equal to that of pure water (pH 7.0) or less, ranging to an extreme of pH 9.0 (1/1 00th as acid as pure water). Oxygen concentration of at least five parts per million may be expected at depths of 20 feet (6 meters) or less, except in a few cases. This is sufficient to support plant and animal life. At greater depths the oxygen concentration decreases rapidly. The turbidity of lake water bears an important relation to plant life, as plants cannot become established in situations where there is less than a certain minimum amount of sunlight. For the most part, the lakes and ponds discussed above are not true “clear water lakes.” Although there may be partial visibility to depths of 15 or 20 feet (4.5 to 6 meters), especially in the larger bodies of water, the figure is probably less than this in the majority of cases. Much of the turbidity is caused by organic matter in finely divided particles ; in some lakes which are poorly drained and have a high content of organic matter, like Fowlers’ Lake and Mud Pond, visibility may be less than 1 meter ; the water is slightly brownish in color and not wholly clear. In such lakes submerged aquatics are usually not abundant and may be practically nonexistent at depths of more than 1 meter. It is to be expected, then, that plant life, in most of the lakes of this area, will be limited to depths of 6 meters or less ; the limiting factors will be either content of dissolved oxygen in the water, the amount of sunlight available, or both. This conclusion is confirmed by field studies, which show that in the lakes the beds of vegetation are confined almost wholly to places where the water is less than 3 meters in depth and are rarely found at depths as great as 6 meters. For maps of several lakes, showing “weed beds” or areas of dense aquatic vegetation, see Odell (1935, pp. 106-8). Plant succession in lakes and ponds has been much studied and commented upon. In general, the process is thought to be as fol- lows: wherever conditions are favorable plants may be found grow- FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 285 ing wholly submerged. As the plants grow from year to year, their partially decomposed dead leaves and stems accumulate and form humus, so that a mucky soil is formed on the bottom of the lake. The stems of the living plants act as barriers to debris of various kinds carried by water currents, so that sedimentation is more active than in plant-free waters. As a result, the bottom of the lake is built up, the depth of the water is decreased and a rich organic substratum is formed. When the lake bottom has reached a level of a meter or so below the surface of the water, the soil is invaded by rooted aquatics with floating leaves ; in still shallower water plants like sedges and cattails appear, with just their bases sub- merged. Theoretically the process of building up continues indefi- nitely ; shrubs and finally trees invade the sedge zone as sedimenta- tion and soil-building progress. Finally, if the time be long enough or the pond small enough, the water becomes so shallow that the floating-leaf association-type drives out the wholly submerged type, and is in its turn driven out by the sedges and swamp forest; the ultimate result is the appearance of the climax forest over the whole area formerly occupied by lake. In different localities the species concerned in the succession may be wholly different, but the prin- ciples involved, as well as the association-types, will be identical. Some ecologists, including Weaver and Clements (1929), distinguish between the successional series in lakes, where drainage is good, and that in bogs, where drainage is relatively poor, with consequent poor aeration and often high acidity. In the Columbia County area no such sharp distinction seems possible. Characteristic bogs, with accompanying high acidity and peculiar flora, may be found in one part of a lake, while at the other end of the same lake the succes- sional series identified with well drained localities may be developed. While this is perhaps not universally true, the bogs here seem to represent the more advanced stages of the successional series. At Knickerbocker Lake, for example, one side (the north) has a well formed association like those usually thought of in connection with ilkaline or well drained waters. The abundant species are Anacharis Nuttallii, Najas flexilis, Najas guadalupensis, Ceratophyllum de- mersum , Potamogeton illinoensis and species of stoneworts ( Chara spp.). The beaches are gravelly and rather steep, so that there is little emersed vegetation. On the south side of the same lake, how- ever, in an extensive shallow bay, emersed or floating-leaved aquat- ics are dominant: Typha latifolia and Nymphaea odorata are the principal species in water 0.6 to 1.2 meters deep. Nearer shore the cattail-water lily community is being invaded by a semifloating sphagnous mat, accompanied by a mixed assortment of acid-loving 286 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM and lime-loving plants, as well as marsh plants indifferent to soil reaction. The reaction in the sphagnum mat may be as acid as pH 5.0, while the lake water that oozes up through it may have a pH of 7.0. Such examples may be multiplied, but all lead to the conclusion that in the present study no definite line should be drawn between associations of lakes and those of bogs. In general it may be said that bogs tend to develop where there are large bays or other areas of shallow water, and it may well be that the various stages of the succession have simply been telescoped, so that the “bog-associa- tions” appear earlier than would be the case if the lake bottom were steeper. Evidence seems to point strongly to the conclusion that bog formation and the appearance of the peculiar bog vegeta- tion are both to be associated with local accumulation of large amounts of humus, and that this may occur sooner in one part of a lake than in another, depending upon local physiographic condi- tions. While the sphagnum-bog stage may be omitted in the suc- cessional series toward the climax forest, at least in some parts of a given lake, there is probably no natural body of water in the Columbia County area where at least the beginning of such a stage cannot be observed. The pioneer plants of lakes, the submersed aquatics, consist for the most part of several species of pond-weed, Potamogeton. In the deeper waters, that from 3 to 4.5 meters in depth (or less in the “muddiest” lakes), the most abundant species are P. praelongus, P. zosteriformis, P. amplifolius and P. illinoensis. In most cases these are associated with hornwort, Ceratophyllum demersum, and less often with Anacharis canadensis. In slightly shallower water, that of 2 to 3 meters in depth or slightly less, the above species are at least partially replaced by Potamogeton natans, P. nodosus, P. Spirillus and P. gramineus. At this depth occur also the yellow and white water lilies, Nuphar advena var. variegatnm and Nymphaea odorata, which are ubiquitous in this zone in our lakes and are usually very abundant. These two species usually dominate a con- siderable area near the shore, due partly to their strong rhizomes which enable them to spread readily when once established, and also to their large floating leaves, which may completely cover the surface of the water and shade out less aggressive species. Where the water lilies are not too abundant, they may occur in a mixed association with Potamogeton natans, Anacharis canadensis, Cerato- phyllum and, in shallower water, Najas flexilis (figure 37). Where the floating leaves of the water lilies form too dense a shade to allow competition, they may form an almost pure stand. Further- FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 287 Figure 38. Water lilies (Nympliaea odorata) growing in small areas of open water in a sphagnum bog near Knickerbocker Lake. The shrub-like vegeta- tion surrounding the areas of open water consists for the most part of two species, Chamaedaphne calyculata and Decodon verticillatus. Figure 39. Water lilies (Nymphaca odorata) in a sphagnum-filled depression (the “Fingar Marsh”) about 3 km. south of Taghkanic Lake. This is appar- ently a somewhat later stage of succession than that represented in figure 38. 288 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 40. Marginal herbaceous vegetation at Fowlers’ Lake. Note the intermediate zone o! P ontederia cordata (in flower) between Ihe water lilies and the zone of shrubs. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 289 more, they are seemingly not sensitive to changes in hydrogen-ion concentration, and may often be found as the last survivors, in highly acid bogs, of the floating-leaf association-type (figures 38, 39). The conventional “reed-swamp” and “sedge-meadow” stages of succession, which are ordinarily supposed to follow and invade the association of floating-leaved aquatics (discussions of which may be found in any textbook on ecology), are not well represented in our region. If the bank of the lake or pond be relatively steep the forest usually comes to the very edge of the water (except where the land is used for pasture or has been cleared for other purposes). If the land about the lake be low and poorly drained it is usual to find the floating-leaf stage succeeded directly by a zone of shrubs or by a sphagnum bog, sometimes with an intermediate zone of Pontederia cordata (figure 40) or locally with small areas of mixed associations of Typha, Sparganium americanum, Peltandra virginica, Calama- grostis canadensis and a few other species. At the edge of the water the most conspicuous species are three shrubby or half-shrubby plants, which individually or together dom- inate the association : Chamaedaphne calyculata. Decodon verticil- latus and Alnus serrulata. Less often Acer rubrum and Vaccinium corymb osum appear with the others as does the marsh fern, Dryop- teris Thelypteris. Back of this shrubby margin the succession may develop directly through a tall shrub zone dominated by Alnus ser- rulata, Vaccinium corymbosum, Acer rubrum, Rhus Vernix, Lyonia ligustrina. Spiraea latifolia, Cornus Amomum, C. stolonifera and Solanum Dulcamara. Other shrubs which play an important part on most of the lakes are Alnus rugosa, Rhododendron viscosum and Gaylussacia baccata. The undergrowth of the tall shrub association is usually rather scanty; the zone where it occurs is poorly drained and the ground underneath is often saturated. Sphagnous areas occur frequently, and dense tufts of Osmunda cinnamomea and 0. regalis cover much of the ground. See figure 41 ; the swamp forest here is more ma- ture than that just discussed, but the fern covering is very charac- teristic and doubtless inhibits the growth of many low-growing species. The width of the tall shrub zone is governed by the drainage. On slightly higher ground the zone is succeeded gradually by the swamp forest, in which the dominant trees are Acer rubrum, Frax- inus nigra, Quercus bicolor, Ulmus americana, Fraxinus americana and Pinus Strobus. These are given in approximate order of abun- dance. The understory of shrubs is made up of Lindera Benzoin, Alnus serrulata, Rhus V ernix and Rhododendron viscosum, as well 290 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM as the semishrubby Rhus Toxicodendron, Rubus hispidus and R. pubescens. The herbaceous vegetation is dominated by Osmunda cinnamomea and O. regalis, which in many cases are taller than the lower shrubs; also abundant are Dryopteris spinulosa, D. cristata, Symplocarpus joetidus and Boehmeria cylindrica. In some localities the development is slightly different from that just described. Just back of the wet marginal zone of Decodon and Chamaedaphne a strong growth of sphagnum may prevent the de- velopment of the shrub zone in its most typical form. Scattered plants of Lyonia, Vaccinium, Gaylussacia, Chamaedaphne and Ne- mo pant hus mucronata usually occur in the sphagnum mat. Farther from open water, where the mat is firm enough to support a man, a zone of more or less open sphagnum may occur. Here the prin- cipal species are the following: Eriophorum virginicum Sarracenia purpurea Eriophorum viridi-carinatum Drosera rotundifolia Kalmia angustifolia Vaccinium Oxycoccos Vaccinium macro car pon Rhynchospora alba Carex canescens var. disjuncta Pogonia ophioglossoides Other sphagnophilous species occur sometimes, including Carex limosa, Calopogon pulcliellus, Kalmia polijolia, Andromeda glauco- phylla and Eriocaulon septangulare. In almost any bog of this kind may be found a few individuals of tolerant species which seem to be “leftovers” from preceding open-water stages : Peltandra virginica, Scirpus validus and the water lilies mentioned above are the best examples (see figures 38, 39). In three or four localities in our area there are “typical” bogs as described by some ecologists, where the sphagnum zone is domi- nated by Picea mariana and Larix laricina. These are not found at any bodies of water large enough to be called lakes. Taplins’ Pond, in Stephentown, was the largest example, but it is now flooded. The others are small potholes, now practically filled with sphagnous mat (figures 42, 43). The locality near Knickerbocker Lake (figure 42) still has a small area of open water in the center. This locality shows clearly the succession following the spruce-larch stage. The dryer parts of the bog are invaded by red maple and American elm, which soon crowd out the conifers. The larch is the more resistant to shading, but it never competes on an equal basis with the decid- uous trees, as is evidenced by the dead larches, 6 inches (15 cm.) in diameter or less, standing among the larger elms and maples only a few meters from the open bog where both larch and spruce are thriving. mm*®* FLORA Ol- THE COLUMBIA COUXTY AREA 291 Figure 41. Swamp forest at Mud Pond, about 5 km. east of Elizaville. The tree immediately beside the boy and those just behind him are black gum, Nyssa sylvatica. 292 NEW YORK STATE MiUSEUM Figure 42. Sphagnum bog' near Knickerbocker Lake, showing spruce and larch and characteristic shrub vegetation. The white objects in the center of the picture are the cottony heads of Eriophorum virginicum. Figure 43. The “Fingar Marsh,” Gallatin, a depression which is practically filled with sphagnum and the associated bog plants. The level space in the foreground is covered by a mat of vegetation into which one sinks to the knees in water. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 293 Summary of the above evidence indicates that the swamp forest, dominated above all by Acer rubrum and Ulmus americana, de- velops relatively quickly in most of the poorly drained areas about our lakes. There is some evidence, however, to show that this is not a climax type. White pine is present in almost all such swamp forests, at least in small amounts, and penetrates even the most acid sphagnum bogs, where, however, it does not thrive. Study of the remnant of a mature swamp forest of this kind near New Britain, in the town of New Lebanon, leads me to think that pine- hemlock forest represents the last stage in development of the lake swamp. The tall shrub and deciduous forest stages here at New Britain give way to a mixed stand of Pinus Strobus and Tsucja. The ground cover, except in the clearings where sphagnous hum- mocks are strongly developed, is sparse. The abundant species are Aralia nudicanlis , Clintonia borealis, Maianthemum canadense, Cop - tis groenlandica and Trientalis borealis, with some Cornns cana- densis. This association-type approximates that described below (p. 368) as the climax forest for the Columbia County area. Clearing of the forests has made the region in general more xerophytic, so that this mesophytic forest is now rarely seen, but it is probable that such a type was once widespread in the Hudson Valley. Larsen (1922) gives actual figures for the changed conditions brought about by cutting of virgin white pine forests in Idaho. His data show that the uncut forest provides a stable habitat, where fluctuations in temperature are very small and where evaporation is less than half as much as in the clearings. The plants which disappear from the Idaho clearings are closely similar to or identical with the ones thought to have been widespread in the climax forest of Columbia County: mostly low evergreen herbs, including “Coptis trifoliata, Cornus canadensis, . . . Aralia nudicaulis.” One lake in the Columbia County area deserves special attention, as it is quite different from any other lake studied. This is No Bottom Pond (figure 44), which is a small, roughly triangular body of water situated in the northeastern part of the town of Auster- litz at an altitude of about 1,570 feet (471 meters) above sea level. It is not fed by springs or streams except by intermittent drainage from the surrounding hills, so that it attains its maximum depth of somewhat more than 2 meters in the spring after the snow has melted. In dry summers the water may disappear entirely, which is evidently the source of the name, “No Bottom Pond.” The bottom is rocky, with gently sloping rocky or gravelly shores, and is cov- ered for the most part with several inches of mucky clay soil. 294 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM The vegetation, as might be expected in a body of water with so great a fluctuation in level, consists of a few relatively adaptable species. Almost the entire bottom is covered with a dense turf of Isoetes riparia, with numerous scattered plants of Sagittaria gram- inea, S. cuneata, Najas flexilis and Potamogeton gramineus, while around the edges of the lake, on the gravelly or muddy shores, are found quantities of Ranunculus reptans var. ovalis, Polygonum amphibium, Glyceria Fernaldii, Hypericum boreale and Fimbristylis autumnalis. The pond itself occupies a depression exactly on the line between the limestone strata of the Canaan area, which reach their southern limit here, and the schists which occupy much of Austerlitz. Accordingly, the northern, rocky shore of the pond is of limestone rocks and the water is highly alkaline (pH 8. 0-9.0). The environment is quite different from that of any other locality in our area and most of the plants mentioned above are found here only or at a very few other stations. 3. The association-types of streams and their flood plains. A stream or river has, in a sense, a permanent association-type which is not a climatic climax-type. That is, as long as physio- graphic conditions remain constant, the stream and its vegetation, as well as the vegetation along its banks, will also remain relatively constant. Succession in the streams of Columbia County follows much the same course as that outlined for the lakes. A submersed- leaf type of association is followed by the floating-leaf type, which in turn is succeeded by the rooted-aquatic type, and so on. Such succession occurs only in backwaters or other stretches of quiet water, and is limited by the physical limits of the stream itself. Water currents and volumes tend to be about the same from year to year and so tend to keep the vegetation at about the same level. It sometimes happens that the stream is so situated that the currents are diverted by plant growths, and that its course is changed in this way, but this is usually only within narrow limits. Moreover, the stream is constantly wearing a new channel for itself through the erosive power of moving water, and plant-associations and indi- viduals are thus assured of only temporary existence along a stream. Extensive stretches of quiet water, where conditions are most favorable for the development of riparian communities, are found mostly in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. The upper reaches of Ivinderhook Creek and Roeliff Jansen Kill and their tributaries are shallow swift-running streams with long stretches over rocks or glacial pebbles, and support few well-developed plant communities. In the valleys, however, including those of Flat Brook and Stony FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 295 Figure 44. No Bottom Pond, Austerlitz. Limestone ledges may be seen along the shore at the right side of the picture. 296 NEW YORK STATE MtUSEUM Figure 45. Flat Brook, looking north from near Edwards Park Station. The grass in the foreground is Plialaris arundinacea; the common shrub along the brook is Myrica Gale. Figure 46. Larch swamp at Miller Pond, Ancram. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 297 Creek in the town of Canaan, as well as the lower valleys, a num- ber of shallow still backwaters and coves have been developed. The species found in the streams are fewer in number than those of the lake waters, and are, for the most part, widely distributed and common aquatics. The submersed association includes Najas flexilis, Anacharis canadensis, Potamogeton epihydrus, P. amplifo- lius and P. joliosus, with the first two by far the most abundant. Floating-leaved species include P. nodosus and sometimes water lilies. In shallow water there may be a well-marked zone of rooted, emersed aquatics: Typha latijolia, Sparganium americanum, Juncus effusus, Iris versicolor, Acorns Calamus, Pontederia cordata, Scir- pus validus. Where the soil is better drained but usually saturated or nearly so, the association of true aquatics is invaded by common grassy swamp species: Phalaris arundinacea, Calamagrostis cana- densis, Eleocharis calva, Carex lurida, Scirpus atrovirens, S', cyperi- nus and Dulichium arundinaceum. Following this zone of turf-forming plants, the succession usually passes directly to woodland or the seepage-swamp type, both of which will be discussed later. The last two stages mentioned above, the cattail stage and the grassy swamp stage, may be exactly dupli- cated at most of the lakes in the area, but usually only at restricted localities (see figure 45). 4. The association-types of seepage swamps. Under this heading are included poorly drained areas of all kinds, except those previously described as lake swamps. Seepage swamps occupy a very considerable area in Columbia County, about 20,000 acres in all. Lewis and Kinsman (1929) include in the soils of Columbia County 3,520 acres of “muck” and 15,808 acres of “meadow,” both of which belong, for the most part, to the seepage- swamp type. In addition, numerous small, poorly drained areas not shown on the soil map are here included in this association-type. The majority of swamps of this kind are located in broad flat stream valleys and are kept perpetually saturated by seepage or overflow from the streams themselves or by springs and seepages from the nearby higher ground. Although the largest swampy areas occur in the poorly drained lowlands of Copake, Ancram and Taghkanic, smaller ones are found along streams and in depressions in every town of the county, at all elevations up to nearly 2,000 feet (600 meters). The species concerned in the stages of succession differ somewhat under varying conditions, especially those of soil, and, 298 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM to a lesser extent, temperature. Accordingly they will be discussed under two headings : a. In circum-neutral soils. Most of the large swamps along streams, as well as the widely distributed small swampy areas, are of the sort here described as characteristic of “circum-neutral” soils. Where poorly drained depressions occur, either in acid or neutral soils, the plant associations may be dominated by a group of aggres- sive herbaceous perennials, by a group of shrubs or by the swamp forest. Apparently these association-types represent stages in suc- cession leading to a swamp forest similar to that described for the lake swamp (figure 41). The principal trees of such a forest are red maple and American elm, with the butternut, Juglans cinerea, the swamp hickory, Carya cordiformis, the swamp white oak, Quer- cus bicolor, and the black ash, Fraxinus nigra, playing subordinate roles. Salix nigra may be rather abundant but never attains a very large size, and the same is true of the ironwood, Carpinns carolini- ana. The shrubby undergrowth may be made up of a number of species, including Alnus serrulata and A. rugosa, Salix discolor and A. sericea, Cornns Amomum and C. stolonifera, Lindera Benzoin, Ilex verticillata, Solanum Dulcamara, Sambucus canadensis and Vi- burnum recognitum. All of these shrubs, with the exception of Lindera and possibly of Ilex, are intolerant of shade to some extent, so that their numbers become successively fewer as the forest devel- ops and Lindera comes to be by far the most abundant shrub in swamps and in swampy woods of all kinds. The herbaceous layer in the swamp is often dominated by ferns, including Osmunda cin- namomea and 0. regalis, Dryopteris cristata and D. spinulosa. The skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, is a conspicuous element in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys in areas of this kind but is not found northeastward. Other constant species of the forest floor are : Onoclea sensibilis Cinna (arundinacea or latifolia) Carex intumescens Arisaema triphyllum Habenaria psycodes Laportea canadensis Saxijraga pensylvanica Rubus hispidus Rubus pubescens Amphicarpa bracteata Impatiens capensis Viola blanda Viola pallens Viola papilionacea Scutellaria lateriflora Scutellaria epilobiifolia In almost any swamp forest where there are mature trees it is possible to find relatively dry hummocks and areas of comparatively firm soil. Here are to be found Betula lutea, B. populifolia, B. lenta and B. papyrifera. White pine often gets a foothold, as does sugar maple. Herbaceous vegetation includes species of neutral or weakly FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 299 acid humus soils, e.g. Lycopodium clavatum, L. lucidulum, L. com- planatum var. flabelliforme, Maianthemum canadense, Trientalis bor- ealis, Aralia nudicaulis and Mitchella repens, all of which are to be thought of as upland species rather than those of swamps. The flora of such relatively well drained hummocks may be considered more highly developed than that of the surrounding, wetter swamp forest. The various stages of succession leading up to the mature swamp forest as described above are thought to pass through an open meadow stage, dominated by herbaceous perennials, to a tall shrub stage. The tall shrubs, as enumerated just above (p. 298), are usu- ally dominated by Alnus rugosa alone or with Cornus Amomum or C. stolonifera or both, and in slightly dryer localities by Betida populifolia. Willows include the pussy willow, Salix discolor, and the silky willow, S. sericea. Viburnum recognitum and V. Lentago are usually abundant, but always associated with other species. In the relatively open association of the tall shrub swamp, an important part is taken by two semi-herbaceous climbers, Clematis virginiana and Solanum Dulcamara. The undergrowth may be somewhat sparse and may include species found in the older swamp forest as well as in the open meadow stage. The open meadow stage may usually be traced to a secondary origin ; that is, it is usually possible to determine that the land has been cultivated or pastured within historical times. The same thing may be said, usually, of the tall shrub stage ; these associations con- sist largely of species that are tolerant of various soil conditions and are easily distributed, either by wind or water currents, or by ani- mals. The associations, therefore, arise fairly quickly; a tall shrub association of Alnus rugosa and Cornus may wipe out all traces of a Carex-Scirpus meadow in a decade. In Columbia County the ill-drained areas that are allowed to lapse from cultivation or pasturage quickly become covered with “grass- like” plants, consisting mostly of the genera Carex, Scirpus, Eleo- charis and Juncus. These common, semiweedy species include Carex stipata, C. scoparia, C. granularis, C. stricta, C. crinita, C. cornosa, C. lurida, C. lupulina, Scirpus atrovirens, S. cyperinus, Eleocharis obtusa and Juncus effusus. Small areas not covered by the dominant species may support herbs like Penthorum sedoides, Hypericum mutilum, Gratiola neglecta and Lindernia dubia. The sedge meadow is soon invaded by a group of tall perennials : Lilium canadense Hypericum virginicum Thalictrum polygamum Epilobium coloratum Spiraea latifolia Epilobium leptophyllum Spiraea tomentosa Epilobium glandulosum 300 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Angelica atro purpurea Lysimachia terrestris Lysimachia ciliata Asclepias incarnata Chelone glabra Galium asprellum Eupatorium perfoliatum Eupatorium maculatum Aster puniceus Rudbeckia laciniata Cirsium muticum Such an association often includes some members of the tall shrub group and gives way directly to the latter stage. The two species of Cornus and two of Viburnum are most active in bringing about the change. On the other hand, if the sedge meadow is modified by grazing animals or by other means so that the broad-leaved herba- ceous group cannot develop, the meadow is invaded mostly by Alnus rugosa or Betula populifolia, or both, rather than by the dogwoods or the viburnums. The birch and alder are weedy species and they seem to flourish equally well under a wide range of moisture condi- tions (see discussion below under old fields, p. 305) and may pos- sibly not be included at all in succession under natural conditions. b. In highly calcareous soils. In the Harlem Valley, in the towns of Hillsdale, Copake, Ancram and Pine Plains, there are extensive, nearly level, marshy areas where the soils are partly derived from the underlying limestone rocks. Smaller areas of similar types exist in Kinderhook, Ghent, Canaan and New Lebanon. The vegetation is very characteristic, comprising, besides many widespread and tol- erant marsh-inhabiting plants, a number of well-known calciphilous species. Many of these are not found elsewhere in our area. The succession is of the same general sort as that described for poorly drained areas elsewhere ; a sedge meadow stage is succeeded by a shrub stage and that by a swamp forest including red maple, Amer- ican elm and black ash as the dominant species. The various species making up these association-types, however, are not the same as in the noncalcareous swamps described above. Where the calcareous soil meadows are heavily pastured, only the wetter places support the characteristic vegetation. The most per- sistent species under such conditions are : Eleocharis intermedia Cyperus rivularis Juncus brachycephalus Parnassia glauca Potentilla fruticosa Gerardia paupercula Lobelia Kalmii Soli dago Purshii Bidens cernua In larger areas of very wet soil, or where grazing is less severe, a mixed association of shrubs, herbs and “grasslike” species may flourish. Patches of Phragmites communis, Phalaris arundinacea, Carex vesicaria or G. lacustris often form large, nearly pure stands. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 301 In the lowest wet areas Selaginella apoda and Rhynchospora capil- lacea may be found growing with most of the group of species named above ( Eleocharis intermedia etc.), while tall herbs and shrubs usually play a considerable part in the sedge meadow asso- ciation. In addition to ubiquitous swamp plants like Cornus Amo- mum, C. stolonifera and Thalictrum polygamum the most important species are: Larix laricina Muhlenbergia glomerata Scirpus lineatus Carex cryptolepis Salix Candida Salix serissima Betula pumila Rumex orbiculatus Ribes hirtellum Geum rivale Aronia arbutifolia Rhamnus alnifolia Conioselinum chinense Galium labradoricum Viburnum Opulus var. americanum Valeriana sitchensis subsp. uliginosa Cirsium muticum In addition to the foregoing more or less calciphilous species, a considerable element of the flora of these swamps is made up of species found both in acid and calcareous bogs; in some cases acid conditions develop locally at the surface, due to accumulation of sphagnum or other causes, while the subsoil may be strongly cal- careous (figure 17). A number of species come under this head and are locally abundant in the calcareous marshes: Larix laricina Eriophorum viridi-carinatum Rhynchospora alba Pogonia ophioglossoides Sarracenia purpurea Drosera rotundifolia Hypericum virginicum Menyanthes trifoliata Succession to a swamp forest type may proceed in several ways from the sedge meadow-perennial herb association type. Elm and red maple may occupy the swamp fairly quickly, along with such taller shrubs as Rhus Vernix, Viburnum Opulus var. americanum and Cornus spp. This has happened or is in progress in the areas of this nature in Kinderhook, Ghent and the Canaan-New Lebanon region. In the Harlem Valley, however, notably at Croghan Hill and Miller Pond, in the town of Ancram, the tamarack, Larix laricina, and the dwarf birch, Betula pumila, together with Rhus Vernix, dominate good sized areas. At Miller Pond an estimated 2 hectares (5 acres) at the lower end of the pond is occupied by a larch-birch-sumac swamp of this type, which in places is almost impenetrable. The more open places support a sphagnum bog asso- ciation, in which the conspicuous species are Eriophorum znridi- carinatum, Iris versicolor, Sarracenia purpurea and Valeriana sit- 302 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM chensis subsp. uliginosa. Potentilla fruticosa grows freely, often in very dense stands, to the exclusion of other vegetation (figure 46). Throughout the calcareous marshes, Potentilla fruticosa is one of the most abundant species. It thrives equally well in pastures so that it frequently becomes a weedy species in the Harlem Valley on the more calcareous soils. In swampy places it is one of the first shrubs to appear in the meadows and it often grows so thickly as to form mats over which a man can walk. Other shrubs are much less abundant. Salix Candida and V. serissima, Ribes hirtellum and Rhamnus alnifolia all occur as single individuals or in small patches. Summary of the hydrarch successional series and their plant associations Succession in all types discussed is thought to lead to a climax forest of the pine-hemlock-northern hardwood type. This climax is a climatic one, arrived at subsequent to the development of a decid- uous swamp forest which is similar in lake, stream and seepage swamps. The intermediate stages in the development of the forest include tall shrub and sedge meadow stages, the latter being some- times not recognizable. The various association-types differ as to species present, under differing physiographic conditions. In lake and stream successional series development may go through a bog stage or pass directly to forest conditions. THE XERARCH SUCCESSIONAL SERIES AND THEIR PLANT ASSOCIATIONS 5. The association-types of glacial-till soils. a. Where the soils are more or less acidic. The glacial-till soils oc- cupy roughly one-half the entire Columbia County area. This includes 56,832 acres mapped by Lewis and Kinsman (1929) as being too rough and stony to support a definite soil type, but on which native plants thrive. The vegetation of the glacial-till soils is rather uni- form with minor differences caused by conditions of soil and topog- raphy. The climatic climax is assumed to be one of the phases of the pine-hemlock-northern hardwood forest. On these acidic, glacial- till soils, however, or more properly in the part of our region occu- pied by these soils, the climax is seemingly more influenced by physiographic conditions than on any other soil type studied. Shal- low rocky soils, somewhat acid in nature, in a generally hilly region with numerous rock outcrops, support a more xerophytic vegetation than is seen elsewhere, except locally. It is of course possible that these semi-xerophytic conditions have been brought about largely by FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 303 the clearing of the original forests; little or no evidence is available upon this point. Due to the prevailingly hilly and rocky nature of the terrain where soils of this type occur, it is natural to suppose that any succession would be slower than under conditions more favorable for plant growth. It does not seem probable, however, that any other climax forest than the pine-hemlock-hardwood would be the ultimate result of succession, except locally where physiographic conditions establish a more or less permanent climax other than the climatic one. The reasons for this are indicated below. Throughout the following discussion much more than in any of the preceding, it must be constantly remembered that practically all the association-types studied are members of secondary successional series. While lakes, bogs, streams and swamps exist in relatively undisturbed conditions, upland plant communities have been greatly influenced by man. The original forest of our region has been almost entirely cleared, and the second-growth forests which we have available today for study exist for the most part on the poorer soils, in situations where, for reasons of one kind or another, agri- culture does not pay. Except in rare instances we are not able to study native vegetation on ordinary, well drained upland soils, as these are largely under cultivation. Our ideas about succession on the glacial-till soils, then, must be obtained mostly from studies of “woodlots” and areas of shallow or rocky soil which are covered by woodlands. The forest which develops in situations of this type and is now prevalent in all of the hilly parts of Columbia County may be described as follows : The dominant tree species are few in number with the chestnut oak, Quercus Prinus, and the red oak, Q. borealis, being repre- sented by the largest numbers of individuals. The white oak, Q. alba, is also common, as is the pignut, Carya glabra. The chestnut, Castanea dentata, formerly played an important part in this forest but it is now almost gone, except for stump sprouts, due to the attack of the chestnut blight fungus. The paper birch, Betula papy- rifera, is present in most of the woodlands, along with the black birch, B. lenta, and the sugar maple, Acer saccharum. In some localities, notably at the higher elevations, the paper birch is more abundant than any other tree. Other species which are usually con- spicuous but seldom occur in great abundance are: Pinus Strobus Pinus rigida Tsuga canadensis Carya ovata Betula lutea Fag us grandifolia Primus serotina Acer rubrum Tilia americana Fraxinus americana 304 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM In any mature forest of the above type there is an understory of smaller trees which grow freely in the shade of the larger ones. The most widespread and common of these is the hop hornbeam, Ostrya virginiana. Other small trees which are more common at the higher elevations but which grow throughout our range are Acer pensylvanicum and A. spicatum, both of which may be very abundant locally, and the shadbush, Amelanchier arborea, which occurs sparingly. Cornus alternifolia is also found sparingly through- out, while the flowering dogwood, C. florida, is very abundant as an understory forest species at elevations less than 300 meters, but is rare in the uplands. The shrubby layer which flourishes in these woods is made up mostly of three species, the witchhazel, Hamamelis virginiana, ar- rowwood, Viburnum acerifolium, and pinkster, Rhododendron nudi- florum. Locally, under various conditions of light, moisture and soil acidity, the following may be abundant : Corylus cornuta Vaccinium vacillans Cornus rugosa Gaylussacia baccata Vaccinium corymbosum Diervilla Lonicera Vaccinium angustifolium Viburnum Rafinesquianum The upper soil layers of the forest floor are usually somewhat acid (pH 5.0-6.5), so that the herbaceous plants of the forest are in part weak oxylophytes. Probably the most abundant and wide- spread species is Aralia nudicaulis. Other important members of the herbaceous layer are : Pteridium latiusculum Lycopodium complanatum var. flabellijorme Lycopodium clavatum Lycopodium obscurum Carex pensylvanica Carex platyphylla Uvularia perfoliata Smilacina racemosa Maianthemum canadense Hepatica americana Polygala paucifolia Sanicula marilandica Pyrola rotundifolia Pyrola elliptic a Chimaphila umbellata Epigaea repens Gaultheria procumbens Lysimachia quadrifolia T rientalis borealis Hieracium paniculatum Solidago caesia Solidago bicolor Aster divaricatus A forest of the kind described above typifies the “dry rocky woods” which are mentioned in the accompanying annotated list. It is seen at its best development where the hills are not too steep, so that some soil is present everywhere, and where the rock outcrops are infrequent. In Columbia County these dry woods are found locally in the Hudson Valley, mostly in the vicinity of the Cossayuna soils. East of the Hudson Valley this woodland of chestnut oak, FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 305 red oak, birch and maple is practically coextensive with the Dutchess soils. Except where the underlying rocks are strongly calcareous or where they are covered by too little soil to support a forest, the most common association-type in our area is this “dry rocky woods” type. It is not possible to do more than speculate about the original stages of development of such a forest. At present, when land of this kind is cleared and then abandoned, either at once or after a period of use, it is soon reoccupied by one or several of a group of weedy species. Recently cut forests may be overgrown rapidly by raspberries, Rubus occidentalis or R. idaeus var. strigosus, by pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, or by fireweed, Erechtites hiera- cifolia; lands which have been cleared and pastured and subsequently abandoned may be occupied by Comptonia peregrina, Spiraea lati- folia, S. tomentosa, Vaccinium angustifolium, Dennstaedtia puncti- lobula, or by one or more of several species of small trees, namely : Populus tremuloides , P. grandidentata, Betula populifolia, B. lenta, Alnus rugosa. None of the above species, with the exception of the black birch, appears in the mature oak-birch-maple woodland and observations over a period of years lead me to the conclusion that all of the weedy pioneers of clearings and abandoned lands soon give way to the more stable forest. While little can be said concerning the earlier stages of succession which lead up to the dry woodland type, there is some definite evi- dence which bears on the successional stages. My own observations indicate that certain species which are almost invariably present in these second-growth woodlands increase in importance with the age of the stand and eventually become the dominant species of the mature forest. Except in very recently cleared areas, a short search in any tract of “dry woodland” will usually reveal seedlings of Tsuga, Acer saccharum, Pinus Strobus and Quercus borealis. With the exception of the red oak, none of these assumes a commanding position in the dry woodland association. With increasing age of the forest, however, mesophytism becomes increasingly pronounced, especially in the herbaceous layer-societies, and the above species become of major importance. Most of the existing mature or nearly mature stands throughout the county show a heavy preponderance of white pine and hemlock as the dominant trees, with the accom- panying sugar maple, red oak and lesser numbers of individuals of other species. A mature hemlock-white pine forest which covers both hilly and swampy ground near the village of Lebanon Springs may be cited as an example. Although nearby second growth woodlands are dry 306 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM and relatively poor in plant growth, the forest itself is of a wholly different quality. Nichols’ (1935) list of the low shrubs and herbaceous plants characteristic of his “hemlock-white pine-northern hardwood” forest includes most of the species typical of this Lebanon Springs forest: "Taxus canadensis , . . . Corylus rostrata, . . . Viburnum alnifolium, . . . Lonicera canadensis, . . . Sambucus racemosa, . . . Aspidium spinulosum, Lycopodium lucidulum, Lycopodium annotinum, Clin- tonia borealis, Smilacina racemosa, Maianthemum canadense, Strep- topus roseus, Medeola virginiana, Trillium spp. [in Columbia Coun- ty, T. erectum and T. undulatum], Actaea spp., Oxalis Acetosella, Viola spp. [in Columbia County especially V. rotundifolia], Aralia nudicaulis, Trientalis americana, Mitchella re pens and Aster acumi- natus.” A second case of the same kind is that of an island in Kinderhook Creek at Stuyvesant Falls. The island is very rocky, with a shale base and shallow soil, and stands 10 to 25 meters above the creek bed. The lower end of the island is covered by a dry oak woods, with trees not over a few centimeters in diameter. On the upper end of the island, however, in sandy or rocky unwatered soil, a mesophytic hemlock-beech-white pine forest has developed, with such accompanying species as Taxus canadensis, Lonicera canadensis, Sambucus racemosa, Viola rotundifolia and Panax quinquefolius, which are rarely found in the “dry woodland” type of forest. This island and its flora comprise probably the most important bit of evidence for the following assumptions: 1) that the climax on the rocky glacial-till soils is similar to the hemlock-pine-hardwood type discussed elsewhere, and 2) that the common oak-birch-maple wood- land is a more or less temporary stage induced by man-made cir- cumstances. Another point brought out strongly by the flora of the island at Stuyvesant Falls is that the absence of certain species from a region like the Hudson Valley may often be due to civilization and its works rather than to natural causes. This island has been protected from fire and from grazing animals, which may account, at least in part, for the presence of species considered rare elsewhere in the vicinity. Finally, the Colebrook Forest, a virgin stand of some 300 acres which stood formerly in Litchfield County, Conn. (Nichols, 1913), seemingly developed under conditions nearly identical with those existing in the glacial-till areas of Columbia County. Litchfield County is adjacent to our area on the southeast, and the composition of this forest would seem to have considerable interest for the pur- pose of the present study. To quote from Nichols’ account: FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 307 As throughout most of Litchfield County the topography of the region concerned is very uneven and the elevations high. The forest was located partly in a rather broad valley, partly on the slopes of adjoining hills. The surface soil is of glacial origin, a sandy loam, often rocky, beneath which at varying depths is a sub- structure of precambrian gneiss which frequently outcrops at higher levels. . . . On the whole the soil is well drained. This description fits closely that of much of the terrain occupied by glacial-till soils in Columbia County. The dominant trees of the Colebrook Forest were stated to have been approximately as follows: Tsuga canadensis and Fagus grandifolia 55 % Acer saccharum 12 Betula lutea 10 Qnercus rubra ( — Q. borealis var. maxima ) 6 Castanea dentata 6 Fraxinus americana and Tilia amcricana 7 Prunus serotina, Betula lenta, Acer rubrum and Pinus Strobus 4 The underbrush of the Colebrook stand comprised, beside Kalmia latijolia, “Viburnum alnifolium and Taxus canadensis ... in pro- fusion,” the latter “frequently . . . [preempting] considerable patches . . . in the lower grounds ... to the exclusion of all other under- growth.” Hamamelis virginiana, Viburnum acerifolium, Cornus alternifolia and Lonicera canadensis were said to be “not infrequent,” while Sambucus racemosa occurred “locally.” Acer pensylvanicum and A. spicatum were also said to have been associated with these shrubs. The herbaceous forest floor vegetation was also described by Nichols and a list of 54 species of vascular plants given, as well as lists of the more prevalent bryophytes. The list of vascular plants is here quoted in full, as all the species except one ( Habenaria macrophylla ) are represented in the more mesophytic and mature upland woods of Columbia County, although not always all together : Polypodium vulgare Phegopteris polypodioides Asplenium acrostichoides Asplenium Filix-foemina P olystichum acrostichoides Aspidium noveboracense Aspidium spinulosum inter- medium Botrychium virginianum Lycopodium lucidulum Lycopodium obscurum Brachyelytrum erectum Festuca nutans Car ex Dewey ana Carex gracillima Carex communis Carex varia Carex pennsylvanica Carex laxiflora patulijolia Carex arctata 308 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Arisaema triphyllum Clintonia borealis Smilacina racemosa Maianthemum canadcnse Streptopus roseus Medeola virginiana Trillium undulatum Cypripedium acaide Habenaria macrophylla Epipactis pubescens Coptis trifolia Actaea alba Caulophyllum thalictroides Tiarella cordijolia Mitella diphylla Dalibarda repens Oxalis Acetosella Viola rotundifolia Circaea alpina Aralia racemosa Aralia nudicaulis Osmorhiza Claytoni Chimaphila umbellata Pyrola chlorantha Pyrola elliptica Monotropa uniflora Gaultheria procumbens Trientalis americana Epifagus virginiana Mitchella re pens Solidago caesia Aster divaricatus Aster lateriflorus Aster acuminatus Prenanthes sp. Nichols goes on to state that in second-growth woodlands near the virgin forest at Colebrook, “in localities which almost certainly once were occupied by forests similar to the one above depicted,” the majority of the tracts were less mesophytic than the original forest. Oak, chestnut, hickory, white pine and paper birch became relatively more abundant in the second growth woodlands and hemlock less so. “The yew, hobble bush and moosewood are sparser and may have vanished completely, while Prunus pennsylvanica, Gaylussacia baccata and species of Vaccinium have made their appearance. Many of the herbaceous mesophytes also, like the twisted stalk, painted trillium and wood sorrel, have disappeared, being supplanted in a measure by such plants as Lycopodium complanatum, Lycopodium clavatum, Dicksonia punctilobula, and Pteris aquilina, forms rarely seen in the original forest.” These observations check closely with those made in Columbia County. The second-growth woodland at Colebrook is very similar to the “dry rocky woods” of Columbia County. In summary, it appears that while the xerophytic character of these rocky hilly woods may persist for some years, the hemlock- pine-hardwood forest eventually comes into its own, supplanting the oak-hickory type as the climax vegetation. b. Where the underlying rock is calcareous. These plant commu- nities differ little from those of acid soils except in the following ways : chestnut oak is rare or absent in the oak-maple-birch associ- ation ; there is an increased abundance of Tilia americana, Ostrya virginiana and Juniperus virginiana; white oak and sugar maple are usually the dominant large-tree species and the undergrowth is FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 309 marked by the presence of a number of mesophytic species not often found in the woodlands discussed in the preceding section. Limestones are widely distributed throughout the region, exposed either as small strata among the shales, as is the case in the gorges along the river in the town of Stuyvesant, or as thicker strata, often making up whole ridges or hills, but usually closely associated with shale or schistose rocks. In the Hudson Valley the limestones occur mostly along the north-south ridges characteristically connected with the Cossayuna soil series. The shale ridges are much more frequent than the limestone ones, but the latter may be traced from the ex- posures east of North Chatham and Kinderhook southward through similar exposures in Stuyvesant and Ghent to calcareous outcrops in Greenport and Clermont (see map, figure 23). Near the eastern edge of the Hudson Valley another belt of limestone may be traced from Tackawasick Lake and Brainard southward to Pulvers Station in the town of Ghent (Bishop, 1886, 1890; Ruedemann, 1930, p. 116). A third north-south belt of limestone, intersected by ridges and islands of schist, extends from Lebanon Springs southward along the western side of the Taconics to the lower Harlem Valley; the limestones at Canaan, Queechy Lake, No Bottom Pond, Hillsdale, Copake (Tom Hill) and Ancramdale (Croghan Hill) are all of this belt, which was considered by Dana (1887) to be continuous with that of Stockbridge and other points east of the Taconics. He con- sidered the mountain masses of Greylock and Mount Washington to be great synclines, with continuous underlying limestone. Unrelated to the foregoing rocks are the Devonian limestones exposed at Becraft Mountain near Hudson and at a small knoblike hill (“Mount Ida”) north of Claverack. These two localities present essentially the same aspect, both being raised above the general level of the valley and partly surrounded by perpendicular cliffs from 3 to 15 meters high. Becraft Mountain is over 3 km. long by more than 1.5 km. wide, with the long axis nearly north-south and with cliffs extending along most of the west side. The cliffs are developed to a lesser extent along the eastern side, where Claverack Creek runs near the base of the hill. Where the slopes are steep enough for cliff formation, talus is conspicuous ; along the west side the talus slopes may reach a height of nearly 30 meters. The top of the “mountain” is generally level or slightly rolling; it has been farmed but is now mostly abandoned. Much of the land is owned by a cement company, as the limestone is of excellent quality for the man- ufacture of cement and is being quarried rapidly for that purpose. The outlier to the north of Claverack resembles Becraft Mountain in every respect except for its much smaller size. Both are highly 310 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM dependent upon precipitation for their water supply, as their ele- vated nature and the position of their strata has reduced ground water to a minimum and they become exceedingly dry in seasons of low rainfall. Although no extensive woodlands occur on either of these lime- stone knobs, both are partially forested. As mentioned above, the dry woodland type of forest is predominant, but is marked by the rarity or absence of chestnut oak and by the unusual abundance of basswood, juniper and hop-hornbean. White pine and hemlock are found throughout, and there is at least one semi-mesophytic wood- land on Becraft Mountain where the Tsuga-Pinus Strobus associa- tion occupies a whole ravine, with the undergrowth including such species as Asarum canadense, Trillium erectum, Sanguinaria cana- densis, Dirca palustris and Acer pensylvanicum, all of which indi- cate the mesophytic character of the habitat. For the most part the limestone ridges and outcrops of Columbia County are forested, except for the cliffs and other soilless areas. A good example of such a forest may be seen about 1 mile north- east of Hillsdale on an isolated hill about 45 meters in height. The slopes are steep but soil-covered, with only a few small exposed areas. The dominant trees are Acer saccharum, Fraxinus americana, Tilia americana and Betula papyrifera, which are abundant in ap- proximately the order given. Ostrya and Cornus florida are abundant in the lower tree layer. The following are all present in some quantity : Tsuga canadensis Qucrcus borealis var. maxima Pinus Strobus Quercus alba Cary a ovata Primus serotina Herbaceous vegetation is rich, including the following species : Botrychium virginianum Asplenium platyneuron Festuca obtusa Hystrix patula Uvularia perfoliata Smilacina racemosa Polygonatum pubescens Cypripedium Calceolus Asarum canadense Paronychia canadensis Actaea alba Aquilegia canadensis Hepatica americana Anemonella thalictraides Thalictrum dioicum Sanguinaria canadensis Geranium maculatum Aralia nudicaulis Sanicula marilandica Osmorhiza longistylis Asclepias quadrifolia Galium circaezans Solidago caesia Aster divaricatus Senecio obovatus FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 311 Examination of the above list brings out some interesting points. Some of the species are practically confined, in our area, to habitats of this kind; that is, well drained calcareous rocky woodlands. Asclepias quadrifolia and Senecio obovatus are of this group. A number of other species are found in nearly all well drained wood- lands where drought is never excessive and shade is not too great : Uvularia perfoliata, Thalictrum dioicum, Paronychia canadensis, Sanicula niarilandica, Aralia nudiculis, Polygonatum pubescens and Aster divaricatus. Still a third group of species, characteristic of mesophytic habitats, indicates that even in comparatively youthful woods, where exposure is relatively great, a degree of mesophytism may soon be induced where the soil is relatively fertile : Botrychium virginianum Asplenium platyneuron Festuca obtusa Cypripedium Calceolus Asarum canadense Actaea alba Anemonella thalictroides Sanguinaria canadensis Geranium maculatum Osmorhiza longistylis A second example of such a forest, where slightly more meso- phytic conditions prevail, occupies the lower slopes of the hillside near Flat Brook, just south of the Edwards Park Station in the town of Canaan. The ground is gently sloping, actual rock outcrops are few, and boulder and talus slope vegetation is not in evidence. The forest developed here is notable for the large number of shade- and moisture-loving plants, many of which are particularly known as plants of calcareous regions : Cystopteris bulbifera Polystichum acrostichoides Dryopteris marginalis Dryopteris Goldiana Camptosorus rhizophyllus Athyrium angustum A thyrium thelypteroides Adiantum pe datum Festuca obtusa Oryzopsis racemosa Arisaema triphyllum Asarum canadense Actaea alba Hepatica acutiloba Sanguinaria canadensis Caulophyllum thalictroides Tiarella cordifolia Geranium Robertianum Viola canadensis Panax quinquefolius Hydrophyllum virginianum Triosteum perfoliatum Solidago flexicaulis 6. The association-types of water-laid soils. a. Sandy soils. The upland sandy soils of Columbia County, in- cluding some gravelly soils like the Otisville gravelly loam, occupy roughly 10 percent of the area of the county, this mostly in the Hudson Valley. Since the areas occupied by these soils are generally level or only slightly hilly, most of them are under cultivation. The 312 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM few remaining uncleared spots are in the form of woodlots in hilly situations. The soil reaction is in general acid. The soils are deeper than the rocky types previously discussed and the vegetation is somewhat less xerophytic. It is probable that the climax is regained more quickly after clearing on some of the sandy sites than on many of the rocky hills and ridges. Forests 50 to 100 years old are found on this kind of soil at several localities, notably on two gravelly hills near the State Farm in the town of Kinderhook, along Valatie Creek just south of Niver- ville, along the south shore of Kinderhook Creek about 1.5 km. above Valatie and in a tract about 3 km. south of Claverack. The most abundant larger trees, the “dominants,” are Pinus Strobus, Quercus alba, Q. borealis var. maxima, Acer saccharum and locally Tsuga canadensis and Fagus grandifolia. Acer rubrum, Pinus rigida and Carya glabra are very abundant on the sandy soils. Betula lenta and B. lutea are very abundant locally. The following are usually present but rarely in any considerable numbers : Car pinus caroliniana Amelanchier arborea Ostrya virginiana Cornus florida Primus serotina Fraxinus americana Under the trees, Viburnum acerifolium and Hamamelis virginiana are always present, while the herbaceous undergrowth is fairly dense, including the following spec Hepatica americana Anemonella thalictroides Desmodium nudiflorum Desmodium glutinosum Circaea quadrisulcata Sanicula marilandica Less abundant are some of the species spoken of above as “dry rocky woods” species : Chimaphila umbellata, Pyrola elliptica, Lyco- podium complanatum var. flabelliforme, Trientalis borealis, Poly gala paucifolia and Maianthemum canadense. These occur locally, how- ever, as do Pteridium, Vaccinium and Gaylussacia. The sandy-soil forests of the Hudson Valley are thus apparently somewhat more mesophytic than forests of similar age occurring eastward on the more rocky soils. b. Clay soils. Water-laid clay soils occupy about 8 percent of the area studied, practically all situated in the Hudson Valley in the region immediately adjoining the river. These soils, which are for the most part referred to the Hudson soil series, have a small amount of lime present and, where drainage is sufficient, make good farm land. Their structure makes them relatively impervious to water, Lysimachia quadrifolia Collinsonia canadensis Phryma Leptostachya Galium circaezans Eupatorium rugosum FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 313 Figure 47. Figures 47, 48, 49. Mature forest about 1 mile northeast of Stuyvesant. Note the density of the stand and the presence of standing dead trees. Young plants of sugar maple appear in the foreground of figures 47 and 48. 314 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 48. For explanation see figure 47. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 315 Figure 49. For explanation see figure 47 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 317 so that drainage is never excessive. The combination of fairly rich soil with a fine texture and no lack of water apparently has pre- vented the development of any sort of xerophytic forest-type on these soils. The uplands are nearly all cultivated, but along the Hudson River where the sloping banks are too steep for this, small streams have cut valleys through the clay loam. Here conditions for native plant growth have been ideal and rich mesophytic woodlands have resulted at many localities. These may stretch back from the river for more than a kilometer, as at Nutten Hook where a stream has cut a broad flat valley nearly half way back to Stuyvesant Falls, or they may occupy steep slopes that reach hardly a quarter of a mile (400 meters) back from the Hudson before they meet the cul- tivated land at the top of the inner valley of the river. The prin- cipal woodland areas of this kind are near Poelsburg, east of Nutten Hook, in the vicinity of Columbiaville and about the mouth of the Roeliff Jansen Kill. The old forests of this sort may be typified by one about a mile south of Columbiaville where the distance from river to the top of the hill is over half a mile, or by those just south of Poelsburg where the slopes are steeper, becoming gorgelike in some places. The most abundant trees are Tsuga canadensis and Acer saccharum, with the former often growing in pure stands on the steepest slopes. Beech, Fagus grandifolia, is present but usully not at all abundant. Quercus alba and Q. borealis var. maxima are common except on the steepest banks, and Fraxinus americana is present nearly through- out. The birches are not conspicuous in this forest, although Betula lenta is usually present and B. lutea and B. papyrijera occasionally so. White pine may be present also, but fails to form a large element of the forest except near the upper margins of the woodland, where abandoned land is often taken over quickly by white pine and juni- per, Juniperus virginiana. Along some of the narrower stream val- leys in this area may be found also an association formed mainly of white pine, red oak, white oak and hickory ( Cary a glabra and scattered trees of C. ovata). Hemlock and maple are usually present in considerable number, at least as seedlings, in the oak-pine-hickory woods. In 1933 there was standing in the town of Stuyvesant, in the valley of Mill Creek about 1 mile (1.6 km.) northeast of Stuyvesant Landing, a remnant of an old forest which was apparently a highly developed phase of the sort just described. It occupied about three- fourths an acre in a ravine cut into the Hudson silty clay loam. The trees grew thickly spaced, with numerous fallen logs but very little undergrowth ; the latter included Hamamelis znrginiana and 318 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM scattering plants of Sambucus canadensis in the more open places. Trees less than 6 inches (15 cm.) in diameter, breast high, were mostly hemlock, with a few black birch ( B . lenta ) and dogwood ( Cornus florida). On the sides of the east-west valley were 154 standing trees of more than 6 inches d. b. h. (table 20). Table 20 Composition of a mature forest in town of Stuyvesant SIZE (d. b. h.) inches A NUMBER SPECIES OF TREES 12 20 24 MAX. T suga canadensis 51 10 2 2 27 Quercus alba 27 24 7 4 36 Pinus Strobus 26 25 14 7 32 Acer saccharum 13 9 3 1 25 Acer rubrum 10 3 1 0 22 Betula lenta 8 3 0 0 16 Cary a sp 7 5 0 0 16 Fraxinus amcricana 4 0 0 0 11 Quercus borealis var. maxima. . . . 3 2 0 0 16 Ulmus aniericana ? 2 2 0 23 Pinus rigida 2 2 1 0 20 Pinus resinosa i 1 0 0 18 The ages of the larger trees, as determined by means of an incre- ment borer, ranged from 125 to about 200 years. The oldest tree was the largest white pine, which showed nearly 200 annual rings. No evidences of lumbering could be detected in this tract, so it apparently had not been cut over for about 200 years (figures 47 to 49). In most of the woodlands of the moist clay slopes near the river, the shrubby undergrowth is scant, as mentioned in preceding para- graphs. Cornus florida is fairly frequent, usually occurring as single trees, while Ostrya virginiana is present but not at all common. Carpinus caroliniana appears in the lower slopes of the broad valleys, as does the larger Ulmus aniericana and more rarely U. rubra. Hamamelis virginiana and Viburnum acerifolium make up a great part of the shrub society, and the leatherwood, Dirca palustris, is often found in considerable numbers. It is in the herbaceous growth of the forest floor, however, that mesophytism of this type of wood- land is most easily recognized. In these woods, the “rich woodland” type of vegetation is more highly developed than anywhere else in the Columbia County area. The spring flowering species, especially, appear in great profusion : FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 319 Arisaema tripkyllum Erythronium americanum Uvularia grandiflora Uvularia perfoliata Uvularia sessilifolia Trillium erectum Asarum canadense Anemone quinquefolia Hepatica americana Anemonella thalictroides Ranunculus hispidus Thalictrum dioicum Sanguinaria canadensis Podophyllum peltatum Dentaria diphylla Dentaria laciniata Geranium maculatum Viola pensylvanica Viola palmata Viola pubescens Galium obtusum Summer- and fall-flowering species are also commonly represented, so the ground cover is always rather dense. The principal species of these latter seasons are : Botrychium virginianum Polystichum acrostichoides Dryopteris marginalis Adiantum pedatum Brachyelytum erectum Carex blanda Carex platyphylla Allium tricoccum Medeola virginiana Polygonatum pubescens C 'orallorhiza maculata Pilea pumila Polygonum virginianum Actaea rubra Actaea alba Desmodium nudiflorum Desmodium glutinosum Circaea quadrisulcata Aralia racemosa Sanicida canadensis Sanicula marilandica Osmorhiza Claytoni Cryptotaenia canadensis Monotropa uniflora Collinsonia canadensis Phryma Leptostachya Prenanthes alba Prenanthes trijoliolata Eupatorium purpureum Eupatorium rugosum Solidago arguta Aster divaricatus Aster Schreberi 7. The association-types of rock outcrops. Rock outcrops of various kinds are of frequent occurrence in Columbia County, being found in every town and associated with most of the soil types except some of the first bottom soils and some of the postglacial water-laid soils. Extensive exposures of rock are least frequent in the Hudson Valley, although ridges and small cliffs of both shale and limestone are to be found throughout, mostly associated with the Cossayuna soil series. East of the Hud- son Valley, where the metamorphic rocks predominate, surface expo- sures of both acidic and calcareous rocks are very frequent. The largest exposures are found on the Taconic Mountains from Mount Fray southward and southeastward. The tops of these mountains form a nearly continuous exposed and dissected rocky ridge for more than 15 km. Slope, exposure, smoothness of surface and hard- 320 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM ness of rock vary greatly in the different outcrops. All these factors influence the character of the vegetation. a. Where the rocks are calcareous {limestones) . Succession in limestone regions seems to have been initiated by a few crevice plants, particularly the ferns Pellaea atropurpurea and Asplenium Ruta-muraria; by little annuals or biennials like Arabis hirsuta, which find lodging on ledges ; by a few hardy shrubs like Ribes Cynosbati, and by a number of mosses and lichens. On the steep rock faces scarcely any other plants can grow. Where the rocks are less steep (including spots at the tops of cliffs) or where the exposure to sun or wind is less intense, as in ravines or on north- facing slopes, other crevice and rock-surface plants appear, includ- ing the following: Cystopteris bulbifera Cystopteris fragilis Camptosorus rhizophyllus Asplenium Trichomanes Polypodhim virginianum Carex eburnea Aquilegia canadensis T Italic trum dioicum Clematis verticillaris Arabis canadensis Saxijraga virginiensis Mitella dipkylla Rhus Toxicodendron Celastrus scandens Cornus rugosa Viburnum Rapines quianum Solid ago caesia Aster cordifolius Along exposed limestone ridges the prevailing woody plants are often the shrubby dogwood, Cornus rugosa, the little viburnum, V. Rapines quianum, and poison ivy, Rhus Toxicodendron, while bittersweet, Celastrus scandens, is often abundant. An association of this kind, which will include most of the crevice and the ledge species of the above list, may be seen on and around the cliffs just south of Old Chatham and, to a lesser extent, on the several lime- stone hills in the Harlem Valley and on the ridges extending south from Kinderhook to West Ghent (see map, figure 23). In our area there are no large level areas of exposed limestone, and only on the cliffs themselves does this stage of the successional series persist. Since practically all the known exposures form cliffs which are perpendicular or nearly so, this ledge and crevice asso- ciation was probably more abundant formerly than now. At present, most of the calcareous rocks of the region are accompanied by talus slopes which are now higher than the vertical height of the cliffs themselves. The vegetation of these slopes will be discussed briefly below. To summarize the account of the vegetation of the limestone rock exposures the following outline may be presented: 1. Cliffs and steep slopes. A few hardy species occur here This association is limited in extent. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 321 2. Ordinary woodlands. In our area this is mostly deciduous forest in which the transition to mesophytic conditions is appar- ently quicker than in similar forests in regions of acid soil. 3. Talus slopes. In our area they are mostly covered by meso- phytic forest. They are associated with almost every cliff and their total area is greater than that of the latter. b. Where the rocks are acidic (schists and quartzites). This is the prevailing type of substratum east of the Hudson Valley except for the limited calcareous areas referred to above. In this rugged country there are numerous ledge outcrops on hillsides, and small areas of acidic rocks may be found throughout. In addition, more extensive exposures occur on most of the higher, steeper hills. The largest of these has been referred to above (page 319). As practically all the hills too steep for cultivation are wooded, it follows that many of the bare rocks are surrounded by woodland conditions. This is true for all except a limited number of hills, the summits of which are bare or occupied by exceedingly sparse and scrubby vege- tation. As the small rocky areas surrounded by woods have quite a different flora from those of exposed summits, the two will be considered separately. The areas surrounded by woods generally appear quite sterile. The only fern which acts to any extent as a pioneer on the rock surface is Polypodium virginianum, which often forms dense and extensive mats. True “rock plants” are rare, although such species as Dryop- teris marginalis, Polystichum acrostichoides and Aralia nudicaulis come in abundantly even on the steepest slopes if the soil is deep enough. Tsuga canadensis grows in the most unlikely crevices, as does Kalmia latijolia. Even in the most mesophytic ravines the only chance for the establishment of a permanent association on the rock surface seems to be through the agency of the mats of Poly- podium, in which various shrubs become established. Around the edges of the rocks a number of plants become estab- lished in the shallow soil. In the shallowest of soil several mosses are conspicuous, including species of Dicranum and Leucobryum. In the surrounding areas are found commonly the Dryopteris, Poly- stichum and Aralia mentioned above, as well as Arabis lyrata, Car- damine parviflora, Saxifraga vir giniensis , Oryzopsis racemosa, Woodsia obtusa, and others, depending upon the degree of shade and moisture in the given locality. The plants characteristic of bare rocky summits are considerably more varied. In the first place although the habitat is an exceed- ingly exposed one, with probable high evaporation and excessive drainage, considerable soil is formed in crevices on the level or 322 NEW YORK STATE MIUSEUM gently sloping summits, thus affording considerable areas for occu- pation by plants. Due to the highly xerophytic nature of the habitat and in part to the shallowness of the soil, ordinary mesophytes do not thrive on these rocky exposures. The association-type is thus made up of a small tree and low shrub community, including a number of semixerophytic perennials as well. The principal rocky summits where this association-type may be seen are as follows : Ashley Hill, Chatham, at 240 to 270 meters elevation; Douglas Knob, at 450 to 510 meters; on the hills about 3 km. southwest of Hillsdale, at about 390 meters ; at the “Pin- nacle” rocks, about 3 km. southeast of Churchtown, at 240 to 270 meters; in an almost continuous area extending from Mount Fray in the town of Copake southward and eastward along the summits of the Taconics to northwestern Connecticut and eastern Dutchess County, at elevations ranging from 450 to 600 meters. The last area is peculiar in many respects, and will be discussed below in detail. As one approaches the summit of any of the hills named above a gradual disappearance of many species present in the lowlands is evident. Quercus alba, which may be present in the dry woodlands of the lower slopes, is almost wholly lacking in the higher, rockier situations and is replaced by Q. Prinus, which may in places form an almost pure stand. White pine and hemlock likewise disappear on the exposed slopes, and in dry situations at the higher elevations no maple except Acer rubrum is found. The paper birch, on the other hand, often becomes increasingly abundant with the ascent. The most striking features of these summits, however, is the appear- ance of the scrub oak, Quercus ilicifolia, in large quantities, usually accompanied by the pitch pine, Pinus rigida. On the summit of Cedar Mountain, for example, much of the nearly level summit area is covered by a dense oak-pine scrub. On most of the high Taconics the growth of scrub oak in the frequent shallow ravines near the summits is so dense that most other vegetation is excluded and it is extremely difficult to force a way through the thickets. On and near all the summits, ericaceous shrubs are frequent, often mingled with the oaks or making up thickets of their own. The principal species are Vaccinium an gusti folium, Rhododendron nudiflorum and Gaylussacia baccata, the former providing a considerable source of income for the local inhabitants during “huckleberry” season. Fur- ther down the slopes, where the scrub oak mingles with other spe- cies, one of its principal associates may be the mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, which, however, is not found on the most exposed places. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 323 On the rocks, usually in partial shade of a community of pitch pine, chestnut oak and scrub oak, are found such plants as : Aronia melanocarpa Amelanchier lacvis Primus pensylvanica Aralia nudicaulis Epigaca re pens Gaultheria procumbens Vaccinium stamineum Vaccinium vacillans Lysimachia quadrijolia Diervilla Lonicera Campanula rotundifolia Hieracium paniculatum Aster acuminatus Helianthus divaricatus Selaginella rupestris IVoodsia ilvensis Agropyron subsecundum Hystrix patula Deschampsia flexuosa Danthonia spicata Oryzopsis asperifolia Muhlenbergia glomerata Carex pensylvanica Uvidaria sessilifolia Maianthemum canadcnse Cypripedium acaule Clematis verticillaris Corydalis sempervirens On the slopes, just below the summit, stunted paper birch, chest- nut oak and pitch pine make up an association with fire cherry ( Prunus pensylvanica) , shadbush ( Amelanchier laevis ) and some- times black birch and red maple. The ericaceous shrubs with Dier- villa, Aronia, and often the dwarf cherry, Prunus pumila, form a sparse cover in the partial shade. The herbaceous vegetation is patchy, with some turf formation by Danthonia, Deschampsia and Carex. Agropyron, Campanula and IVoodsia behave as crevice plants, sometimes in exposed places. Helianthus and Muhlenbergia are sometimes associated with them where there is some soil. Corydalis sempervirens is one of the most constant associates of the commu- nity, being found almost exclusively on bare rocks in shallow, lightly shaded soil, while Selaginella rupestris acts in much the same way but is less frequent. On the summits of the high Taconics, the continuous exposures of hard gray schists extend from Mount Fray southward and south- eastward for some miles, forming an area quite distinct in vegeta- tional aspect from that of any other part of Columbia County. I am unable to explain the abrupt termination of this area at Mount Fray. North of this mountain the Taconics, including those of equal or greater heights, are all forest or grass covered to their very tops. Small rocky areas are, indeed, exposed as in all this part of the county, but the peculiar plant-association developed south and east of Mount Fray is wholly lacking, although physiographic and edaphic conditions seem essentially similar. South of Mount Fray, and including that mountain, the woods near the summits of all the hills east of the Harlem Valley resemble those just described for other exposed summits. Above 450 meters, however, all the aborescent species disappear except in the numer- 324 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM ous shallow ravines which intersect the smooth surface of the mountain summits in all directions. These ravines are from a few to 30 meters deep and from 3 to several hundred meters across, and in them chestnut oak, red oak, white birch and red maple grow close to the summits of the hills, together with the omnipresent and tangled Quercus ilicifolia (figures 50 and 51). On the exposed rocks, however, these species find it difficult to survive ; stunted paper birch, red maple and oak are sometimes seen in shallow crevices but they never become large. Wherever a foothold is afforded by the tiniest crack, however, the rock surface is occupied by two semiwoody perennials. One of these is the the bearberry, Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi; the other is a cinquefoil, Potentilla tridentata. These carpet the rocks in great pro- fusion in many localities. Other crevices are occupied by low shrubs of several kinds, so that only the smoothest rocks are devoid of vascular plants. Characteristic shrubs are : Aroma melanocarpa Vaccinium angustifolium Amelanchier stolonifera Gaylussacia baccata Prunus pumila Herbaceous vegetation is of a rather xerophytic sort, the prin- cipal species being Danthonia spicata, Deschampsia flexuosa, Carex pensylvanica, Andropogon scoparius and Solidago puberula. Lilium philadelphicum appears occasionally, and in the ravines Cornus can- adensis and Clintonia borealis are found. Actual succession on these rocks appears to be of two sorts. One, the succession initiated by crevice plants like Potentilla tridentata, probably leads to a firmly anchored shrub community. The other, brought about through the pioneering activities of mosses and lichens which are abundant on the smooth surfaces of the rocks themselves (figures 52 and 53), probably gives rise to the Carex-Andropogon- Deschampsia “grassland” communities which cover good sized areas here and there. The ultimate fate of the now widespread Arctostaphylos-Potentilla association is in some doubt. In some places, as at Brace Mountain, it appears to be on the point of extermination by the “grassland” community composed mainly of Carex pensylvanica, Andropogon scoparius, Deschampsia flexuosa and Danthonia spicata. In Auster- litz and New Lebanon high altitude meadows of a similar sort are extensive above 570 meters, and some of them appear to be revert- ing to forest. Paper birch and white pine are taking over much of the upland meadow east of the village of Austerlitz. It is possible that all the bare rocky summits of the southern Taconics will even- FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 325 Figure 50. View across the valley of Bashbish Brook, looking north-northeast from Washburn Mountain. The hill in the foreground is covered principally by thickets of Ouercus ilicifolia. Figure 51. Mount Alander, looking east from a point about 3 km. south of Copake. XEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 326 Figure 52. The village of Copake Falls as seen from Washburn Mountain; the village is about 200 meters below the point from which the picture was taken. Note the lichens growing on the otherwise bare rocks in the right foreground. Figure 53. Vegetation near the summit of Washburn Mountain. Lichens nearly cover the rocks at the left and at the right are mats of bearberry, Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 327 Figure 54. Shale knoll about 1.5 km. south of Germantown. The shale here is harder than at some other points in our area and relatively little weathering is noted. 328 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 55. Shale slopes along the Hudson 'River north of Poelsburg. The shales here disintegrate easily and the slopes are unstable and covered by small fragments of weathered rock. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 329 tually reach the climax indicated by climatic conditions ; that is, a pine-hemlock-hardwood forest. On the other hand, it is quite possible that the present low shrub association is a more or less permanent physiographic climax. Under natural conditions succession is apparently slow. There is no evi- dence that the communities of Arctostaphylos-Potentilla-Aroniar Amelanchier-Prunus have been disturbed within historic times. The first two in particular are known throughout their ranges as plants of exposed rocky summits, and it is highly improbable that either could have existed within the limits of any densely for- ested area. It is equally improbable that the association could have invaded the area in toto since the removal of the forest by the white man. In the absence of definite information as to the original cov- ering of these rocky summits, then, it is probable that the present vegetation represents the highest stage of development that has been reached since the retreat of the glaciers. c. Where the outcrops are shale. In the Hudson Valley shale is the prevailing type of substratum, and it outcrops frequently, form- ing exposed ridges and hills as well as actual bluffs. The steeper bluffs are found for the most part at or near the Hudson River, where they are represented on many of the islands and at several points on the mainland (figure 29) ; they may be accompanied by cliffs of considerable height. A second type of shale exposure is the kind well illustrated at Blue Hill, in the town of Livingston, where the slopes are steep and rocky without the formation of actual cliffs. Finally, associated throughout with the areas of the Cossayuna soils are numerous north-south ridges, varying in height from a few feet to several hundred feet, with the summits or sides exposed for short distances or covered with very shallow soil (figure 54). In all the shale outcrops there are certain similarities in phys- ical conditions. The shale itself is relatively soft and disintegrates easily, forming crumbly, irregularly rounded exposures and but few vertical cliffs. Talus formation is extensive, but due to the crumbly nature of the shale the slopes are not composed of large blocks, as usual on limestone and quartzite or schist slopes; rather, the slopes are composed of small fragments which form an unstable, steeply sloping substratum (figure 55). The areas surrounding the shale outcrops in Columbia County are for the most part forested, although many of the small exposures associated with the Cossayuna soils have been entirely cleared and are now in fields or pastures. The usual forest type is the “dry woods” described above as characteristic of many of the glacial soils in our region but with the addition of a considerable amount 330 NEW YORK STATE MIUSEUM of Celtis occidentals, the hackberry. White pine, pitch pine and hemlock are usually present, along with an abundance of sugar maple, and the development of the climatic climax seems only a question of time. Usually a few shaly ledges in any given locality are not covered by woodland, and these ledges support an interesting association of plants which are not tolerant of shade to any extent. The unstable nature of the shale makes uneven slopes and fre- quent crevices, and, as a result, the exposed surfaces are usually occupied chiefly by strongly rooted biennials or perennials, e.g. : IV oodsia obtusa Woodsia ilvensis Aquilegia canadensis Arabis lyrata Saxifraga virginiensis Rhus aromatica Penstemon hirsutus Campanula rotundifolia Solidago squarrosa On more or less level exposures, where shallow soil exists in small patches, three species are usually associated : Cyperus filiculmis, Polygonum tenue and Selaginella rupestris. These three occur also on the more stable places on the talus slopes in company with other species. This small association gives way in deeper soil to a more inclusive one dominated by Andropogon scoparius and other species, including Panicum linearifolium, Carex pensylvanica and the semi- weedy goldenrods, Solidago nemoralis and 5". juncea. This associa- tion is often invaded by juniper ( Juniperus virginiana), followed by white pine and other trees of the forest. Juniper is the usual pioneer species near the Hudson River, as may be seen at Mount Merino and Blue Hill, and is often accompanied by the hackberry. Farther inland, a far more common pioneer is the gray birch, Betula populijolia. 8. The association-types of talus slopes. The vegetation of talus slopes is treated in a separate section rather than in connection with the accompanying rock outcrops since the vegetation of the slopes is generally much more mesophytic than that of the cliffs or bluffs from which they have been derived. This is true except in the case of the shales, where the rocks them- selves in some cases are intermingled with interrupted slopes of disintegrated rock and the floras of the two also intermingle to some extent. The effects of soil conditions upon the character of the vege- tation are often minimized by physiographic ones, so that talus from a limestone cliff may support much the same plant community as does that derived from an acidic rock. The similarity of vegetation in such cases seemingly is induced by the sheltered nature of the habitat, by good drainage, or by a combination of both. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 331 a. Limestone talus. Slopes of this kind are found at Old Chatham, at Becraft Mountain and Mount Ida, at a locality just west of Douglas Knob in the town of Canaan and, to a lesser extent, at most of the other outcrops of limestone in our area. Fhe limestone characteristically breaks up into definite blocks, so that the slopes are made up of irregularly shaped rocks of various sizes from large ones, several feet long, down to rough gravel. Almost any of these slopes shows a certain degree of mesophytism, even at exposed localities. The forest covering is similar to that described for cal- careous regions in general and is doubtless a stage in the successional series toward a hemlock-pine-hardwood climax. The understories of the vegetation differ but little from that of rich calcareous woodlands except for the increased abundance of certain shrubs. On the upper slopes, especially in moderate or light shade, Cornus rugosa is often the most abundant species and may grow in company with Viburnum Rafinesquianum and Zanthoxylum americanum. Rhus Toxicodendron is usually conspicuous in the same places, and climbs freely up the cliffs. Other trailing plants that may be locally abundant are Menispermum canadense and Cel- astrus scandens. Where there is deep shade in the forest, Acer spicatum is usually found in considerable amounts, as is its near relative, Acer pensylvanicum. The herbaceous ground cover is dense, being practically identical with that of the rich woods described above (page 310). b. Talus in regions of acidic rocks (schist and quartzite). The only part of the Columbia County area where slopes of this kind occur to any extent is that along the eastern boundary of the Har- lem Valley, where the relatively level valley is terminated abruptly by the nearly perpendicular slopes of some of the southern Taconics. Cliffs up to 15 meters or more in height occur locally at a number of points from Copake Falls south to Millerton, and at a few more northerly points as well, including a locality just east of the village of Green River. Less typical cliffs are at Curtis Mountain in Nas- sau, Ashley Hill in Chatham, and about a mile east of Pulvers Station in Ghent. The most surprising thing about the vegetation of these localities is the resemblance it bears to that of the calcareous areas. The dominant forest trees are much the same except that chestnut oak is usually much more abundant on the less calcareous talus than on the limestone and Cornus florida and Ostrya virginiana are much less so. Locally, of course, depending upon the altitude, exposure and the age of the forest, one species assumes more importance than another. The smaller trees and shrubs seem to be nearly iden- 332 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM tical with those of the limestone talus slopes: Acer pensylvanicum, A. spicatum, Cornus rugosa, Viburnum Rafnesquianum , Rhus Tox- icodendron and Clematis verticillaris are all abundant on schist and quartzite. Of the herbaceous species, the same holds true rather largely. A number of mesophytic species occur freely on the talus east of the Harlem Valley as well as at other points : Cystopteris bulbifera Cystopteris fragilis Polystichum acrosticlwides Dryopteris marginalis Asplenium Trichomanes Athyrium thelypteroides Adiantum pedatum Festuca obtusa Oryzopsis racemosa Sanguinaria canadensis Caulophyllum thalictroides Pan ax quinquefolius Solidago flexicaidis The usual plants of moist, upland, acid soil woods, like Viola rotundifolia, Clintonia borealis and Lycopodium lucidulum, are rarely found in the vicinity of these talus slopes, so it appears that the latter deserve separate consideration as supporting an associa- tion-type distinct from that of other upland woods. With the accumulation of abundant organic matter, the soil reaction becomes progressively less acid; the pH value of the soil solution near the summit of the cliffs of the Taconics may be 5.0, but the soil of the talus slopes below the cliff, in a mesophytic forest-association, shows a reaction that is nearly neutral. c. Talus where the substratum is shale. These slopes are rather unstable, often with excessive drainage, so that pioneer species are few and succession is relatively slow compared to that on the lime- stone talus. In a few localities, as at the Leake & Watts camp at Tivoli, at the north end of Crugers’ Island and at a ridge about 2 miles south of Germantown, the loose shale slopes are forested and have a rich vegetation, similar to that of the ravines near the river (figures 59, 60). Acer spicatum and A. pensylvanicum are present and the rattleberry, Staphylea trifolia, is an abundant shrub. Common herbaceous plants are Cystopteris fragilis, Laportea cana- densis, Aralia racemosa, Dryopteris marginalis, Arabis canadensis, Carex platyphylla and Asplenium platyneuron, all of which indicate a fair degree of mesophytism. Moist slopes of this kind are the exception rather than the rule, however. At the cliffs along the Hudson near the Columbia-Rensselaer county line (figure 55), at Blue Hill and Mount Merino, and at various inland points like the locality shown in figure 54, which is about 1.5 km. south of Ger- mantown, the sliding shale slopes are dry, with relatively little vegetation. The forest, if any, consists principally of Quercus Prinus and Carya glabra, with considerable amounts of Quercus borealis FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 333 var. maxima , Q. alba, Ostrya virginiana and Cornus florida. Pinus Str obits, Celtis occidentalis, Fraxinus americana and Juniperus vir- giniana appear throughout. Due to frequent projecting shoulders of rock, much of the forest is rather open and considerable areas are wholly unshaded. Upon these are found characteristically the following : Selaginella rupestris Elymus canadensis Bouteloua curtipendula* Sorghastrum nutans * Cyperus filiculmis Quercus prinoides Polygonum tenue Ranunculus fascicularis * Cassia nictitans* Lespedeza virginica Polygala polygama* Celastrus scandens Opuntia humifusa* Aralia hispida Asclepias verticillata* Isanthus brachiatus Penstemon hirsutus Galium pilosum* Solidago squarrosa Solidago rigida* It is perhaps noteworthy that several of the above species, abun- dant at Blue Hill or at Mount Merino, or, in some cases, on neigh- boring hills, are rare elsewhere in Columbia County or are known from no other locality. Plants designated with an asterisk (*) in the above table belong to this group. A number of species common farther south and west, including Celtis occidentalis and many of the above herbaceous species, seem to be common in a rather re- stricted area in the southern part of Columbia County, especially on the shale slopes near the Hudson River. 9. The association-types of sand flats and gravel bars. This type of habitat, while not extensive in Columbia County, is one of the most interesting to the student of succession, as it affords an opportunity to study the whole successional series, beginning with the earliest pioneers. The sand flats in this area extend along the Hudson River from Nutten Hook north to the head of tidewater. They were produced by dredging operations, begun in 1929, to deepen the main channel of the Hudson. The sand and silt which were dredged up were deposited at various points along the river, so that sand flats up to 400 meters wide extend, with some inter- ruptions, from just north of Nutten Hook to just below Stuyvesant. Others were formed between Columbiaville and Hudson, on the west side of Hotaling and Schodack Islands and between Castleton and Rensselaer. The highest parts of the sand flats are 1 to 2 meters above high tide level. The most intensive studies have been made 334 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM on the area just north of Nutten Hook, and this area will be de- scribed as more or less typical of them all.1 The pioneer species are few, consisting principally of the follow- ing: Cycloloma atriplicifolium Salsola Kali var. tenuifolia Oenothera biennis Xanthium orientale Eragrostis pectinacea T riplasis purpurea Digitaria sanguinalis Cenchrus longispinus Populus deltoides The poplar, the only woody species that appears to be at all suc- cessful, thrives on the sand, but other trees seem unable to grow long enough in the dry upper layers to put roots down to the water table. Around the margins of the sandy areas, where the highest tides sometimes wash, several species of Salix, including S. rigida, S. sericea and the introduced 5'. purpurea, often grow in abundance. The dominant trees of the swamp forest of surrounding low areas along the river, Acer rubrum and Ulmus americana, seed in abun- dantly on the sandy areas, so that hundreds of young elm and maple seedlings may be seen in May and June. These seedlings rarely if ever become established, at least up to the present time. Most of the pioneer species are weedy annuals and biennials which, although they cover the sand with fair completeness during the growing season (figures 14, 56, 57), contribute little toward a permanent ground cover. The high winds which sweep across the flats in winter blow away much of the dead leaves and stalks. Cy- cloloma, an easily blown tumbleweed (figure 14), and several other species are found nowhere else in the Columbia County area outside of these sandy and gravelly flats along the river, and doubtless they represent recent introductions to our flora, perhaps by way of stock cars on the New York Central Railroad or from other sources. Where the sand is not so deep as that shown in the figures re- ferred to above, and the water table is nearer the surface, a number of plants are found locally on the moist sands: Panicum dichotomiflorum Cyperus odoratus Panicum virgatum Cyperus inflexus 1 The account that follows was written in 1940. Rather striking changes took place on the sand flats in the succeeding 5 years, and discussion and photographs of the area have been published (McVaugh, 1947). When I visited the area in 1945 there was little evidence of invasion by native plants, but the poplars which had been 10 to 20 feet high in 1935 had grown into trees of considerable size and the weeds which had dominated the area {Cycloloma, Triplasis, Eragrostis) were no longer present in any abundance. For additional discussion of this, the reader is referred to the article cited above. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 335 Figure 56. Sand flats just north of Nutten Hook. The vegetation consists primarily of two annual grasses, Eragrostis pectinacea and Triplasis purpurea. The black hummocks in the background are plants of Cycloloma. Figure 57. Sand flats north of Nutten Hook. The sand in the foreground is covered by Triplasis purpurea; the young trees in the background are poplars ( Populu-s dcltoides). The picture was taken October 6, 1935, when the trees w7ere 2 to 5 meters in height. 336 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 58. Silvernail Falls, in Roeliff Jansen Kill. Falls of this sort are frequent in the larger creeks of our area. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 337 Scirpus americanus Polygonum punctatum Chenopodium ambrosioides Mollugo verticillata Strophostyles lielvola Cyperus strigosus Acalypha rhomboidea Sonchus arvensis Aster simplex Bidens bidentoides Bidens connata Helenium autumnal e An association of this kind usually becomes dominated by the more vigorous native plants. In wetter places, Scirpus americanus may form almost pure stands, while in slightly dryer situations a Bidens-Helenium-Polygonum-Scirpus-Aster community may arise. The latter is strongly reminiscent of some of the stages in the tidal- marsh successional series and it will doubtless be invaded in its turn by other species. The dry sandy areas, on the other hand, seem destined to be occupied, in the course of time, by a forest of Populus deltoid es. Under the general heading of sand flats may be discussed the gravel bars which occur along streams. These may be deposited in the form of islands in midstream or as marginal bars. The sub- stratum varies from a fine sand to a coarse gravel, with various intermediate conditions. The principal bars of this kind occur along the largest streams, the Kinderhook Creek and the Roeliff Jansen Kill, but smaller ones may be found in almost any creek. Sand and gravel bars are deposited by running water, and so lie at levels between high and low water. They are generally emersed during much of the growing season and support such vegetation as can find a foothold and maintain it during spring floods on the one extreme and summer droughts on the other. The characteristic species of such habitats include a number of weedy plants: Xanthium orientate , Polygonum Persicaria, Amaran- thus retro flexus, Plantago major, Galinsoga ciliata, Echium vulgare and others. Some of the species found there are hardly to be classed as weeds, but are widespread in similar situations : Polanisia graveo- lens, Cyperus inflexus, Chenopodium Botrys, Juncus acuminatus and Melilotus officinalis. A few woody species, including Populus deltoides and Salix rigida, usually become established in a few years, and Plat anus occidentalis may do the same thing. If these species survive flood waters and the scraping of ice for a few years a permanent island or a high bank may be built up. SUMMARY OF THE XERARCH SUCCESSIONAL SERIES AND THEIR PLANT-ASSOCIATIONS Succession in all types discussed is thought to lead to a climax forest of the pine-hemlock-northern hardwood type wherever phys- 338 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM iographic conditions make this possible. Successional stages in this include the oak-hickory or oak-maple woodlands. The earlier stages of succession on the actual rock outcrops are thought to proceed very slowly and it is suggested that in certain cases a physiographic climax type may be reached instead of a climatic one. THE MESARCH SUCCESSIONAL SERIES AND THEIR PLANT ASSOCIATIONS 10. The association-types of ravines and steep hillsides on the water-laid soils. Woodlands approximating those of the slopes along the Hudson River may be found scattered throughout the Hudson Valley on most of the steep sandy, rocky or clay hillsides overlooking the larger streams. The dominant tree species are much the same as those previously discussed with Tsuga most abundant on the steeper slopes. The rich character of the herbaceous vegetation is very similar in both areas. Nowhere is this type of woodland so exten- sive as immediately along the river. Most of the smaller slopes have been pastured or cleared at some time, and they are seemingly some- what less mesophytic than those of the inner river valley. Rich woodland slopes of this sort occur on sandy soils in the valley of the Kinderhook Creek at Kinderhook, on sand and gravel near Niverville, on gravels near West Ghent, on silt just south of Mount Merino in Greenport, and on sand east of Clermont in the valley of the Roeliff Jansen Kill. 11. The association-types of flood plains. Under the term flood plains are included areas, both large and small, which make up the more or less level land along a stream, the soil of which has been derived in part from stream overflow. The soil is usually a fine loam, but may be gravelly or even stony, especially in the small flood plains developed in some of the creeks in hilly regions. The areas of “first-bottom” soils of this sort are mapped by Lewis and Kinsman (1929) as making up about 4.5 percent of the area of Columbia County, much of this being in the valley of Kinderhook Creek from West Lebanon to Stuyvesant Falls. Hundreds of similar areas too small to map exist throughout our area, so that at least 5 or 6 percent of the total acreage has been occupied at one time by flood-plain vegetation. Due to the fact that most such areas are nearly level, with good drainage and good soil, most of them are cultivated or used as meadow or pasture land. A FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 339 number of native and introduced species are generally present in considerable amounts in such meadows: Festuca elatior Poa pratensis Poa palustris Agrostis alba Phleum pratense Anthoxanthum odoratum Carex vidpinoidea Carex stipata Carex scoparia Carex cristatella Carex granulans Carex conoidea Carex lanuginosa Ranuncidus acris Lobelia spicata Rudbeckia hirta Chrysanthemum leucanthe- mum var. pinnatifidum Where a level space along a creek is undisturbed for a few years there commonly develops an association-type similar to the meso- phytic woodlands previously described. The pioneer woody plants are alders (usually Alnus rugosa ), various species of willows ( Salix nigra, the native aborescent willow, or one of several introduced species), Betula populifolia, Platanus occidentalis or, in some cases, the shrubby dogwoods or even red maple and elm. In addition to !the pioneer woody species a number of herbs are usually found in such flood-plain meadows : Carex hirtifolia Luzula multiflora Veratrum viride Allium canadense Erythronium americanum Lilium canadense Polygonatum canaliculatum Sisyrinchium angustifolium Sisyrinchium montanum Anemone canadensis Ranunculus septentrionalis Thalictrum polygamum Along the very banks of the stream, where drainage is apt to be better than farther back from it, a small but very select group of species often flourishes in company with some or most of the fore- going. These include : Viola conspersa Viola cucullata Viola fimbriatula Oenothera perennis Zizia aurea Pastinaca sativa Lysimachia ciliata V eronicastrum virginicum Pedicidaris canadensis Eupatorium maculatum Aster novae-angliae Pteretis pensylvanica Elymus riparius Elymus Wiegandii (Hudson Valley only) Elymus villosus (Hudson Valley only) Elymus virginicus Panicum clandestinum Carex torta Acer saccharinum (Hudson Valley only) Echinocystis lobata Sicyos angidatus Ambrosia triflda (Hudson Valley only) 340 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM As the development of the vegetation of such a meadow pro- gresses, such trees as sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, elm, Ulmus americana, red maple, Acer rubrum, or white ash, Fraxinus ameri- cana, come to be the dominant plants. The lower layers of the asso- ciation come to resemble closely those of the mesophytic forests of the river slopes. This resemblance may be modified to some extent by the fact that some or all of the flood plain may be flooded peri- odically, but it is probable that in time a mesophytic forest will develop there, governed only by the course of the stream and the height of its water. 12. The association-types of rocky stream gorges. There are in the Columbia County area a number of steep-sided rocky ravines, each having a stream flowing through it for at least a part of the year and each supporting a characteristic flora. The nature of the ravine is such that during the warm season the tem- perature is usually lower than that of the surrounding country, and the relative humidity is greater than that of nearby localities on the uplands. In consequence, a steep ravine furnishes a very meso- phytic habitat for plants, and the vegetation is often of a somewhat more mesophytic nature than that of surrounding areas. The climax, however, in eastern North America or other moist regions is not a climatic one but is determined by the nature of the ravine itself. The climax is the most advanced type of vegetation that can find a foothold on the rocky ledges and walls. In the region studied there are two quite distinct series of rocky ravines, which may be discussed separately: a. The ravines along the Hudson River. As explained above (page 236), the river lies in a deep trough, the eastern wall of which con- sists in part of cliffs and in part of steep hillsides. To go from any of the villages or railroad stations which lie at river level back to any point a few miles inland, it is necessary to ascend a steep hill, the vertical ascent varying from 30 to 60 meters. At certain points the larger streams have worn broad valleys ; the Kinderhook Creek, for example, falls to sea level at the river from about 210 meters at New Lebanon in a distance of about 35 miles (56 km.). It drops the last 60 meters in 10 miles over a series of falls, the principal ones being at Valatie, Stuyvesant Falls and Chittenden Falls. The last mile of its course is down a gradual slope (see also figure 58). A number of small streams, on the other hand, some of which may be entirely or nearly dry in summer, run their entire course in a few miles and drop abruptly from the bluffs to the river. In at FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 341 Figure 59. Rocky gorge in the shales about 1 km. Figure 60. Lower end of the gorge shown in figure south of Poelsburg. The stream follows a winding 59. The slopes on both sides are farmed of small course which may be followed nearly to the top of fragments of the rotten shales. A few hemlocks the hill by the small patches of white water. find a foothold in this precarious position. 342 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 61. The mouth of Bashbish Gorge, looking northeast from the summit of Washburn Mountain. The mountain at the right is Bashbish Mountain and that across the gorge is Cedar Mountain. Figure 62. Bashbish Gorge as seen from just north of Copake Falls. The mountains rise abruptly from the lowlands of the Harlem Valley. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 343 least one or two cases the entire drop of about 30 meters is made in a single series of cascades. The amount of water in these streams is so small that the only result of its erosive action to date is the production of narrow gorges cut into the rock underlying the clay soils. Several gorges of this type are found in the town of Stuy- vesant, cut through the Cambrian shales, limestones and conglom- erate. One such gorge occurs at the Columbia-Rensselaer county line and a second less than a mile south of Poelsburg (figure 59). Others occur in the somewhat younger shales in the towns to the southward ; one lies just south of Columbiaville, in the midst of a rich woodland. Still others occur at Cheviot and in the northern part of the town of Germantown. At the extreme northern end of our region, about 3 miles north of Castleton, is another fine example. The steep sides of such ravines and the nearby slopes are usually wooded. As is to be expected, the commonest type of forest is the mesophytic river-slope forest described above. The gorges are cut through these river slopes and are generally surrounded by wood- lands. Most of the steep slopes support a dense growth of hemlock, which in some cases grows to a large size even in seemingly pre- carious positions (figure 60). The shales fragment rather easily, so that the rock is usually exposed in a highly irregular manner. The streams often descend in a series of short cascades. Except near the summit where Polypodium virginianum often forms dense mats, few plants grow on the exposed shales, probably because they are quite rotten and form a very unstable habitat. The little spleenwort, Asplenium Trichomanes, sometimes obtains a foothold, and where a stratum of limestone is exposed the cliff brake, Pellaea atropur- purea, may persist for a time. Below the nearly perpendicular rocks there is usually a good deal of fine shale debris forming a talus slope which may be as much as 7.5 meters high (see right hand slope in figure 60; also figure 55 for a similar slope in a dry situation). This talus slope may be very steep and easily disturbed, so that it is nearly impossible to climb. On such a slope a number of plants find a place ; among these are the hemlocks themselves, the leather-wood, Dirca palustris, two maples, Acer pensylvanicum and A. spicatum, wood nettle, Laportea canadensis, spikenard, Aralia racemosa, and some ferns, including Dryopteris marginalis, Cystopteris jragilis and Asplenium Tricho- manes. In similar situations but on somewhat more stable footing occur the yew, Taxus canadensis, the fly honeysuckle, Lonicera canadensis, and ginseng, Panax quinquefolius. Both black and paper birch ( Betula lenta and B. papyrifera ) may occur in some quantities among the younger hemlocks on the steep slopes. The 344 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM particular interest attached to such a ravine lies in the fact that many of the plants which do well there are quite rare in the surrounding lowlands of the Hudson Valley and common only in the cooler woodlands farther east. b. The ravines and gorges of the highlands east of the Hudson Valley. The rocks in this section are largely schist and quartzite. The average elevation above sea level is greater and the ravines are larger than in the Hudson Valley. Several of the ravines are occupied by permanent streams. The largest and most noted of these ravines is that occupied by Bashbish Brook. The ravine, which is nearly 2 miles long, is partly in the town of Mount Washington, Mass., and partly in Copake. The stream lies nearly 330 meters below the tops of the hills to the north and south (figures 61 and 62). A description of the gorge and stream is given by Hitchcock (1841). Just east of the New York-Massachusetts state line is Bashbish Falls, where Bashbish Brook enters a steep-walled rock gorge and falls about 30 meters in a series of steep cascades and a final vertical drop. The walls of the gorge tower above the stream and support little vegetation, but the steep sides of the ravine both above and below the falls are heavily wooded (figure 61). The stream at this part of its course runs nearly due west and a striking contrast may be seen between the coverings of the north- and south-facing slopes. The lower part of the north-facing slope is covered by a highly mesophytic forest dominated by hemlock and yellow birch, with much Acer pensylvanicum and A. spicatum in the lower layers. The shrubby undergrowth, consisting mostly of Taxus canadensis but with considerable admixture of Viburnum alnifolium, Lonicera canadensis and Sambucus racemosa, is so thick that it is difficult to force a way through (see figure 4, p. 36). Herbaceous vegetation is abundant where it is not excluded by the dense growth of the yew, and consists principally of the following: Dryopteris intermedia Mitella diphylla Dryopteris marginalis Oxalis montana Clintonia borealis Aralia racemosa Streptopus roseus Mosses and lichens are abundant, especially on the frequent boulders and projecting rock shoulders. Much of the rock surface is covered, except in the steepest places, with mats of bryophytes, lichens and the fern Polypodium virginianum. A line-transect cut directly southward from the stream just below Bashbish Falls, near the state line, to the top of Bashbish Mountain would show xerophytism of the vegetation increasing with altitude. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 345 Figure 63. View down Bashbish Gorge, looking west from a point directly above the falls. The hills in the distance are on the west side of the Harlem Valley. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 347 The yew, especially, thins out quickly, and is rarely found more than 60 meters above the stream. The hobblebush may be found in lim- ited amounts nearly to the top, but the undergrowth as a whole is much less dense except near the summit, where Kalmia latifolia or Quercus ilicifolia, or both, form thickets that are 2 to 3 meters high and practically impenetrable. Except in these thickets, herbaceous vegetation is plentiful, with an abundance of the following species : Maianthemum canadense Aralia nudicaulis Cornus canadensis Epigaea repens Lysimachia quadrifolia Trientalis borealis M elampyrnm lineare Aster acuminatus (perhaps the most abundant species) On the upper, dryer slopes the paper birch, Betula papyrifera, largely replaces the hemlocks as the dominant tree. Locally, especially near the top of Bashbish Mountain, there is an association dominated by a group of species including paper birch, black birch ( B . lenta), oaks ( Quercus borealis and Q. Prinus), and red maple ( Acer rub- rum), with the undergrowth made up largely of various members of the Ericaceae, including Kalmia , Vaccinium angustifolium and Gaylussacia baccata. Open grassy clearings covered with a rather sparse growth of Deschampsia flexuosa are frequent and Pteridium latiusculum and Lysimachia quadrifolia are common. Figure 63 shows a view down Bashbish Gorge, looking west ; the conspicuous trunks of the paper birch in the middle distance give some idea of its abundance on the upper slopes. The south-facing slope of the ravine of Bashbish Brook, which is also the southern slope of Cedar Mountain, supports a very dif- ferent group of plants from that just described. The whole side of Cedar Mountain, to within a few hundred feet of the top, is covered by a deciduous forest in which the principal part is played by oaks ( Quercus Prinus with a smaller amount of Q. borealis). Some maple ( Acer saccharum, A. rubrum, A. pensylvanicum) and birches ( Betula lenta, B. papyri] era, B. lutea) are present, as well as some hickory ( Carya glabra). The shrubby and herbaceous growth is essentially that of “dry rocky woods” in acid soils elsewhere in our area: Danthonia spicata Viburnum acerifolium Hamamelis virginiana Aster laevis Aureolaria flava Aster undulatus A ureolaria virginica At about 60 meters from the summit, the open forest gives way to small scrubby trees, principally Quercus Prinus. The terrain becomes increasingly rocky, with little or no soil over large areas. At the sum- 348 NEW YORK STATE MIUSEUM mit the chestnut oak is largely replaced by an association of Quercus ilicifolia and Pinus rigida. The contrast between the two slopes of the gorge seems very great, both to the botanist and to the casual observer. The tangled under- growth of the slope of Bashbish Mountain is strikingly different from the relatively dry open south slope of Cedar Mountain. The plant- associations of the two slopes are, as has been pointed out, very differ- ent in character, the differences evidently being due to the exposures, north and south respectively. The ravine as a whole is of special interest, but particularly so on the lower slopes of Bashbish Mountain not only because of the relatively mature mesophytic plant association-type found there but also because of the presence of a number of plants not found on the surrounding mountain slopes nor in nearby woodlands, plants char- acteristic for the most part of more northern latitudes or of higher altitudes. Like conditions and like flora are found in our area only near the summit of Mount Everett and on the high hills adjacent to the Rensselaer Plateau. Examples of these species which are mostly rare elsewhere in Columbia County are: Dryopteris disjuncta, Strep- topus amplexifolius, Sagina procumbens and Oxalis montana. The ravine occupied by Bashbish Brook is more spectacular than any other similar ravine in our area because of its great size. Very similar conditions may be found, however, on a smaller scale along almost every stream that descends from the Taconic Mountains to the Hudson Valley. Steep ravines are cut out by the outlet of Berry Pond, in Hancock; by streams running off the west side of Perry Peak, in Canaan ; by several brooks emptying into Green River near Austerlitz ; by small tributaries of Bashbish Brook which have their sources on or near Mount Alander near the line between Ancram and Copake ; and by numerous smaller watercourses. A description of one of these ravines is that of Bashbish Gorge in miniature: a rocky stream bed between steep walls of acidic schist and quartzite; the north-facing slope often dominated by hemlocks and the south- facing one by oaks, sugar maple and occasional birch ; the hemlock forest relatively moist, supporting a rich vegetation of ferns and mesophytic herbs ; the oak, maple and birch forest tending to be dry, with numerous hardy shrubs like Vaccinium and Gaylussacia; the lowest slopes of the ravine, near the stream, often supporting Dryopteris Phegopteris, Gentiana clausa, Cystopteris fragilis, La- portea canadensis, Carex scabrata and Tiarella cordifolia. It is in ravines of this kind and on the adjoining, less steeply sloping areas that species of boreal affinities are most often found FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 349 in Columbia County. At altitudes of 300 meters or more, in the eastern highlands of this area, a number of plants are found which are rare in the Hudson Valley or entirely absent, but which are common a little farther north on the Rensselaer Plateau and still farther north in the Adirondacks : Dryopteris disjuncta Dryoptens Phegopteris Taxus canadensis China latifolia Luzula carolinae Lilium philadelphicum Clintonia borealis Streptopus amplexifolius Streptopus roseus Trillium undulatum Cypripedium acaule Corylus cornuta Claytonia caroliniana Stellaria calycantha Sagina procumbens Oxalis montana Viola rotundifolia Circaea alpina Gentiana quinquefolia Viburnum alnifolium Sambucus racemosa Aster acuminatus The appearance in these ravines of a number of “northern” spe- cies not found elsewhere in the immediate vicinity leads to speculation as to the reasons for their presence here. If, as has been suggested several times in the course of this study, the climax forest over all the region was similar to that described at Colebrook by Nichols (see above, page 306), it is then probable that many of these species were prominent in the virgin forest (compare description of Bash- bish gorge, p. 344). It follows, then, that when the timber was cut from the ravines and gorges a number of the lower layer plants of the climax associations were able to survive the lumbering process only in the relatively cool moist habitat provided by the deeper ravines, and not on the adjoining slopes where they had existed be- fore the removal of the forest cover. It should be pointed out, however, that the distribution of this group of species, and that of a large number of others, is closely correlated with the distribution of the most strongly acid soils in Columbia County ; it is correlated as well with higher altitudes, with a shorter growing season and possibly with other factors, and the explanation proposed here may be far too simple. 350 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 64. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Pellaea atropurpurea, which is confined to out- crops of limestone rock. The distribu- tion of this and a small group of other species is almost exactly that of the limestone outcrops. Figure 66. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Parnassia glauca. This species is unknown in the area except in the calcareous marshes of the Harlem Valley and in a similar habitat in the town of Kinderhook. Figure 65. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Sarracenia purpurea, a species characteristic of bogs. Figure 67. Map of Columbia County, showing the known distribution of the hemlock, Tsuga canadensis. This species is widely distributed and occurs in nearly every mature woodland in the entire area. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 351 GEOGRAPHICAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE FLORA THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES WITHIN THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA As is brought out above (pp. 236 and figures 22-24), the area is divided into two rather well marked and nearly equal portions by the boundary which separates the nearly unchanged rocks of the Hud- son Valley proper and the metamorphic rocks of the eastern half of the area. The eastern and western portions of the Columbia County area differ considerably in soils, topography and climate. As is to be expected, differences in vegetation accompany the other differences. Most of the species of plants prove to have definite ranges even in such a small area. In the case of species restricted to certain habitats such as bogs, limestone rocks or lakes, a map of the distribution of the habitat is identical with that of the distribution of the species (figures 64—66). In the case of species of ordinary upland soils, or the species of moist lowland situations, for which suitable habitats are widespread, the types of distribution found are about as follows : 1. Species occurring throughout the area. This includes many of the plants designated as “frequent” and “common” in the system- atic account of species. A typical range of this kind is that of the hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, as shown in figure 67. Between 400 and 450 native species belong in this group. Following is a list of the principal native species and varieties occurring throughout the Columbia County area and found in most of the suitable habitats in that range. These are designated as “common.” Lycopodium obscurum Equisetum arvense Botrychium virginianum Osmund a cirmamomea Osmunda regalis Onoclea sensibilis Polystichum acrostichoides Dryopteris marginalis Dryopteris Thelypteris Athyrium angustum Pteridium latiusculum Adiantum pedatum Polypodium virginianum Pinus Strobus Pinus rigida Tsuga canadensis Typha latifolia Potamogeton amplifolius Potamogeton illinoensis Potamogeton zosteriformis Najas flexilis Sagittaria latifolia Anacharis canadensis Festuca obtusa 352 NEW YORK STATE MIUSEUM Glyceria grandis Glyceria melicaria Glyceria striata Poa palustris Eragrostis pectinacea Elymus virginicus Hystrix patula Danthonia spicata Calamagrostis canadensis Agrostis Jiyemalis Oryzopsis raceniosa Aristida dichotoina Phalaris arundinacea Leersia oryzoides Leersia virginica Panicum linearifolium Echinochloa crusgalli Andropogon scoparius Cyperus rivularis Eleocharis obtusa Scirpus atrovirens Scirpus cyperimis Car ex vidpinoidca Carex scoparia Car ex stipata Carex pensylvanica Carex platyphylla Carex gracillima Carex hirsutella Carex strict a Carex crinita Carex comosa Carex lurida Carex intumescens Arisaema triphyllum Le-mna minor J uncus effusus Juncus tenuis Juncus acuminatus Luzula multiflora Uvularia perfoliata Uvidaria sessilifolia Lilium cainadense Erytlironium americanum Maianthemutn canadense Smilacina racemosa Polygonatum pubescens Medeola virginiana Trillium erectutn Smilax herbacea Iris versicolor Habenaria psy codes Spiranthes gracilis Corallorhiza gracilis Jteglans cinerea Carya glabra Popidus trenmloides Salix rigida Salix sericea Salix discolor Ostrya virginiana Carpinus caroliniana Betula lenta Bettda popidifolia Alnus serrulata Aimes rugosa Fagus grandifolia Castanea dentata Quercus alba Quercus Primes Quercus borealis Ulmus americana Pilea piemila Boehmeria cylindrica Asa rum canadense Polygonum arifolium Polygonum punctatum Polygonum sagittatiem Polygonum virginiamem Polygonum amphibium Paronychia canadensis Ceratophylliem demersum Nymphaea odorata Niepliar advena Ramenaelus abortivus Ranunculus reciervatus Ranunculus septentrionalis Thalictrum dioiciem Thalictrum polygamum Anemonella thalictroides Hepatica americana Anemone virginiana Anemone quinqieefolia Clematis virginiana Caltha palustris Aquilegia canadensis Actaea alba Lindera Benzoin Sangieinaria canadensis Lepidium virginicum Rorippa islandica Cardamine pensylvanica Dentaria diphylla Dentaria laciniata FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 353 Penthorum sedoides Saxifraga virginiensis Mitella diphylla Hamamelis virginiana Spiraea latifolia Spiraea foment osa Fragaria virginiana Potentilla simplex Potentilla norvegica Geum canadense Geum laciniatum Agrimonia gryposepala Rubus idaeus Rubus occidentalis Rubus odoratus Rubus allegheniensis Rubus flagellaris Rubus hispidus Amelanchier arborea Crataegus macrosperma Prunus pensylvanica Primus serotina Prunus virginiana Baptisia tinctoria Desmodium glutinosum Desmodium nudiflorum Lespedeza intermedia Amphicarpa bracteata Geranium macidatum Oxalis europaea Polygala paucifolia Polygala verticillata Euphorbia vermiculata Rhus Vernix Rhus Toxicodendron Rhus typhina Celastrus scandens Acer rubrum Acer sac char um hnpatiens capensis Tilia americana Vitis riparia Parthenocissus quinquefolia Hypericum punctatum Hypericum mutilum Hypericum virginicum Lechea intermedia Viola fimbriatula Viola pubescens Viola palmata Viola papilionacea Viola blanda Viola conspersa Viola pensylvanica Ludwigia palustris Epilobium leptophyllum Epilobium coloratum Epilobium glandulosum Oenothera biennis Oenothera perennis Circaea quadrisulcata A r alia nudicaulis Sanicula marilandica Hydrocotyle americana Cicuta bulbifera Sium suave Cryptotaenia canadensis Zizia aurea Cornus racemosa Cornus Amomum Cornus stolonifera Monotropa uniflora Rhododendron nudiflorum Vaccinium angustifolium Vaccinium vacillans Lysimachia ciliata Lysimachia quadrifolia Fraxinus americana Apocynum androsaemifoliufn Apocynum cannabinum Asclepias syriaca Convolvulus sepium Cuscuta Gronovii Verbena hastata Verbena urticifolia Scutellaria lateriflora Scutellaria epilobiifolia Prunella vulgaris Hedeoma pulegioides Lycopus americanus Mentha arvensis C ollinsonia canadensis Chelone glabra Mimulus ringens Gratiola neglecta M elampyrum lineare Pedicularis canadensis U tricularia vulgaris Galium circaezans Galium triflorum Mitchella repens Diervilla Lonicera 354 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Lonicera dioica Viburnum acerifolium Viburnum recognitum Sambucus canadensis Triodanis perfoliata Lobelia inflata Lobelia spicata Eupatorium perfoliatum Eupatorium macidatum Eupatorium purpureum Eupatorium rugosum Solidago altissima Solidago arguta Solidago bicolor Solidago caesia Solidago gramini folia Solidago juncea Solidago nemoralis Solidago rugosa Aster cordifolius Aster divaricatus Aster laevis Aster puniceus Aster undulatus Aster lateriflorus Aster simplex Erigeron annuus Erigeron canadensis Erigeron strigosus Antennaria canadensis Antennaria plantag ini folia Antennaria neglecta Antennaria neodioica Anaplialis margaritacea Gnaphalium obtusifolium Ambrosia artemisiifolia Rudbeckia laciniata H elianthus divaricatus Bidens cernua Bidens f rondos a Bidens vulgata Achillea Millefolium Xanthium orientale Prenanthes alba Hieracium paniculatum Hieracium venosum Following is a list of the principal native species and varieties occurring throughout the Columbia County area and found, for the most part, in 50 to 75 percent of the suitable habitats. These are designated as “frequent.” Lycopodium lucidulum Lycopodium complanatum Selaginella rupestris Isoetes echinospora Equisetum hyemale Botrychium dissectum Osmunda Claytoniana Dennstaedtia punctilobula IVoodsia ilvensis Woodsia obtusa Cystopteris fragilis Dryopteris cristata Dryopteris intermedia Dryopteris noveboracensis Asplenium platyneuron AspleniumT richomanes Athyrium thelypteroides Sparganium americanum Sparganium chlorocarpum Potamogeton nodosus Potamogeton natans Potamogeton Spirillus Potamogeton gramineus Potamogeton praelongus Bromus ciliatus Bromus pubescens Glyceria canadensis Glyceria pallida Eragrostis capillaris Sphenopholis intermedia Deschampsia flexuosa Sporobolus vaginiflorus Brachyelytrum erectum Agropyron subsecundum Elymus riparius Muhlenbergia sobolifera Panicum linearifolium var. Werneri Panicum latifolium Cyperus esculentus Cyperus strigosus Dulichium arundinaceum Eleocharis acicularis Eleocharis calva Eleocharis elliptica FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 355 Scirpus validus Eriophorum viridi-carinatum Carex rosea Carex cephalophora Carex annectens var. xanthocarpa Carex artitecta Carex communis Carex hirtifolia Carex digitalis Carex blanda Carex granularis Carex pallescens Carex Swanii Carex rostrata Spirodela polyrhiza Eriocaulon septangulare Heteranthera dubia Juncus tenuis var. Dudleyi Juncus secundus Juncus marginatus Juncus nodosus Juncus brachycephalus Juncus canadensis Juncus brevicaudatus Veratrum viride Allium tricoccum Allium canadense Hypoxis hirsuta Sisyrinchium angustif olium Sisyrinchium montanum Cypripedium Calceolus Orchis spectabilis Habenaria lacera Sbiranthes cernua Liparis Loeselii Salix humilis Salix nigra Salix serissima Carya ovata Quercus bicolor Populus grandidentata Populus deltoides Urtica dioica Laportea canadensis Comandra umbellata Polygonum pensylvanicum Caulophyllum thalictroides Arabis laevigata Ribes americanum Ribes Cynosbati Platanus occidentalis Fragaria vesca Potentilla argentea Potentilla canadensis Waldsteinia fragarioides Geum aleppicum Rosa Carolina Apios americana Callitriche palustris Ilex verticillata Acer pensylvanicum Ceanothus americanus Vitis Labrusca Viola sororia Viola cucullata Viola pallens Dirca palustris Aralia racemosa Panax trifolius Osmorhiza Claytoni Cornus alternifolia Cornus rugosa Kalmia angustif olia Vaccinium stamineum Lysimachia terrestris Fraxinus nigra Asclepias incarnata Asclepias quadrifolia Satureja vulgaris Pycnanthemum tenuif olium Pycnanthemum virginianum Lycopus uniflorus Veronica americana Veronica scutellata Aureolaria virginica Epifagus virginiana Phryma Leptostachya Galium asprellum Galium lanceolatum Cephalanthus occidentalis T riosteum perfoliatum Viburnum Lentago Campanula rotundifolia Campanula aparinoides Solidago pa-tula Solidago gigantea Aster Schreberi Aster macrophyllus Aster ericoides Erigeron philadelphicus Erigeron pulchellus Sericocarpus aster oides 356 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Antennaria munda Gnaphalinm uliginosum Helianthus decapetalns Erechtites hieracifolia Senecio aureus Cirsium muticum Cirsium pumilum Lactuca canadensis Lactuca biennis Prenanthes trifoliolala 2. Species abundant in the Hudson Valley but rare in or absent from the metamorphic region to the east. In most cases the members of this group occur also in the limestone region of the Harlem Valley but usually not in the high hills immediately to the east of it. The dividing line between the two halves of the county is not a sharp one, but species characteristic of the lowland areas of the Hudson Valley are ordinarily not found very far east of a line marked roughly by the 600-foot contour line (see figure 22), except in the Harlem Valley. At the eastern edge of the Har- lem Valley, however, the break is a much sharper one; species common on the shale and limestone knolls of the valley may be quite absent on schistose rocks in the uplands a mile away. Distribution of this sort may be illustrated by the range of the hackberry, Celtis occidentals, and the juniper, Juniperus virginiana (figures 68, 69). About 100 species fall into this group, with a considerable number of others having a similar but more restricted range in the county. Typical of this latter sort are Cyperus filiculmis, which occurs locally on sandy and shaly knolls at low elevations, the arbor-vitae, Thuja occidentals, which is restricted to the shale bluffs in the immediate vicinity of the Hudson River, and the trefoil, Lotus corniculatus, which is confined to clay soils in the Hudson Valley (figures 70-72). Following is a list of the principal species and varieties character- istic of the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. These are rare in or absent from the region of metamorphic rocks in the eastern and north- eastern parts of the Columbia County area. Dryopteris hexagonoptera Juniperus virginiana Alisma sub cor datum Bromus purgans Elymus villosus Elymus canadensis Elymus Wiegandii Cinna arundinacea Panicum clandestinum Panicum Gattingeri Panicum lanuginosum var. fasci- culatum Panicum virgatum Cyperus filiculmis Carex retroflexa Carex sparganioides Carex tribid oides Carex cristatella Carex gracilescens Carex conoidea Carex amphibola Carex lanuginosa Carex squarrosa Carex retrorsa Carex Grayii Carex lupulina Symplocarpus foetidus Peltandra virginica Acorus Calamus Pontederia cor data FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 357 Polygonatum canaliculatum Sanicula canadensis Trillium cernnum Sanicula gregaria Carya tomentosa Taenidia integerrima Carya cordiformis Zizia aptera Corylus americana Cicuta maculata Ulmus rubra Cornus florida Celtis occidentalis Nyssa sylvatica Moms rubra Fraxinus pennsylvanica Quercus velutina Gentiana Andrewsii Polygonum scandens Myosotis laxa Phytolacca americana Hackelia virginiana Ranunculus hispidus T richostema dichotomum Anemone canadensis Physalis heterophylla Cimicifuga racemosa Lindernia dubia subsp. major Liriodendron Tidipifcra Scrophularia lanceolata Menispermum canadense Penstemon hirsutus Podophyllum peltatum Mimulus alatus Sassafras albidum Veronicastrum virginicum Cardamine bulbosa Aureolaria pedicularia Arabis canadensis Gerardia tenuifolia Arabis lyrata Galium Aparine Polanisia gravcolens Sicyos angulatus Physocarpus opulifolius Echinocystis lobata Amelanchier humilis Lobelia Cardinalis Cassia hebecarpa Lobelia siphilitica Amiphicarpa bracteata var. comosa Mikania scandens Strophostyles lielvola Eupatorium fistulosum Desmodium canadense Solidago ulmi folia Lespedeza capitata Aster novae-angliac Acalypha rhomboidea Aster patens Euphorbia maculata Aster pilosus Rhus aromatica Aster infirmus Rhus glabra Ambrosia trifida Staphylea tri folia Heliopsis helianthoides Acer saccharinum Bidens connata Hypericum pyramidatum Helenium autumnal e Hypericum gentianoides Cirsium discolor Cuphea petiolata Krigia virginica 3. Species abundant in the eastern half of the area, in the region of metamorphic rocks, but rare in or absent from the Hudson Valley. These plants are rather less restricted in range than those of the group just discussed; many of them may be found very locally at isolated spots throughout the Hudson Valley, where they seem to represent relics of the old climax forest (see discus- sion, p. 366). They reach a considerable abundance, however, only in the hilly regions along the eastern edge of the county and are rarely found west of the boundary indicated by the 600-foot con- tour. In this group there are somewhat fewer than 100 species. I I 358 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 68. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Juniperus virginiana. This tree is abundant throughout the Hudson Valley, par- ticularly on clay soils, and extends into the Harlem Valley, but is rare or absent in the northern and eastern parts of the area. Figure 70. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Cyperus filiculmis. This species is confined to sand and shale knolls in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Figure 69. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Celtis oc- cidentalis, a species which is most abundant in the lower Hudson Valley, extending into the Harlem Valley and northward along the Hudson River. Figure 71. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Thuja oc- cidentalis. With one exception, an oc- currence on Becraft Mountain, this species is confined to the bluffs and swamps along the Hudson River. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 359 Figure 72. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Lotus cor- niculatus, an introduced species which, in our area, is almost wholly confined to the clay soils of the Hudson Valley. Figure 73. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Circaea alpina, a species of cool shaded situa- tions in the region of metamorphic rocks. Figure 74. Map of Columbia County, Figure 75. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Pyrola showing the distribution of Clintonia elliptica. This species occurs abun- borealis. This species is confined to dantly on the acid soils at higher ele- the region of metamorphic rocks in vations in the region of metamorphic the eastern part of the area, at eleva- rocks, but is rare in the Hudson Valley. tions of 300 meters or more. 360 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM A good example of the general eastern range is furnished by the distribution of Pyrola elliptica or that of Circaea alpina (figures 73,74). In the eastern and northeastern parts of our region, at elevations of 1,000 feet (300 meters) or more, there may be recognized a con- siderable group of species having the same type of range as the above but much restricted. Such plants are rather closely confined to the eastern tier of towns, often ranging south to the gorge of Bashbish Brook in the town of Copake. An excellent example is Clintonia borealis, the dogberry (figure 75). Following is a list of the principal species and varieties character- istic of the region of metamorphic rocks in the eastern and north- eastern parts of the Columbia County area. These are rare or local in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Lycopodium clavatum Corylus cornuta Lycopodium annotinum Betula papyrifera Lycopodium tristachyum Bctula lutea Dryopteris disjuncta Qucrcus ilicifolia Dryopteris Phegopteris Polygonum cilinode Dryopteris spinulosa Cerastium arvense Poa alsodes Sagina procumbens Poa saltuensis Claytonia caroliniana Danthonia compressa Coptis groenlandica Cinna latifolia Corydalis sempervirens Muhlenberg ia glomerata Card-amine parviflora Muhlenbergia tenui flora Saxifraga pensylvanica Muhlenbergia mexicana Tiarella cordifolia Orysopsis asperifolia Clirysosplenium americanum Panicum lanuginosum var. impli- Rubus pubescens cation Sorbus americana Carex aestivalis Aronia melanocarpa Car ex arctata Amelanchier l-aevis Carex argyrantha Oxalis montana Carex laxiculmis Acer spicatum Carex leptonervia Viola rostrata Carex pedunculata Viola rotundifolia Carex prasina Viola septentrionalis Carex radiata Epilobium angustifolium Carex scab rata Circaea alpina Carex torta Cornus canadensis Luzula carolinae Pyrola rotundifolia Lilium philadelphicum Pyrola elliptica Clintonia borealis Chimaphila umbellata Streptopus roseus Kalmia latifolia Trillium undulatum Lyonia ligustrina Cypripedium acaule Epigaea re pens Coniptonia peregrina Gaultheria procumbens Salix Bcbbiana Vaccinium myrtilloides FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 361 Vaccinium corytnbosum Gaylussacia baccata Trientalis borealis Gentiana clausa Gentiana quinquefolia Asclepias exaltata Monarda fistulosa Aureolaria flava Galium tinctorium Galium trifidum Houstonia caerulea Viburnum alnifolium Viburnum Opulus Lonicera canadensis Sambucus racemosa Aster acuminatus Senecio obovatus 4. Species confined to the bare rocky summits of the hills in a small area including the eastern edge of the towns of Copake, Ancram and Northeast and the adjacent parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut (for lists of species, see text, p. 324). Although few species are concerned, the type of vegetation in question is so distinct and its range so restricted that it seems worthy of illus- trations. The general area in question may be seen by referring to the topographic map on page 237. Its extent is roughly that included within the 1,500-foot contour line. See also figure 76, which illus- trates the range of Potentilla tridentata. Figure 76. Map of Columbia County, Figure 77. Map of Columbia County, showing the distribution of Potentilla showing the distribution of Acnida tridentata. This species, in this area, cannabina, a species confined to the is confined to the high rocky summits tidal marshes of the Hudson estuary, of the Taconics in New York and ad- jacent Massachusetts and Connecticut. 5. Species confined to the tidal marshes of the Hudson Estu- ary and their borders. As discussed previously, this group in- cludes some 45 species, whose distribution may be illustrated by 362 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM that of Acnida cannabina (figure 77) (for lists of species, see text, p. 274). There is, to be sure, a great deal of overlapping among the vari- ous types of distribution. On the whole, however, when a species becomes well enough known in the county so that one is able to discuss it adequately, in the majority of cases it may be arbitrarily assigned to one of the above categories. In general it may be said that the species characteristic of the Hudson Valley proper have, in large part, the approximate centers of their geographical ranges in the region of the deciduous forest, while the species which are more abundant eastward are most likely to be identified with the range of the eastern hemlock region as a whole. THE FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA IN RELATION TO THE FLORA OF NEW YORK STATE AS A WHOLE Local patterns of plant distribution, as exemplified by those in the Columbia County area, form a part of the general pattern of the vegetation of New York State. The factors which limit the ranges of species may be complex ones, but in general the principal ones are those of climate, of soil, and those relating to the history of the region. In New York the development of the vegetation has presumably been relatively recent, since the retreat of the glaciers. The influence of the soil on plant distribution is not easily distin- guished from that of climatic factors, for in New York the physio- graphic and climatic provinces coincide approximately with soil re- gions. Highland or mountain areas are approximately the same as the areas in which acid soils predominate, so that one cannot char- acterize any individual species as a mountain plant without inferring that its usual habitat is a somewhat acid soil. Whatever factors may have contributed to the formation of the pattern, the distribution of many species of plants in New York is shown in figure 78, which is a composite map based on the records in the herbarium of the New York State Museum. The 74 species whose ranges were plotted on the map are those which in the Colum- bia County area are widespread and characteristic species in the Hudson Valley, but rare or lacking eastward. Differences in eleva- tion are indicated on the map by shading; elevations below 1,000 feet are shaded. The composite map shows for these species a tendency toward concentration in lowland areas throughout the State, as contrasted to a scarcity of stations in the highlands. The species are well FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 363 Figure 78. Composite map of the distribution in New York State of the following species, based on the records at the Herbarium of the New York State Museum: Asplenium plat y neuron Asplenium Trichomanes Juniperus virginiana Typha angustifolia Sparganium eurycarpum Alisma subcordatum Vallisneria americana Cinna arundinacea Bouteloua curtipendula Sorghastrum nutans Cyperus filiculmis Arisaema Dracontium Peltandra virginica^ Symplocarpus foetidus Acorus Calamus Lilium canadense Smilacina stellata Carya tomentosa Carya cordifortnis Corylus americana Quercus velutina Ulmus rubra Celtis occidentalis Morus rubra Phytolacca americana Ranunculus flabellaris Ranunculus fascicularis Ranunculus hispidus Anemone canadensis Cimicifuga racemosa TJriodendron Tulipifera Menispermum canadense Podophyllum peltatum Sassafras albidum Cardamine bidbosa Arabis canadensis Ribes americanum Physocarpus opulifolius Cassia hebecarpa Cassia nic titans Polygala polygama Rlius aromatica Staphylea tri folia Acer saccharinum Hypericum pyramidatum Opuntia humifusa Ludwigia alternifolia Sanicula canadensis Sanicula gregaria Taenidia integerrima Comus florida Nyssa sylvatica Chimaphila maculata Fraxinus pennsylvanica Asclepias verticillata Myosotis laxa Teucrium canadense Isanthus brachiatus Stachys tenuifolia Penstemon hirsutus Mimulus alatus V eronicastrum virgin icum Aureolaria pedicularia Pedicularis lanceolata Sambucus canadensis Sicyos angulatus Lobelia siphilitica Mikania scandens Solidago speciosa Solidago rigida Ambrosia trifida Heliopsis helianthoides Helenium autumnale Krigia virginica 364 NEW YORK STATE MIUSEUM distributed on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley, along the Mohawk Valley and in the Erie-Ontario-Mohawk plain (for a map of the physiographic subregions of New York, see Howe, 1935). The same species are known also in the St. Lawrence and Champlain low- lands as well as in the southern counties from Steuben County westward (this part of the State is technically the northernmost ex- tension of the Appalachian Plateau). Some imperfections in the map may be noted. More than ordinary concentrations of dots are seen about well-collected regions like the vicinity of Rochester, Buffalo and Allegany State Park in southern Cattaraugus County. Conversely, Allegany County itself is perhaps the least known botanically of any county in the State, and intensive collecting there would no doubt reveal a number of the species here plotted. The Catskill and Adirondack regions, however, have been rather extensively worked over by botanical collectors, especially the latter region, so that the map probably shows fairly well the true state of affairs for this part of the State. The same is true of the Hudson Valley, which, with the possible exception of parts of Dutchess County, has been more thoroughly collected. Allowing for the imperfections of our knowledge and of the method, it appears that a considerable group of species is well dis- tributed in lowland areas of New York State, including the territory north and west of the Adirondacks, but that the same species are not found to any extent in the more mountainous regions. Comparison of the figure just discussed with the next one (figure 79) will make evident the fact that this range corresponds roughly (except for the lower Hudson Valley and Long Island) with the distribution of lime- containing soils in New York. This figure shows clearly the acid soil region of the Adirondack Highland (A), the Tug Hill Plateau (B) and the Catskill-Pocono Highland (C). It also brings out the fact that the Northern Appalachian Plateau (D) has in general a similar type of soil. The extreme southwestern counties of the State, although shown in black on the map, lie in a region of less limy soil than that of central New York. The reverse distribution may be illustrated by a composite map of the range of nine species which occur, in Columbia County, almost wholly at elevations above 1,000 feet in the eastern part of the area. Comparison of this map (figure 80) with the map of the 74 lowland species (figure 78) brings out the contrast between the two types of ranges. The more boreal species are concentrated in the Adiron- dack and Catskill regions, the Tug Hill Plateau and the highlands of Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties. They are absent from Long TLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 365 the General Soil Map of New York, compiled by F. B. Howe, Department of Agronomy, Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1933). Principal areas of lime- containing soils are shown in black. Island except for one doubtful record from Nassau County, rare in the Hudson Valley and along Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. As in the former map, there appears to be an undue concentration of dots around Ithaca and perhaps also in Rensselaer and Albany Counties, but, allowing for these and for the small number of species con- cerned, the map is thought to represent this type of distribution fairly accurately. The above discussion may be summarized briefly as follows : the flora of the highland areas of New York may be segregated quite sharply from that of the lowland areas. The highland areas coincide approximately with areas of predominantly acid soils. The species of the lowland, ordinarily calcareous soils include a large percentage of those characteristic of the Hudson Valley part of Columbia County. Species of the more acid soils of the highlands of New York, 366 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Figure 80. 'Composite map of the distribution in New York State of the following species, based on the records at the Herbarium of the New York State Museum: Dryopteris disjuncta, Lycopodium annotinum, Clintonia borealis, Streptopus roseus, Trillium undulatum, Sorbus americana, Oxalis montana, Cornus canadensis and Viburnum alnifolium (see text, p. 364) if present in Columbia County, tend to be concentrated in the eastern half of the region rather than in the Hudson Valley. THE CLIMAX VEGETATION The climax vegetation of the part of southeastern New York which includes Columbia County has been generally stated to be a deciduous forest. Shreve (1917), followed by Livingston & Shreve (1921), maps the entire eastern section of the Hudson Valley as a part of the great deciduous forest which reaches its best development in the Appalachian Mountains. Climatically, Livingston & Shreve FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 367 include Columbia County in their “cool, semihumid” province of the United States; that is, where the number of days of the frostless season varies from 120 to 180 and the precipitation-evaporation ratio for the growing season ranges from a value of 0.6 to 1.0. Merriam (1894, 1898) places the western half of Columbia County (approxi- mately what is here designated as the Hudson Valley) in his Carol- inian Zone. The affinities of the flora and fauna he considers to be with the Appalachian-Ozark region. The eastern half of the county is placed by Merriam in his Transition Zone; that is, with the life intermediate in character between that of the Carolinian and Boreal. The affinity of the life of the Hudson Valley to that of the deciduous forest region is thus generally recognized. Bray (1915) elaborates upon Merriam’s thesis of temperature con- trol of the distribution of plants and animals, and suggests several life zones for New York in particular. His Zone “B” includes all of the territory in our section east of the Hudson River. This zone is said to be characterized especially by the dominance of oaks, hickories, chestnut and tulip-tree; that is, by characteristic species of the deciduous forest. Zone “C” of Bray, his “Alleghany-Transition Forest Zone,” said to be characterized by the dominance of sugar maple, beech, yellow birch, hemlock and white pine, is not shown to occur in Columbia County. Analysis of available evidence indicates that the actual climax or climaxes occurring in our area are somewhat less closely related to the typical Appalachian deciduous forest than has been generally stated. Many characteristic Appalachian or Mississippi Valley species do not occur within the limits of our region. Examples of this are: Quercus stellata, Ashnina triloba, Hydrangea arborescens, Cercis canadensis, Gymnocladus dioica and Gleditsia triacanthos. Many other species of similar affinities reach Columbia County only spar- ingly, and then only in the lowlands of the Hudson and Harlem Valleys: Carya tomentosa, Quercus velutina, Celtis occidentalis, Morus rubra, Liriodendron Tulipifera and Nyssa sylvatica, to name arboreal species only. On the other hand, the lists of trees and forest-floor herbaceous species given by Bray under Zone C (the “Alleghany-Transition Forest Zone”) read like the enumerations of the common and widely distributed species of Columbia County. It is apparent from these figures that, as far as can be determined from Bray’s data, the characteristic species of Zone C, the “Alle- ghany-Transition Forest Zone,” are much more generally present and widely distributed in Columbia County than those of any other of his life zones. On the other hand, over 70 percent of the plants cited 368 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Table 21 Distribution of Indicator Species Cited by Bray (1915) for Zones B, C, D and E. OCCURRENCE IN COLUMBIA COUNTY ZONE B ZONE C ZONE D ZONE E Generally distributed 22% 75% 26% 0 Found eastward and northeastward only Found in Hudson and Harlem Valleys 6 15 60 62.5% only 29 3 0 0 Absent from flora or doubtful 43 7 14 37.5 100 100 100 100 Total number of species cited by Bray 49 60 27 16 under Zone B are absent from the flora entirely or occur only in the Hudson and Harlem Valleys. Further inspection of the table indicates that our area must be considered as a tension zone or transition zone between a climax type like Zone B (still using Bray’s terminology) and one like Zone D. Indicator species of Zone D are most highly developed at the greatest elevations eastward and northeastward, while those of Zone B are most frequent in the Hudson Valley. This idea of a tension zone was indeed included in Merriam’s work, where the Hudson Valley was considered the northernmost extension of the Carolinian Zone. Bray himself indicates that his distinctions may be too arbitrary in nature and that more detailed local study is needed. It seems probable that the forest climax in the Hudson Valley part of Columbia County closely approximates the “Lake Forest” of Weaver and Clements (1929). The dominant trees are said to be white pine, hemlock and red pine with one of the two first-named species often forming nearly pure stands; the pitch pine (P. rigida ) is said to enter the community southward. In the Hudson Valley as here considered, practically any mature woodland shows a heavy preponderance — both in size and in number of individuals — of white pine and hemlock. The latter tends to become dominant in older stands, as mentioned above, while white pine will take over large areas quickly, often forming nearly pure stands of young trees. In age, mixed stands of white pine and hemlock often contain a few trees each of red pine and pitch pine. The relation to the deciduous forest is shown by the presence, even in mature stands like the one described above (p. 306), of relatively small percentages of such trees as Quercus alba and Q. borealis, Fagus grandifolia, Acer sac- FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 369 charum and A. rubrum, Betula lenta , Carya ovata and C. glabra , and Fraxinus americana. At the present time, hemlock-white pine forests make up the bulk of the existing mature or nearly mature stands throughout the county. They are well represented even at higher elevations such as the steep mountainside above the old Shaker settlement at Mount Lebanon. Here, at 450-540 meters elevation, the hemlock and pine predominate, with occasional red oak and mature paper birch intermingled. If the county area is to be considered as a whole, it appears that the general climax is a white pine and hemlock forest, with small percentages of various deciduous trees, little undergrowth and generally acid conditions on the forest floor. It is suggested in the preceding pages that there is some possibility of a “tension zone” between the deciduous forest climax of the eastern United States and the evergreen Canadian forest. The former is dominated by relatively long-lived trees, including such species as tulip poplar, beech, several species of oaks and hickories, black cherry, magnolia and formerly chestnut. The forest usually com- prises several well marked layers of arboreal, shrubby and herbaceous species, and is characterized by a wealth of species. North of the boundaries of the deciduous forest, and extending in a great belt from southern Labrador and the Maritime Provinces westward and northwestward to the Mackenzie River, the boreal forest is dominated by relatively few, mostly short-lived trees, the principal ones being balsam fir, white spruce, black spruce and paper birch. Layer societies of woody plants are poorly developed, and the whole number of species concerned is relatively small. The zone of transition between these two forested regions has been the subject of much study, and there has been considerable con- fusion as to its nature and boundaries. It may be necessary to desig- nate a third type of climax forest, coordinate with the two men- tioned above but somewhat more closely related to the deciduous than to the boreal type. The forests of the “eastern hemlock region,” as this area was named by Nichols in 1935, are marked by the dominance of a number of species which are more or less endemic in the region and thus ordinarily not members of the climax forest flora in any other region. The most characteristic trees of this group are the hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, the eastern white pine, Pinus Strobus, the yellow birch, Betula lutea, sugar maple, Acer sac charum, and beech, Fagus grandifolia. Of this group of five species only the beech has its center of distribution in the deciduous forest. In addition to the dominant arborescent species mentioned above, there is a large number of other plants which occupy a similar, fairly well defined geographic range. As early as 1911, Fernald pointed 370 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM out that well over 300 continental species of this sort were confined to a range extending in general from Minnesota and Manitoba to New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, south to northern Illinois, southern Michigan and in the mountains to North Carolina or Georgia. The boundaries of this geographic area correspond wrell with those out- lined by Nichols for the eastern hemlock region (figure 81). It will be noted from the figure that the Columbia County area lies within the hypothetical “eastern hemlock region,” with its southern edge roughly 30 miles north of the southeastern boundary of the latter. Figure 81. The approximate extent of the “Eastern Hemlock Forest.” More than 300 native species have essentially the same range. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 371 It should be possible, then, through a study of the various com- ponents of the flora of the Columbia County area, to establish its relationship to one or more of the types of climax forest discussed above. The vascular flora of the Columbia County area, so far as is now known, comprises 1,357 named species and varieties.1 Of this number 735 occur rarely, or are poorly understood as to distribu- tion in the area, or occupy specialized habitats such as sphagnum bogs, exposed rocks or the like. This includes also 93 generally dis- tributed species which are either a) clearly not members of the native flora or b) generally distributed in North America and so of minor importance in the present discussion. The remaining 622 species and varieties, or about 45 percent of the entire flora, are sufficiently known so that definite statements may be made as to their distribution and abundance within the county. With few ex- ceptions they are plants of rather wide occurrence; that is, they are found naturally in ordinary upland soils or in wetter soils of the lowlands rather than in extreme acidic or basic soils, or under con- ditions of extreme xerophytism or hydrophytism. In the first place we may consider the group of 622 species men- tioned above as being the best known component of the native flora. The relative and absolute abundance of each species is approxi- mately known, and each has a definite range in the area. As the group comprises about 45 percent of the entire number of species present, and includes those species which are most abundant and widespread within the area, it may be seen that a consideration of this element of the flora should thus include a very large percentage of the total number of plants in the region. A second approach is through the more than 500 species which are less widely distributed in the region. Rare species in a given region may be rare because they are approaching the edge of their geographical range, because of unsuitable climatic or edaphic factors or for other reasons not clearly understood. Studies of the natural ranges of these rare or local species may help to establish the proper understanding of the vegetation of the region in which they grow. First let us consider the large group of native species and varie- ties, each of which is known to be relatively widespread in ordinary 1 All the tabulations and calculations in the following paragraphs pertain to the account as written up before revision in 1949, at which time a few entities were added and a few deleted. The totals remain approximately as before, the only changes having taken place among the species which are rare or poorly known from the area. 372 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Table 22 Part 1. Tabulation of the Flora of the Columbia County Area SPECIES AND VARIETIES Common throughout the area 333 Frequent throughout the area 172 Species of Hudson and Harlem Valleys, less abundant eastward 110 Species abundant eastward, less so in Hudson and Harlem Valleys 84 Species locally abundant throughout the range, mostly weedy in nature 80 Rare or local species, mostly confined to specialized habitats or poorly known 578 Total native and introduced species and varieties 1,357 Part 2. Tabulation of the Native Species and Varieties of the Area SPECIES AND VARIETIES Common throughout the area 277 Frequent throughout the area 156 Species of the Hudson and Harlem Valleys 105 Species abundant eastward, less so in Hudson and Harlem Valleys 84 Species of local abundance, mostly weedy in nature 21 Rare or local species, mostly confined to specialized habitats or poorly known 489 Total native species 1,132 (nonspecialized) habitats within our area. These may be separated arbitrarily into the following classes : 1. Species designated as common. Such species occur throughout the range, and are to be expected in nearly all suitable habitats in the area (see list, p. 351). 2. Species designated as frequent. These occur also throughout the range, but are met with in not more than 50 to 75 percent of the suitable habitats (list, p. 354). There is naturally some intergra- dation between these two arbitrary groups (“common” and “fre- quent”), and it is not always possible to separate them. 3. Species generally distributed in the Hudson Valley proper, but infrequent, rare or unknown in the region of metamorphic rocks to the eastward (list, p. 356; for a description of the limits of the Hud- son Valley, see pp. 237, 238). 4. Species generally distributed in the region of metamorphic rocks, but infrequent, rare or unknown in the Hudson Valley (list, p. 360). FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 373 Most of the 622 species fall into the following additional classes based upon their generalized or average geographical distribution : 1. Species occupying approximately the range of the deciduous forest; that is, from New England, New Brunswick or Nova Scotia westward mostly south of the Great Lakes to southern Michigan and eastern Minnesota, southeast of the prairies to eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas. Plants with this general range may be locally rare in the Appalachian Mountains and on the acid soils of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, and are most characteristically species of the rich soils of the interior. 2. Species occupying approximately the range of the eastern hem- lock region as defined by Nichols and described above; such plants extend from Newfoundland or Nova Scotia or rarely from eastern Quebec or Labrador, westward mostly north of the Great Lakes to the north side of Lake Superior, the forested regions of southern Manitoba and northern Minnesota, southward to eastern Iowa, lo- cally to Illinois and Indiana, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and in the mountains to North Carolina or Georgia. Plants included in this group are in some cases found outside the limits just defined, extend- ing well north into Labrador or even to Alaska, but such cases are relatively few and the species in question are not more character- istic of the boreal forests than of the forests of the eastern hemlock region. 3. Boreal species, ranging from Newfoundland or Labrador to Hudson Bay and Alaska, south in the east to the northern United States, or more rarely to the Appalachian Mountains. 4. Wide-ranging species of temperate North America, ranging mostly from Newfoundland to British Columbia, southward in some cases throughout the United States. Table 23 gives the general geographical distribution of the 622 species considered in the present discussion. Analysis of the table brings out the fact that about half the native species designated as "common” or “frequent” in the Columbia County area have the approximate centers of their ranges in the eastern deciduous forest, while only about one-fifth of the same group of species center in the eastern hemlock forest, and about 5 percent of the whole number of species have distinctly boreal affinities. If we now consider the Hudson Valley separately, it is seen that nearly three-quarters of the species characteristic of that part of the area have their distributional centers in the deciduous forest region, indicating that this part of Columbia County has much closer affi- nities with the deciduous forest area than does the county as a whole. 374 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Table 23 Geographical Distribution of 622 Native Species Known To Be Widespread in the Columbia County Area TYPE OF RANGE DISTRIBUTION IN (GENERAL GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION) COLUMBIA COUNTY DECIDUOUS EASTERN WIDE AREA FOREST HEMLOCK BOREAL RANGING MISC. Common 149 58 13 51 6 (277) 054%) (21%) (5%) (18%) (2%) Frequent 71 40 9 28 8 (156) (45%) (26%) (6%) (17%) (5%) Hudson Valley 78 10 1 10 6 (105) (74%) (10%) (1%) (10%) (6%) Eastward 13 48 15 7 1 (84) (16%) (57%) (18%) (8%) (1%) 1 Percentage values are given to the nearest unit. If, on the other hand, the eastern half of the county is considered separately, the contrast is striking. Of the characteristic species here, less than one-sixth have their centers of distribution in the deciduous forest, while about 18 percent of the species have distinct boreal affinities. Here over half the typical species have ranges nearly corresponding with that of the eastern hemlock region, as against the tenth part of the Hudson Valley species which have similar ranges. When the Hudson Valley and the eastern half of the area are considered separately, as has been done immediately above, the pic- ture obtained is somewhat exaggerated due to the fact that the com- mon and frequent species, which occur throughout both parts of the region, are not included in the calculation. A truer picture may be obtained by combining the figures for common and frequent, first with those for the Hudson Valley and secondly with those for the eastern half of the Columbia County area. This should give the status of the whole group of species generally distributed in the Hudson Valley as well as that group of species generally distributed eastward. The results are shown in table 24. These figures indicate that in the Hudson Valley there are more than 2.5 species characteristic of the deciduous forest for every 1 centering in the eastern hemlock region. In the eastern half of Columbia County the ratio is somewhat smaller, about 1.5:1, indicat- ing a somewhat more distant relationship with the deciduous forest. If we were concerned here with equal numbers of species in the deciduous forest region and in the eastern hemlock region, the above ratios would express rather well the degrees of affinity between the FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 375 Table 24 Geographical Affinities of Hudson Valley Species Contrasted with Those Generally Distributed Eastward RANGE OF DECIDUOUS FOREST RANGE OF EASTERN HEMLOCK REGION BOREAL SPECIES Common plus Frequent plus Hudson Valley 55% 20% 4% Common plus Frequent plus Eastward 45% 28% 7% two halves of our area and the two forest regions in question. As a matter of fact, however, the number of species commonly asso- ciated with the climax forest of the eastern hemlock region is con- siderably smaller than the number characteristic of the rich deciduous climax type. We must accordingly ascertain, if we can, what pro- portion of the species characteristic of the climax types in question are also characteristic of our area. In the first place let us consider the composition of the climax forest of the “eastern hemlock region.” Although published accounts of the vegetation of virgin forest areas are distressingly few, there are at least two which apply directly to the present problem. One is a description of a beech and hemlock forest which formerly stood in northwestern Connecticut, almost immediately adjacent to the Col- umbia County area (Nichols, 1913; see page 306 above). The second is a study of Heart’s Content, a virgin tract in northwestern Penn- sylvania (Lutz, 1930). By comparing the lists of species reported from these areas with Nichols’ description of the climax vegetation of the eastern hemlock region, it is possible to arrive at fairly definite conclusions as to the most characteristic species. These species num- ber 52, including only those common to any two of the above three lists (table 25). Of these 52 species, 32, or 62 percent, are generally distributed in the Columbia County area; included are all the dominant forest trees, viz. : white pine, hemlock, yellow birch, black birch, beech, chestnut, red oak, black cherry, red maple, sugar maple, basswood and white ash. Included also are the most characteristic understory shrubs and herbs like Hamamelis virginiana, Acer pensylvanicum, Aralia nudicaulis and Viburnum acerifolium. The remaining 20 spe- cies are all widespread and of usual occurrence in the eastern meta- morphic region of the Columbia County region, but are infrequent, rare or absent in the Hudson Valley. As discussed above (p. 293), 376 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Table 25 List of the Most Characteristic Species of the Eastern Hemlock Region. See text, page 375. Poly podium virginianum Actaea alba P olystichum acrostichoides Tiarella cordifolia Dryopteris noveboracensis Hamamelis virginiana Dryopteris spinulosa Dalibarda repens Botrychium virginianum Prunus serotina Lycopodium lucidulum Oxalis montana Lycopodium obscurum Acer saccharum Taxus canadensis Acer rubrum Pinus Strobus Acer spicatum Tsuga canadensis Acer pensylvanicum Brachyelytrum erectum Tilia americana Arisaema triphyllum Viola rotundifolia Clintonia borealis Aralia nudicaulis Smilacina racemosa Cornus alternifolia Maianthemum canadense Pyrola elliptica Streptopus roseus Monotropa uniflora Medeola virginiana Gaultheria procumbens Trillium erectum Trientalis borealis Trillium undulatum Fraxinus americana Cypripedium acaule Epifagus virginiana Betula lutea Mitchella re pens Betula lenta Lonicera canadensis Fagus grandifolia Viburnum acerifolium Castanea dentata Viburnum alnifolium Quercus borealis var. maxima Sambucus racemosa Coptis groenlandica Aster acuminatus there is some evidence to show that many species, now mostly con- fined to the mesophytic woodlands of the more hilly parts of the metamorphic region to the eastward, were much more abundant, even within historic times, in the Hudson Valley. Accordingly, it is probable that had the present study been made two centuries ago, conditions over the whole area would have been found to be more uniform than at present. Most if not all of the 52 species just mentioned probably were formerly much more abundant in the whole Hudson River Valley region of eastern New York. If, then, the eastern hemlock forest is to be considered an entity, as distinct from the boreal and deciduous climax types, it appears from the above discussion that the Columbia County area must be included in it. There is no evidence whatever that the climax vegetation of this part of the Hudson River drainage, south of central Rensselaer County, is related to the boreal or Canadian forest type. Balsam fir FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 377 is unknown in the Columbia County area except along its north- eastern boundary ; white spruce is not a member of the flora ; black spruce and larch exist only in a few highly specialized habitats. The herbaceous components of the flora of the boreal climax type are either scarce or absent in the same area. Oxalis montana, for exam- ple, which is a conspicuous and common plant in the Adirondack woods, is exceedingly rare in eastern Columbia County, while the twin flower, Linnaea, has never been reported from this part of New York. On the other hand, most of the species which dominate the climax deciduous forest are represented in Columbia County, although not all, by any means, are common. As stated above, about half the total number of species known to be characteristic of the Columbia County area have their centers of distribution in the area occupied by the deciduous forest. Only a little more than a quarter of the same group of species have their centers of distribution in the eastern hemlock region. Exact figures are not available concerning the whole numbers of species occupying these two types of ranges, but it is probable that at least twice as many species have the foci of their ranges in the deciduous forest region as in the eastern hemlock region. In the climax forest itself, so far as is shown by published accounts, the number of species in the virgin hemlock type appears to be one-half to three-quarters the number present in the deciduous climax. Following this reasoning, the two floristic elements seem to be rather evenly balanced in the Columbia County flora, and, further, relatively little stress may be laid on the actual whole number of species concerned. Of far more importance appear to be the con- siderable groups of species and genera which are not common to the two types of forest and which thus serve to emphasize the break between them. Short lists of some of the conspicuous examples of this sort are appended : I. Genera and species characteristic of some or all of the region occupied by the deciduous forest but sparsely represented or lacking in the eastern hemlock region and wholly lacking as native plants in the Columbia County area : Cheilanthcs Paspalum Scleria Trad esc antia Disporum Aristolochia Clematis, sect. Viorna Isopyrum Delphinium Aconitum Xanthorhiza Magnolia Calycanthus Asimina Jeffersonia Stylo phorum Heuchera Philadelphus Hydrangea Gillenia Malus 378 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Gymnocladus Gleditsia Amorpha Robinia Vicla Ptelea Enonynius Aesculus Ascyrum Erigenia Oxydendrum Dodecatheon Diospyros Ob ol aria Phacelia Phlox Liatris Silphium Coreopsis II. Genera and species characteristic of the eastern hemlock region and of the Columbia County area but sparsely represented or lacking in the deciduous forest region: Lycopodium T axus Pinus Strobus Tsuga canadensis Thuja Clintonia borealis The diversity between the two forest types is further evidenced by the floristic makeup of individual climax deciduous forests of which there are a few available accounts in literature. Practically all of these have appeared in recent years (since 1930), and all deal with the region of the lower Great Lakes or the Ohio Valley. Three separate forest areas have been selected as representative. The first of these was located (1933) in Berrien County, in southern Michi- gan (see Cain, 1935) ; the other areas were in southern Indiana. All three areas seem to be favorably located for discussion in com- parison with the forests of the eastern hemlock region, as all are but a few hundred miles south of the main westward extension of this forest as mapped by Nichols (1935, p. 405). Moreover, the deciduous forest, in practically typical form, extends eastward from the above points into extreme western New York, where it meets the typical eastern hemlock forest. Warren’s Woods, a virgin beech and maple tract in Berrien County, Mich., has been the subject of several floristic and faunistic studies. It lies in a region with a growing season of about 180 days (Cain, 1935, p. 501) and a mean annual rainfall of 31.11 inches. This may be compared with an average growing season of 163 days and a mean annual precipitation of 38.86 inches at Hudson, N. Y. The average snowfall of the region of Warren’s Woods is 51.6 inches, as against 53.8 inches at Hudson, N. Y. The dominant species of the upper arboreal layer of Warren’s Woods, according to Cain, are Acer saccharum, Fagus grandifolia, Acer rubrum, Ulmus americana, Primus serotina and Quercus bore- alis var. maxima. Fraxinus americana, Tilia glabra [T. americana] Be tula (except B. nigra ) Tiarella Dalibarda Pyrola Gaultheria FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 379 and Carya cordifonnis are also represented by considerable numbers of individuals. Ulmus fulva [rubra], Liriodendron Tulipifera and Celtis occidentalis are scarce. In the inferior arborescent layer the species represented by the largest number of individuals are Carpinus caroliniana, Ostrya virginiana and Prunus americana. The most abun- dant tall shrub is Lindera Benzoin. Viburnum acerifolium is an important low shrub, with Lonicera canadensis a poor second. The herbaceous species of Warren’s Woods, including only those appearing in 20 percent or more of the quadrats studied, are : FREQUENCY. PLANT PERCENT Arisaema triphyllum 64 Dryopteris intermedia 64 Carex plantaginea 56 Galium Aparme 56 Smilacina racemosa 36 Polystichum acrostichoides 20 Carex pensylvanica var. lucorum 20 Caulophyllum thalictroides 20 Osmorhiza Claytoni 20 Viola papilionacea 20 A total of 78 species is recorded by Cain from the area in ques- tion. It is noteworthy that all except four of these are well repre- sented in eastern New York in the Columbia County area. In fact, the description of Warren’s Woods could well pass for that of an immature forest, particularly a swamp forest, in Columbia County. Even more noteworthy, however, is the complete absence of many species and even genera which make up so large an element of even the immature forests of eastern New York: Tsuga, Pinus and Be- tula, to mention the most conspicuous of the dominant arborescent elements. Less important but equally interesting is the lack of such genera as Taxus, Lycopodium and Pyrola. In summation, Warren’s Woods is dominated by a group of spe- cies most of which are also common in eastern New York. The greatest single difference between the two areas appears to lie in the fact that many species and genera characteristic of the “eastern hemlock region” are wholly absent from this deciduous forest in southern Michigan. Since several of the missing species are those which dominate the climax forest a little farther east, there is evi- dently a considerable difference in aspect and floristic composition of the two climax types. The second tract of virgin deciduous forest to be discussed was described by Cain (1934) from studies made in 1932 and 1933. Nash’s Woods is situated in Posey County, Ind. The undisturbed 380 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM area totals about 15 acres. The dominant species of the upper arbo- real layer are said to be Liriodendron Tulipifera, Quercus alba, Nyssa sylvatica and Acer sacckarum, these four species comprising 43 percent of the number of stems and constituting 65 percent of the total basal area. Next most important are “Ulmus fulva [rubra], Fraxinus lanceolata [pennsylvanica var. subintegerrima] , Sassafras variifolium [ albidum ], Liquidambar Styraciflua and Carya cordifor- mis, constituting together 23 percent of the total basal area and 30 percent of the total number of stems.” Especially important in the inferior arborescent layer are “Cornus florida, Carpinus caroliniana, Sassafras variifolium and Cercis canadensis. Moms rubra, Asimina triloba, Celtis laevigata and others are of less importance.” Shrubs are “ Sambucus canadensis , Benzoin aestivale [Lindera Benzoin ], Corylus americana, Viburnum prunifolium, Evonymus atropurpur- eus.” Rhus Toxicodendron and Parthenocissus quinque folia are said to cover extensively the forest floor, often excluding herbaceous vegetation. Common herbs are (CGeum canadense, Circaea latifolia [quadrisulcata], Arisaema triphyllum, Polygonum virginianum, Pilea pumila, Laportea canadensis, Asarum canadense, etc.” In the survey of June-July, 1932, a floristic list of 110 species is given. Excluding questioned and uncertain records, there remain 102 species, of which not more than 75 occur at all in the Columbia County area except as introductions. Of those occurring, at least 22, or nearly one-third of the total number common to the two areas, are found in the Columbia County area only in the lowlands near the Hudson River, and never in the higher lands farther east. A third study of a deciduous forest was that located at Turkey Run State Park, Parke County, Ind. (Esten, 1932). This tract of 4.5 acres was found to be dominated by Fagus, with a large admix- ture of Acer saccharum. Its general floristic composition was much like that of the Nash’s Woods area described immediately above. The species listed as occurring in the forest totaled about 110, of which not more than 85 occur in Columbia County or adjacent areas in eastern New York. After comparison of the descriptions of these hardwood forests with that of the supposed climax in eastern New York, it seems that there is sufficient justification for the separation of the “eastern hemlock forest” as a distinct climax type. The number of species present in the deciduous forest is at least a third greater than the number present in the eastern hemlock forest. There is comparative scarcity of species common to the two types in the same relative abundance. Among the dominant trees and shrubs, only Acer sac- charum plays an important part in both. Among herbaceous species FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 381 no more than nine are common to the Colebrook Forest as it for- merly existed and to Nash’s Woods. The conclusion is that the climax vegetation of the Columbia County area is a mixed forest containing conifers and hardwoods, essentially identical with the “eastern hemlock forest” of Nichols and, secondly, that this type of climax forest deserves recognition as a type coordinate with the deciduous forest climax. Brief attention may now be given the group of approximately 500 native species which are poorly known, rare, or local in the Colum- bia County area. Approximately 300 of these occupy little-specialized habitats, including ordinary upland soils and wetter soils of low- lands. When the geographical ranges of these species are determined as accurately as possible, they seem to fall into much the same groups as do the better known elements of the Columbia County flora. Nearly half of the 300 occupy roughly the same range as that of the deciduous forest, and about one-fourth of them coincide in range with the eastern hemlock forest. Few if any additional inferences can be drawn from a study of this group. The most important remaining groups of the flora are those in- habiting specialized habitats, as follows : 1. The flora of sphagnous bogs. There are about 50 species, of which 30, or about 60 percent, are wide-ranging northern species, often occupying a transcontinental range north of the United States, in glaciated territory. The remainder is made up of several elements, including a number of species with coastal plain and inland distri- bution in the eastern United States (e.g., Calopogon pulchellus), and a few species having essentially the range of the eastern hem- lock forest ( Eriophorum virginicum, Arethusa bulbosa ) but occur- ring also in the coastal plain. Lists of the principal species con- cerned will be found on pages 289, 290. 2. The flora of calcareous marshes. The peculiar flora of this habitat comprises about 36 species, exclusive of widely distributed marsh plants. Of these, 20, or about 56 percent, have their centers of distribution in glaciated territory north of our area. About half of these are widespread or transcontinental species occurring in calcareous regions. The remainder is made up of diverse elements, including about 5 species more or less coincidental in range with the eastern hemlock forest, and 3 having essentially the range of the deciduous forest. Lists of the principal species concerned will be found on pages 300, 301. 3. The flora of tidal marshes and their borders. This part of the flora, again excluding widely distributed marsh plants, includes 382 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 45 species, of which 19, or nearly 45 percent, are estuarine and coastal species of eastern North America. Eight species, which in our area are mostly confined to the tidal marshes, are wide-ranging palustrine plants. Nine are species of the deciduous forest area, here nearing their northeastern limits. Lists of the principal species concerned will be found on pages 274, 277. 4. True aquatics. Plants of lakes, ponds and streams. In our area there are about 35 such species known from a few localities only, as well as about 20 additional species which are well known in suitable habitats throughout. Of the total of more than 50 species, about 30 have the centers of their ranges north of our area, in gla- ciated territory. Seven additional species are wide-ranging species which occur over considerable areas both north and south of the moraine. Hardly more than 10 percent of the aquatics are of re- stricted range, and most of these are confined roughly to the area of the deciduous forest. ORIGIN OF THE FLORA With the last retreat of the Pleistocene ice from New York, the area was thrown open for occupancy by plants. Glaciation was severe enough to make it improbable that any considerable amount of vegetation survived the Wisconsin ice age in this region. Accord- ing to current theory, the Appalachian region of the southeastern United States has constituted a vast reservoir of plant life from which the flora of the coastal plain, as well as much of that of the glaciated territory to the north, has been derived. As the Wisconsin ice sheet receded, the exposed territory prob- ably comprised bare rocks, mixed glacial till consisting of large and small rock fragments and, finally, water-laid sands and clays. Studies of modern Alaskan glaciers indicate that these ancient glacial “soils” were probably highly deficient in organic matter (Cooper, 1923), although the organic remains of earlier vegetation buried by the glaciers may have existed in the lower strata. The receding ice front was probably followed rather closely by pioneer plants, similar to those occupying Arctic regions today. The most efficient pioneers were doubtless those plants having light windblown spores such as mosses, or fluffy seeds or fruits like the willows and some of the composites. The first plants which could invade the newly exposed land successfully were those able to with- stand the low temperatures that probably prevailed near the melting glacier and those able to maintain themselves as seedlings in the rocky, humus-poor substratum (Cooper, 1923, pp. 228-32). FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 383 The hardy pioneer species were followed relatively soon by other, less adaptable ones which could become established only after the climate had moderated somewhat and a certain amount of humus- rich soil had been built up through the activity of the more hardy species. A few short-lived arborescent species, including balsam fir and spruce, probably became the dominant forest trees and we may conjecture that a spruce and balsam forest occupied much of what is now eastern New York for the first few thousand years following the retreat of the glaciers. Depressions in the forests were presum- ably filled by characteristic bog vegetation. Water-filled depressions of all sorts were more numerous than at the present time, and lakes and ponds were more conspicuous features of the landscape. As the climate moderated, and melting of the glaciers continued, plants unable to stand the subarctic conditions near the ice were able to invade the area from the south. The relatively short-lived trees of the balsam and spruce forest were superseded by hemlock and pine and the more adaptable hardwoods, all of which had sur- vived glaciation in the Appalachian region. With the establishment of hemlock, pine and their associates, the species of the boreal forest presumably were unable to compete with those characteristic of the hemlock forest and also were superseded. According to this view, we may think of the Columbia County area as having been occupied by successive waves of plant immi- grants; the first wave was doubtless a small one in number of species, consisting of those plants with easily transported seeds. Fol- lowing these we should expect the plants best able to survive under the existing conditions ; in our area, as stated above, those species characteristic of the present-day boreal regions. The character of the invading species then doubtlessly changed ; more plants appeared which were suited to temperate climates. With each succeeding influx, some of the species already present were crowded out of existence, being unable to stand the competition under the new con- ditions set up. Only where conditions remained nearly the same as before were the original invaders able to persist. With the above theories in mind, we may return to the actual figures for the flora of the Columbia County area. The species with extensive boreal ranges are found today in Columbia County for the most part in highly specialized habitats: in highly acid or basic soils, under conditions of high soil sterility, submersed in water (aquatics), etc. These habitats have been essentially unchanged since first invaded by plants; they have been modified by the pres- ence of the plants themselves, but the plants of ordinary upland and lowland soils have not been able to enter them. As a consequence, 384 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM we find such relic species comprising less than 10 percent of the whole number of species of woodland or other mesophytic habitats, while making up 50 to 60 percent of the flora of sphagnum bogs, calcareous marshes and strictly aquatic habitats. Over an area such as the one under discussion, habitats of these sorts are necessarily limited in occurrence and all the species confined to them are found but locally. A second and much more important element in the flora of the Columbia County area is that group of species whose centers of range lie not far from eastern New York, in the eastern hemlock region. These are the species which seem ecologically best suited to the region. Very few of them are near the geographical edges of their ranges and, if the ecological balance remains undisturbed, the expectation is that they may play considerable parts in the cli- max vegetation. They are more numerous in ordinary upland and lowland habitats than in bogs and the like. At the present time roughly one-fourth of all the species native in such nonspecialized habitats have this type of range. The third important element in the flora is that comprised by the species whose centers of range lie somewhere in the eastern United States, in the region occupied by the deciduous forest. This is a large group, its members making up approximately half the total number of species native to ordinary habitats in our area. It is probable that most of these species would play smaller roles in the climax vegetation than they do in the subclimax associations of today. A number of species of this third and large group are found in Columbia County only very locally and may represent more or less extreme outposts of the deciduous forest vegetation. In addition to these three rather large elements of the flora, there are several less important ones which may be mentioned briefly. These include: a. A few western species, extending locally eastward to New York or New England. Included are such things as the widespread prairie grass, Bouteloua cnrtipendula, and a number of semiweedy adventives like Plantago aristata and Linum sulcatum. More recent introductions from the west include Cycloloma atriplicifolium and other plants doubtless scattered along railroad rights-of-way. Most of the truly western or plains species, however, are obviously of very recent introduction and so of little importance in the considera- tion of the native flora. b. An element made up of widespread species which often occur throughout North America, or extend from coast to coast, at least in temperate regions. An estimated 10 to 15 percent of the native FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 385 flora belongs to this group, which includes all the common native species which are now weedy and characteristic of roadsides, paths, dooryards, fields and cut-over woodlands. Although including a good sized block of species, this wide ranging element has not been included in the discussion of floristic relations, as the individual species differ greatly in habitat requirements and associates and because so many of them are weedy in nature. c. A small number of species native to our area, found most char- acteristically on the coastal plain of southeastern United States. Most of these are plants of acid sandy soil or of acid bogs and extend locally northward through eastern New York. This element of the flora is not large, numbering not more than 20 species. d. Estuarine species. This element of the flora, as discussed above, is not large, numbering fewer than 20 species. Geographically these plants have doubtless reached our area from the southward, traveling up the Hudson Estuary. e. The weed flora. In any intensive study of the vegetation of an area, especially in a region long settled or devoted to agriculture, the question of the weedy element of the flora becomes a perti- nent one. This is especially true when the native vegetation com- prises, as it does in eastern North America, many relatively con- servative species — 9 species, that is, which do not readily adapt them- selves to new conditions set up by the practices of agriculture, lumbering and so on. Under conditions of this sort, native species are often largely replaced in areas of disturbed soil by aggressive introduced species which are able to thrive in the new environment. As a consequence, cleared or cultivated land in a region of this kind is often marked by the presence of numerous introduced species. The original meaning of the word “weed” was a rank or wild growth (from the Anglo-Saxon weod). From this has come the present usage in which a weed is understood to be a plant growing in cultivated or other ground to the detriment of the desired vege- tation or to the disfigurement of the place. It is obvious, therefore, that a plant is not fundamentally a weed ; someone has said, “A weed is a flower out of place.” Many of our weeds were first in- troduced as garden ornaments or as herbs, and have since spread widely. The list of weeds, however, is not by any means made up wholly of introduced species. A number of native plants eked out an existence in clearings and light shade when the original forest cov- ering was dense in all of eastern North America. These have taken to pasture, meadowland and roadside and spread widely, so that nowadays they are ordinarily associated with these habitats. Con- 386 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM spicuous examples are furnished by the goldenrods (various species of Solidago ) and by the Indian tobacco ( Lobelia inflata). On the other hand, intolerant native species such as certain sphagnophilous orchids and sedges have disappeared from the better drained and pastured districts, and we know of their existence there solely through old records and studies of the general distribution of these plants. Many species are considered weedy because the less adaptable native plants are unable to compete with them under less favorable conditions of light and relative humidity. A fine example of this is furnished by the native species of Rubus (raspberries and blackberries), which form impenetrable tangles in every new clear- ing in the woods. Species which are tolerant of a wide range of environmental conditions are sufficiently aggressive to have spread considerably. Their numbers have increased far beyond those of the more conservative species. The most outstanding of such species may be found in list III, below. In the following lists and discussions of weed species, numerous introduced plants have been omitted because they occur only occa- sionally or are not established in our area and so are not to be considered as important weeds. These plants are to be found, how- ever, in their proper places in the systematic part of this study. I. Weeds of gardens, orchards and “hoe crops” (corn etc.), which are able to persist under cultivation by means of copious seed pro- duction (or, in a few cases, underground rhizomes or strong per- ennial roots). Mostly annuals. Eragrostis cilianensis Agropyron repens Digitaria sanguinalis Echinochloa crusgalli Setaria lutescens Polygonum pensylvanicum Polygonum Persicaria Chenopodium album Amaranthus retroflexus Amaranthus hybridus Amaranthus albus Mollugo verticillata Portulaca oleracea Cap sella Bursa-pastoris Lepidium virginicum Raphanus Raphanistrum Trifolium re pens Oxalis europaea Malva neglecta Abutilon Theophrasti Hibiscus Trionum Apocynum cannabinum Asclepias syriac a Convolvulus septum Datura Stramonium Linaria vulgaris Ambrosia art emisii folia Xanthium orientale Erigeron canadensis Heilanthus tuberosus Bidens frondosa Bidens vulgata Galinsoga ciliata Anthemis Cotula Arctium minus FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 387 II. Weeds of pastures, meadows and roadsides. Often perennials, which crowd out desirable forage species. Bromus tectorum Agropyron repens Echinochloa crus g alii Scirpus atrovirens Carex stricta J uncus effusus Allium vineale Saponaria officinalis Ranunculus acris Potentilla recta Rubus flagellaris Medicago lupulina Melilotus alba Melilotus officinalis T rifolium agrarium Trifolium arvense Vicia tetrasperma Vicia villosa Euphorbia Cyparissias Hypericum perforatum Daucus Carota Pastinaca sativa Zizia aurea Cuscuta Gronovii Echium vulgare Origanum vulgare Thymus Serpyllum V erbascum Thapsus Plantago lanceolata Galium Mollugo Dipsacus sylvestris Cichorium Intybus Tragopogon pratensis Hieracium florentinum Hieracium pratense Hieracium aurantiacum A mbrosia artemisiifolia Erigeron annuus Erigeron strigosus Inula Helenium Rudbeckia hirta Achillea Millefolium C h rysan th em um leucanthemum Tanacetum vulgare Cirsium vulgare Cirsium arvense Centaurea Jacea Cent aurea maculosa III. Weeds generally distributed in waste places in dooryards, fields and cultivated grounds; more details as to habitat and distri- bution of these species may be found in the systematic section. Most of these species are of less economic importance than the foregoing ; the majority of the native weedy species are to be found here. Dennstaedtia punctilobula Pteridium latiusculum Equisetum arvense Equisetum hyemale Eragrostis pectinacea Dactylis glomerata Agrostis alba Muhlenbergia jrondosa Panicum Gattingeri Panicum capillare Setaria viridis Cyperus esculentus Cyperus strigosus Juncus bufonius J uncus tenuis Ur tic a dioica Rumex Acetosella Rumex crispus Rumex obtusijolius Polygonum avicidare Polygonum Hydropiper Polygonum Convolvulus Scleranthus annuus Stellaria media Cerastium vulgatum Silene Cucubalus Lychnis alba S isym brium o fficinale Barbarea vulgaris Bras sic a nigra Potentilla canadensis Potentilla simplex 388 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Potentilla norvegica Oxalis enropaea Euphorbia rnaculata Euphorbia vermiculata Ly thrum Salic aria Cuphea petiolata Oenothera biennis Apocynum androsaemi folium Convolvulus arvensis Verbena urticifolia Nepeta Cataria Nepeta hederacea Leonurus Cardiaca Lamium amplexicaule Physalis heterophylla Solanum Dulcamara Plantago major Lobelia spicata Lobelia in flat a Taraxacum officinale Ambrosia trifida Sonchus oleraceus Solidago rugosa Solidago juncea Solidago altissima Solidago nemorcdis Solidago graminifolia Bidens cernua Anthemis Co tula Tussilago Far far a IV. Woody or shrubby species, mostly indigenous, which spread rapidly into old fields, pastures, clearings and fence rows and are of little or no value. Comptonia peregrina Betula populifolia Alnus rugosa Spiraea latifolia Spiraea tomentosa Potentilla fruticosa Rubus idaeus Rubus occidentalis Rubus allegheniensis Primus virginiana Primus pensylvanica Robinia Pseudo-Acacia Ailanthus altissima Rhus typhina Rhus glabra Rhus Toxicodendron Corn us racemosa Sambucus canadensis V. Weeds found principally in grain fields. The main species concerned are Bromus secalinus (chess) and the cockle, Agrostemma Githago. To these may be added the wild radish, Raphanus Raphan- istrum, and the summer mustard, Brassica Kaber, which are very difficult to eradicate when once established. VI. Aquatic weeds. In lakes and ponds and in the shallow bays of the Hudson River a dense growth of aquatic vegetation is often troublesome to fishermen and campers, so that the problem of its removal is sometimes a serious one. The principal species concerned are the pondweeds ( Potamogeton spp.), “eel-grass” ( Vallisneria americana) and the river weed ( Anacharis canadensis) . The Origin of the Weed Flora As pointed out above, many weedy species are native in the area under consideration but have been able to spread widely from their original habitat to agricultural lands. Of the 162 species listed as weeds on the foregoing pages, 71 are apparently native to eastern New York. FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 389 Of the remaining 91, 3 ( Eragrostis pectinacea, Echinochloa crus- galli, Solanum Dulcamara ) are doubtfully indigenous in our area and 88 are introductions. According to the data given in the “Cata- logue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Connecticut” (Graves, et al., 1910), 78 of the introductions came from Europe and the remaining 10 originated as follows: Tropical America, 4 ( Amaran - thus , 2 sp. ; Mollugo; Galinsoga) ; Asia, 2 ( Abutilon Theophrasti, Datura Stramonium ) ; western United States, 2 ( Rudbeckia hirta, Helianthus tuberosus ) ; southeastern United States, 1 ( Robinia Pseudo-Acacia); China, 1 (Ailanthus altissima) . While in number of species the introduced weeds hardly surpass the native ones, in number of individuals there is no such compari- son. Only about six native species are to be considered really trou- blesome weeds in our area, as follows : Rubus flagellaris Erigeron canadensis Convolvulus septum Bidens jrondosa Ambrosia artemisiifolia Achillea Millefolium The dewberry, when it gets a start in dry fields and pastures, is difficult to eradicate and rapidly makes the land useless for grazing. The bindweed is a bad pest among fruit growers of the Hudson Valley as it spreads rapidly and forms tangles in the orchards. The ragweed, apart from its much publicized connection with hay fever, spreads very rapidly into cultivated grounds, as do the horseweed and Bidens. The yarrow, omnipresent in grassland and pastures, is useless and replaces more valuable plants. Of the introduced weeds, some 16 species are pests in farmland (only the most persistent and troublesome species are included) : Agropyron re pens Digitaria sanguinalis Allium vineale Ranunculus acris Brassica Kaber Raphanus Raphanistrum Hypericum perforatum Daucus Carotg In numbers of individuals, this group far outnumbers any other. If we could clear the fields of these 16 species the weed problem in the Columbia County area would be reduced to a minimum. It is interesting in this connection to note that the weed flora of our area has become relatively stable; that is to say, most of the so-called “weeds” are generally distributed and have been so for some years. A study of the list of introduced weeds shows that apparently fewer Pastinaca sativa Galium Mollugo Cichorium Intybus Rudbeckia hirta Chrysanthemum leucanthemum Cirsium arvense Ccntaurea maculosa 390 NEW YORK STATE M-USEUM than 20 are new to the State since Torrey’s “Flora of New York’’ (1843). The species which were seemingly unknown to Torrey from New York are as follows : Bromus tectorum Amaranthus retroflexus Silene Cucubalus Lychnis alba Potentilla recta Lotus corniculatus Ailanthus altissima Euphorbia Cyparissias Lythrum Salicaria Thymus Serpyllum Galium Mollugo Tragopogon pratensis Hieracium florentinum Hieracium pratense Hieracium aurantiacum Galinsoga ciliata Centaurea Jacea Centaurea maculosa In the Flora Torrey notes that Raphanus Raphanistrum has ap- peared on Long Island; Melilotus alba and M. officinalis he says are not common; Trifolium agrarium is found in “various places”; Vicia tetrasperma around New York City; Echium vulgare is said to be “rare,” although locally a weed ; Rudbeckia hirta has appeared in the State at Buffalo ; and Cirsium arvense is spreading “south- ward.” Inspection of other early local floras shows much the same con- ditions prevailing. Wright and Hall (1836) list 111 introduced species out of a total of 940 from the vicinity of Troy and their list, with minor exceptions, agrees very well with Torrey’s. Wood- worth (1839, 1840) lists only about 30 nonindigenous species from the neighborhood of Kinderhook, but his list is no doubt incomplete in this respect. In 1840 (see Hoffmann, 1922, pp. 179-80 and Dewey, 1840) Dewey found Rosa Eglanteria well naturalized in Berkshire County, Mass. ; Cirsium arvense had “already become a menace” ; Thymus Serpyllum, which Torrey did not mention, was said to be “naturalized in a few places.” The blackeyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta, was not mentioned by Dewey. A generation later than Torrey, when Hoysradt’s (1875-79) flora of Pine Plains was published, several additional species were noted : Amaranthus retroflexus, Silene Cucubalus, Lychnis alba and Euphor- bia Cyparissias ; Ailanthus was “running wild,” and Rudbeckia hirta was already “too common.” In recent years there have been several very conspicuous addi- tions to our weed population, especially near the Hudson River. Since the coming of the New York Central Railroad, about the mid- dle of the last century, numerous species have appeared along its right-of-way which are not found elsewhere. In the early days weeds were no doubt introduced in abundance around the various docks on the river where seagoing boats stopped. The “Stockport weed,” FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 391 Galium Mollugo, is said by old inhabitants to have been introduced in this way ; in any event, it is now a very abundant and trouble- some plant in fields in the clay soils between Stockport and Colum- biaville. The “bird-foot trefoil,” Lotus corniculatus, may have come in the same way. It is known in this country mostly as a ballast- plant, usually not well established. In the Hudson Valley, however, it has become a dominant feature of the roadsides and fields in many places, usually in clay. It is possible that it may eventually be of some value as a forage plant. A third species, the knapweed {Centaur ea Jacea), has also become a pest on clay soils for several square miles around Columbiaville, while its relative ( C . maculosa ) is becoming very generally distributed along roadsides, where its pinkish purple flowers are conspicuous. The purple loosestrife, Ly thrum Salic aria, as noted above (text, p. 175) has become thoroughly at home in the marshes of the Hudson River and is rapidly spreading into adjacent territory. This immi- grant from Europe seems to find optimum conditions in the river valleys of the eastern United States, as it is also widespread in the valley of the Delaware River, and in the Hoosic and Housatonic Valleys (Hoffmann, 1922, p. 304). Other later arrivals in our area are the so-called “sulphury cinque- foil,” Potentilla recta, which appeared in this country in the 1870’s and is now becoming rather common ; the hawkweeds, especially Hieracium aurantiacum and H. pratense which are often too abundant in poor pasture land ; and finally the little garden weed, Galinsoga ciliata, which is adventive from the tropics and seems due to become thoroughly at home. Table 26 Enumeration of Species by Families Varieties Family Species Form* Lycopodiaceae 7 Selaginellaceae 2 Isoetaceae 3 1 Equisetaceae 4 Ophioglossaceae ... 5 1 Osmundaceae 3 Dicksoniaceae 1 Polypodiaceae 34 Pinaceae 12 Taxaceae 1 Typhaceae 2 Sparganiaceae 3 Varieties Family Species Forms Najadaceae . 28 Juncaginaceae 1 Alismaceae 8 Hydrocharitaceae . 3 Gramineae . 109 8 Cyperaceae , 156 2 2 Araceae 8 Lemnaceae 4 Xyridaceae 2 Eriocaulaceae 2 Commelinaceae . . . 1 Pontederiaceae . . . 3 392 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Table 26 (Continued) Enumeration of Species by Families Varieties Varieties Family Species Forms Family Species Forms Juncaceae 18 i Linaceae 2 Liliaceae . 30 Balsaminaceae . . . 2 Amaryllidaceae . . . 1 Limnanthaceae . . . 1 Dioscoreaceae .... 1 Rutaceae 1 Iridaceae 3 Simarubaceae .... 1 Orchidaceae . 25 Polygalaceae 5 Juglandaceae 7 Euphorbiaceae . . . . 10 Myricaceae 3 Callitrichaceae . . . 2 Salicaceae 23 Anacardiaceae . . . 6 Betulaceae 12 Aquifoliaceae .... 3 Fagaceae 11 i Celastraceae 1 Urticaceae 10 Staphyleaceae .... 1 Loranthaceae .... 1 Aceraceae 7 Santalaceae 1 Rhamnaceae 3 Aristolochiaceae . . 1 Vitaceae 5 Polygonaceae . . . . . 27 l Tiliaceae 1 Chenopodiaceae . . 9 Malvaceae 5 Amaranthaceae . . . 5 Hypericaceae 8 Phytolaccaceae . . . 1 Elalinaceae 2 lllecebraceae 3 Cistaceae 5 Nyctaginaceae . . . 1 Violaceae . 18 Aizoaceae 1 Cactaceae 1 Portulacaceae . • ■ . 3 Thymelaeaceae . . . 2 Caryophyllaceae . . . 20 Lvthraceae 3 Ceratophyllaceae . 1 Onagraceae . 16 Nymphaeaceae . . . 5 i Haloragidaceae . . . 4 Magnoliaceae . . . . 2 Araliaceae 5 Ranunculaceae . . . 31 Unibelliferae . 20 Berberidaceae . . . . 3 Cornaceae 8 Menispermaceae . . 1 Ericaceae 32 2 Lauraceae 2 Primulaceae 7 Papaveraceae . . . . 2 Oleaceae 5 Fumariaceae 4 Gentianaceae 8 Cruciferae 26 l Apocynaceae 3 Capparidaceae . . . . 1 Asclepiadaceae . . . 9 Sarraceniaceae . . . 1 Convolvulaceae . . . 4 D'roseraceae 2 Polemoniaceae . . . . 2 Crassulaceae 5 Hydrophyllaceae . . 1 Saxifragaceae . . . . 14 Boraginaceae 8 Hamamelidaeeae . 2 Verbenaceae 3 Platanaceae 1 Labiatae . 29 1 Rosaceae 65 i Solanaceae 8 Leguminosae 39 i Scrophulariaceae . . 37 1 1 Geraniaceae 3 Lentibulariaceae . . 5 Oxalidaceae 4 Orobanchaceae . . . 2 FLORA OF THE COLUMBIA COUNTY AREA 393 Table 26 ( Concluded ) Enumeration of Species by Families Varieties Varieties Family Species Forma Family Species Forms Phrymaceae 1 Lobeliaceae .... ..611 Plantaginaceae .... 6 Compositae ..130 1 Rubiaceae 18 Caprifoliaceae 17 Total . . 1,334 23 6 Valerianaceae 3 Dipsacaceae 1 Cucurbitaceae 2 Grand total, including species, vari- Campanulaceae .... 6 eties and forms, 1,363. 394 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM LITERATURE CITED Andrews, Edward D. 1933 The community industries of the Shakers. 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Rhodora 27 : 142-46. 396 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Fernald, M. L. 1911 A botanical expedition to Newfoundland and Southern Labrador. Rhodora 13: 135-62. 1932 The linear-leaved North American species of Potamogeton, section Axillares. Mem. Amer. Acad. 17: pt. 1, 183 pp. 1950 Gray’s manual of botany. 8th (centennial) edition. American Book Co., New York, lxiv and 1,632 pp. French, J. H. 1860 Gazetteer of the State of New York etc. 8th edition. Syracuse, New York. 752 pp. Gordinier, Hermon C. & Howe, Elliot C. 1894 The flora of Rensselaer County, New York (phenogams and vascular crytogams). (H. B. Nims & Co., Troy. 39 pp. Gordon, Thomas F. 1836 Gazetteer of the State of New York etc. Philadelphia, i-xiii and 801 pp. Grabau, Amadeus W. 1903 Stratigraphy of Becraft Mountain, Columbia County, N. Y. N. Y. State Mus. Bui. 69: 1030-79. 1920-21 A comprehensive geology. D. C. Heath & Co. 2 vols. Graves, Charles Burr, et al. 1910 Catalogue of the flowering plants and ferns of Connecticut. Conn. 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