TREES AND SHRUBS

OF NANTUCKET

MABEL AGNES RICE

Marine Biological Laboratory

P„r„iw„j July 5, 1946

Accession No 597b2

Given Bv Dr* ^^el A.Ties Rice
antucket, ^ass.

Place.

TREES AND SHRUBS
OF NANTUCKET

DESCRIPTIONS

IDENTIFICATION KEYS

LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS

MABEL AGNES RICE

Assistant Director

Natural Science Department

The Maria Mitchell Association

Nantucket, Massachusetts

1946

Copyright, 1946

Natural Science Department

The Maria Mitchell Association

Nantucket, Massachusetts

Lithoprinted in U.S.A.

EDWARDS BROTHERS, INC
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

1946

NANTUCKET TREES

The question is often asked: "Was the Island of
Nantucket ever forested?" I am not attempting to es-
tablish a case for either an affirmative or a negative
ansver to this question. I have attempted rather to
collect data, geological, botanical and historical vhich
refer to Nantucket trees and to present them in sequence
as glimpses of the past. Any ansver to the question to-
day can be only surmise, but the data collected do in-
dicate a series of changing conditions.

The argument falls into tvo divisions according
to the connotation given the vord ever, -whether it be
reckoned by the geologist.' s time or by man's time on the
Island. To a geologist time is very long. He calls
2,000,000,000 years a conservative estimate for the age
of the earth.48 The Great Ice Age of Pleistocene time
to vhich is due so much of the present land contours of
Northeastern America vas, as it "were, a moment in the
late afternoon of the vhole geologic span.37

Here is a page from the history of Nantucket as
geologists have compiled it. The Wisconsin stage of the
Pleistocene glacier, determined by its moraines, reached
its farthest southeast extension across the upper half
of vhat is nov Nantucket.52 Nantucket must then have
been merely a lov hill on the mainland, for it seems a
veil-established fact that from late Tertiary times
through the Pleistocene age of Quaternary time, the
North American continent vas bordered by an uplifted
coastal plain vhose eastern limits vere about 100 miles
off the present-day shore.21 Even after the melting of
the ice., some 20,000 years ago,2 the vide coastal plain
is believed to have persisted long enough for the de-
velopment of a climax forest from the Carol inas up to
and including Nevfoundland. Pernald, in discussing the
results of botanical exploration in Nova Scotia, states,
"...if there vere need of further evidence that, since
the Pleistocene glaciation, the continental shelf of

59782

2 NANTUCKET TREES

eastern North America has been high in the air, afford-
ing an essentially continuous line of migration across
the mouth of the Gulf of Maine to Nova Scotia, thence
to Nevfoundland, the evidence is now abundantly at
hand."13

Hollick has made calculations for the rate of
subsidence during the era of depression vhich followed.
He estimates that "...6000 years ago the area included
within the present 20 fathoms line -would have been dry
land."21 Since island formation by a subsidence of the
coast is not a cataclysmic event like a volcanic up-
heaval, and since a few thousand years more or less
matter little in geologic time tables, we are free to
use Hollick' s measuring rod of time and estimate that
the irregular North Atlantic coast line of today vith
its bordering islands, Long Island, the Elizabeth Is-
lands, Marthas Vineyard, Nantucket, Mount Desert, and
Newfoundland, is presumably not more than 6000 years old.

The above data afford some evidence that there
•were forests on Nantucket in the long past of geologic
time. Nantucket Island may veil have been forested as
a direct heritage from that post-glacial coastal plain
of which it was once a part, but a windswept island of-
fers a hard life for trees. When once reduced or re-
moved, forests would grow again with difficulty. Cer-
tainly such stands as the virgin forests of the main-
land vould seem to be impossible.

Apparently the wind always blows on Nantucket
but the summer visitor who enjoys its freshness has
little idea of the force of the occasional . summer hur-
ricane or of the winter storms. In Starbuck's history
the New Bedford Mercury quotes a letter from Nantucket
of March 9, 1772*. It tells of a great gust of wind
which, lasting but a minute, destroyed the Brant Point
Lighthouse and several shops and barns: "Had it con-
tinued 15 minutes more not more than half the buildings
in its wake could have stood. " 43

The Nantucket Weather Bureau gives the following
figures, corrected for the standard anemometer. "Nov.
27, I898, NE, a maximum wind velocity of 62 MPH; an
extreme of 69 MPH. January 24, 1908, NE, a maximum wind

NANTUCKET TREES 3

velocity of 64 MPH; an extreme of 98 MPH. " This cor-
responds to the 130 MPH for one gust as given for the
latter date in Argument Settlers,46 or, as picturesque-
ly stated by Douglas-Lithgow, 10 to the one puff which
registered a velocity of over 120 miles per hour. The
Weather Bureau figures continue: "March 1, 1914, SE,
a maximum of 66 MPH; an extreme of 91 MPH. September
21, 1938, SE, a maximum of 52 MPH; an extreme of 57 MPH.
September 14, 1944, SW, a maximum of 57 MPH; an extreme
of 79 MPH vith gusts possibly over 90 MPH. June 27,
1945, NE, a maximum of 55 MPH; an extreme of 68 MPH."

The many trees uprooted in Nantucket during the
two recent storms are fresh in our minds. Bassett .Jones
has observed earlier in the same connection: "indeed,
were the storms frequent I am disposed to think that the
flora of Nantucket vould be very different than it is at
present. Few things could manage to keep a foot-hold.
The result of centuries of such winds upon the Island
Bassett Jones estimates as follows: "As it is, only a
selected company of peculiarly adapted hardy plants can
survive unless protected. So we find our 'hidden
forests,' of which there are quite a number, strictly
limited as to tallness of the plants and trees by the
protection they get from low hills to the northeast."

Fogg's description of forest conditions on the
Elizabeth Islands gives almost the same picture. "The
most conspicuous vegetational feature of the islands,
aside from the open grassy downs, is the dense growth of
rather low beech woods which clothes the greater part of
Naushon and smaller areas on some of the other islands.
From a distance these woods are seen to fit in closely
with the general topography, due, doubtless, to the high
wind velocity which would tend to level forest growth to
the existing lines of the hills and ridges."

On Nantucket the sweeping branches of the great
beeches of the Hidden Forest begin so close to the ground
that it would be child's play to climb them. A picture
of tall beeches in England as seen in the avenue of
beeches in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire, emphasizes by
contrast wind effects on Nantucket.2

4 NANTUCKET TREES

It is not only against wind .force that the is-
land vegetation struggles. The wind-driven salt spray
is lethal every winter to shrubs along the shore and at
hurricane time it sears the foliage across the whole
island. Francis V. Perry of the Weather Bureau writes:
"The greatest damage, however, resulted from salt deposit
on the foliage of the trees ... .This indirect effect has
been widely noted. . .as being the most destructive ele-
ment, as far as growing things are concerned, and is
concomitant with winds of hurricane velocities here on
the island." 8 The amazing thing in this connection is
the resilience of the seemingly dead trees. Just a
month after the June hurricane of 19^5 had browned the
foliage, while the dead leaves lay on the ground as in
autumn, the branches were tufted with new leaves. A
discussion of the damage done by the hurricane of 19^8
is pertinent. "...but the big difference that now shows
up between the conifer and the broad leaf plant is the
ability of the latter to recover. The conifer is badly
injured and cannot recover because it does not have ad-
ventitious buds to start out like the broad leaf plants.
Even those broad leaf plants that were so badly injured
that none of the fundamental buds lived have now de-
veloped fairly good leaves. The leaves are irregular,
.they are not where leaves belong, but nevertheless they
are leaves. They are forming food and buds that will
carry the plants, we hope, through a winter. Whether
or not the plants are going to be able in these cases
to develop buds that are strong enough to stand the
winter, and at the same time feed the trunk and the
roots, only time can tell."49

Evidence for forests or at least tree cover on
Nantucket since the glacial age is found buried in peat
bogs and scattered through historical records.

Shaler, in a report upon the geology of Nantucket,
shows a figure of 'tree stumps which had been buried in a
submerged swamp on the north shore. He writes: "i am in-
clined to believe that when this island was first settled
the greater part of its surface, at least the portion of
the area north of the south plains, was covered with a
forest growth which afforded some architectural timbers."41

NANTUCKET TREES 5

Wilder reports in 1894 a visit to an old peat
bog at Polpls at Hughes Neck. He saw there a stump
about 20 inches in diameter standing undisturbed in a
dense thicket on top of a bog where the soft peat is
still a meter thick. The stump was extracted and found
to be oak in a good state of preservation. Wilder also
reported a neighboring bog covered with water where,
there were visible more than twenty uprooted stumps of
various sizes.

From another bog at Polpis Bassett Jones reports
two great stumps thought to be ffyssa sylvatica Marsh.,
which were unearthed by mosquito control work.*1 »*

Sara Winthrop Smith saw in a gash in the cliff
near the site of the Nantucket Golf Club-house the branch
of a goad-sized tree embedded in the exposed peaty bed
of an uplifted swamp on the very edge^ of the bluff. This
specimen was given to the Nantucket Historical Associa-
tion. Miss Smith noted also, about a mile above this
point and only a short distance from the shore, submerged
peaty deposits which at very low tide showed stumps and
roots of several trees, one with a diameter of at least
ten inches .

Among the records of early Nantucket days re-
viewed by the historian Starbuck is the following:
"March 15, 1665 at a meeting at Nantucket the Inhabitant
agree to Dig a trench to drean the Long pond forthwith"
with regard to a weare for takeing fish and Also for
makeing of Meadow... the work is to be Carri'd on thus,
the one half of the work is to be done by the Indians
the other half by the English Inhabitant or owners, the
Indians to have half the Fish so long as they attend to
the weare carefully. " 43 This Madaket Ditch, as it is
called today, has remained for nearly three centuries. The
Inqutrer and Klrror, 1951, brought its history up to
date. "The ditch was dug crooked and winding and it
still continues to twist its. way through the marshes
which lie between Long Pond and Hither Creek... an off-
shoot of Madaket Harbor. Throughout the passing years
a large tree stump about two. feet In diameter has held
its place, with the ditch winding around it. The Indians
probably left the stump there, as it was a difficult

6 NANTUCKET TREES

thing to remove. . .and the stump has remained as a sample
of the big oak trees which once grew on this island, ac-
cording to tradition. But at last the tough old piece
of oak has been removed, Oliver Fisher tackling the job
....In thi,s connection we have heard some of the men who
frequent Long Pond claim that below its waters are other
tree stumps .. .other junks of oak which bolster up the
claim that many years ago this island was heavily for-
ested in some sections."25 The three pieces of this
Madaket stump were put together and are now preserved
at the Lydia S. Hinchrnan House.

These various findings of buried tree stumps do
not necessarily imply great forests in the past. There
are living trees on the Island today whose bases are as
big as the buried stumps or bigger. The buried stumps
do, however, link us with the past. We do not attempt
here to date that past. Only a geologist, by comparison
of the overlying and underlying strata, is competent to
estimate the periods when these various buried stumps
were living trees. At least, for the oak of Madaquet
Ditch, we may say it lived over J>00 years ago. Accord-
ing to the late geologist, William F. Jones, reported
by his brother, Bassett Jones, "Many of these peat-bog
stumps belong to trees that grew on bottoms laid down
at least 1000 years ago and were later drowned out by
sea encroachments." 9 We should also guard against
thinking that these great stumps necessarily imply tall
trees in an ancient forest. We have already noted what
wind has done to the habit of beeches in the "Hidden
Forest." The ancient giants may well have been dwarfed
in stature. In emphasis of this point Bassett Jones
writes, "So I here register a doubt that any trees could
ever have attained to the dignity of 'architectural
timber' on this island."27

Man has worked with the wind to exterminate
trees. The Indians must have begun the destruction.
Some of the stumps found In peat bogs today bear crude
axe marks made possibly by early Indians with stone
axes.29 Indians of the New England coast are described
in the record of Captain Waymouth's voyage along the
coast in 1605. Waymouth, unfortunately for our interests,
did not land on Nantucket . The east coast which he

NANTUCKET TREES 7

evidently skirted was too inhospitable. Rosier' s record
reads: "Munday, the 12 th of May, about eleven a clocke
afore noon, our Captalne, judging we were not farre from
land, sounded. . .and by eight a clock (of the next day),
having not made above five or six leagues, our Captain
upon a sudden change of water (supposing verely he saw
the sand) presently sounded, and had but five fathoms.
Much marvelling because we saw no land, he sent one to
the top, who thence described a whitish sandy cliffe,
which bore west-north-west about six leagues off from
us; (they approached the land in a small boat, but the

rocks and currents made this too dangerous) ... .Thus we
parted from the land...." Henry S. Burrage, the editor
of the record has identified the "whitish sandy cliffe"
as Sankety Head and the shoal as Rose and Crown Shoal
of Great Rip. c Waymouth then turned north and his
descriptions of Indians are of those along the Maine
coast. We may gather from them, however, Indian habits
of the time in the use of wood. "Their canoes are made
without any iron, of the bark of a birch tree, strength-
ened within with ribs and hoops of wood." "Their bow is
made of witch-hazle, and some of beach..." "One special
thing is their manner of killing the whale...." (They)
"strike hime with a bone made in fashion of a harping
iron fastened to a rope, which they make great and strong
of the bark of trees."....40

The white man has been even more destructive than
the Indian. The record of the first settlement by white
men on the New England coast begins the story of tree
denudation. In 1602, five years before the founding of
Jamestown, Captain Bartholomew Gosnold from England
landed upon Cuttyhunk, the smallest of the Elizabeth
Islands. His party built a rude fort and lived there
for three weeks while they gathered wood. The wood of
their special Interest was sassafras which was then much
in demand because of its supposed medicinal value. It
is mentioned several times in The Relation of Captain
Gosnold'8 Voyage to the North Dart of Virginia: "de-
livered by Gabriel Archer, a gentleman in the said voyage."
"The nlne-and-twentieth we labored in getting of sassafras
. . . .The first of June, we employed ourselves in getting
sassafras and the building of our fort." . . .The -Indians
"went into the wood to help us dig sassafras." John

8 NANTUCKET TREES

Brereton, also of the party, saw in sassafras only a
valuable commodity. "This island is full of high
timbered oaks ;... sassafras trees, great plenty all the
island over, a tree of high price and profit."7

Nantucket, upon the arrival of the first white
settlers, was apparently more or less wooded. Various
records and some persisting local names Indicate this.
Obed Macy tells of the arrival in 1659 of Thomas Macy,
the first settler on Nantucket and writes, "They foaud
the island covered with wood, and inhabited by about
fifteen hundred indians . " In the deed by which the head
Sachems, Wanackmamack and Nickanoose, granted land to
the settlers the description reads: "All the Land,
Meadow, Marshes, Timber and Wood."

In Godfrey's Guide to Nantucket we read: "That
tract of land near the head of Hummock Pond which we now
call 'the woods'... now entirely destitute of trees... was
previous to the year 1700 called 'the long woods.'"
Godfrey rather naively remarks, "This is very positive
evidence that there were large tracts of trees upon the
island in those early days, for the people of that time
called things by their right names."

Godfrey quotes William C. Folger to the effect
that the George Gardner house built in 1696 on North
Shore Hill contained timbers of oak which were believed
to have been cut on the Island between said house and
the Cliff as that was a place remarked for a good growth

1 6

of white oak trees.

Tradition speaks of several groves of oak which
were used for building purposes. * One grove was said
to have been south of Dead Horse Valley not far from Mill
Hill. According to Wyer54 and to Godfrey16 the "Old
Mill" now standing was built in 17^6 from this timber.
According to the Inquirer and Mirror the native oak was
used for Bunker Mill, the first of the four mills built
on Mill Hill, but the "Old Mill" of today got its oaken

24

beams from the driftwood of wrecked vessels. Without
attempting to resolve the discrepancy, our interest
centers upon the reference to an oak grove near Dead
Horse Valley where none remains today.

NANTUCKET TREES 9

The name Grove Lane is probably descriptive of
the past; the lane runs today through swampy pasture
land.

Although nearly all the early deeds speak of
timber and wood for fuel granted to purchasers of land,
a record of 1672 indicates that wood is becoming scarce.
"5th 4th mo 1672 James Lopar doth Ingage to carry on a
design of whale Catching on the Island of Nantucket. . .
and for the Incorragement of the said James Lopar the
Town doth grant him Ten Acres of Land in som conv errant
place that he may Chuse in, (Wood Land exceped) . . . on con-
ditions that he follow the Trade of Whaling on the Is-
land two years in all the season thereof..."

Godfrey writes: "It is probable that the set-
tlers were very like their modern prototypes and used
wood with an usparing hand; for it seems that but little
more than a century from the settlement of the island the
inhabitants were obliged to get fuel from Coskata."16

Worth, in Nantucket Lands and Landowners, indi-
cates how rapidly the settlers used up Nantucket forests
and ventures the opinion that there may have been trees
large enough to furnish lumber for the first dwellings
but that all houses built after 1680 required lumber
from the mainland. Worth quotes an order of 1663 that
"no man shall cut any timber on Cowatu except for build-
ing houses," and again of 1676 that, cutting green trees
for post rails or f or . the bark is forbidden. He notes
that in 1670 Nathaniel Barnard was importing pine boards
from the Merrimac and in 1722 Timothy White was buying
wood from Freetown and Rochester.

The oldest house of today's Nantucket was built
in 1686 of wood from Exeter, New Hampshire, where the
father of Jethro Coffin owned forest land.

When Old South Wharf was rebuilt in 1917, pilings
of Norway pine were dug up^34 Norway Pine has been only
occasionally planted on Nantucket. Therefore, this pine
for the first South Wharf, built in 1709, must have been
imported from the mainland.

Starbuck records the same decrease in the supply
of wood. In the height of the whaling industry, live oak

10 NANTUCKET TREES

and yellow pine were imported from the southern States
for the whaling vessels. Under date of March, 1694, the
town prescribed a penalty for cutting wood on Coatue but
provided "nevertheless aney freeholder may cut timber
for whale bots or the Like anything in this order not-
withstanding. " Starbuck quotes under a later date: "At
a Towne meeting of ye inhabitants freeholders Nantucket
ye 25 of ye 11 mo 1711 ye town takeing into consideration
ye great benefit ye Coetue neck is to them for ye sucker
of their sheep in hard seasons as is lately Experienced
do now conclude that there is necessity of preserving ye
Seaders & p^nes & other groaths there do now voate yt
after of this order no person whatsoever shall not for
time to come cutt or carry of from Coetue any sort of
Wood by land or Water, Either seaders p^nes or any other
groaths of wood under any notion or pretence Whatsoever
on penalty of paying a fine of ten shxllings for any
quantity whatsoever & to forfit what is brought of & ye
informer to have it & one half of ye fine."43

We wonder at the mention of pines m this last
quotation. There are no pines today on Coatue; indeed
all pines on Nantucket today are traced to introductions
of the 19th and 20th centuries. Perhaps the use of the
term "pines" here is the same as its use by many people
today for whom pine is synonymous with evergreen.

The increasing dependence of Nantucket upon wood
from the mainland brought dire hardship during both the
War of the Revolution and the War of 1812 as Nantucket
ships were continually in danger of capture. One may
get a vivid picture from Starbuck' s extracts both from
the diary of Mrs. Fanning (Keziah Coffin) and from the
town records .

From Mrs. Fanning' s diary, 1776, we read: "Tues.
Sept. 5, Rand, P. F., Sampson, Brister &c sl'd this morn-
ing to Vineyard in Fathers vessel for a load of wood.
Fri. Oct. 6... a number of our vessels have long been
look'd for from Kennebeck with wood." Mrs. Fanning writes
of the exceptional severity of the winter of 1779-80,
"The harbor was frozen over the latter part of Dec. 1779,
and by the 15th of Jan., 1780 people travelled over the
ice to Quaxse. No water was in sight from any part of

NANTUCKET TREES 11

the Island. Fuel vas not obtainable In the a vamps or
from the ground because of the ice and snov. The poor
vere enabled, because of the ice, to get supplies of
fuel by transporting the scrub oaks and junipers from
Coskata, a laborious and at times dangerous task."43

Extracts from the tovn records run as follovs:
"falmouth October ye 2, 1775- An account of all the
permits given for Supplying the Inhabitants of Nantucket
by vertue of an act of the Court: includes records of
cord vood." Resolution of Continental Congress. Dec.
11, 1775- "Resolved. That the selectmen of the tovn of
Sherbourne, in Nantucket, prepare an estimate of the
quantity of fuel, and provisions necessary for the use
of said Inhabitants, and lay it before three or more
justices of the peace, for the county of Barnstable, in
the Colony of Massachuset bay, attested by the oath or
affirmation of the said selectmen; and that the said
justices be empovered to grant licenses under their
hands to any master or ovner of vessels in the said is-
land, to import fuel and provisions from the colonies
of Mass. bay, Rhode Island, Conn., Nev York, Nev Jersey,
Penn. , Lover Counties on Delavare, or Maryland, not ex-
ceeding the quantities specifyed in the estimate." Star-
buck reports further straits: "Wood became scarce and
peat vas resorted to. The scrub oaks vere used, roots
as veil as top." At a legal Tovn Meeting at Sherborn
Sept'.r J>0, 1779> a memorial dravn up to present to the
General Court at Boston... set forth the difficulties the
inhabitants of Nantucket had encountered from the begin-
ning of the var. "The Inhabitants of this Island are
computed at near Five Thousand Persons, in about Seven
Hundred Families, at least one half this number if not
Tvo thirds are totally destitute of Firevood, of vhich
doubtless you are acquainted, this Island produceth very
little; ve consequently are dependant on the Continent
for this article, vh. has for a long time been brought
to us very sparingly from the risque occasioned by the
frequent passing of British Cruisers, but a total stop
for some time hath taken place."43

Tvo descriptions vritten after the Var of the
Revolution give the same picture of a treeless island.
Crevecoeur, a visiting Frenchman, in his American Farmer

12 NANTUCKET TREES

1782, describes Nantucket as a sandy spot of about twenty-
three thousand acres. He writes that "many red cedar
bushes and beach grass grow on the peninsula of Coitou"
but that "the rest of the undescribed part of the island
is open and serves as a common pasture for sheep". .. that
the original settlers found "the island so universally
barren that they took to fishing rather than farming."
"The town of Sherburne," he vrites, "consists of about
500 houses all of vhich were framed on the main."9 In
1792 Dr. Zacheus Macy "wrote about Nantucket and says of
the land: "The wood being entirely gone and few shrubs
left to shelter the ground against the cold winds and
hard winters, the profits of our farming business are
much reduced."33

Thus Nantucketers during the War of 1812 were
faced with the same privations as in the earlier war.
They were constrained to appeal to the British with
promise of neutrality. In I8l4'a petition was sent to
Admiral Cochrane. Again the problem of wood enters the
description: "we, the undersigned, Inhabitants of the
Island of N. and of that class generally called Federal
Republicans and Friends of Peace, who have been uni-
versally opposed to the War wh. now exists and wh. has
prostrated our happiness and taken away the means by wh.
we have lived, Ask leave resp. to appr. you with our
petition for relief .... Our soil is light and infertile,
and its productions insufficient for the support of one
eighth part of its inhabitants; now.... Our Island has
not a tree of natural growth, and we are consequently
dependent on the continent for our fuel..."43

One may question whether there may not have been
the exaggeration of dire extremity in these descriptions
of a barren island, especially when one sees today the
so-called hidden forests of great trees. These trees,
however, are probably less than a century old. Their
site may have been merely a swampy thicket at the time
of the wars with Great Britain.

The ecologist interprets these forested hollows
as the climax stage in a progression from water to dry
land which is the fate of most lakes or ponds.5 It is
common knowledge that the glacial ponds which dot

NANTUCKET TREES 13

Nantucket ' 3 surface are gradually disappearing. Thoreau
has noted In his diary that the William Coffin map of
Nantucket 18^4 records 1050 fresh ponds.45 These may
be found today in all stages of conversion to dry land.
There is Maxey's Pond where the clear water is bordered
by a zone In which grow rushes and the dainty floating
heart, -while outside that is a sandy shore encroached
upon by cranberry vines and sphagnum moss. Then there
are the two ponds at Taupaushaw whose open vater can be
reached only by struggling through a quaking bog of
sphagnum using clumps of swamp loosestrife for foothold.
Not far from Taupaushaw are the two Pout Ponds. Within
the last few years these have changed to bogs ringed
about by rushes and by dying shrubs. The Pout Ponds
show, perhaps, an abnormal progression in an over-rapid
lessening of water as the Mosquito Control lowers the
water table. Pitcher Plant Swamp, east of Almanac Pond,
has reached a corresponding stage with less of death ap-
parent. Here, in the midst of deep sphagnum, clumps of
azalea, poison sumac, and red maple saplings flourish.
But here the end is in sight for the white pond lilies.
They are rooted in muck and sphagnum with luxuriant,
short-stemmed leaves, but they seldom bloom. We may see
the near climax of a progression at Ram Pasture in a
grove of red maples whose sprawling roots offer easy
footing in the sphagnum. Finally there is the "Hidden.
Forest." Here, although there is still sphagnum and wa-
ter enough to make a paradise for mosquitos, the low-
spreading beeches, the sour gums and other great trees
shelter an undergrowth of wood mosses, ferns and flower-
ing plants such as is found in no other spot on Nantucket.
Of these Bicknell has written: "Here, too, surviving in
the thickets and tree groupings, are little colonies of
woodland plants, vestiges, we may suppose,' of an earlier
flora that had its day in that unrecorded period before
the woodlands were destroyed."4 If this be true, the
undergrowth speaks of an antiquity greater than that of
the trees in whose shade it now grows and Jack-in-the-
pulpit, the dainty oak fern and the moss Georgia are
lineal descendants of the growth under pre-glacial for-
ests. The great trees, as members of a climax forest
that has replaced a post-glacial lake, are upstarts of
a century or less. Bassett Jones, by tests made with a

14 NANTUCKET TREES

Svedish increment borer, has estimated an age of 85
years each for three of the beeches in "Hidden Forest.

1128

It is the succession of dead floras in these
climax stages developed from the glacial lakes that has
made the hidden forests possible. Elsewhere over the
island the soil is light and sandy and, Creveceour adds,
"a receptacle for rabbits."9 Harshberger lists the soil
of glacial sands and gravels second to the wind as a. fac-
tor influential in making Nantucket "practically tree-
less."19 Moreover, years of deforestation under the
wind-swept island conditions have brought loss of soil
in its wake and have thus, in a vicious circle, caused
a "recession" to a moorland vegetation.44 The peat
bottoms of the ancient lake beds, on the other hand,
have furnished a soil for forest stands. These are tree
asylums today. Rooted in peat, protected from vind by
the barricade of hardy shrubs which earlier bordered the
lake, trees have grown here to hoary age. Even shrubs
in these asylums often assume tree habit. Blueberry
tree-shrubs ripen their fruit out of reach of picking.
A shad bush in Pocomo swamp measures l-j feet in diameter
about 2 feet above the ground. In a swamp near Madaket
a bayberry tree has a trunk 4 inches in diameter and Its
bark, wrinkled with age, has lost entirely the character
of that of the bayberry bush. In Ram Pasture a beach
plum and an elder berry have each the stature of trees.

Aside from the wind haz-ards the climate of
Nantucket Is evidently mild enough to allow the growth
of trees of more southerly latitudes. Bassett Jones, in
his plantation on Polpis Road, has built a tree asylum
by use of the resistant Japanese black pine, Pinus
Thunbergii Pari ., as a wind shelter. Within its protec-
tion young balsam firs, Abi.es balsatiea (L. ) Mill., are
holding their own; the Chinese pine, Ptnus tabul aeformis
Carr., has grown to pyramids of beauty; and two bald
cypress, Taxodium distlchvn Rich., delight one with
their feathery green.

No wonder Bassett Jones is an ardent advocate
of black pine for Nantucket plantings. For shelter
purposes there can be none better. The first Nantucket
planting of Pinus Thunbergii Pari, in 1895 by Bassett

NANTUCKET TREES 15

Jones's father is now a sheltering grove at Wauwinet26
and many estates on the island are making use of this
evergreen as a -wind-break. It is perhaps perverse criti-
cism to -wish that the black pine had more of the pictur-
esque habit of pitch pine. It soon loses its youthful
pyramidal fullness to a somevhat sprawling adult contour
but on Nantucket it may not yet have had time to reach
picturesque old age.

In a survey of the island trees of today one
should add to those which have grown up in the bog asy-
lums the few woods which have persisted from the time
of the settlers. On the high land at Co3kata- there is
still an oak forest as when the "Broad Woods"10 were
the chief resource of Nantucket settlers. Coatue beach
is still bordered by a line of ancient cedars as when
the villagers went across the ice in winter to gather
firewood. Each winter the salt spray kills the outposts
of this cedar while the sand, through the years, has
buried all but the recent growth. Rich green sprays
laden with blue-grey fruits, spreading close to the sand,
may be the top of a century-old tree. One such tree
which was killed by the salt spray in 1935 showed 107
years of wood rings. Its top had a spread of 24 feet
and it was only 5 feet tall. Buttresses on the south
side of the clustered branches showed how it had braced
itself against the north winds.28 Bassett Jones has
preserved this great stump.

Coatue cedars seem to be helping to reforest
Nantucket. Perhaps birds carry the berries across. At
any rate,, between the Shimmo shore and the Polpis road,
directly across the harbor from Coatue, the low rolling
hills are dotted with a growth of cedars of all ages
from foot-high sprouts still clothed in the juvenile
type of needle-pointed leaves to fruiting trees. They
are scattered beyond the road also. Their dark green
accentuates many a slope amid Saul's Hills. Here and
there over the island an old red cedar connects the
growth with earlier days. This is a promise of native
timber for the future as red cedar does not demand rich
soil. It flourishes along with the golden- flowered
Hudsonia and Andropogon grass in the sandy soil of the
moorlands .

16 NANTUCKET TREES

There Is other roadside grovth today. There are
thickets of sassafras and sour gum; vild cherry as shrub
and tree offers its fruit to the birds; scrub oak, shoul-
der high, forms many impenetrable "scrubs." The island
must have a much more sylvan aspect than vhen Crevecoeur
sav it in 1782 or Thoreau in 1854. Thoreau -wrote in his
diary, "There is not a tree to be seen, except such as
are set out about houses ... .This island must look exact-
ly like a prairie, except that the viev in clear veather
is bounded by the sea.... The nearest approach to voods
that I saw vas the swamps, vhere the blueberries, maples,
etc., are higher than one's head."45 Nevertheless by
airplane viev today Nantucket is still open moorland
vith thickets of vood merely filling the hollovs and
bordering the roads. During a summer on Nantucket ones
eye becomes so accustomed to the fev trees and their re-
duced scale that, on a return to the mainland, driving
inland from Nev Bedford, one looks vith surprise at the
tall trees vhich border the highway.

Without doubt sheep grazing has helped to keep
dovn vooded grovth on Nantucket. Godvin includes this
as a factor in the establishment of English heaths.
"...While biotic factors such as sheep-grazing, very
close eating dovn by rabbits, treading, burning and tree
felling make very heavy and varied impress on the vege-
tation."17 Sheep are mentioned in all the early tovn
records on Nantucket. Without them housevives vould
have been hard put for their homespun. In the first
half of the 19th century Nantucket land holders invested
heavily in sheep farming; at one time the sheep on the
island vere estimated at 10,000. These grazed at large
over the Commons until 1848 vhen, by vote of the pro-
prietors of the common land, the sheep vere restrained
from pasturage outside of enclosed tracts.15 This re-
straint and the fact that sheep farming has been for the
most part given up on Nantucket have probably been fac-
tors in the Increased vooded areas of the 20th century.

There is another chapter to the tree story of
the 19th and 20th centuries. During this period there
has been much tree planting on the island, particularly
in the tovn. The Inquirer & Mirror in Its Memoir of
One Hundred Years prints a viev of Nantucket of probable

NANTUCKET TREES 17

date 1870. 24 In this print trees are conspicuous only
for their small size and small number. Such trees as
we have today -would, in whaling days, have impeded the
view of anxious catchers from the "walks." Bicknell,
the outstanding authority for the Nantucket flora,
summed up in 1908 his observations upon introduced trees.
"The introduced trees number thirty-two, although only
one has become a strong structural element in the flora,
this being our native pitch pine which, history tells us,
vas first planted on Nantucket in the year 1847. Pew
other introduced trees have made such response to the
conditions that Nantucket has offered, although the
cockspur thorn is making itself at home there, and the
apple, the pear and the hybrid willow (Salix Smi ttii ana)
are sparingly more or less wide-spread. The Scotch pine
and the European larch have long formed an extensive and
increasing growth at the locality where they were ori-
ginally set out, and at a few places the locust and the
silver poplar are well established, but most of the other
trees are not much to be considered, and some number
only a few examples that have appeared spontaneously and
grown up in out-of-the-way places."4 The many trees in-
cluded in my Key but not mentioned by Bicknell should
indicate that, in the generation since Bicknell 's time,
trees have increased on Nantucket notwithstanding the
handicap of poor soil and hurricane winds. With evi-
dences all over Nantucket of the havoc wrought by the
hurricanes of 1944 and 1945 we do not minimize this
handicap. As we see even native cedar and resistant
black pine burnt brown and see the heavy toll of up-
rooted trees, we find ourselves wondering that any trees
survive on Nantucket.

The pitch pines of which Bicknell speaks were
planted along the Siasconset road by Josiah Sturgis in
1847. More were planted in 1854. 46 It is perhaps this
second planting of which Thoreau writes in his diary of
December, 1854. Capt . Edward-W. Gardner "is extensively
engaged in raising pines on the island. .. .He showed me
several lots of his, of different ages,... one tract of
three hundred acres sown in rows with a planter, where
the young trees, two years old, were just beginning to
green the ground, .. .and I saw one of Norway pine and our

18 NANTUCKET TREES

pine mixed, eight years old, vhich looked quite like a
forest at a distance."45 The Norvay pines, Pinus
resinosa Ait., must have died out. It is only occasion-
ally about tovn that one finds the Norvay pine today.

Today the pitch pine plantation across the
Siasconset and Polpis roads is heavy enough to -warrant
the term forest. A rutted road runs through them in the
direction of Saul's Hills and it is one of the pleasant
surprises of Nantucket driving to come out from this
forest cover to the vide horizon of the rolling moors.
A Nantucket Beacon, the "Bug Light, " vhich vas built in
1820 as a range light, stood near the junction of the
Siasconset and Polpis roads. It vas discontinued as a
government station in 1880.24 Certainly the outlook to-
day from that site in the midst of the pines vould not
be favorable for a range light.

Not only have the pitch pines made a thick grovth
near their original planting; they have spread across
the roads on both sides of the triangle and, as voods or
scattered grovth, are found all over the island. To the
south they cross the Surf side road so that here also one
may drive along a vooded road. The lichen-laden branches
indicate that the grovth is one of many years and vith-
in the shade a voodland flora has developed. The vaxy
vhiteness of Indian pipes and fragrant spikes of Chtma-
phila make fairy clusters among the coarse needles.
Chimaphlla maculata (L. ) Pursh. is included in the list
of vhich Bicknell vrites, "it should be noted that among
the Nantucket pines are found a fev voodland plants that
either do not occur at all elsevhere on the island or
are novhere else at home. It vould seem to follov that
the advent of these plants, or some of them, must have
been subsequent to the introduction of the pines.

Off the Surfside road near the head of Miacommet
Pond is a thick stand of English larch and Scotch pine.
The planting vas made by Henry Coffin in I876. Mr.
Coffin vas evidently a lover of trees. The laburnum at
the Coffin place on Main Street as veil as that among the
larches is of his planting. Mrs. Clark, the granddaughter
of Henry Coffin, talking vith Miss Albertson (Mrs. Alfred
F. Shurrocks) in 1929, vas sure that the trees came from

NANTUCKET TREES 19

Scotland. She was living at her grandfather's at the time
and remembered boxes of seedlings about 18 inches high.5
Both pines and larches have done well and have evidently
seeded in the vicinity. There are many fine trees whose
branches sweep the ground. Hickories grow here too.
The stand has been neglected and it is an unkempt grove.
Perhaps that is just as well. "The Larches" would lose
much of their charm if trimmed up like a state forest.

The larches on Hinckley Lane came from Japan.
Mrs. Emma Prances Hayward writes that her uncle, Captain
Richard Swain, sent 250 larches and 250 pines home from
Japan. She remembers that her mother and sister saw to
their planting on Hinckley Lane about 1912. 20

The Commonwealth has a considerable evergreen
forest on the island. In 1912 white pines were set
out46 but Nantucket is not a favorable climate for
white pine. Their foliage is sparse and the hurricane
of 19^4 resulted in a complete browning of the needles.
White pine, Scotch pine and spruce have been set along
the Siasconset road but only the Scotch pine holds its
own with the earlier colonist, the pitch pine. The
twisted, silvery needles of the Scotch pine add a pleas-
ant note in the green of the road border.

For the deciduous trees, so abundant about town,
there are few dated records of introduction. The syca- •
more must have been early introduced. Godfrey writes in
1882, "Probably the oldest and largest tree on the island
is a sycamore which stands on the corner of Main Street
and Ray's Court, and it is a beautiful sight in summer."16
Today it is a decrepit tree with concrete filling and
the few branches that remain are overshadowed by a syca-
more maple which offers a chance to compare the leaves
of the true sycamore with those of its namesake among
the maples. This tree has struggled against more than
wind and salt spray. Guba, in his list of Nantucket
fungi, stops to speak of the bid sycamore. "This famous
old tree, cited in many publications on Nantucket shows
the effect of many years of struggle with infections of
this anthracnose fungus."18

Douglas-Lithgow records the introduction in 1821
of the "two-thorn acacia,"10 probably the black locust,

20 NANTUCKET TREES

Robinia Pseudo-Acacia L. These are now fairly numerous
in the town. One stand is on Cliff Road opposite Sun-
set Avenue. The clusters of fragrant white flowers
which bloom in June make the locust a pleasant tree for
one's yard, A related species, Robinia viscosa Vent.,
the pink-flowered clammy locust, forms a thicket on
Cliff Road opposite "Derrymore" and also on Cabot Avenue
just off Cliff Road.

The honey locust, Gleditsia tri acanthus L., is a
more striking tree than the black locust. The leaflets
of its compound leaves are smaller and they are often
twice divided. The resultant feathery foliage, the
branching thorns, and the long red pods which follow
inconspicuous flowers are characters quite distinct
from Robinia . Pour of these tall trees fill a corner
lot on Fair Street opposite the Woodbox. Probably few
of the visitors who admire the "Harp of the Winds" on
the Polpis Road recognize the trees as the honey locust.
There was another honey locust "harp, " rather the worse
for wind, at the Franklin Valley Farm on Crooked Lane
but since the two recent hurricanes it is leafless.

At 44 Orange Street a group of trees might at
first sight be mistaken for the black locust. The com-
pound leaf, however, lacks the small thorns at the base
of the leaf stalk which has given to the locust the
name "two thorn acacia. " The blossom clusters are more
creamy-white than those of the locust and the pods, con-
stricted between the seeds, give the effect of a chain
of green beads. This is SoDhora javonica L. , the scholar
tree or pagoda tree of the Orient, so-called because of
its frequent planting around pagodas. The flowers and
fruits of Sophora yield a yellow dye. The tree is said
to withstand heat and drought and is, therefore, a good
street tree.23

Marthas Vineyard has an older Sophora than
Nantucket. It is said to have been brought from China
by Captain Thomas Milton in 1837 . It came in a small
flower pot; today it rises to 90 feet with a spread of
70 feet.47

In the early 19th century New England developed
an interest in the silk industry, and this interest

NANTUCKET TREES 21

spread to Nantucket. An account of the enterprise was
given to the Nantucket Historical Association in 1898
by Rev. M. S. Dudley. The summary follows. In 1832
William H. Gardner had a prosperous mulberry plantation
at Quaise. George Fitch planted mulberry trees at his
home lot on Academy Hill; one fine tree is still bear-
ing fruit there. George Easton had an orchard of 1000
mulberry trees about his homestead at North Water Street
in the rear of the house next south of Springfield Lodge.
In 18^5 Aaron Mitchell had a grove of 4000 mulberry trees
a little out of town. Thorn Lot on Duke Street of the
old village of Sherbourne was formerly a mulberry or-
chard planted by Gideon Gardner with a thorn hedge
around it for protection. The interest in the silk in-
dustry crystallized in 18^5 in the formation of the
Atlantic Silk Company. The factory was on Gay Street,
the last building on the left as one goes up the street
toward the High School. For a while four looms were
busy here, but the factory was closed down in 1844. To-
day only an occasional white mulberry tree bears witness
to the venture. 11

In 1842 three young weeping willows were brought
by Captain Plasket of the ship "Napoleon" from the grave
of Napoleon on St. Helena. They were set out on Centre
Street near Broad and are said to have grown to be huge
trees. Storms blew down two; the third, half -rotted,
was cut down in 1918 but there is still a survivor on
the spot, grown from the old root.46 ' There are other
survivors. According to Mrs. M. W. Boyer, when the
original trees were cut down Dr. Coleman had some of the
wood put in his yard, corner of Hussey and Centre Street,
to be cut up 'for fire wood. One piece lay there so
long it sent out shoots and in 1935 two good sized trees
were standing there. These were damaged by wind and
have been cut down. However, on land on North Beach
Street owned by a daughter of Dr. Coleman there are
several trees, .offsprings of- the original willows.6 Ac-
cording to Charles Kimball, there is a healthy tree from
a shoot of the Napoleon willow now growing near the
Madaket Road opposite the junction with Crooked Lane.30

In Hotte's Book of Trees we read of another cut-
ting from the weeping willow on St. Helena. This one

22 NANTUCKET TREES

was planted in Copp's burying ground, Boston, and shades
the grave of Cotton Mather. One is not told what coin-
cidence of name or interest caused that planting and
thus gave Boston and Nantucket a share in this historic
tree. 23

There are many willows on Nantucket besides the
relic from St. Helena and only a specialist would ven-
ture to sort out the mixed population of species and
hybrids. The large tree in Ray's Court, Saltx DurDurea
L., shows to what stature a willow can attain. Salix
Dentandra L. , the laurel-leaved willow, is becoming an
ornamental planting. One of the most interesting na-
tive willows is Salix tristis Ait. It does not belong
in a discussion of trees as it is tiny even for a shrub.
On the open stretches of the south shore plain its low
clumps of silvery-grey leaves are as striking as white
flowers .

Poplars are first cousins to the willows with
similar catkins in the spring. Outside the town the
aspen poplar, Povulus tremuloides Michx., is found in
roadside thickets. The white poplar, PoduIus alba L. ,
is described by Bicknell as "spontaneous and spreading
in the neighborhood of the town and elsewhere."4 The
thicket of young trees and suckers by the roadside on
Mill Hill is an illustration. It is a weed among the
grave-stones in Old North and Prospect Hill cemeteries.
On Union Street the Carolina poplar, PoduIus canadensis
Muench., approaches the tall, erect growth of the Lom-
bardy poplar. At the sandy end of Vestal Street the
Balm of Gilead, Povulus candicans Ait., is noticeable
for its aromatic, sticky buds.

Main Street was planted to elms in 1852 after
the great fire of 1846. 46 Many of these died some ten
years ago but there were replantings. The hurricane of
19^4 has again taken toll of the elms. These trees
which grace Main Street are Ulmus americana L. , the white
elm, which is the glory of so many New England villages.
If one needs more than its "wine glass" shape for iden-
tification one may note the corky, ridged bark and the
ovate leaf with rough surfaces, saw-toothed edges and
unequal base. Ulmus glabra Huds . , the Scotch elm, has

NANTUCKET TREES 23

also reached old age in the town. There are two tall
examples of the tree on Orange Street across from the
Inquirer and Mirror office and a younger tree shades the
office on the south. Pleasant Street, near Main, is
shaded by fine Scotch elms and their seedlings are start-
ing in the hedges. It is at 16 Cliff Road, however,
that one may see best the distinctive beauty of the
Scotch elm where the sturdy trees fill the corner lot.
The Scotch elm is more round-topped than the white elm
and its branches start lower from the sturdy trunk. The
bark is less deeply ridged, but its most distinctive
difference is in the leaf. Below the tip it broadens
abruptly giving often an effect of triple points. Ulmus
uum.il a Linn., native of northern Asia, is of more re-
cent planting on Nantucket than the two other species
of elms. There are many of these young trees about town
and a few are old enough to show their willow-like habit.
The pendulous branches are set with small leaves, the
elm leaves in miniature. On the east side of North
Liberty Street, near Cliff Road, a Chinese elm overtops
a grey-shingled house. It is well worth the walk from
town to see its branches sway in the Nantucket winds.
This species should prove a valuable addition on the
Nantucket streets. It is said to be immune to most of
the ills to which the white elm is susceptible.

Next to the elm, the maple ranks as the typical
New England shade tree. Although less graceful than the
feathery elm, its domed contour has a satisfying symmetry.
The difference in contour of elm and maple traces back
to a difference in leaf position on the twig. The elm
belongs to the group of alternate-leaved, and the maple
to the group of opposite-leaved plants. Their habit of
branches carries out the same difference. One may see
this character where twigs are silhouetted against the
sky.

On the mainland of New England the sugar maple,
Acer saccharum Marsh., is the typical native maple. It
is distinctive in March for its sugary sap, in May for
its honey-yellow blossom clusters which make the tree
against a blue sky seem like pure sunshine, in September
for its flaming foliage. The sugar maple does not take
to Nantucket. Two trees near the corner of Main and

24 NANTUCKET TREES

Gardner Streets give little idea of the" beauty of the
species. The native maple of Nantucket is the red maple,
Acer rubrum L. , but it does not come into town. It is
not even found along the open roads; the red maple pre-
fers the acid soil of peaty bogs. In such a setting it
grows to forest size although, as an effect of its
struggle against the constant wind, it is so low and
spreading that a grove of red maple counts in the land-
scape merely as a low thicket. Such a forest may be
found in Ram Pasture. The venerable trees branch close
to the ground and form a spreading canopy. The small
leaves are grey underneath and the branches are hoary
with tufts of lichen. It seems an ancient and mysteri-
ous forest. The chance visitor does not enter as it is
ringed about by an almost impenetrable swamp.

The abundant maples of Nantucket town are of
four species: the ash-leaved maple or box elder, Acer
Negundo L. , the silver maple, Acer saccharinum L. , the
Norway maple, Acer nl atanoides L. , and the sycamore
maple, Acer vseudo-vl atanus L. The box elder is our
only maple with a compound leaf. It is a rapid-growing
tree and reaches a large size. An example may be seen
on Pine Street. The silver maple is another rapid-
growing species. A cut-leaved variety of this silver
maple is being increasingly planted here as a shade
tree and has grown to a large size at the corner of Fair
and Darling Streets. The Norway maple has been occasion-
ally planted and grows to a vigorous, spreading tree.
It is, however, the sycamore maple, that has become,
next to the elm, the dominant shade tree of the town.
There are fine examples at J2 Main Street while in the
yard at the junction of New Mill and Milk Streets the
spreading sycamore maples form an out-of-door room.
Rehder, the tree authority of America, states that the
sycamore maple "thrives well in exposed situations and
near the sea shore." There is good reason then for its
successful colonizing of Nantucket.39

Among the deciduous trees, oaks are the dominant
native trees on Nantucket but they are seldom seen in
town. On upper Main Street a small pin oak, Quercus
Dalustri s Muench., the species which is so much planted
in Boston parkways, has been set out. In the yard at

NANTUCKET TREES 25

20 Orange Street there is a spreading English oak,
Quercus Robur , var. vedunculata Ehrh. , and there are a
few small specimens of English oak at the Coleman place
now owned by the Blairs.

One must go to Coskata to see Nantucket oaks at
their best. Here the ground space under the white oak
trees is so extended as to give an entirely distinct
flora under the dense shade. Here also the black oak
group, including scarlet, red and black oaks is abundant.
Bicknell measured one scarlet oak, Quercus coccinea
Muench. , which was 41 inches in circumference, 1 foot
above the base. He found even stouter black oaks,
Quercus velutina Lam. The black oak is the most abundant
species at Coskata but it brings confusion to the novice
in tree studies as at Coskata the species has two di-
verse forms. The ordinary form has leaves with broad
lobes and shallow identations; the other has such deeply
cut leaves that the tree may be mistaken for the scarlet
oak. Both forms have, however, the characteristic heavy,
almost leathery leaf with soft pubescence.4

It is not only in the isolated forests that oaks
are found. Other species hold their own on the sand and
on the moors. Behind the dune ridge at Third Point,
Coatue, the post oak, Quercus stellata Wang., makes a
sprawling barricade, its branches half buried in the ■
sand. There is also a row of wind-battered post- oaks
behind the dunes near Eel Point. Two other species of
oak form the scrub growth of the moors. The true scrub
oak, Quercus ilici folia Wang., is hardy enough even
to grow a second crop of leaves when defoliated by a
caterpillar plague. It grows from 1 foot to 10 feet in
height and, in the heavy scrub, many of the trees must
be of great age. The land of the present Sankaty Golf
Course is said to have been covered with a growth of
scrub oak.30 J. H. Holmes of Nantucket has reported that
when the course was laid out many stumps were pulled
from the ground so large that the hooks of the cater-
pillar tractor were broken. A pile of stumps as large
as a house was burned, and another pile supplied fire-
places for a long time after.22 To an observer from
the road the scrub oak cover is misleading, especially
when one watrhes deer travel in effortless leaps over

26 NANTUCKET TREES

the growth. Only by struggling through the tangled mass
on foot is its depth realized. Scrub oak close at hand
has ornamental value. Its brown blossom tassels in May
seem a new color note among flowers; its grey-green,
angular leaves and tiny acorns make it a plant that might
well be cultivated by landscape gardeners. Companion to
the scrub oak is the dwarf chestnut oak, Quercus Drinoides
var. rufescens Rehd. The straight species, Quercus
Drinoides Villd., is seldom found on Nantucket but the
difference between the species and its variety would seem
a mere quibble to any but a botanist. This chestnut oak
is much more of a dwarf than the scrub oak. It makes a
luxuriant green cover in hollows of the moorland but
leaves the more exposed stretches to the huckleberry.

In completing the oak genus with the dwarf chest-
nut oak, we find ourselves so close to the ground that it
seems proper to mention two other dwarf shrubs: the
bearberry, Arctostavhylos Uva-ursi (L.) Spreng., and the
evergreen heath, Corema Conradii Torr. One realizes on
breaking the stem of the bearberry that it is a woody
plant. It is a trailer whose long runners are doing
their best to carpet any bare ground on the moorlands.
Its shining evergreen leaves form a background for dainty
shell-pink bloom in May and for crimson berries in Sep-
tember. Corema is a true dwarf shrub, each plant a close-
built cushion spreading from a central woody stem scarce-
ly a foot high. Its close evergreen turf in the Tom
Nevers region gives little hint of the great age of the
individual plants. A special interest attaches to Corema.
It is a so-called relic plant... one of those which are
believed to have flourished earlier all along the ancient
coastal plain from the Carolinas to Labrador. Fernald
writes of this group: "of greater interest are the
coastal plain species, because they represent in New
England, eastern Canada and Newfoundland a relic of the
extensive flora which during the late Tertiary migrated
northward along the then highly elevated continental
shelf and at the drowning of the shelf were left as rel-
ics at isolated points."12 Today Corema is found only
on such persisting high spots as the New Jersey Pine
Barrens, Nantucket, Mount Desert and Newfoundland.

NANTUCKET TREES 27

The American chestnut, Castanea dentata (Marsh.)
Borkh., is first cousin to oak and beech and thus com-
pletes the trilogy of the beech family. I include its
mention here for the sake of completeness but it is only
doubtfully established on the island. Bicknell wrote in
1908, "A single slender sapling of the American chestnut,
Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh. ,.. .grows in an opening
among the pines near Miacommet Pond."4 Bassett Jones
reports that he and E. L. Littlef ield, Supervisor of
Forestry Investigations, New York State, found Bicknell' s
single chestnut several years ago. It was then infected
by the chestnut blight.29 Charles Kimball saw a few
poor chestnut trees in the same locality four years ago.30
Today a scrubby specimen in the Larches shows the sucker
growth which follows chestnut blight destruction.

We know that ash was introduced on Nantucket be-
fore 1908 as Bicknell records both the American species,
Fraxinus americana L., and the European species, Fraxinus
excel sior L. Both have prospered and increased. A row
which fronts the Casino in Siasconset contains the two
species. Two other species, the black ash, Fraxinus
nigra Marsh., and the green ash, Fraxinus vennsyl vanica
var. lanceolata Sarg., are found in Civic Park.

The remaining tree species which might be listed
as town dwellers in Nantucket are a hit or miss collec-
tion. They seem the result either of an itinerant nursery-
man or of the individual fancies of- the householders.
The latter reason may explain the tamarisk shrub,
Tamarix varvi flora DC, near several houses on the Point
and in the Gordon yard on Lincoln Avenue. The latter
was planted about I89O by "William S. Kimball, the grand-
father of Charles Kimball.3 The tamarisk is accustomed
to a sandy soil. We read that It "plays the role of
Juniper" where it is native "in southwestern Spain and
along the African coast from Tunisia, where an arm of
the Sahara reaches up to the sea. "3

In a vacant lot on Union Street, opposite the
Whiting Milk Office, there is a motley collection of
trees : a sycamore maple, a decrepit cherry, a tall
spruce, and two Kentucky coffee trees, Gymnocl adus
diotca Koch. Notwithstanding its name, the Kentucky

28 NANTUCKET TREES

coffee tree vill grow in fairly northern latitudes but
it does not seem happy on Nantucket. Kentucky settlers
are said to have used the seeds as a substitute for
coffee. It vas evidently not a popular substitute. At
any rate, Nantucket cannot so avail itself, as it does
not fruit here. The collector's chief interest in this
tree is in its huge, twice-compound leaf. Only the
Hercules Club, Aral i a sDinosa L., has a more elaborate
compounding.

Ailanthus ilandulosa Desf. also has a large com-
pound leaf. Ailanthus is MA Tree" that "Grows in
Brooklyn. " It seems at home whether in backyards of
city slums or in the more open spaces of Nantucket. Its
grey bark is quickly lichen-covered in the moist sea air.
Its long, frond-like leaves, surrounding a mass of
reddened fruits are most decorative. With such beauty
it is almost a pity to mention the disagreeable odor of
the trees vith staminate blooms. There is a tall
Ailanthus on High Street; there are several beautiful
specimens along the main road just after entering
Siasconset .

Even in vacation time Academy Hill is not de-
serted. The bees gather honey from the linden tree in
front of the High School, drawn by the fragrance of its
small yellow blossoms. The linden is a tree of many
names. In the Biglow Papers, James Russell Lowell uses
another name :

The lime-trees pile their solid stacks o' shade
An1 drows'ly simmer with the "bees' sweet trade.31

Two commoner American names are basswood and
whitewood. There are a confusing number of forms of
linden on Nantucket. Of the large-leaved forms, Till a
neilecta Spach. is in Civic Park and Tllia euchlora K. ,
on Easton Street. The small-leaved forms are more fre-
quent about town/ both Tilia cordata Mill., the English
lime of Academy Hill and Tilia vulgaris L. of Ray's Court

The name whitewood is applied also to an entire-
ly different tree, the tulip tree, Liriodendron Tulivi-
fera L., because it also has soft, white, fine-grained
wood valuable for wood-working. On the mountains of
Pennsylvania and farther south the tulip tree makes a

NANTUCKET TREES 29

forest growth. In the open it attains a tall symmetry
with columnar trunk. The spreading tulip tree in the
Folger yard across the street from North Church has evi-
dently felt Nantucket's winds as Ita branches begin
lower than is normal. The leaf of the tulip tree is dis-
tinctive, with palmate veins like a maple but with square-
cut lobes and a re-entrant angle at the tip. In May the
tree bears large yellow-green blossoms which have some
slight resemblance to a tulip. The blossoms are really
more like the Magnolia to which Liriodendron is related.
There are a few large shrubs of the early-flowering
Magnolia, Magnolia Soulangeana Soul., around town; one on
Winter Street might rank as a tree. The fine example of
Magnolia acuminata L., the cucumber tree, is scarcely
known. It stands in the yard of the Gables, Broad Street.

Catalpas in Nantucket are the survivors of the
young trees which Gilchrist Company of Boston distributed
in 1911 to school children throughout the state. This
is recorded in the Nantucket School Report of 1911. "in
the Spring, 1911, one thousand Catalpa trees were offered
freely to the schools by the Gilchrist Company of Boston,
Mass. The offer was accepted and several of the trees
are alive and doing well at the Academy Hill grounds."38
Mrs. Charles Clark Coffin reports for the children: "i
can remember my sister and I taking our trees home and.
planting them, and seeing them both grow and blossom,
only to be cut down for some reason later'."8 Vissitudes
must have been heavy through these 35 years for today
only an occasional Catalpa strews the ground in June
with its exotic-looking blossoms.

Evergreens, or more exactly, Gymnosperms, are
not abundant in town but there are a few interesting
specimens. The Ginkgo should stand first as a Gymnosperm
which is neither cone-bearing nor evergreen. Ginkgo
biloba L. is a tree with a history. It is one of the
few broad-leaved Gymno3perms^, relic of an age when more
moisture and warmth in the north temperate latitudes
made a paradise for great trees. Fossil records prove
the Ginkgo once grew abundantly in North America but in
this present age it is native only in China.23 The
Ginkgo in the yard of the Eagle Wing Studio on Union
Street must have stood there for many years. Young

30 NANTUCKET TREES

Ginkgo trees grov a slender spire like Lombardy poplars.
Only in maturity do they begin, as it vere, to experi-
ment in branching and threw out branches at broad angles
to the trunk. The tree on Union Street is in the transi-
tion stage. One vho knovs the wide-spreading Ginkgos in
the Boston Public Gardens and the avenue of great Ginkgos
in the Nev York Botanical Gardens -wishes that more might
become settled on Nantucket.

An interesting cone-bearing evergreen stands in
the yard on the corner of Milk Street and Nev Dollar
Lane, a beautiful pyramid of a tree, CryDtomeria japonica
Don. This, like the Chinese scholar tree, is a native
of the Orient. It is rarely seen in the North Atlantic
states outside of arboretums although Philadelphia has
some fine specimens. The story of its planting on Nan-
tucket is an instance of the chance offering of unusual
plants by the trade. According to Mrs. Charles Clark
Coffin, her mother bought it about 15 years ago at the
Central Market vhich vas located vhere Mac's pharmacy is
now. The small plant vas bought for about tvo dollars
vith the idea that it vould grov like barberry for a
lavn shrub.8

At least three species of spruce are trying to
hold their ovn in tovn but fev of them look happy. In
addition to an occasional pitch pine and Scotch pine in
tovn there is the red or Norvay pine, Pinus restnosa Ait.
The beauty of its deep green foliage in the yard of 114
Main Street has been much enjoyed from the vindovs of
the Maria Mitchell House.

The years of chance experiment in tree planting
on Nantucket might veil give vay to more definite plans
for increasing the numbers of those species vhich have
proved adaptable to Nantucket conditions.

The native oaks should make good shade trees.
The Scotch elm and the Chinese elm have proved themselves
as settlers. Lindens are sturdy against the vind and
fragrant in June. The feathery foliage of the honey
locust might beautify other streets than Fair. The clean -
groving tulip tree vith its interesting leaves and blos-
soms, the Sophora and the Ginkgo to link us to China. . .
all three might veil have their single examples multiplied

NANTUCKET TREES 31

in the town. And last of all, more plane trees, If only
to replace the relic at the corner of Main Street and
Ray's Court and start another century on Nantucket.

August, 19^5* Many of the type species which are de-
scribed in these pages have been damaged by the hurri-
canes of 1944 and 1945. It Is too early to tell whether
they will recover and stand as illustrations in later
years. Therefore It has seemed best not to make sub-
stitutions at this time.

Mabel A. Rice

Natural Science Department
The Maria Mitchell Association
Nantucket, Massachusetts.

32 NANTUCKET TREES

LITERATURE CITED

1. Archer, Gabriel. The relation of Captain Gosnold'e voyage to
the north part of Virginia. In Maes. Hist. Soc. Col. Ser. 3,
v. 8. 72-81. 1843.

2. Baker, R. St. Barbe. Tree and ahrub life. 154-200, PI. 106-
125. In Nature in Britain, Scribner, New York. 1936.

3. Barneby, Rupert C. A note on the vegetation of the Mediterran-
ean littoral. Jour. New York Bot. Card. 46: 49-54. 1945

4. Bicknell, Eugene P. The ferns and flowering plants of Nantucket.
Bull. Torey Bot. Club. Vol. 35-46. 1908-1919.

5. Boyer, Mrs. M. W. Letter, Maria Mitchell files. 1929

6. -- Letter, Maria Mitchell files. 1945

7. Brereton, John. A brief and true relation of the discovery of
the north' part of Virginia. In Mass. Hist. Soc. Col. Ser. 3,
v. 8. 85-93. 1843

8. Coffin, Mrs. Charles Clark. Letter, Maria Mitchell files. 194 5.

9. Creveceour, M.G. St. Jean de. Letters from an American farmer.
London. 1-318. 1782.

10. Douglas -Li thgow, R. A. Nantucket: A history. New York. 1-
389. 1914.

11. Dudley, M.S. Silk industry in Nantucket. In Proc. Nan. Hist.
Ass. 4th. An. Meeting. 1-23- 1898.

12. Fernald, M.L. The geographic affinities of the vascular floras
of New England, the Maritime Provinces and Newfoundland. Amer.
Jour. Bot. 5: 219-247, PI. 12-14. 1918.

13. -- The Gray Herbarium expedition to Nova Scotia. Rho. 23: Pt.
Ill, 153-281. PI. 1. 1921.

14. Fogg, J.M. Jr. The flora of the Elizabeth Islands, Massachusetts.
Rho. 32: 119-132; 147-161; 167-180; 208-221; 226-258; 263-281.
PI. 1. 1930.

15. Folger, I.H. and Rich, Publishers. Handbook of the Island of
Nantucket 1-43. 1918.

NANTUCKET TREES 33

16. Godfrey, E.H. The Island of Nantucket. 1-362. Lee & Shepard,
Boston. 1882

17. Godwin, H. Guide to Cavenham and Tuddenham Heaths (Breckland)
Sec. Phytogeography and Ecology, Fifth Inter. Bot. Congress,
Cambridge, England. l-l6. Fig. 1,2. 1930.

18. Guba, E. F. List of Second Hundred Fungi of Nantucket. Rho.
41: 508-520. 2 maps, 1939-

19 • Harshberger, J.W. The vegetation of Nantucket. Bull. Geog. Soc.
Philadelphia, v. 12, #2: 70-79, fig. 1-10. 1914.

20. Hayward, Mrs. Emma Frances. Letter, Maria Mitchell files, 19^5 •

21. Hollick, A. Plant distribution as a factor in the interpretation
of geological phenomena with special reference to Long Island
and vicinity. Trans. New York Acad. Sci. 12: 189-202. 1893.

22. Holmes, J.H. Notes, Maria Mitchell files.

23. Hottes, A.C. The book of trees. New York. 1-440. 111. 1944.

24. Inquirer and Mirror. One hundred years on Nantucket. 1-84, 1921.

25. — March Ik, 1931-

26. Jones, Bassett. Pinus Thunbergii on Nantucket. Nat. Hort. Mag.
9: 180-190. PI. 1-4. 1930.

27. — Was Nantucket ever forested? In Pro. Nan. Hist. Ass. 4lst.
An. Meeting 19-27. 1935-

28. -- Letter, Maria Mitchell files. 1944.

29. -- Letter, Maria Mitchell files. 1945.

30. Kimball, Charles P. Letter, Maria Mitchell files. 1945.

31. Lowell, James Russell. The Biglow Papers. In Poetical Works,
The Riverside Press Cambridge, 1890.

32. Macy, Obed. The history of Nantucket. Boston 1-300. 1835.

33. Macy, Zaccheus. A short journal of the first settlement of the
Island of Nantucket, with some of the most remarkable things that
have happened since to the present time. 1792. Mass. Hist. Col.
3: 155-160. 1794.

34. Miller, R. Notes, Maria Mitchell files. 1944.

34 NANTUCKET TREES

35. Owen, Maria. A catalogue of plants growing without cultivation
in the County of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Northampton. I-87,
1888.

36. Perry, F.V. Letters, Maria Mitchell files. 1944, 1945.

37. Pirsson, L.V. and Schuchert, Charles. Textbook of geology.
New York. 1-724. PI. 1-46. Fig. 1-237- 1924.

38. Porter, R.J. Letter, Maria Mitchell files. 1945.

39. Rehder, Alfred. Manual of cultivated trees and shrubs. 2nd.
ed. New York. 1-996. 1 map. 1940.

40. Rosier, James. Relation of Waymouth's voyage to the coast of
Maine, 1605. ed. by Henry S. Burrage. In Gorges Soc. Publica-
tions, vol. 3, Portland. 1887.

41. Shaler, N.S. Geology of Nantucket. In U.S. Geol. Sur. Bull.
53: 1-55- PL 1-10. 1889.

42. Smith, S.W. Nantucket: a brief sketch of its physiography and
botany. New York. 1-24. 1901.

43. Starbuck, Alexander. The history of Nantucket. Boston. I-87I.
111. 1924.

44. Stewart, G.R. A study of soil changes associated with the
transition from fertile hardwood forest land to pasture types of
decreasing fertility. Ecol. Monograph. 3: 107-145. 1933.

45. Thoreau, Henry D. Journal 7: 1-527* PL 1-5 • Houghton Mifflin,
New York. 1906.

46. Turner, H.B. Argument Settlers, Nantucket. 1-116. 1944.

47. Vineyard Gazette. July, 27, 1945.

48. Vokes, H.E. How old is the earth? Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. New
York. 1-25. 111. 1941.

49. Wallace, R.H. and Moss, A.E. Salt spray damage from recent New
England hurricane. 15th. Nat. Shade Tree Conf . Pro. 112-119.
1939.

50. Weaver, J.E. and Clements, F.E. Plant Ecology, 1st. ed. McGraw
Hill. 1-520. fig. 1-262. 1929.

51. Wilder, B.G. Evidence as to the existence of large trees on
Nantucket Island. Pro. Amer. Ass. Adv. Sci. 43:294. 1894.

NANTUCKET TREES 35

52. Woodvorth, J. B. and Wigglesworth, Edw. Geography and geology
of the region Including Cape Cod, the Elizabeth Islands, Nan-
tucket, Marthas Vineyard, No Mans Land and Block Island. Mem.
Mus. Com. Zool. Harvard Col. 52:i-xvi, plus 1-322. PI. I-38
1934.

53. Worth, H. B. Nantucket lands and landowners. Nan. Hist. Ass.
v. 2. Bull. 1: 1-419. 1901.

54. Wyer, H. S. Sea-girt Nantucket. Nantucket 1-207 . 1906.

TREES AND SHRUBS OF NANTUCKET
Key for Identification based chiefly upon Leaf Characters.

Identification keys unlock the names of the
species included. Perhaps they might better be con-
sidered a collection of sign-boards set at successive
forkings of the road. At any fork of the road one
makes a choice of roads and later signs on the' road not
taken are of no interest. Likewise, in an identification
key, when a choice is made from two or more balanced
statements, only those subdivisions under the choice
made are to be considered.

The tree names to which the key leads are given
in two forms: the common or English name and the bi-
nomial or Latin name. The binomial includes first, the
name of the group or ienus of closely related plants;
second, the name of the species or member of the genus.
The name of the genus, the generic name, is a noun; that
of the species, the specific name, is generally an ad-
jective and follows the noun.

It is worth while to become familiar with the
binomials. Whereas the common names may be only locally
known, the binomials are known around the world. They
may be pronounced with English sounds for the letters
but should be divided into as many syllables as there
are vowels or diphthongs in the word. A single conson-
ant between vowels begins the following syllable.

The authorities for the nomenclature used in the
following pages are Gray's Manual of Botany, 7th Edition
for all plants therein included and Render's Manual of
Cultivated Trees and Shrubs, 2nd. Edition. Due 'to re-
cent changes in the rules of nomenclature and to the
study of type specimens, many changes in these botanical
names have been proposed and will be adopted when new
editions of the plant manuals are published. Since it
may be some time before they appear, it is thought best
to use here the familiar names that can be found in
readily available works.

37

58 TREES AND SHRUBS OF NANTUCKET

The attempt has been made to use few technical
terms in the descriptions. Vhere technical terms have
been used they have been defined or explained on the
occasion of their first use. Further descriptions of
the terms and of the trees and shrubs may be found in
reference books at the Maria Mitchell Library and the
Athenaeum.

TREES AND SHRUBS OF NANTUCKET 39

REFERENCE BOOKS ON TREES AND SHRUBS IN THE
MARIA MITCHELL LIBRARY, NANTUCKET

Bailey, L. H Manual of Cultivated Plants.

Bailey, L. H Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture.

Bailey, L. H The Cultivated Evergreens.

Britton, N. L North American Trees.

Britton & Brown Illustrated Flora of Northern United

States, Canada and the British Posses-
sions.

Cole, Rex V The Artistic Anatomy of Trees.

Dame, L. L. & Brooks, H . . Handhook of the Trees of New England.

Gray, Asa New Manual of Botany, 7th Edition.

Harlow, W. W Trees of the Eastern United States and

Canada.

Harshberger, John W The Vegetation of Nantucket.

Hottes, Alfred C The Book of Trees.

Hough, Romyn B Handbook of the Trees of the Northern

United States and Canada.

Keeler, Harriet L Our Northern Shrubs.

Matthews, F. Schyler. . . „ Field Book of American Trees and Shrubs

Newhall, Charles S The Trees of Northeastern America.

Newhall, Charles S The Shrubs of Northeastern America.

Newhall, Charles S The Trees and the Shrubs of North- '

eastern America.

Rehder, Alfred Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs.

2nd. Edition.

Rogers, Julia E The Tree Book.

Rogers, Julia E Trees that Every Child Should Know.

Sargent, Charles S Manual of Trees of North America.

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

OF NANTUCKET

A. Trees: Woody plants, usually with a single tall stem
and a crown of branches 1

A. Shrubs: Woody plants, usually with several stems

forming a fairly low, bushy cluster 67

1. Leaves slwple: undivided, with margin entire,

toothed or lobed but not cut to the midrib .... 2
1. Leaves compound: divided to the midrib or to the

leaf stalk into distinct parts: leaflets 43

2. Leaf with expanded surface 3

2. Leaf reduced to needle or scale.' 56

3 • Free- forking veins in a fan-shaped leaf: a
primitive type found only rarely on Nantucket

Maidenhair Tree
Glnkio bl loba L.
3- Netted veins: the small veins connected by

cross veins into a mesh throughout the leaf. . 4
4. Leaves set by threes on the twig:
whorl ed Catalpa

Catalpa blinonloldes Walt .
4. Leaves set by twos on the twig: opposite. . 5
4. Leaves set by ones on the twig: alternate . 10
5. Primary veins several, radiating from
the base of the expanded leaf portion:
the blade: palmately veined

Genus Acer 6

5- Primary vein one with secondary veins

arising along it: pi nnate ly veined. ... 9
6. Lobes radiating in star-like pattern . . 7
6. Three main lobes forward-pointing. ... 8
7- Leaf smooth, dark green, 7-lobed,
milky sap . . . Norway Maple

Acer Platanoldes L-
7 -Leaf smooth, ^dark green, 5-lobed,
watery sap. . . Sugar Maple

Acer saccharum Marsh.
7 -Upper leaf surface furrowed by veins,
5 widely spreading lobes

Sycamore Maple

Acer pseudoplatanus L.

41

42 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

8. Lobes slightly toothed

Red Maple
Acer rubrum L.
8. Lobes deeply and irregularly

toothed Silver Maple

Acer sacchartnum L.
9. Leaf large, heart-shaped, often set by
3's instead of 2's on the twig

Catalpa 4

9. Leaf broad-elliptic, short-stalked, soft
with minute hairs, veins furrowing the
upper leaf surface, curved, a tree-shrub,

See #72 Flowering Dogwood

Cornus flortda L.
9. Leaf slender-oval, long-pointed long-
stalked, minutely saw-toothed:
serrulate, branches slender, a shrub
or spreading tree, See #70

Spindle Tree
Euonymus Bungeana Maxim .
10. Leaf evergreen, oval, thick, shining, wavy-
margined with spiny teeth

American Holly
Ilex ovaca Ait .

10. Leaf not evergreen, deciduous 11

11. Leaf margin either uncut: entire or

serrulate 12

11. Leaf margin either conspicuously

saw-toothed: serrate, or lobed. . . . 19
12. Leaf large, 3 inches or more.

Genus Magnolia ~LJ>

12. Leaf less than J> inches long. ... 14
13. Leaf firm, with tapering base,
a tree-shrub. See #94

Early Magnolia
Magnolia Soulangeana
Soul.
13. Leaf thin, usually with rounded
base, a large tree

Cucumber Tree
Magnolia acuminata L.
14. Leaf sap aromatic, leaf elliptic,
without lobes but on the same
tree there may be lobed leaves.

Genus Sassafras. ... J>Q
14. Leaf sap not aromatic 15

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 4 3

15. Leaf egg-shaped; ovate, with

pointed tip: acute 16

15 -Leaf lance-shaped:

lanceolate , with acute or
long-pointed tip: ac-

cuminate 17

16. Leaf entire, smooth,
shining.

Sour Gum, Tupelo
Nyssa sylvatica Marsh.
16. Leaf serrulate, smooth,
shining.
Pear

Pyrus communis L.
16. Leaf serrulate, fairly-
smooth above, more or
less woolly beneath.
Apple

Pyrus Malus L.
16. Leaf somewhat hairy above,
thick-woolly beneath.
Quince

Cydonta oblonia Mill.
17. Leaf silvery-white with
soft hairs on both sur-
faces, a thorny tree-shrub.
Silver Thorn, Russian
Olive

Elaeagnus aniustt folia L.
17 -Leaf shining grey-green,
roughened with a few scales
beneath, making it a lust-
rous, metallic white, a
tree-shrub.
Oleaster

Elaeainus umbellata
Thunb .
17. Leaf entire or serrulate,
upper surface smooth.

Genus Sallx 18

A large and confus-
ing genus with many
hybrids . The follow-
ing are among the com-
moner species on Nan-
tucket.

44 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

18. Leaf broad-lanceolate,
upper surface dark
green, shining, small
swellings: glands on
edge of leaf -stalk:
vetiole. See #21.
Bay-leaved Willow
Salix pentandra L.
18. Leaf medium-lanceolate,
dark green above, paler
beneath, marginal teeth
glandular.
Crack Willow
Salix fragi lis L.
18. Leaf medlum-lanceloate,
green above, paler be-
neath, not glandular.
Purple Willow
Sal ix purpurea L.
18. Leaf slender-lanceolate,
tapering at both ends,
sharply serrulate,
branches drooping.
Weeping Willow
Sal ix babylonica L.
18. Leaf slender, ob-

lanceolate: broader at
tip, serrulate, pale be-
neath.
Smooth Willow
Salix discolor Muhl .
18. Leaf narrow-lanceolate,
rolled edge, silvery-
silky beneath.
Basket Willow
Sal ix vimlnalts L.
19. Leaf symmetrical: the two sides

similar in outline 20

19. Leaf unsymmetrical: the two sides

unlike in outline 37

20. Small swellings: glands on the

petiole. See '#90 21

20. No glands on the petiole .... 22
21. Two reddish glands on
petiole just below the
blade, leaf lanceolate,

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 45

small incurved marginal teeth,
crushed leaves with bitter
odor. .Black Cherry

Prunus serotlna Ehrh.
21. As above but leaf shorter and
broader, elliptic or obovate,
sharply serrate.

Cultivated Cherry
Prunus Cerasus L.
21. Leaf lanceolate, tapering to
both ends, 4-7 inches long,
margin often wavy, with short,
sharp-pointed teeth.
Peach

Prunus Perslca (L. )
Stokes
21. Tiny black glands on upper
side of petiole and on upper
surface of blade. Bark white
with triangular black mark-
ings below the branches.
Grey Birch

Betula poduI i fo Ha Marsh.
21. Glands on edge of petiole,
leaf broad-lanceolate, shin-
ing, See #18

Salix pentandra L.
22. Leaf approximately triangular,
ovate with a more or less
straight base,' margin toothed.

Genus Povulus 2J>

22. Leaf ovate-elliptic, sharply
toothed or lobed.

Genus Crataegus. ... 25
22. Leaf large, orbicular in
general outline but deeply

3 or 5 lobed 26

22. Leaf large, long-elliptic,

serrate or lobed 29

25. Leaf stalk laterally com-
pressed just below the

blade 24

23. Leaf stalk not compressed
but rounded, leaf white-
downy beneath, margin

46 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

with large, blunt teeth.
White Poplar
Popul us al ba L.
24. Leaf ovate, heart-
shaped, buds pointed,
elongated, sticky and
aromatic.
Balm-of-Gilead
Populus candtcans Alt.
24. Leaf with slightly heart-
shaped base, finely ser-
rate.

Aspen Poplar

Populus tremulold.es Michx.
24. Leaf ovate, pointed,
marginal teeth unequal,
leaf grey beneath.
Large-toothed Poplar
Populus £ randtdentata Michx.
24. Leaf broadly triangular
with a straight base,
surface glistening, 2
glands at base of blade,
fine hairs among marginal
teeth.
Cottonwood

Populus deltoldes Marsh.
24. Leaf broadly triangular
with long-pointed tip,
marginal teeth with in-
curved, thickened points
but no glands or hairs .
Carolina Poplar
Populus canadensis Moench.
25. Leaf shining green, wedge-
shaped: obovate, toothed
toward the tip.

Cockspur Thorn
Crataegus Crus-iall I L.
25. Leaf dull green, broadly
ovate, doubly serrate:
serrations on each tooth.
Hawthorn

Crataegus submoll Is Sarg.
25. Leaf 3-5 lobed.

English Hawthorn
Crataegus monoiyna Jacq.

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 47

26. Leaf smooth, dark green,
3-lobed, the two lateral
lobes square cut, the
middle one indented.
Tulip Tree

Llrlodendron TulipiferaL.
26. Leaf with 3-5 pointed

lobes, base of petiole en-
larged and tubular, sur-
rounding the twig and
covering the lateral bud.

Genus Platanus .... 27
26. Leaf with 2 thumb-like
lateral lobes; others on
the same tree without
lobes or with one lobe . . 28
27. Leaf as broad as, or
broader than long, one
ball only on each blos-
som stalk.
Western Plane Tree, Sycamore
Platanus occidental I s L.
27. Leaf as long as or

longer than broad, cen-
tral lobe usually elon-
gated, more than one
ball usually on each
blossom stalk.
London Plane Tree
Platanus acert folia (Ait.)
Willd.
28. Leaf margin entire.

Genus Sassafras 38

28. Leaf margin toothed.

Genus fforus 38

29. Leaf thin, smooth, green

on both sides, not lobed . 30
29. Leaf thick, lobed.

Genus Quercus .... 32
30. Leaves set in more than
2 rows on the stem.
American Chestnut
Castanea dentata (Marsh.)
Borkh.

48 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

30. Leaf set in 2 rows on
the stem: 2-ranked.

Genus Fagus 31

31. Leaf with sharp
teeth.
American Beech
Fagus grandt folia Ehrh.
31. Leaf with short,

blunt teeth or margin
merely wavy.
European Beech
Fagus syl vat I ca L.
32. Lobes rounded, not bristle-
tipped 33

32. Lobes pointed, bristle-
tipped ^

33. Lobes cut halfway
or more to the mid-
rib, petiole i-1
inch long.
White Oak
Quercus al ba L.
33. Lobes cut less than
half way to the mid-
rib, petiole not more
than i inch long, ear-
like projections at
the base of the blade.
English Oak
Quercus robur var.
pedunculata Ehrh.
33. Lobes 3-5, the sub-
terminal ones square-
cut, forming a broad-
shouldered leaf, per-
sistent yellow hairs
on under leaf surface .
Post Oak

Quercus stell at a Wang.
34. Lobes 5-7, sharply
toothed, irregular,
triangular, See #95*
Scrub Oak
Quercus 11 let fol la Wang.

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 49

34. Lobes 5-9, rounded

sinuses: indentations,
reaching usually only
about half way to the

midrib 35

34. Lobes 5-9, rounded
sinuses reaching
nearly to midrib,
leaf thin, smooth,
light green, petioles

slender 36

35. Lobes broadening
outward from
their bases, leaf
thick, dark green,
soft -hairy beneath,
petiole stout, acorn
cup deep with loose,
velvety scales and
fringed edge, acorn
without rings be-
low the tip or with
only one ring.
Black Oak

Quercus velutina Lam.
35. Lobes narrowing
outward from their
bases, acorn cup
shallow, with
smooth, close
scales and edge
not fringed, acorn
with 2 or more faint
rings below the tip.
Red Oak
Quercus rubra L.

36. Horizontal-spread-
ing branches, acorn
cup deep, scales
smooth, rim smooth,
2 or more rings on
acorn just below tip.
Scarlet Oak

Quercus coccinea Muench.
36. Lower branches slant-
ing downward from the

50 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

trunk, acorn cup
small, shallow,
saucer- shaped.
Pin Oak

Quercus palustrts Muench.
37. Leaf with a lobe on one side only:
a mitt en- shaped leaf. There are
often symmetrical leaves, with-
out lobes or with 2 lateral lobes

on the same branch 38

37. Base of leaf rounded on one side

and obliquely cut on the other . 39
38. Leaf aromatic, margin entire.
Sassafras

Sassafras varit folium
(Salisb. ) Ktze.
38. Leaf not aromatic, margin ir-
regularly toothed, upper sur-
face shining, rough, sap milky.
White Mulberry
Morus al ba L.
39. Leaf elliptic, doubly serrate,
sharp-pointed.

Genus Ulmus 40

39. Leaf broad-ovate to orbicu-
lar, serrate, sharp-pointed,
under surface hairy in tufts
at angles of the veins.

Genus Till a 42

40. Leaf broadest near the mid-
dle 41

40.Leaf broadest just below
the tip.

Scotch Elm
Ulmus glabra Huds .
41. Leaf 2-3 inches long,
surface rough.
White Elm
Ulmus americana L.
41. Leaf less than 2 in-
ches long, surface
smooth, branches
slender and drooping.
Chinese Elm
Ulmus pumt la L.

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 51

42. Leaf large, 5-6 Inches long,
flower bract without stalk;
sessl le.

American Basswood
Til la amerlcana L.
42. Leaf large, 4-5 inches long,
thick, smooth, dark green
above, grey hairs beneath.
Downy Basswood
Tllla neilecta Spach.
42. Leaf 2J-4 inches long,
flower bract stalked.
European Linden
Tllla europaea L.
4 2. Leaf 2-4 inches long,

lustrous above, pale green
and smooth beneath.
Crimean Linden
Tllla euchlora K. Koch.
42. Leaf small, 1^-2 i inches
. long, often broader than
long, flower bract stalked.
Little Leaf Linden
Tllla cordata Mill.
43. Compound leaves (not their leaflets) opposite

one another on the twig 44

43. Compound leaves alternate on the twig 50

44. Leaf lets set along a central stalk or mid-
rib like the pinnae of a feather:

plnrtately compound 45

44. Leaf lets radiating from the tip of the
petiole like fingers from the palm:

palmately compound 48

45. Leaf odd-pinnate: the paired leaflets

tipped by a single leaflet. ....... 46

46. Leaf lets 3 or 5> margins with a few
large teeth,... See #6.

Box Elder
, Acer Neiundo L.
46. Leaf lets 5-11. .Genus Fraxlnus .... 47

47. Leaflets stalked, inconspicuously
serrate dark' green above, light
beneath . . .White Ash

Fraxlnus amerlcana L.
47. Leaflets stalked, margin entire
or irregularly serrate, green on

52 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

"both sides. .Green Ash

Fraxinus pennsylvantca var.
lanceolata Sarg.
47. Terminal leaflet stalked, lateral
leaflet sessile, sharply serrate,
green on both sides.

Black Ash

Fraxinus nigra Marsh.
47. Leaflets sessile, sharply toothed,
dark green above, pale beneath.
European Ash
Fraxinus excelstorl,.
48. Leaflets 5-7, wedge-shaped: obovate

Genus Aesculus . . . . 49
49. Leaflet doubly blunt-toothed, sessile,
buds sticky. . .Horsechestnut

Aesculus Blppocastanum L.
49. Leaflet doubly sharp-toothed, stalked,
buds slightly sticky.

Red-flowered Horsechestnut
Aesculus cornea Hayne.
50. Leaves once compound: only one series of

leaflets to a leaf 51

50. Leaves twice compound: some of the leaf-
lets cut to their midribs into a secondary

series of leaflets 55

51. Leaf lets small, even-pinnate: no terminal
leaflet, branching thorns on twigs and
trunk. Occasionally there are twice-
compound leaves on the same tree.

Honey Locust
Gledttsla trlacanthos L.
51. Leaf lets odd-pinnate: having a terminal

leaflet 52

52. Leaf large, 12-40 inches long, 13-19
large leaflets, a few gland-tipped
teeth at bases of leaflets.

Tree of Heaven
Allanthus glandulosa Desf .
52. Leaf about 12 inches long, leaf lets
ovate, entire, without spines.

Schdlar Tree, Pagoda Tree
Sophora Japonlca L.
52. Leaf about 12 inches long, 5-25 oval
or oblong leaflets, stipules: pro-
jections at base of petiole, usually

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 53

spiny, petiole set over the lateral

bud Genus Roblnla 53

52. Leaf 8-18 Inches long, leaflets
yellow-green, serrate, terminal
leaflet larger than the paired

leaflets . . . .Genus Carya 54

53- Petioles smooth, a large tree.

Black Locust
Robtnia Pseudo-Acacia L.
53. Petioles sticky, a shrubby tree.

Clammy Locust
Robinta viscosa Vent .
5^. Foliage resinous-scented, margins
of leaflets smooth .

Mocker Nut Hickory
Carya alba (L. ) K. Koch.
54. Foliage not resinous-scented,
margins of leaflets hairy.

Shagbark Hickory
Carya ovata (Mill.) K. Koch.
55. Twice -compound, even-pinnate leaves on
same tree as once-compound leaves

Honey Locust . . .See #51
55. Twice-compound, odd-pinnate leaves,
very large, bronze-green, shining,
base of petioles of first degree com-
pound leaflets as well as base of main
petiole often swollen, lowest leaflets
usually undivided.

Kentucky Coffee Tree
Gymnocladus dlotca (L. ) Koch.

56. Leaves long, slender, needle-shaped 57

56. Leaves short -needle or awl-shaped 63

56. Leaves reduced to mere scales 66

57. Thick or leathery leaves: evergreen, ... 58

57. Not evergreen, deciduous 62

58. Needles 2-5 Inches long, in clusters
of 2-5, arising from very short
twigs or dwarf branches .

""Genus Plnus 59

59. Dwarf branches not persistent:

deciduous, 5 needles in a cluster.

White Pine
Plnus Strobus L.
59. Dwarf branches persistent, roughening
the bark of the twigs ....... 60

54 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

60. Needles 3 in a cluster.

Pitch Pine, Yellow Pine
Plnus rigida Mill.

60. Needles 2 in a cluster 6l

6l. Needles about 2 inches long,
straight, bright green,
pyramidal tree or dwarf shrub.

Mugo Pine, Swiss Mountain
Pine

Plnus Mu£o Turra.
6l. Needles about 2 inches long,
twisted, silvery-green.
Scotch Pine
Pinus syl vestrts L.
6l. Needles 3-5 inches long,
stiff, dark green.
Black Pine

Pinus Thunbergil Pari.
6l. Needles 4-6 inches long,
slender, flexible, bright
green. Red Pine

Pinus resinosa Ait.
61. Needles 2-4 inches long,
stiff, margin rough.
Chinese Pine

Pinus tabulae fornls Carr.
62. Needles about 1 inch long, cylin-
drical, several in a cluster, aris-
ing from wart-like, persistent
dwarf branches . .European Larch

Larix decidua Mill.
62. Needles about \ inch long, flat, thin,
light green, set singly in 2 rows on

the twig Bald Cypress

Taxodlum disttchum. (L. ) Rich.
63. Leaves £ inch long, sharp-pointed, stiff,
opposite; the young stage of the Red '

Cedar Genus Junlperus. ... 66

63. Leaves ^-1 inch long, square in cross
section, tips curved, bases running down
the twig: decurrent , leaves set closely
on the twig in alternate zones of short-
er and longer leaves.

Crypt omeria

Cryptomeria japonlca D. Don

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 55

65. Leaves |— 1 inch long, flattened, 2
silvery stripes beneath, sessile on
the twigs leaving merely circular scars
on smooth twigs after the fall of the

leaves Genus Abies 64

64. Leaves about 1 inch long, dark
green above, silvery beneath,

aromatic Balsam Fir

Abies balsamea (L. ) Mill.
64. Leaves 1 inch long, bluish green,
Irregularly arranged on the twig,
curving upward, buds resinous.

White Fir

Abies irandls Lindl.
63. Leaves about 1 inch long, stiff,
pointed, set singly all round the
twig on short, slender petioles which
are persistent after the leaf falls,
making a rough bark.

Genus Ptcea. . . « . . 65
65. Leaf blue-green with a whitened
surface, tip l.icurved.

Blue Spruce

Picea tlauca (Moench. ) Voss.
65. Leaf light-green, somewhat ill-
smelling White Spruce

Picea canadensis (Mill.) BSP.
65. Leaf J-% inch long, dark green,
shining, spirally crowded on the
branches .... Norway Spruce

Picea Abies (L. ) Karst.
66. Branches cylindrical, scales similar,
set opposite each other close against
the branch. Awl-shaped needles of the
juvenile type may occur on the same
tree. See #63 . . .Red Cedar

Juniperus vlrglniana L.
66. Branches flat, scales of two types:
two broad scales set opposite each
other close against the twig; two
narrower scales set opposite each
other on the two edges of the twig,
making the foliage appear as if

pressed Arbor Vitae

Thuja occldentalls L.

56 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

67. Leaves simple: undivided, entire, toothed or

lobed but not cut to the midrib 68

67. Leaves compound: leaf blade divided to the midrib

or to the petiole, forming distinct leaflets. . . 105

68. Leaf with expanded blade • . . . . 69

68. Leaf blade reduced to needle or scale 116

69. Leaves opposite: 2 or occasionally 3 at a
node: the point where leaves occur on a

stem

69. Leaves alternate: 1 at a node 86

70. Leaf margin entire 71

70. Leaf margin cut in varying degrees ... 75
71. Veins conspicuous, especially on

under surface 72

71. Veins inconspicuous 73

72. Leaf broad-elliptic, short-stalked,
soft with minute hairs, veins
curved, a tree-shrub. See #9.
Flowering Dogwood
Cornus florida L.
72. Leaf long-elliptic, smooth, green
beneath. . .Fringe Tree

Chionanthus virgintcaL.
72. Leaf long-ovate, smooth, 2 or 3 at
one node. . Buttonbush

Cephalanthus occidental i s L,
72. Leaf ovate, pointed, green and
shining above, grey and soft be-
neath. . . .Carolina Allspice

Calycanthus floridus L.
72. Leaf narrowly ovate, leathery,
olive-green, evergreen, 3 at a
node, a shrub only 1 or 2 feet
high. See #89

Sheep Laurel
Kalmia angustt fol i a L.
73. Leaf oblong-ovate, firm, short -
petioled, dark green, smooth.
Privet

Li gustrum vulgare L.
73. Leaf ovate to elliptical, thin,
short -pet ioled.

Genus Lonicera . . . . 7^
74. Leaf smooth, deeply veined, a
bushy shrub.

Tartarian Honeysuckle
Lonicera tatartcaL.

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 57

74. Leaf rough-hairy, a tree-shrub.

Honeysuckle
Lonicera Maackli var.
nodocarDa Rend.
74. Leaf smooth, half -evergreen,, a
tangled vine.

Trailing Honeysuckle
Lonicera Japontca Thunb.
73. Leaf more or less triangular with
broad, straight or slightly heart-
shaped base. . Lilac

Syrlnia vulgaris L.
75. Leaf lanceolate or ovate, margin
scalloped: crenate, surface rough.

Genus Deutzta 76

75 .Leaf lanceolate-ovate, apical half
of margin toothed.

Forsythia

Forsythta suspensa (Thunb.)
Vahl.
75. Leaf elliptic, finely toothed or
crenate, 1-2 inches long. See #9.

Genus Euonymus .... 77
75. Leaf elliptic, 2 or more Inches long,
shallow-toothed, surface rough, deep-
ly veined, petiole set over lateral

bud Mock Orange

Philadelphus coronarius L.
75. Leaf ovate-orbicular, 1-3 inches
long, margin sharply toothed or
3-lobed, surface deeply veined. •

Genus Viburnum. .... 80
75 .Leaf ovate or orbicular, 3 or more

inches long. . Genus Hydrangea. ... 83
-£6. Leaf lanceolate, a lov bush.

Deutzia

Deutzta gracilis Sieb.&
Zucc.
76. Leaf lanceolate-ovate, a tall
bush . . . .Deutzia

Deutzia magnl flea (Lemoine)
Rehd.
77. Leaf thick, leathery, ever-
green. 78

77 -Leaf deciduous 79

58 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

78. Leaf shining, dark green above,
light green beneath, smooth,
finely crenate, an upright
shrub . . Euonymus

Euonymus japonica L.
78. Leaf duller than the above,
often variegated with white,
a trailing shrub.
Euonymus

Euonymus Fortunet var.
radtcans (Miq. ) Rehd.
79. Leaf thin, branches with 2-4
corky wings.

Wahoo Bush

Euonymus alata (Thunb.) Sieb.
79. Leaf thin, long-petioled, ac-
cuminate, serrulate,- with in-
curved teeth, a shrub or small
tree with close, light-grey bark.
Spindle Tree
Euonymus europaea L.

80. Leaf rounded at base 8l

80. Leaf tapering at base 82

8l. Leaf 1-2 Inches long, smooth
& shining above, soft -hairy
beneath with star-shaped hairs,
fruit blue.

Arrow-wood

Viburnum venosum Britton
81. Leaf 1-2 inches long, smooth on
both sides or hairy only in the
angles of veins on under sur-
face, fruit blue.

Arrow-wood
Viburnum dentatum L.
8l. Leaf 3-lobed, glands on petiole,
flat flower cluster, fruit red.
High-bush Cranberry
VI burnum Opul us L.
8l. Leaf 3-lobed, spherical flower
clusters, no fruit.
Snowball

Viburnum Opulus var.
sterile DC .

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 59

82. Leaf not lobed, 3> inches long,
fruit red turning blue-black.
Arrow-wood
Viburnum pubescens Pursh.

83. Leaf short-stalked 84

83. Leaf long-stalked, 1 Inch or more. 85
84. A tree-shrub, blossom clusters
white. . Bush Hydrangea

Hydrangea pantculata Sieb.
85. A scarcely woody shrub,

petioles of leaves much short-
er than the large fleshy
leaves, pink and blue flower
clusters flat.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea macrophylla (Thun.)
DC.
85. Flowers sterile in a globose
cluster, pink and blue.

Hydraniea macrophylla var.
Hortensia Rehd.
85. A scarcely woody shrub,
petioles nearly as long as
the leaf blades, flowers
sterile in a globose cluster.

Hydrangea arborescens var.
cordata grandi flora Rehd..
85. A shrubby vine, petioles often
as long as the leaf blade.
Climbing Hydrangea
Hydrangea petiolaris Sieb.
& Zucc.
86. Main veins radiating from the base of the

blade: palmate venation 87

86. One main vein with secondary ones along

it: pinnate venation 88

87. Leaf 5-nerved, round-ovate, leathery,
shining, margin entire, branches
armed with stout spines, climbing by
tendrils and twining stem.

Green Brier
Smtlax rotundi folia L.
87. Leaf large, orbicular, 3-5 angled
or lobed, young leaves rusty-woolly

60 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

beneath, a vine with tendrils.

Fox Grape
Vltts labrusca L.
(The Concord is a cultivated
variety of this species)
87. Leaf large, orbicular, generally deeply
5-lobed, branches and leaves densely
rusty-voolly, tendrils intermittant .

Vttis aestivalis Michx.
87. Leaf 3-lobed with straight base.

Gooseberry

Ribes oxycanthoides L.
87. Leaf with 3-lobed apex and wedge-
shaped base. . Althaea, Rose of Sharon

Hibiscus syrlacus L.
87. A 3-lobed, maple-like leaf, bark
shredding in strips.

Ninebark

Physocarpus opuli folia
Maxim.
88. Leaf stiff, leathery, evergreen ... 89

88. Leaf deciduous. . . * 90

89. Leaf small, J-l inch long, nar-
rowly obovate.

Bearberry

Arctostaphylos tfva-ursl
(L. ) Spreng.
89. Leaf small, j;-l§ inches long,
elliptic, deep green.
Boxwood

Buxus sempervlrens L.
89^. Leaf small, £~l£ inches long,
yellow-green, rusty-scurfy be-
neath. . . .Cassandra

Chamaedaphne calyculata
(L. ) Moench.
89. Leaf 1-1? Inches long, oblong, shin-
ing, sparingly toothed toward the
tip, See #10 & 98.

Inkberry

Ilex glabra (L. ) Gray
89. Leaf 2-5 Inches long, elliptic,
green on both sides. See #72.
Mountain Laurel
Kalmia lati fol la L.

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 6l

89. Leaf large, 3 or more inches long,
oblong, edge recurved. See #98.
Rhododendron
Rhododendron sp.
90. Two glands on petiole just below
the blade. See #21.

Beach Plum

Prunus marttlma Wang.

90. No glands on petiole 91

91 . Leaf aromat ic .

Genus My r tea 92

91. Leaf not aromatic 93

92. Leaf wedge-lanceolate, ser-
rate toward the tip, pale
green.

Sweet Gale
Myrica Gale L.
92. Leaf oblong, entire or slight-
ly toothed toward the tip.
Bayberry

Myrica carollnensls Mill.
92. Leaf narrow-lanceolate,
with rounded teeth on
margin, hairy beneath.
Sweet Fern

Myrica asplenlfol la L.
93. Leaf large, over 3 inches

long . 94

93. Leaf of medium size, 2-3

inches long 96

93. Leaf small, not over 2 in-
ches long 98

9^. Leaf margin entire, a
tree-shrub. See #13.
Magnolia

Magnolia Soulanieana Soul.
9^. Leaf margin crenate or
lobed, leaf thick, often
leathery. See #32.

Genus Quercus 95

95. Leaf crenate, without
bristles, white-woolly
beneath.

Dwarf Chestnut Oak
Quercus prlnoldes Willd.

62 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

95. Leaf as the above but
with both white and
tawny wool beneath.
Dwarf Chestnut Oak
Quercus prlnoldes var.
rufescens Rehd.
95. Leaf lobes irregular,
triangular, bristle-
tipped. See #3^.
Scrub Oak

Quercus tlict foil a Wang.
96. Leaf 2-3 inches long,
wedge-shaped, sharply
serrate.

Sweet Pepperbush
Clethra alni fol la L.
96. Leaf 2-3 inches long,
oblong, finely toothed,
bright green, soft-
hairy.

Silver Bell
Balesia carol Ina L.
96. Leaf 2-3 inches long,
ovate-oblong, finely
serrate, rounded base,
short-pointed tip.

Genus Amelanchter. . . 97
97. Leaf smooth, bronze-
green when young,
green on both sides
when mature.
Shad Bush

Amelanchter canadensis
(L. ) Medic.
97. Leaf grey with silky
hairs on both sur-
faces when young,
pale green beneath
when mature.
Shad Bush

Amelanchter oblongl folia
(T. & G. ) Roem.
98. Leaf 2 inches long, ovate,
bluntly short-toothed, a
shrubby vine.
Bitter-sweet
Celastrus scandens L.

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 6}

98. Leaf 2 inches long,
ovate, doubly serrate.

Genus Cory I us 99

99- Twigs and petioles
bristly, fruit with
ruffled bract.
Hazel Nut

Cory I us amertcana Walt.
99. Twigs and petioles
soft-hairy, fruit
beaked.

Beaked Hazel Nut
Corylus rostrata Alt.
98. Leaf 1-2 inches long,
Inverted ovate: obovate,
finely serrate, downy
on veins beneath.
See #10.

Winterberry

Ilex vertlctllata (L. ) Gray
98. Leaf 1-2 inches long,

obovate, finely serrate or
entire, minutely hairy.
Andromeda, Male Berry
Lyonia liiustrlna
(L.) DC.
98. Leaf 1-2 inches long,
lance -shaped, shining,
minutely serrate, each
tooth tipped by a stiff
hair. See #89.
Clammy Azalea
Rhododendron viscosum
(L. ) Torr.
98. Leaf 1-2 Inches long,
oblong-oblanceolate ,
finely serrate. See #16.

Genus Pyrus 100

100, Midrib of leaf

glandular on upper
side, grey and soft-
hairy beneath, fruit
red.
Red Chokeberry
Pyrus arbutl folia var.
atropurpurea (Brit.)
Robinson

64 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

100. Under surface of leaf
smooth, fruit black.
Black Chokeberry
Pyrus melanocarpa (Michx.)
Wllld.
98. Leaf 1-2 inches long,
wedge-shaped, coarsely
toothed, scurfy.
Groundsel

Baccharls halimt fol ia L.
98. Leaf J-2 inches long,
obovate, short-petioled .

Genus Berberis .... 101
101. Leaf 1-2 inches long,
bristle-toothed, in
clusters above a
triple spine which
is an altered leaf.
Common Barberry
Berberis vulgaris L.
101. Leaf 2-1 inch long,
margin entire,
spine single.
Japanese Barberry
Berberis Thunbergll DC.
98. Leaf 1-2 inches long,
sprinkled with resinous
or waxy dots.

Genus Gaylussacia, . . 102
102. Leaf obovate-oblong,
thick and shining,
needle-pointed, green
on both sides.
Swamp Huckleberry
Gaylussacia dumosa (Andr. )
T. & G.
102. Leaf ovate-oblong,
thickly clothed with
shining, resinous
globules .
Moor Huckleberry
Gaylussacia baccata (Koch.)
102. Leaf oblong-ovate,
blunt, pale, soft-
hairy beneath.
Wood Huckleberry
Gaylussacia frondosa
(L. ) T & G."

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 65

98. Leaf 1-2 Inches long,
not resinous.

Genus Vacctnium. . . . 103
103. Leaf elliptic, green
above, pale beneath,
margin soft-hairy,
a tall shrub.
High Bush Blueberry
Vacctnium corymbosum L.
103. Leaf lance-elliptic,
green both sides,
margin with minute,
bristle-tipped teeth.
Dwarf Blueberry
Vacctnium pennsylvanlcum Lam.
103. Leaf obovate, pale,
smooth, entire or
minutely serrate.
Late, Low Blueberry
Vacctnium vacillans Kalm.
98. Leaf 1-2 inches long,
linear-lanceolate,
white-woolly. See #18.
Dwarf Willow
Sal ix tristls Ait.
98. Leaf 1 inch or less, thin.

Genus Spiraea io4

104. Leaf broad-oblong,
coarsely serrate,
smooth.
Meadow-sweet
Spiraea latifolta Borkh.
104. Leaf oblong, serrate,
brown- woolly beneath.
Steeple Bush
Spiraea tomentosa L.
104. Leaf ovate-orbicular,
cut-toothed or 3-lobed,
- bluish green beneath.
Bridal Wreath
Spiraea trtlobata L.
104. Leaf linear, serrate.
Spiraea
Spiraea Thunberilt Sieb.

66 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

105. Leaf once compound: one series of leaflets. . 106
105. Leaf twice compound: some of the leaflets

cut to the midrib to form a secondary series

of leaflets 115

106. Leaf trifoliate: one pair of leaflets

plus a terminal leaflet 107

106. Leaf lets more than three 109

107. Margin of leaflets entire.

Golden Chain Tree
Laburnum alpinum
Bercht. & Prsl.
107. Margin of leaflets Irregularly toothed,
plant smooth, poisonous to the touch.
See #112.

Poison Ivy

Rhus Toxicodendron L.
107. Margin of leaflets irregularly
and coarsely toothed, stems and
petioles armed with prickles, leaf-
lets sometimes 5.

Genus Rubus 108

A large and variable genus, contain-
ing many hybrids. The following are
among the common species.
108. Canes arched-recurving, prickles
stout, leaflets smooth above,
velvety beneath, occasionally 5
leaflets on leaves of older stems.
Blackberry

Rubus frondosus Bigel.
108. Leaflets rhombic -ovate, doubly
serrate, smooth, dull, stems
elongate, becoming prostrate,
prickles stout, backward turn-
ing . . . .Dewberry

Rubus vi I losus Ait.
108. Leaf lets smooth, firm, shining,
dark green, stems prostrate
trailers, prickles backward
turning . . Small Dewberry

Rubus hispldus L.

109. Leaflets 5, palmate 110

109. Leaflets 5 or more, odd-pinnate,

See #108 Ill

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 67

110. Leaflets oblong-lanceolate,

coarsely serrate, stems trail-
ing, climbing by tendrils, dull
green, paler beneath.

Virginia Creeper
Psedera qutnque folia
(L. ) Greene
110. Leaflets elliptic, margins
serrate, sharp spines below
the petioles.

Spiny Panax

Acanthopanax Sleboldlanus
Mak.
111. Leaves opposite, 5-7 leaflets,
some leaves twice compound, a
pithy shrub. See #114.
Elder
Sambucus canadensis L.

111. Leaves alternate 112

112. Leaf long and feather-like,
the swollen base of the
petiole set over the lateral
bud. See #107.

Genus Rhus 113

113.7-13 entire leaflets,
the pairs standing half
erect on the main leaf
stalk, stalk red.

Poison Sumac, Poison Dog-
wood.

Rhus Vernlx L.
113.11-21 unsymmetrical leaf-
lets, shining, with winged
stalks.

Dwarf Sumac
Rhus copalllna L.
113.11-31 serrate leaflets,
stalks smooth.
-, Smooth Sumac
Rhus glabra L.
113.11-31 serrate leaflets,
stalks hairy.

Staghorn Sumac
Rhus typhlna L.

68 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

112.15-23 large leaflets, 30ft,
green on "both sides, sharp-
ly and doubly serrate, stipu-
les at base of the main leaf
stalk. .Bushy Spiraea

Sorbaria assurgens Vilm.
& Bols.
112.15-19 entire, pointed leaf-
lets, 2 slender bracts at
base of each set of leaflets,
a woody climber.
Wisteria

Vlsterla sinensis (Sims.)
Sweet
112.9-13 small, elliptic leaflets,
dull green, indented tips
Bladder Senna
Colutea arborescens L.
112.5-7 serrate leaflets, sti-
pules leafy, thorny shrubs.

Genus Rosa 114

114. Leaf lets narrow-elliptic,
shining, dark green,
sharply serrate, stipules
simple wings, spines
more or less hooked.
Wild Rose

Rosa viriiniana Mill.
114. Leaf lets narrow -oblong,

finely serrate, dull green,
stipules very narrow,
spines fairly straight.
Wild Rose
Rosa carol ina L.
114. Leaf lets larger, thick,
deeply veined, dark,
blue-green above, pale and
soft beneath, stipules
leafy, spines of varying
lengths.

Rugose Rose

Rosa -ruiosa Thunb.

115.2 pair of lower leaflets pinnately com-
pound, the others simple,- leaves op-
posite Elder. See #110.

KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS 69

115.11-31 pinnately compound leaflets,

deeply toothed, soft-hairy. See #112.

Cut-leaved Sumac
Rhus typhina var.
dissect a Rehd.
115. Huge leaves with pinnately compound,
toothed leaflets, base of main leaf
stalk encircling the stem, stalks
armed with slender prickles erect at
the base of the leaflets.

Hercules Club
Aral la splnosa L.
116. Leaf deciduous, small scales, sheathing
the stems, grey-green.

Tamarisk

Tamarix parvt flora DC.

116. Leaf firm or leathery, evergreen 117

117. Leaf a tiny needle, \ inch long,
yellow-green, set radially around
the stems, low, spreading shrubs,
making a heath-like ground cover.

Broom Crowberry
Corema Conradli Torr.
117. Leaf linear, 1 inch long, abruptly
pointed, dark green above, yellow-
green beneath, prominent midrib.

Yew

Taxus cuspidata Sieb.
& Zucc.
117. Leaf J inch long, sharp-pointed,
stiff. See #63.

Genus Junlperus . . . . 118
118. Leaves opposite on the twig,

young trees, 1-2 feet high, the
young stage of the Red Cedar.
See #63.

Red Cedar

Juniperus vtr£lnlana L.

118. Leaves in 3 ' s on the twig 119

119. Leaf with white stripe on the
upper side, a low, sprawling
shrub .

Ground Junpier
Junlperus communis
var. depressa Pursh.

70 KEY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS

119. Leaves as the above but a
narrow pyramidal shrub.
Irish Juniper
Juniperus communis
var. h i be rn t ca Gord.

LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS INCLUDED IN THE KEY

This list of Nantucket trees and shrubs does not
presume to be complete. It will have served a purpose if
it should stimulate readers to find additions to the list.

Assistance In many determinations of species has
been given by Dr. Lyman Smith of the Gray Herbarium,
Harvard, Mr. E. J. Palmer of the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard,
and Mr. S. N. F. Sanford of the Museum of Natural History,
Boston. Through the determinations of these scientists
the list has far exceeded the first expectation and gives
an Index of the extensive and varied plantings which have
been made on the Island during the last century, Never-
theless this result is incidental to the original purpose
of the publication-. --that of offering a non-technical Key
by which the non-botanist could become acquainted with
Nantucket's trees and shrubs.

I have not Indicated the native and the introduced
species in the list. I have, however, starred all those
species which were in Bicknell ' s list of Nantucket plants,
1908-1919, and I have double- starred those which Bicknell
called introduced species. The remainder are, by infer-
ence, introduced since Bicknell' s time.

LIST OF TREES INCLUDED IN THE KEY
Binomial Common Name

Location of type
specimen

1. Abies balsamea (L) Mill,

2.
*6.

Abies grandis Lindl.
Acer Negundo L.
Acer platanoldes L.
Acer pseudoplatanus L.
Acer rubrum L.

7. Acer saccharum Marsh.

**8. Acer saccharinum L.

9. Aes cuius carnea Hayne

10. Aesculus Hippocastanum L.

**11. Allanthus glandulosa Desf.

*12. Betula popullfolla Marsh.

•13. Carya alba (L. ) K. Koch.

**14. Carya ovata (Mill.) K. Koch

**15. Catalpa bignonloides Walt.

Balsam Fir

White Fir
Box Elder
Norway Maple
Sycamore Maple
Red Maple
Sugar Maple

Cut-leaved
Silver Maple
Red-flovered
Horse-chestnut
Horse-chestnut
Tree of Heaven
Grey Birch
Mocker Nut
Hickory

Shagbark Hickory
Catalpa

Estate of Bassett

Jones

127 Main Street

Vestal St.

Pine St.

Milk St.

Ram Pasture

Cor. Gardner & Main

Sts.

Cor. Darling & Main

Sts.

Vestal St.

Vestal St.
Union St.
Polpis Road
Pocomo Swamp

The Larches
Cor. Pine .&
Summer Sts.

71

72

LIST OF TREES INCLUDED IN THE KEY

Binomial

Common Name

Location of type
specimen

**l6. Castanea dentata (Marsh.)
Borkh.
•17. Cornus florida L.
**18. Crataegus Crus-galli L.

19. Crataegus monogyna Jacq.

20. Crataegus submollis Sarg.

21. Cryptomerla japonica D. Don

22. Cydonla oblonga Mill.

23. Elaeagnus angustlfolia L.

24. Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb .

25. Euonymus Bungeana Maxim.
♦26. Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.

27. Fagus sylvatica L.
**28. Fraxinus americana L.
**29. Fraxinus excelsior L.

30. Fraxinus nigra Marsh.

31. Fraxinus pennsylvanlca
var. lanceolata Sarg.

32. Ginkgo biloba L.

33. Gleditsia trlacanthos L.

34. Gymnocladus diolca (L. ) Koch.

*35- Hex opaca Ait.

♦36. Juniperus virginiana L.

**37. Larix decldua Mill.

38. Lirlodendron Tulipifera L.

39. Magnolia acuminata I.

40. Magnolia Soulangeana Soul.

**41. Morus alba L.
♦42. Nyssa sylvatica Marsh.

43. Picea canadensis (Mill.) BSP.

44. Picea Abies (L. ) Karst.

45. Picea glauca (Moench. ) Voss.

46. Pinus mugo Turra.

47. Pinus resinbsa Ait.

**48. Pinus rigida Mill.
**49. Pinus sylvestris L.
**50. Pinus Strobus L.

American Chestnut
Flowering Dogwood
Cockspur Thorn

English Haw-
thorn
Hawthorn
Cryptomerla

Quince
Silver Thorn

Oleaster
Spindle Tree
American Beech
European Beech
White Ash
European Ash

Black Ash
Green Ash

Maiden-hair Tree
Honey Locust
Kentucky Coffee
Tree
Holly
Red Cedar
European Larch
Tulip Tree
Cucumber Tree
Early Flowering
Magnolia
White Mulberry
Sour Gum
White Spruce

Norway Spruce
Blue Spruce
Mugo Pine

Red or Norway
Pine

Pitch Pine
Scotch Pine
White Pine

The Larches
Hidden Forest
Cor. Main St. &
Ray's Court
Orange St .

Ray's Court
Cor. New Dollar
Lane & Milk St.
Vestal St.
Cor. Easton & So,
Beach St.
Wauwlnet
Hlller's Lane
Hidden Forest
Upper Main St .
Academy Lane
Cor. Orange &
Coon Sts.
Civic Park
Civic Park

Union St.
Fair St.
Union St.

Hidden Forest

Coatue

The Larches

Centre St.

Broad St.

Winter St.

Academy Lane
Quidnet Road
Estate of
Bassett Jones
Union St.
Union St.
Estate of
Bassett Jones
118 Main St.

Civic Park
Civic Park
State Forest

LIST OF TREES INCLUDED IN THE KEY

73

Binomial

Common Name

Location of type
specimen

51. Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.

52.
53-

5^.

**55.

56.
**57.

58.
*59.

*60.

**6l.

62.

*6j>.
**6k.
**65.

*66.

*67.

*68.

**69.
**70.

**71.

*72.

*73.

**74.

**75.

**76.

*77.

**78.

**79-

**8o.

**8l.

*82.

83.

Pinus Thunbergil Pari.

Platanus acerifolia (Ait.) Willd.

Platanus occidentalis L.

Populus alba L.
Populus canadensis Moench.
Populus candlcans Alt.
Populus deltoides Marsh.
Populus grandidentata Michx.

Populus tremuloides Michx.

Prunus Cerasus L.

Prunus Persica (L. ) Stokes

Prunus serotina Ehrh.

Pyrus communis L.

Pyrus Malus L.

Quercus alba L.

Quercus coccinea Muench.

Quercus ilicifolia Wang.

Quercus palustris Muench.

Quercus robur var. pedunculata

Ehrh.

Quercus rubra L.

Quercus stellata Wang.

Quercus velutina Lam.

Roblnia Pseudo-Acacia L.

Robinia vlscosa Vent.

Salix babylonica L.

Salix discolor Muhl.

Salix fragilis L.

Salix pentandra L.

Salix purpurea L.

Salix vimlnalis L.

Sassafras varlifollum (Salisb.)

Ktze.

Sophora japonic a L.

8k. Taxodium distlchum (L. ) Rich

85. Thuja occidentalis L.

86. Tilla amerlcana L.

87. Tilla cordata Mill

88. Tilla euchlora K. Koch.

89. Tilia europea L.

Chinese Pine

Black Pine

London Plane Tree

Western Plane

Tree

White Poplar

Carolina Poplar

Balm of Gilead

Cottonwood

Large-toothed

Aspen

Aspen Poplar

Cherry

Peach

Black Cherry

Pear

Apple

White Oak

Scarlet Oak

Scrub Oak

Pin Oak

English Oak

Red Oak
Post Oak
Black Oak
Black Locust
Clammy Locust
Weeping Willow
Smooth Willow
Crack Willow
Bay-leaved Willow
Purple Willow
Basket Willow
Sassafras

Scholar Tree

Estate of Bassett

Jones

Civic Park

7 Milk St.

Cor. Main St. &

Ray ' s Court

Mill Hill

Union St.

Vestal St.

Polpis Road

Taupaushaw

Taupaushaw

Walnut St.

Bloom St.

Mill Hill

5 Main St.

North Liberty St.

Coskata

Coskata

Tom Never1 s Rd.

109 Main St.

20 Orange St.

Hummock Pond Rd.

Coatue

Coskata

Cliff Rd.

North Vestry Hill

Centre St.

No. Liberty St.

Lily St. Swamp.

Hurlburt Ave.

Ray's Court

Beach St.

Polpis Rd.

Cor. Orange &
Cash Sts.

Bald Cypress Estate of

Bassett Jones

Arbor Vitae Vestal St.

American Basswood 147 Main St.

Little Leaf Linden High School

Crimean Linden Easton St.

European Linden Ray's Court

74

LIST OF TREES INCLUDED IN THE KEY

Binomial

Common Name

Location of type

specimen

90. Tilla neglecta Spach.

*91. Ulmus americana L.

92. Ulmus glabra Huds.

93. Ulmus pumila L.

Downy Basswood
American Elm
Scotch Elm
Chinese Elm

Civic Park
Main St.
Pleasant St
127 Main St

LIST OF SHRUBS INCLUDED IN THE KEY

75

LIST OF SHRUBS INCLUDED IN THE KEY

Binomial

Common Name

Location of type
specimen

1.
•2.

*3.

4.

*5.
•6.

**7.
*8.

9.

10.

*11.

•12.

*13.

14.

15.
*16.

17.
*18.
*19.
*20.
•21.

22.

25.

24.

25.
26.

27.

28.
*29.

*30.

•31.

32.
33.

34.

35.
36.

Acanthopanax sieboldianus Mak.

Amelanchier canadensis (L. ) Med.

Amelanchier oblongifolia (T. & G.)

Roem.

Aralia Splnosa L.

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi L.

Baccharis halimifolia L.

Berberis Thunbergii

Berberis vulgaris

Buxus sempervirens L.

Calycanthus floridus L.

Celastrus scandens L.

Cephalanthus occidentalis L.

Chamaedaphne calyculata (L. )

Moench.

Chaenomeles lagenaria Koidz.

Chionanthus virginica L.

Clethra alnifolla L.

Colutea arborescens L.

Corema Conradil Torr.

Cornus florida L.

Corylus americana Walt.

Corylus rostrata Ait.

Deutzia gracilis Sieb. & Zucc.

Deutzia magnifica (Lemoine)

Rehd.

Euonymus alata (Thunb.) Sieb.

Euonymus europaea L.

Euonymus japonica L.

Euonymus Fortune! var. radicans

(Miq. ) Rehd.

Forsythia suspensa (Thunb. ) Vahl.

Gaylussacia baccata (Wang. )

C. Koch.

Gaylussacia dumosa (Andr. ) T.&G.

Gaylussacia frondosa (L. ) T.&G.

Halesia Carolina L.

Hibiscus syriacus L.

Hydrangea arborescens var.

cordata grandiflora Rehd.

Hydrangea macrophylla (Thunb.)

DC.

Hydrangea macrophylla var.

Hortensia Rehd.

Spiny Panax

Shadbush

Shadbush

Hercules Club

Bearberry

Groundsel

Japanese Barberry

Barberry

Boxwood

Carolina Allspice

Bitter-sweet

Buttonbush

Leather Leaf

Flowering Quince

Fringe Tree

Sweet Pepperbush

Bladder Senna

Corema

Flowering Dogwood

Hazelnut

Beaked Hazelnut

Deutzia

Deutzia

Milk St.
Wauwinet Road
State Forest

36 Gardner St.
Saul's Hills
Saul's Hills
29 Liberty St.
Shimmo
3 Milk St.
Vestal 3t.
Wauwinet Rd.
Saul's Hills
Bloomingdale

111 Main St.

13 Gardner St.

Madaket Rd.

9 Milk St.

Barnard's Valley

Hidden Forest

Quaise

Quaise

36 Gardner St.

Lowell Place

Wahoo Bush 3 Union St.
Spindle Bush 7 Milk St.
Euonymus 9 Milk St.

Trailing Euonymus 3 Vestal St.

Forsythia

Moor Huckleberry

Swamp Huckleberry
Blue Dangleberry
Silver Bell
Althaea
Hydrangea

Hydrangea

Hydrangea

14 India St.
Saul's Hills

Bloomingdale
Saul's Hills
18 Milk St.
Gardner St.
Vestal St.

Main St.

Main St.

76

LIST OF SHRUBS INCLUDED IN THE KEY

Binomial

Common Name

Location of type
specimen

37. Hydrangea paniculata Sieb.

38. Hydrangea petiolaris Sieb. & Zucc.
*39- Hex glabra (L. ) Gray

*40. Ilex verticillata (L. ) Gray
*4l. Junlperus vlrginlana L.

42. Junlperus communis var.
depressa Pursh.

43. Junlperus communis var.
hibernica Gord.

*44. Kalmla angustifolia L.

♦45. Kalmla latifolia L.

**46. Laburnum alplnum Bercht. & Prsl.

47. Ligustrum vulgare L.

48. Lonicera japonica Thunb.

49. Lonicera Maackli var. podocarpa
Rehd.

50. Lonicera tatarica L.

*51. Lyonia ligustrina (L. ) DC.

52.
*53.
♦54.
*55.

56.

57.
♦58.

59.

*60.

*6l.

*62.
♦63.
*64.

♦65.

66.

*67.

♦68.

♦69.

**70.

71.

Magnolia Soulangeana Soul .
Myrica asplenifolla L.
Myrica carolinensls Mill.
Myrica Gale L.
Phlladelphus coronarius L.
Physocarpus opulifolia Maxim
Prunus marltlma Wang.
Psedera quinquifolia (L. ) Greene
Pyrus arbutifolia var.
atropurpurea (Brit.) Robinson
Pyrus melanocarpa (Michx.)

Wllld.

Quercus ilicifolia Wang.

Quercus prinoldes Wllld.

Quercus prinoides var. ruf es-

cens Rehd.

Rhododendron viscosum (L. ) Torr.

Rhododendron sp.

Rhus copal Una L.

Rhus glabra L.

Rhus Toxicodendron L.

Rhus typhina L.

Rhus typhina var. dlssecta Rehd.

Hydrangea 115 Gardner St,
Climbing Hydrangaa Pleasant St.

Inkberry

Vlnterberry
Red Cedar
Ground Juniper

Irish Juniper

Sheep Laurel
Mountain Laurel
Laburnum
Privet

Trailing Honey-
suckle
Honeysuckle

Tartarian
Honeysuckle
Male Berry,
Andromeda
Early Magnolia
Sweet Fern
Bayberry
Sweet Gale
Mock Orange
Nine -Bark
Beach Plum
Virginia Creeper
Choke Berry

Golden Hind
Swamp

Grove Lane
Polpls Road
36 Gardner

40 Orange St.

Bloomlngdale
89 Main St.

117 Main St.
Milk St.
Vestal St.

Ray's Court

Ray's Court

Long Pond Thickets

Academy Lane
Saul's Hills
Madaket Road
Polpls Road
36 Gardner St.

118 Main St.
Polpis Road
Wauwinet Rd.
Taupaushaw

Black Chokeberry Ram Pasture

Scrub Oak Saul's Hills
Dwarf Chestnut Oak Bloomlngdale
Dwarf Chestnut Oak Saul's Hills

Clammy Azalea
Rhododendron
Dwarf Sumac
Smooth Sumac
Poison Ivy
Staghorn Sumac
Cut-leaved Sumac

Madaket Road
Cultivated
Wauwinet Road
Wauwinet Road
Beach St.
Union St.
No. Liberty St,

LIST OF SHRUBS INCLUDED IN THE KEY
Binomial Common Name

77

Location of type
specimen

*72.
*73.
*7^.
75.
*76.
*77.
*78.

*79.
*80.
*8l.
*82.

83.

84.

85.

86.

87.

**88.

89.
90.

91.
♦92.

Rhus Vernix L.

Ribes oxyacantholdes

Rosa Carolina L.

Rosa rugosa Thunb.

Rosa virginiana Mill.

Rubus frondosus Bigel.

Rubus hispidus L.

Rubus villosus Alt.

Salix tristis Ait.

Sambucus canadensis L.

Smilax rotundifolia L.

Sorbarla assurgens Vilm. & Bols.

Spiraea latifolia Borkh.

Spiraea Thunbergii Sieb.

Spiraea tomentosa L.

Spiraea trilobata L.

Syringa vulgaris L.

Tamarix parviflora DC.

Taxus cuspidata Sieb. & Zucc.

Tecoma radicans (L. ) Juss.

Vaccinium corymbosum L.'

*93. Vaccinium pennsylvanlcum Lam.
*9k. Vaccinium vacillans Kalm.

*95- Viburnum dentatum L.

96. Viburnum pubescens Pursh.

97. Viburnum Opulus L.

98. Viburnum Opulus var. sterile DC.

Poison Sumac
Gooseberry
Wild Rose
Rugosa Rose
Wild Rose
Blackberry
Small Dewberry
Dewberry
Dwarf Willow
Elder

Green Brier
Bushy Spiraea
Meadow Sweet
Spiraea
Steeple Bush
Bridal Wreath
Lilac
Tamarisk
Yew

Trumpet Creeper
High Bush Blue-
berry

Dwarf Blueberry
Late Low Blue-
berry
Arrow-wood
Arrow-wood
High-bush
Cranberry
Snowball

*99. Viburnum venosum Britton Arrow-wood
100. Vitis aestivalis Pigeon Grape

*101. Vitis labrusca L. Fox Grape

102. Wisteria sinensis (Sims.) Sweet Wisteria

Madaket Road
Wauwinet Rd.
Grove Lane
Vestal St.
Grove Lane
Quaise

Bloomlngdale
Wauwinet Road
So. Shore Plains
Madaket Road
Wauwinet Road
25 Hussey St.
Hummock Pond Rd.
Gardner St.
Gibbs Pond
Ray's Court
Gardner St.
Hurlburt Ave.

1 Vestal St.
11 Milk St.
Ram Pasture

Saul's Hills
Saul's Hills

Wauwinet Road

2 Vestal St.
9 Milk St.

Cor. Westchester
& Centre Sts.
Wauwinet Road
Polpis Road
Polpls Road
25 Hussey St.

, ''SPIRAL BINDING
U. S. PATENTS NOS

1516932. 1942026
1985776 and

Other Patents Pendinq
DT"

The Burkhardt Co.

Detroit

Licensee for

SPIRAL BINDING