Our Livint; Rcsimrccs — Plains 



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For further information: 



Larry E. Morse 



The Nature Conservancy 



1815 N. Lynn St. 



Arlington, VA 22209 



Nc'w York, the third most populous state, has 

 highly varied topography, geology, soils, 

 and climate, and a compie.x history of land use, 

 all of which are reflected in a rich flora of native, 

 introduced, and opportunistic species. Large 

 pails of the .state suppoiT beech-maple, oak- 

 chestnut (now modified as a result of the elimi- 

 nation of chestnut), or hemlock-noilhern hard- 

 wood forest, and there are extensive tracts of red 

 spruce-halsam t1r forest in the Adirondack and 

 Catskill mountains. Alpine tundra is present on 

 the highest Adirondack peaks at elevations above 

 about 1.372 m (4,500 ft), while salt marshes, 

 freshwater ponds, and dwarf pine barrens occur 

 at or near sea level on Long Island. Almost all 

 land in the state has been glaciated and therefore 

 available for plant occupation no longer than 

 18.000 years. In 1880 nearly 789^ of the state's 

 land was in farms or farni woodlots, but by 1980. 

 61% of New York was classified as forested. 



The flora of New York is an economically 

 iinportant resource and the foundation of healthy 

 sustainable environmental systems. The state's 

 flora and its composition have been studied since 

 the early ISOO's, allowing researchers to present 

 trends in the numbers of vascular plant and moss 

 species. In our work, we have emphasized the 

 study of voucher (see glossary) specimens, 

 which allow us and our successors to verify iden- 

 tifications and evaluate the application of species 

 concepts of other researchers. 



Status 



Organized study of the New York flora began 

 in 1 836 with a botanical survey that was a part of 

 the New York State Geological and Natural 

 History Survey, This survey led to the publica- 

 tion of John Torrey 's A Flora of the State of New- 

 York (Torrey 1843). The state's plant resources 

 continued to be investigated at the New York 

 State Museum under government sponsorship 

 that began in 1867 and continues to the present. 

 The regionally significant herbarium and exten- 

 sive data collections that have resulted from this 

 research and exploration provide the documenta- 

 tion for this article as well as our ongoing work 

 and information from other important botanical 

 collections. 



Totals for the major groups of mosses and 

 vascular plants (as of February 1994) are given in 

 Table 1, and increases in the numbers of known 

 species are listed in Table 2, Torrey's 1843 flora 



enumerated 1.4.S2 species, while a 1994 com- 

 pendium (R,S. Mitchell, unpublished data) lists 

 3.431. an increase of 58%. The differences, in 

 part, are due to a dramatic increase in the number 

 of reported non-native species, of which 77% 

 ( 1,122 of 1,449) are naturalized (naturally repro- 

 ducing and spreading). The differences are also 

 due to a significant rise in the number of species 

 recognized as indigenous to the state (an increase 

 of 7 1 1 ). Native species from other parts of the 

 United States are listed in the tables as such, even 

 if they are also known to have been introduced 

 into New York. Although the number of known 

 native plant species has steadily increased, the 

 apparent decrease in the number of native 

 species from House's to Mitchell's list (Table 2) 

 was the result of taxonomic reinteipretation that 

 reduced many taxa (especially species of Ritbiis 

 and Crataegus) into synonymy over the latter 

 half of the 20th century. 



The data reflect both an intensification of 

 botanical exploration during the 19th and 20th 

 centuries and the arrival of numerous plant waifs 

 (nonpersistent alien species), mainly from 

 Eurasia, many of which became naturalized as 

 population centers, commerce, and transporta- 

 tion networks enlarged. In addition, a few native 

 species apparently continue to expand their 

 ranges northward, as exemplified by discoveries 

 in 1993 of the large floating bladderwort 

 iUtriciilaria inflata Walter) and beakgrain 

 (Diarrhena americana obovata [Gleason] 

 Brandenb.) in southeastern New York state. The 

 list of mosses (Table 2) grew most dramatically 

 between 1866 and 1957 as a result of field and 

 herbarium study. Miller's 1994 synopsis of the 

 state's bryophyte flora (unpublished data) shows 

 that many new discoveries continue to be made. 

 Several non-native moss species have been rec- 

 ognized near nurseries and botanical gardens, the 



Tracking the 

 Mosses and 

 Vascular 

 Plants of New 

 York (1836- 

 1994) 



by 



Norton G. Miller 



Richard S. Mitchell 



New York State Museum 



Table L Current tally of New 

 York flora. 



Spreading globeflower (Trollius 

 laxics Salisbury), a threatened 

 species in New York. 



