Flora of Delaware and the Eastern Shore 



northern limit near Millsboro, Sussex County, Delaware, and the 

 Cross-vine (Bignonia capreolata) has not been found north of Wor- 

 cester County, Maryland. 



One plant is especially noteworthy, as being an endemic on our 

 Peninsula. This is the Seaside Alder (Alnus maritima), which is 

 abundant, not at the seaside, but farther inland, on margins of 

 ponds and streams in Sussex County, Delaware, and the adjoining 

 counties of Maryland. Elsewhere, it has been recorded only from 

 southern Oklahoma, where, according to J. K. Small, "it has been 

 collected once, long ago." Its identity there is doubtful. 



Dr. John K. Small, in "Peninsula Delmarva," says: "Floristic 

 phenomena are abundant in Delmarva. However, in that land of 

 intermediate position between the North and the South, the plenti- 

 ful thickets of the evergreen calico-bush (Kalmia latifolia), on the 

 one hand, reminded one of the mountains, while, on the other, the 

 cypress-swamps occupied by the deciduous-leaved Taxodium dis- 

 tichum were much more reminiscent of Florida." 



In view of the variety of habitats which results here from the 

 presence of territory belonging to both Piedmont and Coastal 

 Plain, including marine as well as inland influence, and from the 

 existence on the Peninsula of a north-south transition zone, we 

 should reasonably expect a rich and varied flora, with a wealth of 

 species out of proportion to the area. That this may be the case is 

 indicated by the fact that the number of species and varieties 

 recorded in this Annotated List is about 2200, in an area of some- 

 what more than 6000 square miles. 



The number reported in the Tatnall Catalogue of 1860, for New 

 Castle County, is 1106, the area covered being 437 square miles. 

 It is surprising that no catalog of the plants of Delaware and the 

 Eastern Shore* has hitherto been published. A number of regional 

 lists covering portions of the Peninsula have been issued from time 

 to time. Most of these are listed in the Bibliography on page 289. 



Early and Later Collectors of Plants of the Peninsula. In the 



eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Philadelphia was the 

 center of scientific activity in this country. However, of the many 

 botanists who resided in the Philadelphia local area, or who came 

 from abroad and sojourned here for longer or shorter periods, only 



* Since early colonial times, the term "Eastern Shore" has been applied 

 locally to the portions of Maryland and Virginia bordering the eastern shore of 

 Chesapeake Bay. 



xiv 



