PLANTS OF SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY. 57 



BOTANICAL SUBDIVISIONS 01^ THE NEW JERSEY COASTAL PLAIN. 



'Passing now to the consideration of the subdivisions of the 

 New Jersey coastal plain, we find several very well marked areas. 

 As we cross southern New Jersey from west to east we are 

 first struck by the sharp line of demarcation between the farming 

 district of West Jersey and the Pine Barrens ; crossing the latter 

 we find on the coast a narrow belt separating the Pines from the 

 maritime marshes, which has essentially the same flora as the 

 West Jersey region, a flora that is also shared by the coast islands, 

 although they have some additional elements peculiar to them- 

 selves. Southward in the Cape May peninsula we find the West 

 Jersey and coast strips coming together to^ the partial extinction 

 of the Pine Barrens which exist only as detached islands, while 

 especially at the southwestern extremity of the peninsula we en- 

 counter a floral element quite different from the Pine Barrens, 

 but related in no small degree to the flora of southern Delaware. 

 We thus have five distinct floral districts in southern New 

 Jersey — (i) The West Jersey, or better, the Middle District, 

 which covers not only the Delaware Valley region south of 

 Trenton, but also- all the country below the fall line and north of 

 the Pine Barrens which terminate at Long Branch; (2) The 

 Pine Barrens; (3) The Coastal Strip; (4) The Cape May 

 District, south of the Great Cedar Swamp; (5) The Maritime 

 District. 



The northern half of the State is referred to as the Northern 

 District without attempting to subdivide it, since it is only indi- 

 rectly concerned with the present discussion. For an account of 

 its relationship cf. Stone, Ann. Rep. N. J. State Museum for 1908, 

 pp. 31-32. 



Some attempt has been made to correlate these areas or parts 

 of them with underlyingi geological formations, but a more 

 accurate knowledge of the distribution of their plants shows that 

 such correlation is not possible. The surface soil has far more 

 to do with the matter than the underlying geological formation. 

 The western boundary of the Pine Barrens is often the eastern 

 edge of the cretaceous formation, but in the southern part of 



