present. Some of these were 6 feet in diameter and 200 feet tall and were 

 reserved for masts of the British navy. Some of these giants, marked 

 according' to tradition wuli the "king's broad arrow", mav have persisted 

 up to the turn of the century. 



Jeremy Belknap, in his History of A'czc Hampshire in 1792, described 

 the forest somewnat to tiie south ot the White Mountains as consisting 

 of mixed hemhjck-hardwood with huge white pines towering here and 

 there above tlie otner trees. Oiicrcus rubra and 0. alba, Betula lutca and 

 B. Icnta, fagits. i'raxiiuis aiiiericana, Acer saccJiarum and A. rubrmn 

 were dominant then as now, while in drier sites, Castaiiea dentafa and 

 Carya ovata were common. I'liiiiis aiiiericana was found in lowlands along 

 streams and Tilia aiiiericana on rich slopes and in ravines. 



Although most of the present forest must be considered in an unstable 

 condition, proceeding by stages towards a climax, certain types can be 

 recognized as common. On richer soils in the northern part of the state 

 where cutting has not been extensive, the forest is often dominated by 

 Betula lutea, fagiis, and Acer sacchariim, with scattered Fraxinus ameri- 

 cana and Tilia aniericana. On rather poor, dryish soils, Populits spp., 

 Betula papyri jera, fagus. Acer saccharuui, and Quercus rubra are com- 

 mon. On low or swampy soils, Acer rubruin, Fraxinus nigra, and Tsitga 

 canadensis are tlie most frequent trees. In Coos County, Thuja may be 

 predominant in swampy areas. Old pastures revert to Jiinipenis coniinunis, 

 Betula populijolia, and almost pure stands of Pinus Strobus. On recently 

 lumbered slopes and on lowlands in northern Coos County, Betula papyri- 

 jcra, Prunus pensylvanica, and Pyrus aniericana grow in rapidly, with 

 Picca and Abies coming in as an understory and eventually replacing them. 

 On very sandy soils, especially after lumbering or hres, Pinus rigida and 

 Quercus ilicijolia often are dominant particularly in central and southern 

 New Hampshire. 



In the southern part of the state the situation is dilTerent and more 

 complex, with several species of Quercus and two of Carya being import- 

 ant trees. Swamps here may have A'yssa sylvatica or Chamaecyparis thy- 

 oides, Acer rubruin, Rhus J'^vnix, and many other species, some of north- 

 ern affinity, along with the ubiquitcnis raccinium corynibosuin. On warm 

 slopes in southern New Hampshire, Carya ovata, Ost'rva virginiana, and 

 several species of Quercus occur with remnants of old trees of Castanea 

 in the form of sprouts. Occasionally on such slopes. Corn us florid a, Sassa- 

 ]ras, Rhus copal Una, and other species are found. 



The Connecticut Valley has some calcareous outcroppings and supports 

 a flora somewhat different from that of the rest of the state. This is re- 

 flected perhaps more in the herbaceous plants than in the woody ones ; 

 however, in the immediate vicinity of the Connecticut River, deciduous 

 forest is dominant northward to the middle and upper portions of the 

 Connecticut Valley, where Thuja occidentalis and Picea glauca make their 

 appearance. Rosa blanda seems to be confined (except for one unverified 

 station) to the valley. Populits deltoid es and Celtis occidentalis also are 

 restricted to the immediate environs of the Connecticut River, while Carya 

 cordiforinis, Acer Negundo, and CI nuts rubra occur in some abundance 

 only in the Connecticut Valley. Salix interior is concentrated there on 

 river gravels of islands (exceptionally on shores) from Plainfield south- 

 \\ard to \\'alpole. 



