The Merrimack X'alley also has a somewhat (hstinctive woody flora. 

 Jioth Ottcrcits cocciiica and O. priiioidcs are confined in New tlampshiic 

 to the lower part of the valley, and I'lbunmin Rafinesqitiaiuiin is rather 

 strikingly isolated in the townships of Derry and Windham, the nsual 

 range being much farther westward and southward in Xew England. 



There are several other species of sanely, gravelly, or alluvial soils which 

 are shared by eastern Xew Hampshire and the IMerrimack River Valley, 

 some outstanding examples being Hudsouia cricoidcs, Bctiila niijra. SmUax 

 rotiindijolia, and Caylitssacia frondosa. 



In southeastern Xew Hampshire, Iva jnifcsccns occurs in several scat- 

 tered patches near tidewater, being here at the farthest northeastern stations 

 in the United States. Ilc.v (jlabra is found in a very limited stand in Sea- 

 brook near the coast, the farthest north station for it in continental United 

 States. Carya glabra and C. cordijonnis reach their northeastern limits of 

 lange in southeastern X"ew Hampshire. Lindcra Benzoin and Corniis flu- 

 rid a, both of which are of some abundance in parts of Strafford County, 

 leach their northeastern hmits of range nearbv in York Countv, Maine, 

 rhough of more northern general range, Gavltissacia diiinusa var. Bigcl- 

 viana occurs locally only in the southeastern part of Xew Hampshire. 



The foregoing discussion shows that, while clear-cut boundaries fail in 

 niany cases to delimit the ranges of species and associations of species, 

 there are nevertheless certain areas of distinct climates, soils, and topogra- 

 jdiic features in X^ew Hamjxshire which possess distinctive tvpes of vegeta- 

 tion and flora. 



There follows a brief history of l)Otanical work in Xew Hampshire r.s 

 it relates to floristic studies in general and to woody species in particular. 



Beginning in 1784 with the visit of the botanist A'lanasseh Cutler to the 

 White Mountains in company with Jeremy Belknap, there was at first 

 internfittant and in more recent years almost continuous attention paid by 

 botanists to the Presidential Range. The vast botanical collecting in the 

 Presidential Range and the considerable work that has been carried on 

 in other parts of Coos County were admirably summarized by Professor 

 Pease in his Vascular Flora of Coos County, published in 1924 by the 

 Boston Society of Xatural History. The following list of botanical col- 

 lectors is selected from Pease's mucli longer list (pp. 110-13) and is intend- 

 ed to show the powerful attraction of the area to botanists. The date of the 

 initial visit of each is given. Any later visit is disregarded : 



M. Cutler, 1784; J. Bigelow and F. Boott, 1816; T. Xuttall, 1824; W^ 

 Cakes, 1825; E. Tuckerman, 1837; H. D. Thoreau, 1839; W'. Boott and 

 A. Grav. 1842; D. C. Eaton, 1858; G. L. Goodale, 1859; H. Mann, 1862; 

 X. Barrows, before 1871; W. F. Flint, 1871; C. E. Faxon, 1872; T. 

 Morong, 1874; J. H. Huntington. 1876; C. G. Pringle. 1877; W. Deane, 

 1880; W. G. Farlow, 1882; C. F. Batchelder and C. H. Hitchcock, 1883; 

 ]. R. Churchill, 1889; G. G. Kennedy, 1890; E. F. Williams. 1893; A. S. 

 ■pease, 1895; E. D. Merrill, 1896; \\\ W. Eggieston, ]. M. Greeman, and 

 A. T- Grout, 1898; A. H. Moore, B. E. Robinson, and H. E. Sargent, 

 1901 ; A. S. Hitchcock, 1902; H. St. John. 1909; and M. E. Fernald. 1917. 



In contrast to the extensive work accomplished in Coos County, the rest 

 of the state has been dealt with floristicall}- in a modest fashion or not at 

 all. The earliest discussion of Xew Ham])shire plants aj^peared in Jeremy 

 Belknap's Flistory c-f JVciv Hampshire, volume 111, p]). 96-127, in 1792. 



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