THE FLORA OF PLUM ISLAND 

 ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS 

 by 

 Mark J. McDonnell ■'■ 



INTRODUCTION 



Plum Island is an eight mile long (12.8 km) barrier' 

 island located at the southern tip of the Gulf of Maine in 

 Essex Co., Massachusetts. It is bordered on the north by 

 the mouth of the Merrimack River and on the south by Ipswich 

 Bay (Fig. 1). The northern third of the island is densely 

 populated, with many private homes and cottages. The dunes 

 at this end of the island have been so altered that they 

 scarcely resemble their once natural grandeur. Due to the 

 foresight of early conservationists the southern two-thirds 

 of the island has remained relatively natural. The Parker 

 River National Wildlife Refuge now includes much of this 

 area except for the extreme southern tip, which is a state 

 park. Because of this extensive preservation effort. Plum 

 Island is one of the largest permanently protected 

 semi-natural barrier islands north of Cape Cod. Management 

 techniques have helped stabilize the dunes, and damage done 

 by early land misuse has begun to heal. The dunes at this 

 end of the island range from thirty to fifty feet in height, 

 forming a dynamic ecosystem unique in its composition of 

 plant and animal populations. With increasing development 

 pressures on coastal dunes all along the Atlantic Coast, 

 Plum Island provides one of the few remaining habitats 

 suitable for many plants and animals which require this 

 coastal environment. 



Plum Island is well known for the quantity and variety 

 of bird life it harbors (Griscom, 1955) . Consequently this 

 portion of its fauna is well documented. Even though the 

 island is located in a region which has produced many 

 notable botanists it has been virtually ignored botanically. 

 Until the late 1950 's there had been no attempt to document 

 the vascular flora of the island. During 1956 and 1957 

 Stuart K. Harris made a substantial effort to compile a list 

 of plants growing on the island for his Flora of Essex 

 County (Harris, 1975) . Over the past three years, as part 



Department of Botany, University of New Hampshire. 

 Present address: Department of Botany, Rutgers University, 

 Piscataway, N. J. 08854 



