No. 4.] MASSACHUSETTS WEEDS. 269 



tions with foreign countries and the new climatic conditions 

 surrounding them. 



Many of our naturalized and adventive plants have been 

 introduced through importation, and some of them date back 

 to a very early period in our history. 



John Josselyn, an English gentleman who visited this 

 country previous to 1672, gives a list of over thirty species 

 of introduced plants which included such well-known forms 

 as the dandelion, shepherd's-purse, pigweed, couch-grass, 

 burdock, sow-thistle, stinging nettle, plantain, wormwood, 

 chickweed, may-weed and purslane, which were grown in 

 Massachusetts at that time, and Dr. Cutler of Salem left 

 much valuable data concerning our introduced plants in his 

 botanical notes, prepared previous to this century. 



The writings of these early observers are of great value to 

 botanists of the present day as some idea can be obtained as 

 to the adaptability of the European plants. From this list 

 of Josselyn's it will be noticed that all of these plants are 

 common enough to-day ; especially is this true in regard to 

 dandelion, shepherd's-purse, chickweed and purslane, the 

 latter plant being formerly grown in the garden and used for 

 greens. 



These plants found in our gardens their proper habitat, 

 and as the cultivated areas were extended they multiplied 

 very rapidly, until to-day they constitute the most extensive 

 weed-growth we have to contend with. The other plants 

 named by Josselyn, although constituting something of a 

 nuisance, are not so abundant because the proper conditions 

 for their thriving were not obtained. 



But in order to take into consideration all of our weeds 

 we must pay some attention to those which have been more 

 recently introduced. The total number of naturalized plants 

 from other countries which have been established in Massa- 

 chusetts, and do now propagate themselves spontaneously, is 

 probably about two hundred and fifty ; and the total number 

 of adventive species, or those which have grown one or more 

 seasons but have not become established in our climate, is not 

 far from three hundred. 



While these adventive plants occur now and then on 

 rubbish heaps, especially near manufacturing establishments 



