Notes on the Native and extensively introduced Woody 

 Plants of Essex County, Massachusetts. 1 



BY JOHN ROBINSON. 



t PREFACE. 



THE following notes on the woody plants of Essex County have 

 been collected for the purpose of giving what is known of the trees 

 and shrubs which are natives of the soil, and those which have been 

 extensively introduced. It is not possible to bring together here all 

 the information which might be collected, but it is certain that suffi- 

 cient will be found to show thoroughly the nature of the species, 

 their hardiness, and the size they attain within our county's limits. 

 The principal facts are taken from the extensive notes made by Mr. 

 John H. Sears of Danvers, and the observations made since by Mr. 

 Sears and the present writer while botanizing in various parts of the 

 county. Besides, the work of the older botanists has been examined, 

 and references will be found to Dr. Chas. Pickering, William Oakes, 

 Rev. J. L. Russell, S. P. Fowler, and others. The writer desires to 

 express his thanks to the many persons who, more or less interested 

 in the subject, in various parts of the county, have so uniformly shown 

 their kindness by adding much valuable information, which has been 

 incorporated in the notes. Almost every species referred to in these 

 pages is represented in the Essex County Botanical Collection in the 

 Museum of the Peabody Academy of Science, at Salem, where besides 

 the dried specimens of leaves, flowers, and fruit of the plants, there 

 is also a very complete collection of the wood arranged to show its 

 transverse and vertical section, and the bark of each species. This 

 collection is the result of a systematic attempt to illustrate the woody 

 plants of Essex County, and was gathered chiefly by Mr. Sears. 

 Should it chance that any one reading these pages can add any infor- 

 mation to that already collected, the writer would esteem it a great 

 favor that it should be communicated to him. 



1 Names of species in this type : TiE.a Americana, L., indicate plants which are 

 natives of Essex County; in this type: Magnolia acuminata, L., plants which are 

 natives of North America, usually within the scope of Gray's Botany, (i.e., east of 

 the Mississippi and north of Virginia), and introduced into Essex County; in this 

 type: BBRBERIS VULGARIS L., plants which are from foreign countries, usually 

 natives of Europe, introduced into Essex County. 



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