Notes on Staten Island Plants 1 



By William T. Davis 



Pinus echinata Mill. Staten Island is the most northeastern 

 station for the yellow pine, and formerly it was represented by a 

 considerable number of trees. The chief groves or localities 

 were on Long Neck; in the valley north of the Richmond Road 

 near Dongan Hills ; and quite generally distributed in a narrow 

 belt on the northeasterly side of the Amboy Road from Great 

 Kills to Huguenot. While remnants of these groves still exist, 

 the trees are fast disappearing before the axe and forest fires. 

 What may be considered as an additional station for the tree is 

 in the woods near Betty Holmes' Brook, between Gifford's Lane 

 and Eltingville Road or Seaside Avenue. 



Pinus Strobus L. In the same woods mentioned above, but 

 nearer to Gifford's Lane there is a scattered grove of white pines, 

 some of the trees being quite large and evidently old. This 

 species is supposed to be indigenous to the island, and was 

 formerly well represented on Dongan Cedar Hill to the south- 

 west of Clove Valley; at Grant City; and in the woods between 

 Richmond Hill Road and Rockland Avenue. In the last named 

 locality stood the great pine mentioned in the Proc. Nat. Sci. 

 Assn. 6: 14. Jan. 9, 1897. This tree was dead in November, 

 1904, and the bark was found to have been badly burned about 

 its base. 



The most flourishing present grove of white pines, which also 

 contains some fine trees, is at the " Old Comp " north of Rich- 

 mond Valley. As with the yellow pine, there are occasional 

 isolated specimens to be found in various parts of the Island. 

 It may be added that white pines are to be found in the woods at 

 Helmetta and near Browntown, Middlesex Co., N. J., but they 

 are not at all common in that part of the state. 



1 Presented February 20, 1909. 



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