Apr. igo/] proceedings s. i. ass'n arts axd sciences. hi 



exterminated since 1864 or thereabouts. 



The work of destruction has g-one on much faster in recent years, 

 since our woodlands have been so often and unnecessarily burned over, 

 and we have now a number of plants that are nearing- extermination. 

 Among these may be included Aqiiilegia canadensis L., Angelica atro- 

 Purptirea L., Diervilla Diervilla (L.) MacM., Gaultheria procumbens L.. 

 Epigaea repens 'L. (Trailing: arbutus), Staphylea trifdlia L., Asclepias 

 variegata L., Orchis spectabilis L., Corallorhiza vinUiflora Nutt., and 

 Tipnlaria nnifoHa (Muhl.) B. S. P. Indeed it is quite likely that the 

 last year or two has seen the extermination of some of these species. 



During- recent years Hepatica Hepatica (L.) Karst., Kalmia laii folia 

 L., and Ilex opaca Ait., the American holly, have become very much 

 reduced in numbers. 



There are only a few trees of the hop hornbeam remaining-, and most 

 of the butternuts along Sandy Brook have been cut down. Some of 

 the interesting- hybrid oaks near Richmond Valley have also Ijeen used 

 for firewood. Most of this destruction is wroug-ht throug-h ignorance. 

 such as the burning of the woods, and often when a man acquires a 

 piece of land, he first cuts down all of the native trees, plows it up, and 

 then plants others, usually maples, which generally seem to be consid- 

 ered the most desirable. At the site of the Richmond Valley oaks a 

 fine tree of the hybrid oak Qicercus Rndkini was cut down and an ordi- 

 nary tree planted in almost the same spot. 



In 1879 five species of Lycopodizim or clubmoss were recorded a& 

 occurring on the Island, and some of them were quite common even 

 a few years later, but they were among the plants that were eftected 

 most disastrously by the repeated burning of the woods. Lycopodium 

 clavahim L. has no doubt been exterminated, and L. lucidnlum ]\Iichx. 

 and L. obscuriim L. have become scarce. Lycopodinm complanaUim L. 

 is the most common of those remaining. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that since 1864, or thereabouts, 

 over forty species of plants, that once grew on the Island more or less 

 plentifully, have been exterminated, and at the present day the destruc- 

 tion is going on faster than ever. It is an accurate statement that at 

 least one species of woodland plant is lost to Staten Island every year. 



Dr. Philip Dowell has well commented upon the distribution of our 

 Staten Island ferns in these Proceedings for May, 1906, and has urged 

 the setting apart of areas of woodland to serve as natural parks. The 

 difficulty seems to be, however, that the average man is not acquainted 

 with the wild plants and their requirements, and through ignorance de- 



