TORREYA 



Vol. 45 September 1945 No. 3 



Early Flowering of Plants in 1945 



Robert T. Clausen 



March and April, 1945, were remarkable in the northeastern United States 

 for the prolonged period of warm weather. The high temperatures which 

 broke meteorological records provided conditions which caused many species 

 of plants to flower far ahead of their usual time. In the last few seasons, the 

 writer has been interested to keep records of the first dates of flowering for 

 the vicinity of Ithaca, New York. Shedding of pollen has been the criterion 

 used for considering a plant to be in flower. Aided by colleagues and students 

 in his course in taxonomy, the writer has made an attempt to find all native 

 or naturalized species which might be in flower up to May 1. Comparison of 

 the results for 1945 with the two seasons preceding is interesting. A similar 

 survey in 1943 revealed 45 species in bloom before May 1 ; in 1944, 50 

 species were recorded ; but in 1945, the list stood at 209. This surpasses by 

 90 species the report by Professor Fernald (Rhodora 12: 127-129. 1910) of 

 119 species in flower in eastern Massachusetts in April, 1910. The list for the 

 Ithaca region for 1945 is reproduced below with the earliest date when each 

 species was found with ripe pollen. In a few cases, the first bloom was found 

 on a cultivated specimen of a wild plant from a local source. These records are 

 indicated by a "C" after the name. All records, unless otherwise noted, are 

 from the vicinity of Ithaca, in Tompkins County, New York. A— April ; 

 M= March. 



Equisetum arvense — A 1 Ranunculus abortivus — A 9 



Equisetum hyemale var. affine — A 1 Ranunculus hispidus — A 8 



Equisetum sylvaticum — A 29 Ranunculus septendrionalis — A 24 



Equisetum variegatum — A 17 Thalictrum dioicum — A 9 



Lycopodium obscurum — M 25 Trollius laxus — A 8 



Osmunda Claytoniana — A 29 Berberis Thunbergii — A 12 

 Taxus baccata subsp. canadensis — A 8 Berberis vulgaris — A 24 



Actaea rubra- — A 17 Caulophyllum thalictroides — A 3 



Anemone quinquefolia — A 8 Jeffersonia diphylla C — A 7 



Anemonella thalictroides — M 30 Lindera Benzoin — A 1 



Caltha palustris — A 1 Sassafras albidum C — A 12 



COPTIS TRIFOLIA Subsp. GROENLANDICA — A 14 POPULUS BALSAMIFERA — M 29 



Hepatica acutiloba — M 25 Populus grandidentata — A 1 



HEPATICA AMERICANA A 1 POPULUS TREMULOIDES M 18 



Hydrastis canadensis C — A 15 Salix alba — A 17 



Torreya for September (Vol. 45, 65-96) was issued September 28, 1945. 



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