12: 192), by Dr. S. E. Jelliffe in 1899 (Fl- L. I., xi-xii), and 

 by Dr. J. W. Harshberger in 1904 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 

 56: 605). 



The pine-barrens of Long Island are almost confined to the 

 southern half of Suffolk County, but extend a (ew miles west- 

 ward into Nassau, mostly in the shape of isolated patches. Dr. 

 W. C. Braislin (Abstr. Proc. Linn. Soc. N. Y. 17-19 (1904- 

 1907) : 94. O 1907) places " the western limit of the scrub 

 pines " at Central Park, about three miles west of the county line, 

 where there are perhaps three or four hundred acres of pine- 

 barrens ; but I have seen other unmistakable patches of the 

 same vegetation two or three miles farther west, namely, between 

 Hicksville and Westbury and also about half way between 

 Merrick and Hicksville. 



The pine-barren area corresponds approximately with that ot 

 the soil mapped as " Norfolk coarse sandy loam " in the soil 

 survey report on western Long Island by J. A. Bonsteel and 

 others (Field Operations of the U. S. Bureau of Soils for 1903). 

 Like most other unglaciated portions of Long Island, it is almost 

 perfectly flat, with a barely perceptible southward slope of about 

 15 feet to the mile. A few very shallow valleys containing 

 brooks or creeks traverse it, generally from north to south. It 

 lies entirely south of the newer or Harbor Hill moraine, but 

 partly north of the older or Ronkonkoma moraine. The soil 

 seems to be of the Columbia formation, one of the youngest of 

 coastal plain deposits. Its chief constituents here are silt and 

 coarse sand. Just why pines should predominate on the " Nor- 

 folk coarse sandy loam" and deciduous trees on some equally 

 sandy soils similarly situated a little farther west is not clear. It 

 cannot be altogether a matter of water-content, for the pines 

 occur also well within the edges of the swamps. 



In Babylon and Islip, the two westernmost townships on the 

 south side of Suffolk County, pine-barrens are the prevailing 

 type of vegetation, and as there are a good many square miles 

 of them in these townships entirely uninhabited, they are in ex- 

 cellent condition for study. My observations on the flora of 

 Babylon and Islip have been confined to three trips on foot 



- Wiftt&iF^i t-i 



