Some aspects of the phytogeography of 

 West Virginia 



Earl L. Core 



West Virginia has one of the most irregular outlines of any 

 state in the Union. Various "panhandles" and lobes extend its 

 territory to distances relatively far removed from the main body 

 of the state, which fact is significant in any consideration of the 

 phytogeography, as carrying its territory into latitudes and 

 longitudes remarkably distant from one another, in view of the 

 comparatively small area of the entire state. It is variously re- 

 garded as one of the northern, southern, eastern, or western 

 states. Its northern "panhandle" extends into the latitude of 

 Staten Island; to the south it extends 60 miles below the lati- 

 tude of Richmond; its eastern "panhandle" extends 50 miles 

 east of the longitude of Buffalo; and its westernmost tip is 40 

 miles farther west than Cleveland. 



Even more noteworthy from the phytogeographical stand- 

 point are the variations in altitude, ranging from 272 feet at 

 Harper's Ferry to 4860 feet above sea-level on Spruce Knob, 

 Pendleton County. This range in altitude to a large degree over- 

 shadows the latitudinal range, so that the coldest temperatures 

 are often reported from the central or southern counties. The 

 accompanying table (Table I) gives the average temperature 

 and precipitation for the state as a whole since 1891, when the 

 official recordations were begun (9). 



Table I. Average Temperature and Precipitation for West Virginia, 1890-1930 



Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Ann. 

 Temper. 32.1 32.2 42.6 51.6 62.0 70.1 73.1 71.8 65.8 54.7 42.5 33.3 52.7 



Prec. 2.82 3.09 3.94 3.52 3.91 4.47 4.49 4.15 3.03 3.12 2.80 3.51 43.57 



The lowest temperature recorded in the state since 1891 was 

 — 37° at Lewisburg in 1917. The highest in the same period was 

 112° at Moorefield in 1930. Some indication of the variations of 

 temperature between various regions of the state may be had 

 by comparing the maxima and minima at Bayard, one of the 

 coldest places in the state, with those at Huntington, one of the 

 warmest. The figures for Moorefield well illustrate the great 

 range in temperature that may occur in a given locality (Table 

 ID- 



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