4. 



TORREYA 



Oh, 



Vol. 28 No. 4 



JuIy-AuRUst, 1928 



Isotria verticillata on Staten Island, New York 

 Arthlr Hollick 



Twenty-fi\e species of orchidaceous plants haxe jjeen re- 

 corded from Staten Island. Most of them were relatively 

 common, some of them were localh' abundant, a generation 

 ago. In recent \ears, howe\'er, se\eral of the species ha\e disap- 

 peared, others are on the \erge of extermination, and the re- 

 mainder may now be listed as either occasional or rare. 



Isotria verticillata (W'illd.) Raf. {=Pogonia verticillata 

 (Willd.) Nutt.) was collected on Staten Island in the early '70s, 

 according to a specimen in the local herbarium of The New York 

 Botanical Garden, labeled "Huguenot, S. I., \\\ H. L[eggett], 

 May 30, 1871"; and specimens were subsequently collected at 

 Gifford's — about two and three quarters miles distant from 

 Hugenot — both by me and b\- Dr. N. L. Britton. The Hugue- 

 not station for the species, mentioned by Leggett, was ne\er 

 located by us. Specimens were obtainable in the \"icinit\' of 

 Gifford's, h'owe^'er, until about 1890, and possibly later; but 

 search of the localit\- in recent years failed to reveal the pres- 

 ence of an>' plants. 



About a year ago Mr. H. Papke collected specimens at 

 Annadale, an intermediate station about a mile from Huguenot 

 and a mile and three quarters from Gifford's. I visited this 

 locality on May 29, 1928, and, with the aid of a sketch map 

 prepared by Mr. Papke, had no difficulty in finding the plants. 

 They were growing in considerable number in an irregular zone, 

 around the border of a drained and partly filled-in pond hole, 

 in a section of recently cleared woodland through which streets 

 ha\e been cut and graded, in connection with a piece of real 

 estate development. Many plants were probably destroyed by 

 the cut and fill of two of the intersecting streets. Twenty-eight, 

 howe\'er, were counted within an area of approximately 

 20X 10 feet, and a number of scattered specimens were observed 

 but not counted, beyond the obscurely delimited outer edge 

 of the zone of distribution. No attempt was made to ascertain 



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