165 



ed to send some of the specimens collected on this trip to Mrs. 

 Mitchell for the Torrey Club Herbarium. 



At the start of the trip, near the bus terminal at Richmond, 

 several Polygonums were found in the stream where it passes 

 through the culvert under the road — viz. the tearthumbs. Poly- 

 gonum arifolium and P. sagittatiim, also P. Ilydropiper and the 

 common Lady's Thumb nearby, P. Persicaria. Impatiens bi- 

 flora, conspicuous at this time of the year, grew rankly along 

 the banks of the stream. In the meadow nearby we found that 

 Amor pha f rut icosa was established, and also Solidago rugosa and 

 canadensis as well as the Iron Weed — Veronica. Where the road 

 turns by the fine old church of St. Andrew, parts of which date 

 back to 1709, Broussonetia papyrijera and Madura pomifera ap- 

 peared to have established themselves. 



As we walked further along the road bordering the marsh 

 land around the "Fresh Kills" colonies of tall yellow wild sun- 

 flowers could be seen at a little distance below us on the left 

 which appeared on examination to be Helianthiis giganteus. A 

 specimen of Helianthus was discovered later which possessed a 

 glabrous stem and corresponded more nearly to //. grosseserra- 

 tus, but these two species, according to the manual, are very 

 near to each other. Luxurious Amaranthus amhrosioides was 

 found near the roadside. Near some old houses we found an 

 excellent deep spring on the left, near the road, with sides stoned 

 and delicious cool water which must have been innocuous if we 

 are to judge by results, for we all drank deeply of it. 



Everything about us was so moist that it was difficult to 

 find a dry place whereon to sit while eating our lunch. We final- 

 ly spied a steep little hill on the right, not far from the road, and 

 after much scrambling through the brush and (some of us) get- 

 ting "runs" in stockings, we arrived at the top and found to our 

 surprise an old abandoned cemetery. About a half-dozen grave- 

 stones were in evidence — most of them prone on the ground and 

 one even had been used as a prop for a camp fire. 



This hill, according to Wm.T. Davis, ^ is Ketcham's or Ceme- 

 tery Hill, the last hill in the range that commences at Brighton 

 Point and terminates suddenly at Richmond Creek. "A better 

 view may be had of the meadows from the top of this hill than 

 from Look-Out-Place (the next elevation to the northeast.) For 



1 Proc. of Nat. Sci. Assn. of Staten Island. 5: 42. 1896. 



