19 



A PHAENOLOGICAL STUDY IN NEW ENGLAND 



BY C. J. LYON 



After reading a paper by Francis Darwin^ in which he seem- 

 ed to draw the general conclusion that the first flowering 

 of plants in England did not correlate with the temperature 

 factor, the writer undertook to determine the facts for this 

 locality. He was fortunate in having access to complete records 

 of reported first flowerings and to Weather Bureau records of 

 temperatures. Even a cursory examination convinced him that 

 the correlation was positive and generally striking. 



At the Howe Library, in the village of Hanover, N. H., is 

 kept a record and exhibit of the results of the competitive 

 search for the early flowers. The writer attests to the real 

 competition that exists and into which both young and old 

 enter, so that it is fairly certain that the first blossoms are re- 

 ported promptly, certainly more promptly than could be ac- 

 complished by any one person. The Hbrarian, Miss Etta M. 

 Clark, and her assistants have done the work of identification 

 for years^ and have used standard keys including Gray's 

 Manual. The competitive interest serves as a check on the 

 accuracy of the identification and the writer, in following the 

 records for the spring and early summer of 1921, detected only 

 a few minor inaccuracies. Miss Clark is to be given the credit 

 for this part of the study and the writer takes this occasion 

 to acknowledge her contribution to this paper. 



In selecting species for the accompanying table, care has been 

 used not to include: (i) those that did not appear in the records 

 for at least three years out of the five; (2) those that could be 

 easily confused, e. g. Uvularia and Oakesia, and certain violets; 

 (3) those found only through July and August when the interest 

 naturally lags and when certain collectors (including members 

 of the faculty of Dartmouth College) have left the locality; 

 and (4) specimens that were not collected in the immediate 

 vicinity of Hanover. 



The following table of temperature conditions for the years 

 1917-1921 inclusive, was drawn from the record books of the 



^ Darwin F. A Phaenological Study. New. Phyt. 18:287-298. 1919. 

 ^The work was begun in 1914 but the records for the first three years are 

 incomplete. 



