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TORREYA 



Vol. 23 No. 1 



January-February, 1923 



NOTES ON THE BALLAST- VEGETATION AT LINNTON, 



OREGON 



James C. Nelson 



A few notes on the vegetation of the ballast-area at Linnton, 

 Oregon, now included within the city limits of Portland, appeared 

 in Torreya 17: 151-161. 1917. Since the first visit in 1915, 

 the station has been visited at least twice each season. The list 

 of species originally reported included many of tropical or sub- 

 tropical origin. These were unable to survive the winter, and 

 disappeared after the first season, although the seeds had prob- 

 ably remained dormant for years after the ballast was first de- 

 posited. During the war the entire area, which had long re- 

 mained undisturbed, was utilized by a ship-building firm. A 

 "cradle" was constructed, which with its planked-over ap- 

 proaches covered perhaps one-fourth of the original area; 

 various tool-sheds and machine-shops were erected, the ground 

 was excavated in many places, and tramped over daily by hun- 

 dreds of men and horses, so that the vegetation was subjected 

 to a rigorous test and much of it wholly eradicated. Since the 

 conclusion of the war the ship-yard has been abandoned ; but as 

 on account of its water-front the site offers a desirable industrial 

 location in the rapid expansion of Portland along the Willa- 

 mette, it is now being "promoted" by real-estate firms, and on 

 my last visit I found that sand was being pumped from the 

 river to fill in the low places and establish a uniform level — an 

 operation which threatens to smother another considerable part 

 of the surviving vegetation. 



But in spite of all these drawbacks, and the further disad- 

 vantage that the sand and coarse gravel composing most of the 

 ballast dries out very thoroughly each summer, several of the 

 species originally recorded still persist, and may safely be 

 regarded as permanent additions to the flora of Oregon. Most 

 of these have effected a lodgment on the higher ground in the 

 rear, along the railroad-track, where they run less risk of being 



