96 



The other group embraces plants which occur locally in other 

 parts of the state but which for the most part are frequent or 

 common in the southeastern section. Representative of this 

 assemblage are: 



Chamaecyparis thyoides*^ Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi*^^ 



Rynchospora macrostachya*] Nymphoides lacunosum*] 



Aletris farinosa*'\ Lycopus sessilifolius*^ 



Leucothoe racemosa*] Utricular ia inflata*'\ 



Gaylussacia frondosa*^ Utricularia purpurea*^ 

 Rhododendron inaximum*\ 



It is hardly necessary to consider individually the distribution 

 of the various species mentioned above. As the only arborescent 

 form referred to, Chamaecyparis thyoides — the coast white cedar — 

 may be selected as fairly typifying in its range the whole group. 

 This tree, in common with all of the plants mentioned, except 

 Arctostaphylos, is endemic to North America. South of New 

 England it ranges from Mississippi northward into Long Island 

 being practically confined to the coastal plain. Thence it extends 

 through Connecticut, Rhode Island, and eastern Massachusetts 

 as far north as southern New Hamsphire, and it is also reported 

 as "doubtfully indigenous in Nova Scotia."^ The coast white 

 cedar usually grows in swamps where it forms colonies of wonder- 

 ful density, averaging a greater number of trees per acre than 

 any other native species (Fig. i.) Such "cedar swamps" are of 

 frequent occurrence in southern New Jersey and in parts of Long 

 Island and southern New England, sometimes covering more 

 than a thousand acres. In eastern Connecticut, as farther south, 

 the great laurel {Rhododendron maximum) often forms a luxuriant, 

 almost impenetrable tangle of undergrowth. In connection with 

 the present problem the writer has gone to considerable effort 

 in an attempt to secure as exact information as possible regarding 

 the distribution of these cedar swamps, past or present, in Con- 



1 Not a southern species but one of the most characteristic plants of the New 

 Jersey pine-barrens. In southeastern Connecticut, as in New Jersey, it often 

 forms a veritable carpet over the sandy soil. 



^ Gray's Manual, ed. 7, p. 66. 



