250 



Inn, is surrounded on one side by extensive salt marshes, from 

 which considerable hay was made from the marsh grasses, 

 composed largely of the marsh spike-grass, Distichlis spicata 

 (L.) Greene. Several plants were observed here, it being the 

 only place where we attempted to go on the salt marshes. The 

 sea lavender, Limonium carolinianum (Walt.) Britton casts a 

 purplish glow over the marshes, broken here and there by patches 

 of the sea-side goldenrod, Solidago sempervirens L. Several other 

 coastal plants were found: Cy perns filicinus Vahl; Cyperus 

 speciostis Vahl; Scirpus rohiistus L.; Polygonum ramosissimum 

 Mx. ; Tissa marina (L.) Britton; Agalinis maritima Raf. ; 

 Plantago maritima L.; Aster suhulatus Mx.; Aster tenuif alius L. 

 and marsh elder, Iva frutescens L. The swamp rose mallow, 

 Hibiscus moscheutos L., occurs, but was not abundant enough to 

 make the show that this plant usually does. About the edges 

 of the marshes in the woodlands, one finds large tufts of several 

 of the grasses, Andropogon furcatus Muhl., Aristida purpurascens 

 Poir, Panicum virgatum L. and Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash. 

 Here were rosy patches of the purple milkwort. Poly gala viri- 

 descens L.; the clammy cuphea, Parsonia petiolata (L.) Rusby, 

 which Mr. Buchhesiter said "discharged its seeds from the cap- 

 sule before they were ripe"; Koellia flexuosa (Walt.) MacM.; 

 Bidens comosa (Gray) Wieg. and the ox-eye, Heliposis helian- 

 thoides (L.) BSP. 



Following the road again, about half the distance to Kreischer- 

 ville, we find one of the most interesting spots in the New York 

 state flora, the meeting of the northern and southern floras. 

 The pine barrens of the Island are sandy wastes, covered with a 

 growth of oaks; the black-jack oak, Quercus marylandica 

 Muench.; post oak, Quercus stellata Wang., and the black oak, 

 Quercus velutina L. ; also I believe some of the hybrid oaks grow 

 here. The pitch pine, Pinus rigida Mill., and mocker-nut, 

 Hicoria alba (L.) Britton, occur in a dense undergrowth of peculiar 

 and interesting plants. In many places one could gather quanti- 

 ties of salt-water clam shells in the sand, showing that at a 

 comparatively recent period this portion of the Island was 

 submerged. 



