222 



Shrubs. — Sassafras variifolium (mostly a weed), Alnns 

 rugosa.* 



Herbs. — Daucus Carota, Trifoliiun arvejtse (these two intro- 

 duced), Asclepias tuberosa, Jnnciis effusiis, Nyniphaea advena, 

 Pontederia cordata, Osmunda cinnamomea, Pteris aguilina, Liliuin 

 superbinn, Plantago lanceolata, Lepidiwn virginicum, Cyperiis escu- 

 lenUis (the last three weeds). 



According to Sargent (Tenth Census U. S. 9 : 511), in the 

 sandy soil of southern Delaware the pines formed fully half of 

 . the original forest growth, which was long ago cut away and re- 

 placed by a second growth, which however consisted mostly of 

 the same species. Sterrett, writing a quarter of a century later 

 (Bull. 82: 10-12, 17, 19), estimated that only about one-fourth 

 of the area of Delaware is now wooded, and that there is prac- 

 tically no virgin forest in the state. He also states that " Origin- 

 ally the forests of Sussex County [the southernmost] were almost 

 exclusively of hardwoods, but by culling and clearing them pine 

 has gradually been established in every part of the county" ; and 

 again : " Lumbering the forests and clearing the land for agri- 

 culture have greatly increased the amount of pine and extended 

 its range much farther north." The evidence on which these 

 statements are based is not given, however, and one would prob- 

 ably make no serious error in assuming that Pinus Taeda and 

 Pinus virginiana were always the most abundant trees in southern 

 Delaware, as they seem to be at present. 



In a distance of about 36 miles through Maryland the follow- 

 ing species were each noted at least twice : 



Trees. — Pinus Taeda, Liquidambar, Querciis tliellos, Mag- 

 nolia virginiana, Acer rubrum, Nyssa sylvatica (.^), Taxodinm dis^ 

 tichuin, Fagus grandifolia, Chamaecyparis thyoides, Querciis 

 falcata, Diospyros. 



Shrubs. — Aralia spinosa, Alnus nigosa, Rhus copallina. 



Herbs. — NympJiaea advena, Pteris aquilina. 



This list is too short to draw any important conclusions from,, 

 but the greater relative frequency of Querciis Phellos, Taxodinm 



*Sorae of the Alnus seen in Delaware and Maryland may have been the rare and 

 local A. maritifiia, which I have not learned to distinguish under such conditions. 



