Maritime Distriet: New England Area. 379 
ı. Plant distribution on Sea Islands. 
The outer islands Iying off the Maine coast have a flora of a triple cha- 
racter‘).. The wooded portions have the trees of the mainland, (Coniferous 
Forest Formation), Adies balsamea, Picea alba, P. rubra, Betula papyrıfera, 
Populus tremuloides, P. balsamifera, while on Peaks Island J. W. HARSHBERGER 
noted small groves of Ouercus rubra. Under their shelter grow the characteristic 
smaller plants of the northern flora: Acer spicatum, Rhodora, Coptis, Cornus 
canadensis, Linnaea, Arisaema triphylla, Habenaria bracteata, H.laccra, Liparis 
Loeselüi etc. Thickets of Alnus maritima also occur according to HARSHBERGER Ss 
observations. The cleared portions, however, harbor a great number of species 
introduced or adventive. 
Smaller islands hardly more than an acre may show such plants as Cakile americana, Lathyrus 
maritimus, Ligusticum scoticum, Solidago ae Mertensia maritima, Suaeda linearis, Ammo- 
phila arenaria, plants of the sea coast togethe with Ribes hirtellum, ge Robertianum, 
era anserina, Rubus strigosus, Oenothera ae Archangelica Gmelini, Ambrosia artemi- 
siaefolia, Achillea ge Convolvulus aeg gen galericulata, Pla antago decipiens, 
riglochin maritimum and Iris versicolor. n the shore line of larger islands such as Great 
Duck Island, twelve miles south of Mt. Desert ind, and on Cushing's Island occur Sal- 
sola, Salicornia, Suaeda, Cakile, Statice limonium var. carolinianum, Euphorbia polygonifolia, 
Spartina patens, Ammophila, plants also common to the sandy sea beaches of New Jersey and 
farther south, but in addition to these are plants peculiar to the northern sea shore: Ranunculus 
cymbalaria, Ligusticum scoticum, Mertensia maritima, Plantago maritima 
One of the marked characteristics of the flora of Mt. Desert country is 
its strongly northern and arctic character. With its coast enveloped in cold fogs 
and washed by waters chilled by the arctic current, such arctic plants like 
Montia fontana and Stellaria humifusa find a congenial home. With the 
single exception of Lycopodium Selago the mountain plants descend to sea 
evel. The flora shows points of great similarity to those of New Brunswick 
and the White Mountain region. After the glacial period Mt. Desert Island, 
as now, was disconnected from the mainland. It is, therefore, natural that 
there ah exist in abundance on the mainland many plants that are not 
found at all on the island, or only there rarely. Again the flora of the Cran- 
berry islands is different from that of Mt. Desert. Under almost precisely 
similar conditions, we find Corema Conradii on the larger island, but not on 
the Cranberry isles; we find Montia fontana, Stellaria humifusa and Rubus 
chamasmorus on the Cranberry isles, but not on Mt. Desert; we find Symplo- 
carpus foetidus and Hippuris vulgaris on the Cranberry isles and also on 
Mt. Desert Island ’?). 
' Hudsonia tomentosa with Lechea minor, L. maritima, Helianthemum 
majus occur on high dry ground, while the sand barren plants are Viola 
ı) REDFIELD, JOHN H.: Insular Floras. Bulletin Torrey ee nie ne 245; Cook, 
ei P.: Plants seen on the Island Monhegan, Maine. Rhodora 1901 
2) Ran, EpwArD L. and REDFIELD, Johun H.: Flora of ae Desert Ess, Maine 1894: 
21—22. 
