190 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 



ance of the valleys and to a certain extent also that of the slopes of the 

 mountains. In 1828, according to Bascom (Appearance and Dis- 

 appearance of Plants, Proceedings of the Berkshire Historical and 

 Scientific Society, 3: 301-315, 1899), there were in Berkshire 185 

 sawmills and 38 tanneries. Pine, Hemlock and Spruce have dimin- 

 ished more than the hardwoods. The Only places where the original 

 flora has remained unaltered are the peat bogs around small ponds and 

 deep gorges and steep cliffs where lumbering was impossible. 



The introduction of plants foreign to the County, either from Europe 

 or from other parts of the New World, is chiefly noticeable in towns 

 and about farm land. Certain weeds, however, follow every highway, 

 and even wood roads, and other introduced species have invaded the 

 rocky siunmits of the remotest hills. On the simimit of Greylock, one 

 can count a dozen introduced species. Three introduced species 

 have spread so widely that they have become characteristic features 

 of the landscape. These are the Buttercup {Ranunculus acris), the 

 Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanihemum, var. pinnatifidum) and the 

 White Willow (Salix alba, var. mtellina). 



In many parts of the County the clearings and hillside pastures are 

 reverting to brush and small timber. Steeple-bush (Spiraea tomen- 

 tosa) and Raspberries (Rubus idaeu^, var. strigosus) first cover the 

 ground, then Birches and White Pines spring up. A rough estimate 

 by Mr. Cook, the State Forester, puts the percentage of forested area 

 in five Berkshire towns as follows : — 



The plants in the following groups are those which reach the limits 

 of their ranges in or near Berkshire County. The list is confined to 

 species or well-marked varieties whose distribution is well known. 

 The geographical range is based on published records and on an exam- 

 ination of the collections of the New England Botanical Club and the 

 Gray Herbarium. 



(1) Plants that occur in Berkshire County, but have not been 

 found native east of the Connecticut River, ranging northwestward, 

 westward, or southwestward, and in the case of certain calciphiles 



