Flora of the Allegany State Park Region 1 1 



There is no evidence that the Allegany State Park and 

 the adjacent bottomlands of the Allegheny river and the 

 Tunungwant creek, which are included in this survey, 

 were originally other than a heavily forested region. 

 White pine was the principal tree of the lower slopes 

 and bottomlands, while a mixed forest of hemlock, maple, 

 beech, ash, chestnut, cherry, basswood and oak, covered 

 the upper slopes and ridges. The relative abundance of 

 these trees naturally varied considerably on different 

 slopes and on different types of soil. 



CLIMATE 



The general climatic conditions of the park area are 

 more typically continental in type than those of the 

 Hudson valley or Long Island, where the influence of 

 the ocean upon climate is very evident. Mordoff (Climate 

 of New York, Cornell Agric. Exp. Sta. Bui. 444, Oct. 

 1925) includes this area in the "western plateau" climatic 

 subdivision of the State. The general climatic conditions 

 prevailing in the region of the Allegany State Park are 

 very similar to those of the eastern plateau region, which 

 includes the western Catskills and the uplands of Otsego 

 and Schoharie counties, and even bears a close similarity 

 to the conditions of the outer rim of the Adirondack 

 plateau. 



According to Mordoff the mean temperature for the 

 growing season of 140 to 150 days is 58 to 60 degrees 

 Fahrenheit, the average date for the last killing frost in 

 spring is about May 20th, and for the first killing frost 

 of autumn about October 1st. The mean annual precipi- 

 tation is 40 to 45 inches, and for the growing period only, 

 18 to 20 inches. The lowest recorded temperatures are 

 less than for the other regions mentioned, doubtless due 

 to the moderating influence of the Great Lakes on the 



