GROWTH-FORMS OF FLORA OF NEW YORK AND VICINITY 



27 



the 85 ferns and their allies, and 24 parasites. This leaves 1,907 

 native species that are found, roughly speaking, within 100 miles of 

 New York City. Each species has been put in one or other of the 

 categories mentioned above with the following result. 



Biological Spectrum of the Flora of New York and Vicinity 6 



Growth-form 



MO 



MS 



MC 



N 



CH 



H 



G 



HH 



T 



Gymnosperms. ..... 



Monocotyledons. . . . 



Dicotyledons 



10 



15 



62 



2 



5 



130 



2 

 65 



53 

 48 



197 



438 



202 

 195 



164 

 60 



57 

 191 



Totals 



10 



77 



137 



67 



101 



635 



397 



224 



248 





Percentages of 

 growth-forms 



% 

 •52 



% 

 4-03 



% 

 7.18 



% 



3-5i 



% 

 5-29 



% 



33-29 



% 

 20.23 



% 

 II.74 



% 

 13 



The most remarkable figure in this list is the high percentage of 

 geophytes, 20.23 per cent. For no region in the world has there been 

 published such a large percentage of these plants with bulbs, rhizomes, 

 corms and other subterranean methods of winter protection. Among 

 the 692 native monocotyledons in the area, over 29 per cent are 

 geophytes, while for 1,200 native dicotyledons there are only 16 per 

 cent of the same growth-form. Undoubtedly the high percentage 

 of monocotyledons in our flora, the pine-barrens of New Jersey are 

 especially rich in them, has much to do with the large percentage of 

 geophytes. Most of the regions with high geophyte percentages are 

 arctic or sub-arctic; and, from this point of view, the high geophyte 

 percentage in our area is misleading and it may be a response to quite 

 other factors than climatic ones. As compared to the percentages 

 of the normal spectrum those for the local flora are higher in the case 

 of the aquatics, geophytes, and hemicryptophytes, lower in the case 

 of chamaephytes and all the phanerophytes, and the same in the 

 percentage of annuals. 



Figures for other countries, mostly northern, show for hemi- 

 cryptophytes averages ranging from 50 per cent to 60 per cent, the 

 local flora percentage is only 33.29 per cent, well illustrating the 

 condition that prevails in our area, where only a moderately large 

 number of species are of northern origin. The percentage of all phan- 

 erophytes in our area is about 14.88, in the normal spectrum it is 43 



6 Not counting .57 per cent of stem-succulents. 



