THE VEGETATION OF MOXTAUK 25 



that at Montauk is hundreds of miles south of its true home. Migratory 

 birds, known to make overnight flights from Labrador to Montauk, are 

 supposed to be responsible for its introduction. 



The other plant, probably introduced through human agency, is 

 Echinacea pallida, found in 1914, and again in 191 7, on the most exposed 

 Downs, but by no means common. Its natural range is far to the westward 

 on the plains of the middle west. Its rose-purple flowers nearly suggesting 

 a single dahlia are very striking in their unfamiliarity at Montauk. 



The Kettleholes. 



The whole of Montauk Point is dotted with these depressions, some 

 nearly a hundred feet deep, others mere swales, and the four largest covered 

 with water, as discussed earlier. While the bottoms of none of the kettle- 

 holes, except, of course, the ponds, appear to be below sea-level, practically 

 all the lowest of them has fresh water either near the surface, or, in the 

 early part of the season, above it, forming a temporary pond, a few inches 

 deep. The position of this water has a good deal to do with the vegetation, 

 as will appear presently. 



All of them agree in one particular, their sheltered seclusion from the 

 wind in the bottom, often forming a welcome, if a warm haven for the 

 summer tramper. The contrast between the bare wind-swept Downs and 

 the bottoms of these kettleholes is tremendous. For details of the dif- 

 ferences of the open Downs and the kettleholes, as sites for vegetation, see 

 the section devoted to the wind in the chapter on "Factors of Control." 

 So many of them are covered with trees and shrubs that casual visitors are 

 inclined to think all of them are, which is actually far from the truth. 

 Many are, some partially, others without a shrub or tree. While a general 

 similarity in appearance seems to be true of those that contain woody 

 vegetation, actually there are many variations, both in the species that 

 occur in different kettleholes, and in the frequency of occurrence of those 

 species that are common to all of them. Some of the deepest have consider- 

 able growth of the red maple or the sour gum, and in others that are not so 

 moist, different species of oaks predominate. 



If the forest is to be the ultimate covering of protected parts of Montauk, 

 as it actually is now of Gardiner's Island, and, from historical records 

 would appear to have been on at least some of the Point before disturbance 

 by man, then those kettleholes that now have small editions of the forest 

 in them are to be considered as more nearly approaching the climax con- 

 dition than anything else on the Point. In other words, it should be 

 possible to find gradations between kettleholes that have no trees or shrubs 



