IITTRODUCTION 



The terra Northeastern States is one th^t is used with a variety of 

 meanings. In the present connection it indicates approximately the north- 

 eastern qua.rter of the United Sta,tes, Justification of a floristic district 

 including even the entire eastern half of the co'ontry is ample, for scores of 

 plants have a range extending from New England west to Minnesota and south to 

 the Gulf Coast. 



As is true for all areas, however selected, the na.rginal tracts are 

 debatable , In the present instance the importance of a southern element in 

 the flora is considered great enough to warrant the setting off of Floridieji 

 and southern districts including galf and adjacent States, while distinctive 

 coastal and northern plant associations are provided for "by tables supplemen- 

 tal to the main fraiting schedule for the region. 



Topographic relief is not so pronounced as in most of the western 

 districts, hut the Appalachian Mountain system does affect plant distrihution 

 hy providing conditions enahling southward e. bension of the ranges of various 

 northern species (see Tahle 3), The Atlantic Coastal Plain, on the other 

 hand, favors the northward distrihution of pl,ants of southern affinities (see 

 Tahle 4) . 



Tahle 1 shows groups of fleshy fruits most attractive to "birds through- 

 oi^t the United States and lists desira"ble kinds of "birds most fond of the fruit, 

 No 'ba,r"berries, currants, or "buckthorns are listed, "because they hartor rusts 

 destructive to plants of economic importance. Junipers are in alm.ost the same 

 category, as they serve as alternate hosts for apple rust, "but there is no 

 rea,son why they cannot "be used in districts where a,pples are not commerciall:/' 

 grown, a,s they are among the most valua'ole plants for wildlife. Omitted also 

 are plants poisonous to man on contact, as poison ivy and poison surna.c, as well 

 as various kinds dangerously poisonous to domestic animals, as yews, wild 

 cherries, and nightshades, in spite of the fact that wild cherries are greatly 

 relished "by "birds. Browsing animals are known to have "been killed hy feeding 

 on the leaves of wild cherries but do not seem to he so seriously affected "by 

 those of pl-oms. Certa-in plants included among fleshy fruit teeners in previous 

 publications have been transferred to the list of seed producers, hence do not 

 appear in the present series of leaflets. These include magnolia ( Magnolia ) , 

 bittersweet ( Celastrus ) , and burningbush (B uonymus ) . 



It should be noted that the fruit-bearing seasons recorded, being 

 collected from varied sources, tend to be miaxima. As a rule they are not 

 likely to be ree.lized or even approached in a single locality unless numerous 

 specimens of a given species are present and so distributed in sun and shade 

 as to favor both eanly and late fruiting. 



The word "extralimital" as here used in certain table headings covers 

 plants from other States or regions of the Ui^ited Ste.tes as well as wholly 

 introduced, exotic, or foreign plants. 



- 3 

 Reg. 4 



