ong Island after 1974 has shown Cetraria arenaria 
still to be widespread on the East End, but it has 
disappeared from the Hempstead Plains since Brodo's 
field work in the 1960's. 
Another lichen of special interest was Alpine 
Reindeer Lichen [" Cladonia aipestris (L.) Rabenfr," 
now called Cladina stellaris (Opiz) Brodo], which Roy 
first mentioned in the Orient State Park flora (Latham 
1934b) and treated in detail in later papers (Latham 
1947, 1949). Latham (letter, 8 December 1976) 
remarked that this lichen "seems to be a disappearing 
species on Long Island. I noticed that thirty years ago. 
I believe it can still be found in the Montauk-Napeague 
region. Look under the margins of bushes, rather than 
in the open spaces." I have seen depauperate Cladina 
stellaris at Napeague in 1984 (Dirig L-1615 in NY). 
Harris et al. (1987) also found it there in 1986. 
Brodo (1968) did not consider the well known, 
ivory-colored Reindeer Lichen [Cladina rangiferina (L) 
Nyl.] to be at all common on Long Island, and neither 
do I. Latham collected 25 specimens in earlier years 
(Brodo 1968: 201), and wrote (letter to me, 8 December 
1976): "Cladonia rangiferina [a synonym] was much 
more common than aipestris. I never considered it as 
rare as Brodo did. hi my old collecting years, I thought 
it locally common throughout." 
Herbarium searching and personal field work in 
Long Island bogs disclosed several unreported 
specimens of a beautiful bluish grey, foliose lichen, 
Platismatia tuckermanii (Oakes) W. Culb. & C. Culb. 
Noting how rarely this had been previously recorded on 
Long Island (Brodo 1968: 239-240), I wrote to Roy for 
his thoughts. His richly detailed answers are revealing, 
hi his letter of 10 April 1977, Roy wrote: "I 
congratulate you on finding Cetraria tuckermanii [a 
synonym] near Llanders [at Owl Pond, Dirig L-279, in 
my herbarium].... I thought I had tuckermanii from a 
number of places, Napeague, near Montauk, Sag Harbor, 
Llanders, Riverhead, and North Sea; Brodo evidently 
discarded all but the North Sea record. I well recall that 
habitat because there was a group of the rare little 
Adder’s-tongue fem, Ophioglossum [vulgatum L.], 
nearby, my third station on Long Island.... This 
tuckermanii was on the low branches of Chamaecyparis 
in a boggy depression which contained the largest 
[Atlantic] white cedar I had a record of on Long 
Island.... There are several stands of white cedars in the 
Llanders area The collection I had was more than a 
mile from Owl Pond. There are several good stands of . 
swamp cedars in the Riverhead area and three stands in 
the North Sea region. All I thought were tuckermanii 
were on low branches of the white cedar, except the one 
at Napeague, which was on beach plum [Prunus 
maritima Marsh.] shrubs in a wet sandy gully.... I 
doubt if tuckermanii is as rare as Brodo thinks on Long 
Island." 
A later letter (4 October 1977) gave more details: 
"Northwest is a big region, and not too far from 
Northsea [sic, probably the same as "North Sea" of the 
previous letter]. It was a prime region for me between 
Sag Harbor and the Hamptons There were ... acres of 
white pine, Pinus strobus [L.], that [were] lumber cut 
years ago. A few large trees still remain. It is wet 
ground with many small swamps scattered throughout. 
The woods border on salt marshes. I found many rare 
plants, aside from lichens, at Northwest, some new to L. 
I. The Cetraria , as I remember, was on twigs and small 
branches of various kinds near the ground in the wet 
woods all through the region.... At Northsea [sic] there 
were white cedar swamps, some large old trees; no 
white cedars at Northwest, just white pines and mixed 
other growth. I ... crawled over the region ... on my 
hands and knees. I have not been there in years, and 
some of Northwest may now be summer homes. When 
I was there in the 1940’s and before, there was not a 
sign of human life all day at Northwest." Harris et al. 
(1987) later reported an additional record of Platismatia 
tuckermanii from Long Island (Buck 13926 in NY), 
Of his specimens Roy wrote (letter, 8 December 
1976): "My lichens, as named by Brodo, are in the New 
York State Museum in Albany.... The number is around 
2,000...." He continued (letter, 12 September 1977): 
"All the lichens I sent to Cornell were through 
Burnham. As I remember now, Stewart Burnham was a 
close friend before 1910, when he was in botany with 
Dr. Peck at Albany.... I sent him thousands of plants, 
including many lichens, for the State collection, as they 
had very little from eastern Long Island. Later, when 
he moved to Ithaca [after 1920], I sent him a few 
specimens. I do know that he retained part of the lichen 
material that I sent to him at his home for his own 
collection. He may have given most of that to 
Cornell.... Burnham and I had a steady correspondence 
for many years about birds, plants, botany in general, 
and home life. I sent him, among other [things]. ... 
marine algae, [with] which he was delighted as he 
said it gave him ’a whiff of ihe sea."’ 
I have seen some of Roy’s original packets, with 
labels or information typed with the same typewriter as 
his letters. His collection title was "Flora of Long 
Island." Roy "did not use Suffolk County much, if any" 
as a tide (letter, 12 September 1977). Most of Roy’s 
cryptogam specimens have been repacketed by 
herbarium curators, and in many cases, new labels 
prepared. The original packet was unusual. Many 
cryptogam collectors fold a rectangular piece of paper in 
thirds, like a business letter, then fold the ends under. 
Roy folded the paper in thirds, longways, with the top 
and bottom folded under, producing a roomier enclosure 
for specimens. Lurther details on his lichen collection 
March - April 1993 
A- 
Long Island 
Botanical Society 
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