204 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
PARKS AS PRESERVERS OF NATIVE PLANTS 
Address before the San Francisco Convention of American Asso- 
ciation of Park Superintendents by L. P. Jensen, of St. Louis. 
In the making of parks no material is 
of greater importance than plants. Even 
in parks, whose space is utilized for play- 
grounds, some trees and shrubs are essen- 
tial, the trees for the purpose of providing 
shade and the shrubs for the relief of 
some of the harsh lines, which are always 
essentially associated with this form of a 
park, and for boundary plantations. Of 
plant material, that native to the region in 
which the park is located is, of course, in- 
dispensable and of the greatest importance. 
While we should, by all means, utilize the 
many splendid plants introduced from 
other countries, the native species should, 
in the main, predominate, because of their 
permanence and dependability. This ap- 
plies particularly to our larger parks and 
reservations, those which are of a rural 
character and whose chief function is rest- 
fulness and repose, rather than exercises 
of a more or less strenuous nature. In 
such parks, introduced species of plants 
are very apt to appear out of place, unless 
unusual care and forethought is employed 
in their selection, whereas our native plants 
fit harmoniously into the surroundings. 
That many of our beautiful and interest- 
ing native plants, particularly those inhab- 
iting woodlands and those which for some 
natural reason, are limited in their power 
of perpetuation, are becoming rare, where 
a few years ago they could be found in 
abundance, every one knows, who has paid 
some attention to plant study outside the 
laboratory. 
The principal reasons for the destruction 
and consequent disappearance of native 
plants are : 
1. The entire cutting out of woodlands 
for timber, in the wasteful American way, 
and for the making of land for the grow- 
ing of crops. 
2. The destruction of undergrowth in 
woodlands for the making of pasture for 
stock. 
3. The destruction of undergrowth for 
no other purpose than that of a false idea 
of tidiness. 
4. The wanton destruction of woody 
flowering plants by persons gathering flow- 
ers. 
5. The pulling up of entire plants when 
gathering flowers. 
6. The removal of plants from their 
native habitat, for the purpose of trans- 
planting, by persons who have no con- 
ception of their governing requirements ; 
and 
7. Last, but not least, the lack of popu- 
lar education on the subject of plant pres- 
ervation and protection. 
I will take a few moments for a short 
detailed consideration of the above men- 
tioned causes of plant extermination. 
The destruction of plants caused by 
lumbermen, whose sole purpose is the 
making of money, irrespective of other 
considerations, is so well known that it 
hardly needs mention. 
The elimination of wooded areas for the 
growing of agricultural crops must neces- 
sarily increase in a ratio corresponding to 
the increase of population of this country 
and the deficience of such food material 
abroad. 
Pasturing of woodland, particularly if 
given over to sheep and goats, extermi- 
nates practically all undergrowth of 
shrubs and herbs, and prevents the per- 
petuation of existing arboreous vegetation. 
The first act of most persons coming 
into possession of a parcel of natural wood- 
land is to improve it, by cleaning out all 
the undergrowth of shrubs and herbs. 
This practice is so very common that any- 
one who happens to have the contrary 
view on the matter is looked upon by his 
neighbors as somewhat irrational. 
I have personal knowledge of many a 
place, whose charm consisted of its native 
growth of redbud, flowering dogwood, 
crabapple, hawthorn, native roses, varieties 
of viburnums, sumack, bittersweet, native 
grapes, intermingled with asters, golden 
rods, purple cone flower, butterfly weed 
and other attractive and desirable native 
plants, which have been changed, with an 
idea of improvement, by completely de- 
stroying these natives and replacing them 
with a few beds of annual flowering 
plants. 
I have one particular instance in mind, 
where I had been called upon to work out 
a design which would adapt a ten-acre par- 
cel of natural woodland to the require- 
ments of a country home for a well-known 
St. Louis physician, who is a great lover 
of botany. 
This parcel of land is located on the 
bluffs overlooking the ^Mississippi River, 
over which some splendid views were se- 
cured, simply by the removal of a few 
branches. Ey retaining most of the native 
growth of plants, and by careful selection 
of additional planting material, the result 
has been most pleasing and satisfactory. 
One of his neighbors, who had employed 
the usual clearing up process in the de- 
velopment of his place, thereby utterly de- 
stroying its charm, asked me what he 
could do to make his home grounds more 
attractive. To this question there seemed 
only one answer : Restore the greater part 
of that which you have destroyed. Un- 
fortunately, it would take many years and 
much work to do so. 
A similar stretch of native growth along 
a public road, over which I have occasion 
to pass almost daily, was a source of 
pleasure and satisfaction to me, and un- 
doubtedly to many other lovers of native 
plants, as it provided a continuous suc- 
cession of interesting flowers and foliage 
throughout the season, until the owner, ap- 
parently for no other reason than lack of 
exercise in winter, completely destroyed 
every plant. This was about five years 
ago. Having been undisturbed since that 
time, the place in question is again be- 
coming interesting, but will undoubtedly 
soon become the object of another winter’s 
recreation for the owner, who insists that 
this work of destruction improves the ap- 
pearance of his property. 
I know of some parks of a rural char- 
acter where native herbs, and shrubs are 
being ruthlessly destroyed whenever they 
appear. This practice is fortunately be- 
coming less • common, owing in a large 
measure to the teaching of ours and simi- 
lar organizations. 
Woody plants, whose value consists 
principally in their great number of beau- 
tiful flowers, are often exterminated by 
thoughtless persons, who break the plants 
to pieces for the gathering of an armful 
of flowers, which in most cases wither and 
are thrown away along the roadside. They 
do not realize that their act creates wounds 
which seldom heal, but which give oppor- 
tunities for the spread of diseases, which 
through the wound enter the tissues of the 
plant, resulting ultimately in its destruc- 
tion. 
Other plants growing in the loose and 
mellow ‘leaf mold of the woods are de- 
stroyed by gatherers of flowers, who care- 
lessly pull out the entire plant. 
The popularity of nature study is re- 
sponsible for the destruction of many 
plants, because most authors and writers 
on this subject neglect to call attention to 
the importance of plant protection. 
In the vicinities of cities the woods are 
denuded of their former wealth of ferns 
and flowering herbs by persons who wish 
to transplant them into their gardens, but 
who do not realize that these plants re- 
quire a soil and situation which is not 
often to be found or provided on a city lot 
or in the ordinary garden border. The re- 
sult in such cases is always the ultimate 
death of the plant. 
Not so very many years ago the closed 
gentian (Gentiana Andrewsii), the yellow 
ladyslipper (Cyprepidium puebescens), the 
white flowering gentian (Gentiana flavida), 
the narrow-leaved gentian (Gentiana lini- 
aris), the rose pink (Sabatia angularis), 
the white flowering wake-robin (Trillium 
grandiflora), the bloodroot (Salinguinaria 
Canadensis), the liver-leaf Hepatica tri- 
loba) and other attractive herbs of the 
woods were to be found in the vicinity of 
the city of St. Louis ; today they are only 
to be found in remote localities, and some 
of them, the gentians, cyprepidiums, tril- 
