any of the residents of New York, many of our local plants are 
truly American, for they have always been here, at least since the 
retreat of the continental ice sheet many thousands of years ago. 
Some doubtless, originated here. Others, like the people, have 
come from the four corners of the earth, and perhaps, “like the 
people, because it is the fashion.” 
Let us look for a moment at the main features of this plant 
population of the vicinity of New York, for it is interesting and 
beautiful on its own account. Perchance it also holds some lesson 
for immigrants and native born Americans alike. 
The total number of different kinds of flowering plants and 
ferns known to grow without cultivation hereabouts is 2,651, of 
which something like twenty-three per cent are trees, twenty-nine 
per cent shrubs, and all the rest are herbs, which, of course, 
comprise all the wild flowers beloved by nature trampers. Of 
these 2,651 species , as the different kinds are called, 613 are not 
truly American plants at all, but have been introduced from other 
countries, usually without the knowledge of those who brought 
them. Some of these immigrant plants have, like their human 
counterparts, multiplied enormously, and like them have spread 
all over America. Before considering these lusty newcomers, 
let us hastily glance at the composition of the native plant 
population. 
Before the whites came to America, the northeastern part of it 
was covered by trackless forests of which, in their virgin state, 
scarcely any remain. Ruthless cutting destroyed great areas, and 
only within recent years has intelligent forest management re- 
sulted, locally, in natural reproduction and reforestation. In 
many places large tracts are now set aside, of which the Palisades 
Interstate Park is an example near at hand, where nature is 
allowed to take a course, modified by an enlightened forest policy 
that will some day renew the glory of American woodlands. 
Underneath these great forests grew a wealth of wild flowers, 
many of which flower early enough in the spring to finish their 
blooming before the annual spring canopy of leaves cuts off their 
light. This excessive shade is one of the reasons why so many 
of our wild flowers become dormant during the summer. Be- 
sides these, there are hosts of shrubs and herbs that need more 
light and are found along the edges of forest clearings, in 
thickets, or along river basins and lake shores; and their bloom- 
ing period is not so rigidly controlled by the closing of the forest 
canopy. From among these “ shade-loving ” and light-demanding 
plants all the flowers of our beautiful countryside must come, so 
that nature has supplied an almost continuous panorama of 
bloom from the fragrant arbutus and the modest hepatica of 
early spring to the frost-touched golden flowers of the witch-hazel 
of late autumn. 
One striking characteristic of practically all these native 
plants is that they thrive best only where the natural conditions 
are as little disturbed as possible, and scarcely a handful of 
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