Extinct flora of Staten Island

Submitted by Howey on

This morning I read a very interesting article in the New York Times about this topic. It included a slide show of 12 plants that used to grow there but, because of the encroachment of civilization, are no longer evident there. These include some plants that are very rare anywhere, in my experience, like the Trailing Arbutus, Helonias bullata, a really lovely white milkweek and Cypripedium parviflora. Think I have noticed messages from Carlo on this Forum, although seems to me he has recently left the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for a position at the Royal Botanic Garden in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Incidentally, as most of you probably know, we, who like to read the NYT daily for free, are now limited to reading only 20 articles a month without charge and I am now down to 4 more. Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

Comments

Submitted by Mark McD on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 06:50

Very interesting Fran, is there a link to the article?  I looked for one but could not find one that matched this article name.  I did however find a most interest Flickr photo gallery of plants of Staten Island, beautifully photographed, with common and botanical name on most; well worth browsing through.

Staten Island Flora (256 phptos) by Drosera-x (<--maybe this must be a NARGS member?)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drosera-x/sets/72157594523985467/

There are many lovely plants shown, and some rare ones too, and I'm always pleased to learn about a new plant, so I single out the Hyssop-leaved boneset; Eupatorium hyssopifolium var. laciniatum.  I like to look of this plant:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drosera-x/383426120/in/set-72157594523985467/
...closeup, plants budded
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drosera-x/30057205/in/set-72157594523985467/

Wish I could get my non-blooming American Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) to bloom like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drosera-x/474180988/in/set-72157594523985467/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drosera-x/474193287/in/set-72157594523985467/

A small floriferous plant of pinkster azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides), beautiful:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drosera-x/442922398/in/set-72157594523985467/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drosera-x/3593114058/in/set-72157594523985467/

One doesn't think of such plants when uttering the name Staten Island!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staten_Island

Submitted by Howey on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 15:06

Mark:  Thanks for responding to Extinct flora of Staten Island.  Came across this article under inside nytimes.com but seems to have been taken out now.  These were water color wash drawings (slides) of the plants but none of the ones you gave web sites for.  I'll check out those web sites.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

Submitted by Mark McD on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 20:54

Howey wrote:

Mark:  Thanks for responding to Extinct flora of Staten Island.  Came across this article under inside nytimes.com but seems to have been taken out now.  These were water color wash drawings (slides) of the plants but none of the ones you gave web sites for.  I'll check out those web sites.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

It seems that on-line newspaper articles are oftentimes ephemeral.  I did see the small watercolors slide of a few native plants.  By the way, of the links I posted, the link under the pink-color title at the top is basically the main Staten Island Flora photo gallery link... enjoy.

Submitted by Howey on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 05:21

Mark:  Having looked the websites, I can only marvel at the flora that is and was growing on Staten Island.  Loved that Rhodie on the last listed of the sites.  I understand that the boat trip to SI is still free.  So it will be a must visit next time I go to NYC.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b