Noteworthy plants reported from the Torrey Range—2001

Eric E. Lamont¹
Local Flora Committee, Torrey Botanical Society
New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York 10458

Stephen M. Young²
New York Natural Heritage Program
625 Broadway, Albany, New York 12233

Lamont, E. E. (Local Flora Committee, Torrey Botanical Society, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York 10458) and S. M. Young (New York Natural Heritage Program, 625 Broadway, Albany, New York 12233).  Noteworthy plants reported from the Torrey Range—2001. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 129: 363-371. 2002.—Twenty noteworthy vascular plant species are reported from the New York portion of the Torrey Range: Aster spectabilis, A. subulatus, Eclipta prostrata, Eleutherococcus sieboldianus, Eragrostis curvula, Eupatorium aromaticum, E. serotinum, Helonias bullata, Hypericum denticulatum, Ipomea pandurata, Iris prismatica, Phellodendron amurense, Pinus echinata, Pueraria lobata, Rhodotypos scandens, Rosa nitida, Schizaea pusilla, Sesuvium maritimum, Solidago rigida and Tribulus terrestris.  One species is listed as federally threatened, thirteen species are listed as rare in New York, one species is an addition to the flora of New York and one species should be excluded from the flora of New York.  Thirteen of the species are native to the Torrey Range and seven are non-native; four species have become or have the potential to become invasive weeds.

Key words:  floristics, rare plants, distribution, biodiversity, Torrey Range, New York.

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¹Corresponding address: 717 Sound Shore Road, Riverhead, NY 11901; E-mail: elamont@optonline.net

²E-mail: smyoung@gw.dec.state.ny.us

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The purpose of this annual report by the Local Flora Committee of the Torrey Botanical Society is to provide a forum for publishing short notes on significant vascular plant observations from within the Torrey Range.  Significant notes may include but are not limited to the current status of federally endangered species, state rare species, locally uncommon species, range extensions, population fluctuations, temporal and spatial changes in distribution patterns, introduction of non-native species and extirpation of native species.  The Torrey Range comprises southeastern New York, northern New Jersey and southwestern Connecticut (for a discussion of the past and present boundaries of the Torrey Range, including counties, see Lamont and Fitzgerald 2001).

This 2001 report of noteworthy plants is limited to the New York portion of the Torrey Range, including Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester counties.  Nomenclature follows Mitchell and Tucker (1997) and ranges of distribution follow Gleason and Cronquist (1991), unless otherwise stated.

Of the twenty species included in this report, thirteen are considered to be native in the Torrey Range and seven are considered to be non-native, although the native status of Eclipta prostrata and Eupatorium serotinum in New York is in question (see Mitchell and Tucker 1997).  A large population of Solidago rigida recently located in Brooklyn is also of questionable native status.

Five species listed as rare in New York were found on Staten Island (Richmond Co.) in 2001: Aster spectabilis (last collected on Staten Island in 1889), Aster subulatus (last collected in 1917), Eupatorium aromaticum (last collected in 1914), Iris prismatica (last collected in 1928) and Pinus echinata (last collected in 1893).  Ipomea pandurata was also recently reported from Staten Island (in 1999), the first time since 1889.  Helonias bullata, a federally-threatened species, is considered to be an extirpated native species in New York; the extant population on Staten Island has been introduced.

On Long Island, the only New York population of Schizaea pusilla had a banner year in 2001, but New York's only population of Hypericum denticulatum may be on the verge of extirpation.  Sesuvium maritimum was located near Orient Point in 2001, the first time since 1912.  A recent report of Rosa nitida from Suffolk Co. is considered to be based upon a misidentification and the species should therefore be excluded from the flora of New York.

     Non-native species continue to become established throughout the Torrey Range.  Eragrostis curvula and Phellodendron amurense have become serious invasive weeds, while Pueraria lobata and Rhodotypos scandens have the potential to become invasive pests.  Eleutherococcus sieboldianus is reported as escaped from cultivation on Fishers Island and Tribulus terrestris is reported as colonizing maritime beaches and low dunes on western Long Island and Plum Island.

Throughout this report we have endeavored to give credit to individuals who reported their findings to us; we are especially grateful to Spider Barbour (New York State Museum), Orland “Skip” Blanchard (Long Island University, C. W. Post College), Karen Blumer (Long Island Botanical Society), Barbara Conolly (Long Island Botanical Society), Jim Hoell (The Nature Conservancy), Edwin Horning (H. L. Ferguson Museum), Marilyn Jordan (The Nature Conservancy), Richard Kelly (Long Island Botanical Society), Mary Laura Lamont (Long Island Botanical Society), Allan Lindberg (Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums at Muttontown Preserve), Bruce Lund (The Nature Conservancy), Richard Lynch (Sweetbay Magnolia Conservancy), Ray Matarazzo (Staten Island Museum), Leonard Miller (Torrey Botanical Society), Richard Mitchell (New York State Museum), Gerry Moore (Brooklyn Botanic Garden), Michael Nee (New York Botanical Garden), Richard Stalter (St. John's University), Angela Steward (Brooklyn Botanic Garden), Gordon Tucker (Eastern Illinois University), Timothy Wenskus (New York City Department of Parks) and David Werrier (New York State Musuem).  We also thank Scott Mori and Michael Nee for reviewing an earlier draft of this report.

Annotated List of Noteworthy Plants

Reported from the Torrey Range—2001

Aster spectabilis Ait.  Showy Aster

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

     For the first time in over 100 years this state-threatened species was found on Staten Island.  Richard Lynch discovered a population growing in Bloomfield, a section of the island where it had never been seen before.  Aster spectabilis was observed between 1886 and 1889 in the Mariners Harbor section on the north shore of Staten Island but had not been seen since.  All of the other historical records in New York were from Long Island where 12 occurrences are presently known.  In 1995 A. spectabilis was discovered for the first time north of Long Island in Rockland Co. by Gordon Tucker.  The species is most often encountered in sandy openings in pine barrens extending from Massachusetts south to Tennessee and Alabama.  It is considered imperiled in Connecticut but apparently secure in New Jersey.

Aster subulatus Michx.  Salt Marsh Aster

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

     Aster subulatus is a small narrow-leaved aster that is state-threatened in New York and occurs in brackish and saline marshes from Rockland and Putnam counties south through Long Island.  There are 13 occurrences presently known in the state with one disjunct occurrence in the saline

marshes of Onondaga Lake in central New York.  In 2001 A. subulatus was found by Richard Lynch in the Sawmill Creek marshes of northwestern Staten Island; this was the first observation on the island since it was seen along the Arthur Kill in 1917 by A. Gershoy.  Other historical localities on Staten Island include Tottenville in 1882, Rossville in 1901, Great Kills in 1929 and Fish Kills in 1931.  There are still extensive salt marshes on this part of Staten Island and more populations may be found in the future.  Aster subulatus extends from New England south and west across United States and is apparently secure in New Jersey.

Eclipta prostrata (L.) L.  Yerba-de-tajo

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Eclipta prostrata is a somewhat weedy Coastal Plain native that is rare in the Torrey Range.  It was known in the New York City area as early as 1879 when it was collected by Arthur Hollick on Staten Island; it was also collected in the Bronx in 1896 and in Manhattan in 1899 and in 1901.  Before 2001 only one extant population of E. prostrata was known from New York; it was found on the shore of the Hudson River near Iona Island in 1994 by Richard Mitchell and Spider Barbour.  In 2001 three new populations were located.  Skip Blanchard and Rich Kelly located three different populations of this state-endangered plant on Long Island, all in Nassau Co. and all on mudflats bordering ponds frequented by ducks fed by humans.  The first pond is located at Manhasset Valley Park in the Township of North Hempstead, the second at Bellmore Mill Pond Park in the Township of Hempstead and the third at Tackapausha Preserve straddling the border of Oyster Bay and Hempstead townships.  Rich Kelly has suggested that E. prostrata is being dispersed on the feet and legs of waterfowl.  [ In 2002, before this paper went to press, E. prostrata was found by Spider Barbour and David Werrier on mucky soil adjacent to the bank of Moodna Creek several miles inland from the Hudson River estuary in Orange Co.]

Eleutherococcus sieboldianus (Makino) Koidz.  Acanthopanax

Araliaceae (Ginseng Family)

This cultivated shrub native to eastern Asia has been noted as an escape in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania but is new to New York State and to the Torrey Range.  Information was received in 2001 about the discovery of E. sieboldianus on Fishers Island, Suffolk Co., New York.  Gordon Tucker and Ed Horning located a small population of this species in a damp morainal hollow south of Hay Harbor on 26 July 2000 (Tucker & Horning 12206, BKL, GH, NYS). Associated plants included Nyssa sylvatica Marsh., Rubus allegheniensis Porter, Philadelphus inodorus L., Deutzia scabra Thunb. and Impatiens capensis Meerb.  A common synonym for E. sieboldianus is Acanthopanax sieboldianus Makino.  [On a subsequent visit to the site on 25 June 2002 (Tucker & Horning 12961, CONN, EIU, NYS) it was noted that there was a small hedge of this species on an adjacent property, which presumably provided the source of this population.]

Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees  Weeping Lovegrass

Poaceae (Grass Family)

Native of South Africa, E. curvula was first reported from New York by Stanley Smith in 1965; Gleason (1952) did not include this species in The New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada.  During the 1960s, the New York State Department of Transportation began planting this attractive grass along highway margins on Long Island.  After proving to be hardy at this latitude, E. curvula was planted en masse during the 1970s and 1980s, especially along the Long Island Expressway (I-495) and Sunrise Highway (Route 27) in Suffolk Co.  Eragrostis curvula has become a serious invasive weed of dry sandy soils in portions of Suffolk Co. where it has formed almost monospecific stands in old successional fields.  In 2001, Eric Lamont reported that E. curvula had colonized portions of the Shinnecock Hills on Long Island's South Fork.  The maritime grassland community at Shinnecock Hills is considered to be a globally rare ecosystem by the New York Natural Heritage Program (Reschke 1990).

Eupatorium aromaticum L.  Small White Snakeroot

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

     For the first time since 1914 this species was seen on Staten Island in 2001.  Plants were documented growing in the Arden Heights section southeast of the Fresh Kills landfill by Richard Lynch.  Historically E. aromaticum was known from Staten Island at New Dorp, Richmond Hill and Oakwood from 1868 to 1914.  In New York the plant is listed as endangered and occurred historically on Long Island (17 historical localities) and Staten Island with one historical report in the Flora of Westchester County by Willis in 1905.  Today there are only three known extant occurrences on Long Island (2 from the South Fork and one at Cold Spring Harbor) and the new occurrence on Staten Island.  The species is common in the Southeast with New York at the northeast edge of its range.

Eupatorium serotinum Michx.  Late Thoroughwort

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Local botanists are currently debating the native vs. non-native status of E. serotinum in New York.  Taylor (1915) cited an unvouchered report of E. serotinum from Staten Island; Hollick and Britton (1930) listed it as “rare” on Staten Island.  Cronquist (1952, 1980) considered southern New York to be the northeastern range limit of the species.  Hough (1983) listed E. serotinum as a native species of New Jersey and documented its occurrence from nine counties, north to Warren Co.; Anderson (1989) also listed it as native to New Jersey.  Mitchell and Tucker (1997) listed E. serotinum as not native to New York, but Young (2001) listed it as a rare native species of southeastern New York.

Based upon herbarium specimens deposited at the New York Botanical Garden (NY), E. serotinum extended its distribution range northward into Bronx Co. during the 1940s and 1950s (Joseph Monachino collected it in 1942, 1949 and 1956; Harold Moldenke collected it in 1949).  During the 1980s and 1990s botanists from the Long Island Botanical Society recorded its rapid colonization of dry, sandy and disturbed soils at various localities in Kings, Nassau and western Suffolk counties.  In 1996 it was reported from Orange Co. by Spider Barbour and Richard Mitchell, and in 1997 it was reported from Rockland Co. by Eric Lamont.

Eupatorium serotinum is considered to be a native weedy species to the south and west of New York and there is no reason to change its designation from native to non-native weed as it spreads north.

Helonias bullata L.  Swamp Pink

Liliaceae (Lily Family)

The only native occurrence of H. bullata in New York was known from Kreischerville, Staten Island between 1882 and 1892 in a red maple-sweetgum swamp.  In Arthur Hollick's field notes at the Staten Island Museum he noted that he and N. L. Britton did a “wild dance of joy” when they first encountered the plants in May 1882.  There was no further information on the status of the population after 1892 and the plants were eventually considered extirpated.  In 2001 it was questioned whether this historical occurrence was planted or native based on a letter observed at the New York Botanical Garden. In the Helonias folder in the herbarium is a letter from C. Smith to Nathaniel Lord Britton discussing Smith's unsuccessful attempt to purchase Helonias plants from James Galen of Rawlins, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania, who sold natural history items.  There is no mention of an attempt to secure Helonias plants for planting in New York.  Therefore the original occurrence in Kreischerville is still considered native although introductions of the plant have taken place in recent years.  In the late 1990s Helonias plants were introduced into two locations on Staten Island.  Plants secured at the New York Botanical Garden and originally from New Jersey were planted in the red maple-sweetgum swamp at Clay Pit Ponds State Park near Kreischerville on Staten Island, probably the original location of the native population.  They were also planted in the red maple-sweetgum swamp called Magnolia Swamp on the east side of South Avenue in northwestern Staten Island but these have failed to persist.  These plants were originally from the New Jersey pine barrens and obtained from the Bowmans Hill Wildflower Preserve in New Hope ,Pennsylvania.  Small plants of unknown origin were also planted in a remnant red maple-sweetgum swamp in Scarsdale, Westchester Co. in 2000.

Hypericum denticulatum Walt.  Coppery St. John's-wort

Clusiaceae (Mangosteen Family)

Historically, New Jersey had been regarded as the northern range limit of H. denticulatum (Taylor 1915).  In 1923 William Ferguson collected H. denticulatum from “wet meadows” on the “border of ponds” in the pine barrens of Manorville, Long Island.  In 1987, a second Long Island population consisting of several thousand plants was found on the upper margins of a coastal plain pondshore in nearby Calverton (see Zaremba and Lamont 1993).

Long Island's coastal plain pondshore community is maintained by seasonally and annually fluctuating water levels that alternately expose and flood gradually sloping, sandy pond margins.  During successive years of low water levels this dynamic plant community supports one of the highest concentrations of rare plant species in New York.  Low water level conditions occurred on Long Island between 1985 and 1988.

The population of H. denticulatum at the Calverton ponds has been regularly monitored since 1987 (the Manorville population has not been relocated).  The return of high water levels to the ponds in 1989 significantly reduced the population size; in 1990 only a few scattered plants were found and in 1991 no individuals were located.  Low water level conditions prevailed again in the mid-1990s; in 1995 several hundred plants were observed and in 1996 more than 1000 plants were observed.  In 2000 and 2001 no plants were found. [In 2002, before this paper went to press, no plants were found at the Calverton site even though it was a low water level year.]

Ipomea pandurata (L.) Meyer  Wild Potato-vine

Convolvulaceae (Morning-glory Family)

Information wasreceived in 2001 about the rediscovery of I. pandurata on Staten Island (in 1999) where the planthad not been seen for over 100 years.  Plants were discovered by Richard Lynchin the Richmondville section just east of Tottenville where the previous collectionoccurred in 1879.  There is one other historical collection in Tottenville from1867 and an additional collection from the Mariners Harbor section on the north shore of the island from 1889.  New York is on the northern edge of the range of this species.  There arescattered historical records from southeastern New York, Long Island and western New York.  There is one other extant population near Rochester, New York.  The species becomes much more common southinto New Jersey.

Iris prismatica Pursh  Slender Blue Flag

Iridaceae (Iris Family)

     Hundreds of plants of this state-threatened species were found in a swamp in the Graniteville section of Staten Island in 2001 by Richard Lynch.  The last time I. Prismatica was collected on Staten Island was in 1928 on the north shore by J. A. Drushel.  Between 1870 and 1928 the

plant was collected at six sites on Staten Island but most of the suitable wetlands have since been altered or destroyed.  In New York it occurs mainly in Bronx and Suffolk counties but was known historically north of New York City to Rockland and Westchester counties with reports

from Dutchess Co. and the salt marshes of Onondaga Lake.  Iris prismatica occurs mainly along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to Georgia but is also found inland in the southern Appalachians.  Many of the states where it occurs list it as rare although it is secure in New

Jersey.

Phellodendron amurense Rupr.  Amur Cork-tree

Rutaceae (Rue Family)

This species has begun to be a serious pest in the Hemlock Forest at the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Co.  Michael Nee reported that there are numerous trees of P. amurense of all sizes in the forest (especially around north Twin Lake) where it threatens to become increasingly established in the future.  Despite the strong and unpleasantly aromatic (to Michael's nose!) berries, they are avidly consumed by fruit-eating birds such as robins (Turdus migratorius) and the seeds are spread throughout the Garden.  Apparently several species and probable hybrids are involved.  Phellodendron was already listed as naturalized in the Garden by 1933 (Small and Alexander 1933).  Timothy Wenskus also reported P. amurense as being invasive at Forest Park, Queens Co.; parent trees were originally planted in the 1950s along the Jackie Robinson Memorial Parkway (formerly the Interborough Parkway).

Pinus echinata Mill.  Shortleaf Pine

Pinaceae (Pine Family)

Historically, New York had been regarded as the northern range limit of P. echinata (Torrey 1843).  Miller and Young (1874) reported P. echinata (under the synonym Pinus mitis Michx.) from Suffolk Co., Hollick and Britton (1879) reported it from Richmond Co., Jelliffee (1899) reported it from Kings Co. and Willis (1905) reported it from Westchester Co.  Based upon herbarium collections, the Staten Island occurrences included the following locations: Giffords Station (collected in 1877), New Dorp (collected in 1877), Tottenville (collected in 1879, 1882, 1890) and Erastina, near Mariners Harbor on the north shore (collected in 1893).  More recently Cope (1992) and Mitchell & Tucker (1997) considered P. echinata to be extirpated in New York.  In Flora of North America, Kral (1993) did not list New York within the range of P. echinata, New Jersey was listed as the northern range limit of the species.

In 2001 Richard Lynch rediscovered P. echinata on Staten Island at Clay Pit Ponds State Park.  The population consists of one large crooked tree approximately 15 inches in diameter, about 10 trees of 5-inch diameter and many small seedlings mixed with Pinus rigida Mill. and P. virginiana Mill.  Unfortunately, P. echinata had been overlooked by numerous botanists during the past 20 years during visits to Clay Pit Ponds State Park to see Pinus virginiana and other rare plants.

Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi  Kudzu

Fabaceae (Bean Family)

The introduction and early colonization of P. lobata in New York has been documented by Frankel (1989).  The first observation of Kudzu in New York was apparently made by Thomas Delendick who reported a vigorous stand from Queens Village dating back to the 1950s.  At the time of Frankel's report, Kudzu had been reported from all five boroughs of New York City and Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester counties.  In 1989, a total of eight populations had been documented from Long Island: one from Kings Co. (Brooklyn), two from Nassau Co., four from Queens Co. and one from Suffolk Co.

The current number of Kudzu populations on Long Island has more than tripled since 1989.  Staff members of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's New York Metropolitan Flora Project and staff of The Nature Conservancy have been tracking the spread of Kudzu throughout Long Island and in 2001 they verified 28 extant populations: four from Kings Co., four from Nassau Co., seven from Queens Co. and thirteen from Suffolk Co.  The Kings Co. occurrences are from Brooklyn Heights, College Place, Greenpoint and Gowanus Canal; the Nassau Co. occurrences are from Bayville, Leeds Pond in North Hempstead, Oyster Bay Cove and Rockville Center; the Queens Co. occurrences are from Bayside, College Point, Crocheron Park, Cross Island Parkway, Locust Manor, Queens Village and Udalls Cove; the Suffolk Co. occurrences are from Cold Spring Harbor, Commack, East Shoreham, Fishers Island (at least three separate populations), Huntington, Huntington Station, Lloyd Harbor, Melville, Northport, Northville and Sayville.

Frankel (1989) stated, “This aggressive, rapidly colonizing vine has the potential for a botanical explosion in the northeast.”  However, Sorrie and Perkins (1988) stated, “the apparent lack of viable seeds, coupled with above-ground dieback each winter suggest that kudzu is unlikely to spread or become a troublesome weed in New England.”

The following botanists reported Kudzu occurrences from Long Island and Fishers Island during the 1990s and early 2000s: Skip Blanchard, Karen Blumer, Barbara Conolly, Jim Hoell, Edwin Horning, Marilyn Jordan, Eric Lamont, Bruce Lund, Allan Lindberg, Gordon Tucker and Stephen Young.

Rhodotypos scandens (Thunb.) Makino  Black Jetbead

Rosaceae (Rose Family)

The recent spread of Rhodotypos scandens in the Torrey Range has been closely monitored by Angela Steward of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's New York Metropolitan Flora Project.  This species was first introduced in the U.S. from Asia in the 1800s.  NYMF originally tracked R. scandens as a non-invasive species in the 1980s, since it did not seem to be seriously spreading in the region. However, that situation appears to be changing.  There are now more than 80 post-1990 records in the NYMF database from several counties in New York and New Jersey. These findings agree with others who have recently concluded that R. scandens is spreading in the Northeast (Albrecht, 2001).

Rosa nitida Willd. New England Rose

Rosaceae (Rose Family)

Rosa nitida is a northern species of the Canadian maritimes, eastern Quebec and New England (Scoggan 1950); it is common in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia but is considered uncommon in Maine (Haines and Vining 1998) and rare in southern New England (Seymour 1989).  Rosa nitida was only recently added to the flora of New York by Mitchell and Tucker (1997), based upon a 1992 collection deposited in the herbarium at Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island.  The specimen, collected from the edge of a swamp on the north side of Hot Water Street southeast of Manorville in Suffolk Co., superficially resembles R. nitida and may key to that species based solely upon characters pertaining to stem vestiture.  The basal portion of the stem is copiously armed with prickles that are slender, small-based and straight.  However, leaf margin and stipule characters of the herbarium specimen do not match with R. nitida, but the specimen does not clearly key out to any of the common species of Rosa occurring on Long Island.

In 2001 Stephen Young and Eric Lamont visited the Manorville swamp and observed several individuals of Rosa.  Within the vicinity were mature individuals of Rosa carolina L. with slender, small-based and straight prickles scattered along the apical portions of the stems, but the basal portions were not copiously armed, rather they were almost devoid of vestiture.  A few young shoots (maybe 2 or 3 years old) of a Rosa taxon were also observed; these young individuals had the basal portions of the stem densely bristly and probably corresponded to the questionable 1992 collection of R. nitida.

A literature search of detailed descriptions of R. carolina failed to reveal any mention of the basal portions of young stems being densely covered with deciduous prickles, becoming glabrous with age.

Additional fieldwork during 2001 in the vicinity of Montauk, Long Island (by Stephen Young, Eric Lamont and Gerry Moore) revealed more individuals of the questionable Rosa taxon with the basal portions of the stems copiously armed with slender, straight prickles.  Also occurring in the immediate area were individuals of R. carolina, R. virginiana Mill. and R. palustris Marsh.

At this time we conclude that R. nitida does not occur on Long Island.  The taxon in question may be young R. carolina or a hybrid involving R. carolina and either R. virginiana or R. palustris.  More research on this taxonomic problem is needed.

Schizaea pusilla Pursh  Curlygrass Fern

Schizaeaceae (Curlygrass Family)

New York's only extant population of S. pusilla occurs in moist to wet sandy depressions within a dynamic system of shifting dunelands on the east end of Long Island's South Fork.  During the late 1920s Roy Latham located two populations of S. pusilla near Montauk, but extensive searches by numerous botanists have failed to relocate these two populations (one was probably destroyed by the construction of a campground at Hither Hills State Park).  In 1960 Harold and Andrew Moldenke located a third population of S. pusilla at Napeague State Park, almost 5 miles west of the Latham populations.  The Napeague population consists of several small colonies (“subpopulations”); the original colony located in 1960 died out shortly after 1981 but other colonies have been regularly monitored during the past 40 years (Lamont 1998).  From 1960 to the early 1990s the Napeague population of Schizaea usually consisted of several dozen individuals, but some years approximately 100 individuals were observed.  In the mid-1990s drought conditions occurred on Long Island and the Schizaea population at Napeague crashed; in 1995 only six plants were observed and in 1996 only two individuals could be located after intense searches.  In 1997, the population began to recover with 24 individuals observed.  In December, 2001 Eric Lamont counted several hundred individuals of Schizaea at Napeague, never before had so many individuals been observed and reported from eastern Long Island.

Sesuvium maritimum (Walt.) BSP.  Sea Purslane

Aizoaceae (Fig Marigold Family)

Sesuvium maritimum is at its northern range limit in the Torrey Range.  Attempts to relocate historical occurrences of this locally rare species on Long Island during the 1980s and 1990s revealed extant populations at Oyster Pond, Montauk and at two coastal salt ponds on Gardiners Island.  Roy Latham had collected S. maritimum in 1912 at Orient Beach on Long Island's North Fork, but extensive attempts to relocate this occurrence during the late 1980s proved to be unsuccessful (Lamont and Stalter 1991).  In 2001, Eric Lamont and Mary Laura Lamont located 29 plants of S. maritimum at the Long Beach section of Orient Beach State Park.  Plants occurred in muddy super-saline substrates as well as in sand mixed with pebbles and cobbles along the interface between a gravel beach and salt marsh dominated by Spartina alterniflora Loisel.  The Montauk and Gardiners Island populations also occur in similar habitats.

Solidago rigida L.  Stiff-leaf Goldenrod

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Solidago rigida is common in the prairie region of the United States and Canada and uncommon to rare in eastern states.  Habitats cited for the eastern states include dry hillsides, usually in rocky places (Torrey 1843), dry fields and open woods (Graves et al. 1910) and dry sandy, rocky or gravelly soils (Taylor 1915, House 1924).  In New York it is listed as a threatened plant with occurrences in extreme western New York and again in eastern New York.

Historically, S. rigida has been very rare in the New York portion of the Torrey Range.  It was collected by E. Hamilton in 1899 from Milburn on Long Island (between Freeport and Baldwin, Nassau Co.) and there are old collections from 1865 and 1883 from Harlem on Manhattan Island (New York Co.).  More recently, in the late 1980s Leonard Miller located a small population of S. rigida along a dry, rocky trail leading to Hook Mountain in Rockland Co., but this population died out sometime before 2000.  Another small population was also found in southeastern Westchester Co. in 1985 by Al Schotz but its status has not been checked since 1990.

Information was received in 2001 about the rediscovery of S. rigida on Long Island.  Richard Stalter located a large population consisting of more than 600 individuals at Marine Park in Brooklyn.  The plants occur along the weedy margins of trails in disturbed soils bordering an extensive monospecific stand of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin.  Also occurring along the trails were a few scattered individuals of Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench.  At this time it is uncertain whether this Brooklyn population of S. rigida is a natural occurrence.  In recent years S. rigida has been recommended for plantings designed specifically to attract butterflies and many nurseries also recommend it for highway roadside plantings, ornamental uses and prairie restorations.

The New York Natural Heritage Program does not include planted occurrences in its database of rare plants so if this population is found to be cultivated it would not be used to assess the rarity of the species in the state.  Presently the state protected plant law does not distinguish between cultivated and native rare plant occurrences so it is uncertain whether this population would be protected under those regulations.

Tribulus terrestris L. Puncture-vine

Zygophyllaceae (Caltrop or Creosote-bush Family)

Tribulus terrestris is a member of the relatively small tropical family Zygophyllaceae that includes about 250 species mostly occurring in arid or saline habitats (species of Larrea, creosote-bush, dominate some of the warm deserts of both North and South America).  Puncture-vine is a prostrate, mat-forming annual especially noted for its hard, spiny fruits.  It is a native of the Mediterranean Region and is well established as a roadside weed in western United States.  Welsh et al. (1987) has commented, “This tribulation of the earth is a vicious weed, leaving in its wake a refuse heap of punctured tires and painfully injured feet.  This tribulation of the earth is adequately named scientifically.”

While conducting searches for Amaranthus pumilus Raf. in 1997, Stephen Young found a population of T. terrestris at Breezy Point on the west end of the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens Co.; in 1998 there was a plant 10 feet in diameter and in 2001 additional plants were seen scattered in various locations at the site.  Previously T. terrestris had been last collected on Long Island in 1879 at Hunters Point, Queens Co.  In 2000 Skip Blanchard reported a second population of T. terrestris from the Rockaway Peninsula in the vicinity of Fort Tilden and in 2001 Richard Stalter reported it from Swinburne Island in New York Harbor.  [In 2002, before this paper went to press, T. terrestris was found growing among low dunes on Plum Island, Suffolk Co., by Eric Lamont and Richard Stalter.]

Literature Cited

Albrecht, L. A. 2001. Jetbead: a new invasive threat. Northeastern Weed Science Society Newsletter, April 2001: 7.

Anderson, K. 1989. A check list of the plants of New Jersey. New Jersey Audubon Society, Mount Holly, NJ. 58p.

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