The Fern Bulletin, October 1903 / A Quarterly Devoted to Ferns

by Various

THE FERN FLORA OF NEW YORK.

By B. D. Gilbert.

The State of New York has the largest area of any northern State east of Michigan. It also possesses a great diversity of surface, with its two mountain ranges, its numerous lakes, its interior salt basin, and its seashore confined entirely to the southern extremity. On its eastern side it stretches through more than four degrees of north latitude, and as these are the degrees just south of the 45th parallel, it is easy to understand that there is liable to be a greater intermixture of northern and southern forms of ferns than there would be in a State lying farther south. And the fact is that certain species from the north and others from the south do meet within its borders. This also accounts for the large number of species found in the State: California and Texas, the one State having four times the area of New York, and the other five times that area, being the only ones which contain as large or a larger number of species.

For the purpose of fern classification, the State may be divided into four distinct zones, as follows:

I. The Littoral.—This comprises Long Island and Staten Island. Only one fern is peculiar to this zone, viz. Woodwardia angustifolia; but there are two Lycopods, viz. L. alopecuroides and its variety adpressum.

II. The Catskill Mountain Region, extending down to Manhattan Island.—This being the southern mountain range of the State, it is here that three southern species find their northern limit, viz. Asplenium Bradleyi, A. montanum and Cheilanthes vestita. It may be a question whether the Connecticut stations for Asplenium montanum lie farther north than the New York stations, but it is certain that there can be but little difference between them in this respect.

III. The Adirondack Region, extending as far south as Little Falls.—Here there are a few of the northern species that descend to their southern limit in this country. Among them may be mentioned Nephrodium fragrans, Polystichum Braunii, Woodsia glabella, and W. hyperborea. There are also two Lycopods to be included in this list, L. annotinum pungens and L. Sitchense.

IV. The Western Region, extending from the mountain regions to the State’s western boundary, the southern part drained by the Susquehanna and its tributaries, and the northern part containing (a) The Salt Basin of Syracuse and its vicinity, the home of Scolopendrium and Botrychium Onondagense, and (b) The Central Basin, extending from Little Falls to Oneida Lake, and drained by the Mohawk River, being famous for its large number of Botrychia, some of which seem to be almost, if not quite, peculiar to this region.

In the preparation of this list I have consulted various local floras and other reports of the State, especially Paine’s “Catalogue of Plants Found in Oneida County and Vicinity;” the Annual Reports of the State Botanist, “The Flora of the Upper Susquehanna,” and the files of the Fern Bulletin. I have also been favored with many notes from the State Herbarium sheets by Professor Peck himself; while my own herbarium and that of Dr. J. V. Haberer, of Utica, have been exceedingly useful in fixing definite localities.

The plan I have followed is to include along with the species only such varieties as seem to be most important and distinct.

Mr. Bush in The Torrey Bulletin for June, 1903, enumerates 59 species and varieties of ferns found in Texas. This compares well with our list of 64 species and varieties in New York State, of which only 18 of these are common to both States. Mr. Reverchon’s list for Texas, published in the Fern Bulletin, April, 1903, gives 51 ferns and 15 allies, or 66 in all. The present list includes 53 species and 12 varieties of ferns, and 23 species and 7 varieties of fern allies. If we take Bush’s ferns and Reverchon’s allies, there are 74 species and varieties known in Texas, or 20 less than I have enumerated in New York.