Fern Glen Essays
She's Making a List
by Judy Sullivan

People often ask me what I do during the winter. They're surprised to hear that it's usually my busiest season, a time filled beyond capacity with writing, planning and fretful fussing.

For the past few weeks I've been compiling a checklist of plant species native to Dutchess County. I wish that I could say that all of the data are a result of my long, hot, spring-water-guzzling afternoons in the field searching out and verifying each occurrence. Alas, day-to-day personal observations aside, such is not the case.

The pathetic reality is that I'm pretzeled into a swivel chair with a 3" thick looseleaf binder spread before me - a product of the excellent New York Flora Association (www.nyflora.org). Its contents are the resulting work of dozens of professional and amateur botanists during the last century (All of whom, I might add, actually got to go outside to collect their information.). Every page contains eight small maps of New York State, displaying all of its counties. Each map represents the occurrence and distribution of one plant species, subspecies, variety, forma or hybrid, whether native or introduced. These records are based on specimens collected from different areas of the state up until 1978 and housed at the State Museum. For every specimen, a dot is placed on the map indicating the county where it was collected.

In short, I'm seeing dots before my eyes.

The data tell us that Dutchess County has 1,106 collected plant species; Columbia, 1,162; Suffolk, Long Island, 1,910; and Putnam, only 677. This doesn't necessarily mean that Putnam has fewer species (although it might), merely fewer herbarium specimens...or botanists. In situations where the Dutchess County plot lacks a dot that the surrounding counties have, I'm permitted the exhilarating liberty of making a judgment call.

So, who cares what plant species are native to a single 800 square mile parcel on a map? I receive approximately a dozen requests per year for such information from town board members, land managers and concerned citizens in general. Inquiring minds want to know. Where can they find out?

I hope that a comprehensive checklist might provide the names of species that would likely be overlooked. Wildflower guides feature all of the fashionable celebrities of the plant world, while neglecting many members of the botanical rank and file (Skunk cabbage, for instance, is very rank...). Admittedly, a book containing all occurring species with accompanying illustrations could defeat the very purpose of a field guide, not to mention trigger a severe case of sciatica. Still, there's a common tendency to use only the showiest blooms when planting a "native landscape." It's one thing to do this when designing a perennial border; it's quite another to attempt to recreate a community while excluding a large portion of its members.

Lastly (for I feel a grand mal soapbox coming on), as instructive and useful as the big blue binder is (Note: it also makes one heck of a paperweight.), it can be tedious to sort through its 477 pages to determine just which of the 3,811 species it lists are likely to occur in a given area. Just ask me.

For our next installment, we'll look at what, exactly, is a native species. Meanwhile, dear reader, may you sleep well, knowing that the champion of the common plant is hard at work. She's making a list, Checking it twice, Gonna tell you what's naughty or nice...

Questions, comments, or other feedback to Judy Sullivan.