Last updated: August 31, 2021
Article
Little Brewster Island Plants
In a two-year project funded by the Island Alliance to study the vegetation of the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area, 32 islands were surveyed and inventoried for vascular plant species. Field surveys began on 9 June 2001 and ended on 30 September 2002.
Below is the data collected for Little Brewster Island.
Data Notes:
* = introduced species
(v) = voucher specimen
(p) = photograph
Due to formatting restrictions, species scientific names are not italicized in the data table.
* = introduced species
(v) = voucher specimen
(p) = photograph
Due to formatting restrictions, species scientific names are not italicized in the data table.
| Species_Scientific_Name | Species_Common_Name | Family | Date_Observed | Habitat |
|---|
Notes on Habitats and Flora
Little Brewster’s native and naturalized plant life is for the most part confined to the edges of buildings, lawns, and concrete walkways in this mostly developed island. A few salt-tolerant plant species occur on exposed rocks in the spray zone.In 1998 or 1999 Sally Snowman documented and mapped a population of Carolina cranesbill (Geranium carolinianum var. confertiflorum) on the edge of the concrete walkway (Snowman 1999, and personal communication). I looked hard for these plants and asked Sally, who was working on the island that day, where she had found them. She told me the exact location, but there were no Carolina cranesbill plants there this year. The plants may have entered Little Brewster as seed mixed with a lawn seed mix, sprouted and briefly survived, and have since disappeared. There may be a seedbank, and it is possible the plants could reappear.
Snowman (1999) recorded several other species on the island that I missed during my visit, including timothy (Phleum pratense), wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), saltwater cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), and saltmarsh sea-blite (Suaeda maritima). The survey in 2001 was rapid, and the island should be investigated once more in 2002.