Last updated: September 8, 2021
Article
Raccoon 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 Raccoon 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
Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) and poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) are abundant throughout the shrub thickets covering most of this small, rocky island. Other common shrub thicket species include bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), and red raspberry (Rubus idaeus). Taller thickets have patches of gray birch (Betula populifolia), aspen (Populus spp.), and tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) trees, and a few remnant large trees, including Norway maple (Acer platanoides) and black oak (Quercus velutina).
Open ledges with a small population of winged sumac (Rhus coppalinum), one of only two islands where this sumac species was observed in these surveys (the other one being Spectacle, where it was probably introduced), are located on the west side of the island along its upper ridgeline.
Shoreline habitats include rock outcroppings exposed to spray, a salt marsh fringe on the island’s south side, and a small area of beach.