Last updated: September 8, 2021
Article
Ragged 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 Ragged 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
Similar to Langlee Island, Ragged Island is densely vegetated with shrub and tree thickets. The island has a large number of non-native trees, including Norway maple (Acer platanoides), honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), white mulberry (Morus alba), Norway spruce (Picea abies), and English oak (Quercus robur). The central part of the island has a large, impenetrable stand of bullbrier (Smilax rotundifolia).Open ledges on the island’s west side support a small red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) community that is exceptionally “natural” by the standards of Harbor Island upland habitats. Native species within this community include sand sedge (Bulbostylis capillaris), black huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), orange grass (Hypericum gentianoides), little bluestem (Schizachrium scoparium), and blue curls (Trichostema dichotomum). This community, which strongly suggests the Maritime Juniper Woodland/Shrubland listed as a rare habitat (classified S1) in Massachusetts (Swain and Kearsley 2000), will be investigated again in 2002.
The shoreline is primarily rocky, with small patches of sandy beach and salt marsh. The only population of Scotch lovage (Ligusticum scothicum) observed on the Harbor Islands is located on Ragged Island’s eastern shoreline.