Submitted by Karl Anderson, karlanderson6@aol.com

The weather was perfect on this Sunday morning, as members of the Philadelphia Botanical Club joined the leader for an informal 600-meter linear survey, aggregating to less than one-tenth of an acre, of the plant life around the perimeter of a small suburban shopping mall and a recent construction zone.  We were rewarded by finding 109 species of vascular plants of which 52 were annuals, 34 were perennials, and 23 were woody plants or woody vines.  Of the 52 annuals, 31 were non-native.  Of the 34 perennials, 16 were non-native.  Of the 23 woody plants, 13 were non-native.  Of the 109 total species, 60  were non-native.  Few of the plants we saw during our walk were unfamiliar to the seasoned field botanists of our group, but Calibrachoa parviflora, a late nineteenth century ballast dump plant which has reappeared in New Jersey three times, in different locations, in recent years, was an exception.  After completing our walk and a brief rest, we braved thickets of Ampelopsis heterophylla and Clematis terniflora to reach the shores of Broad Street Lake, where a quick look around produced  55 species of which 14 were annuals, 25 were perennials, and 16 were woody plants or woody vines.  Of the 55 total lakeshore species, 17 were non-native. This trip amply demonstrated both the adaptability of native and introduced plants, and the botanical diversity of a site that might otherwise  have been dismissed as uninteresting.

Even 207 years ago, many of the non-native plants we found  would have been familiar to William P. C. Barton, who was then writing his Compendium Florae Philadelphicae.  Such would have included Mollugo verticillata, Digitaria sanguinalis, Portulaca oleracea,  Sida spinosa, and Persicaria maculosa. But Diodia virginiana, Cyperus iria, Arthraxon hispidus, and even Lonicera japonica would have been new to him. The town of Woodbury is mentioned 73 times in the Compendium, which, covering “plants found within a circuit of ten miles around Philadelphia,” includes a large area in New Jersey. Barton used the town as a seasonal base of operations.

Barton would have arrived in New Jersey via the ferry from Philadelphia to Kaighn’s Point.  Taking the Woodbury Road south for  seven miles, he would have noticed our trip site which was then a wet meadow bordering Woodbury Creek, still tidal at three miles from its mouth.  (Here is a current map of the survey site.) A few hundred yards farther south was the Friends Meeting House, constructed in 1715.  (Click here to learn about Woodbury Friends). And another hundred  yards south was two-story  Wilkin’s Inn, the northernmost of three hostelries in the town. What else could he have needed? Barton was a surgeon (a more general term then than now) in the United States Navy, but in his era much of medicine derived from plants and in 1815 at the age of 27 he became the Professor of Medical Botany at the University of Pennsylvania. The Compendium grew out of Barton’s need to provide a “field guide” for his students to use during their excursions with his class into the environs of Philadelphia.

PLANT LIST

SUBURBAN BOTANY TRIP, SEPTEMBER 8, 2024

BROAD STREET AND RED BANK AVENUE, WOODBURY NJ

CVS PARKING LOT PERIMETER, PLANTING BEDS, PAVEMENT CRACKS, CONSTRUCTION  SITE

ANNUAL OR BIENNIAL PLANTS

Acalypha rhomboidea  – Copperleaf
Ambrosia artemisiifolia  – Ragweed
Artemisia annua   – Sweet wormwood   NN
Artemisia vulgaris – Mugwort  NN
Bidens frondosa – Beggarticks
Bidens bipinnata  –  Spanish needles
Calibrachoa parviflora  – Seaside petunia  NN
Cenchrus longispinus – Mat sandbur
Chenopodium album – Lamb’s quarters  NN
Cirsium vulgare – Bull thistle   NN
Commelina communis – Dayflower  NN
Conyza canadensis – Horseweed
Cyperus bipartitus   – Shining flatsedge
Cyperus iria – Ricefield flatsedge  NN
Cyperus microiria  – Asian Flatsedge   NN
Cyperus squarrosus – Bearded flatsedge
Digitaria sanguinalis – Large crabgrass   NN
Diodia virginiana –  Virginia buttonweed  
Dysphania pumilio – Clammy goosefoot   NN
Echinochloa crus-galli – Barnyard grass   NN
Eclipta prostrata  – False daisy  NN
Eleusine indica – Goosegrass  NN
Eragrostis cilianensis – Stinkgrass   NN
Eragrostis pectinacea – Tufted lovegrass
Erechtities hieracifolia  – American burnweed
Erigeron strigosus – Prairie fleabane.
Euphorbia maculata   – Spotted Spurge
Euphorbia nutans –  Eyebane
Ipomoea hederacea – Ivy-leaved morning glory   NN
Ipomoea lacunosa – Small white morning glory  NN
Kellochloa verrucosum – Warty panic grass
Kummerowia striata – Japanese clover  NN
Lactuca serriola  – Prickly lettuce  NN
Lepidium virginicum – Virginia pepperwort
Melilotus alba  – White sweetclover   NN
Melilotus officinalis – Yellow sweetclover   NN
Mollugo verticillata – Carpetweed   NN
Persicaria longiseta – Oriental lady’s thumb  NN
Persicaria maculosa  – Spotted lady’s thumb  NN
Physalis   angulata  – Cutleaf ground cherry
Polygonum aviculare – Prostrate knotweed  NN
Portulaca oleracea – Purslane   NN
Senecio vulgaris – Common groundsel  NN
Setaria faberi  – Nodding foxtail  NN
Setaria pumila – Yellow foxtail  NN
Setaria viridis   – Green foxtail   NN
Sida spinosa – Prickly fanpetals  NN
Solanum emulans – American black nightshade
Strophpostyles helvola – Trailing fuzzybean
Triplasis purpurea – Sandgrass
Verbascum phlomoides – Orange mullein   NN
Vicia tetrasperma – Slender vetch   NN
Xanthium strumarium  – Cocklebur
 

PERENNIALS

Andropogon virginicus   – Broomsedge
Apocynum cannabinum – Dogbane
Artemisia vulgaris  – Mugwort  NN
Asclepias syriaca  – Common milkweed                  
Calystegia sepium  – Hedge False bindweed
Cichorium intybus  – Chicory  NN
Convolvulus arvensis  –  Field bindweed   NN
Cynodon dactylon – Bermudagrass  NN
Cyperus esculentus – Chufa flatsedge   NN 
Cyperus lupulinus – Great Plains flatsedge
Cyperus strigosus – Straw-colored flatsedge
Erodium cicutaria  – Storksbill
Eupatorium serotinum – Late-flowering boneset   NN
Hypochoeris radicata  – Cat’s ear   NN
Juncus tenuis – Path rush
Lolium sp.  – Ryegrass   NN
Lythrum salicaria  – Purple loosestrife  NN
Oenothera biennis  – Evening primrose
Oxalis sp. – Wood sorrel
Persicaria hydropiperoides – Swamp smartweed
Phragmites australis – Common reed   NN
Phytolacca americana  – Pokeweed
Plantago lanceolata – NN
Plantago major – Common plantain  NN
Plantago rugelii – Blackseed plantain
Reynoutria japonica – Japanese knotweed  NN
Rumex obtusifolius  – Broad-leaved dock  NN
Schizachyrium scoparium – Little bluestem
Solidago altissima – Tall goldenrod
Symphyotrichum pilosum  – White oldfield aster
Symphyotrichum racemosum – Small white aster
Taraxacum sp. – Dandelion NN
Tridens flavus – Purpletop
Trifolium repens – White clover  NN

 

WOODY PLANTS

Ailanthus altissima – Tree of Heaven  NN
Ampelopsis  heterophylla  – Porcelainberry  NN
Baccharis halimifolia – Groundsel tree
Buddleia davidii – Butterfly bush   NN
Celastrus orientalis – Asiatic bittersweet  NN
Clematis terniflora  – Autumn clematis  NN
Hedera helix – English ivy  NN
Juglans nigra – Black walnut
Juniperus virginiana  – Red cedar
Liquidambar styraciflua – Sweet gum
Lonicera japonica – Japanese honeysuckle  NN
Morus alba – White mulberry  NN
Parthenocisssus quinquefolia  – Virginia creeper
Platanus occidentalis – Sycamore
Populus deltoides – Eastern cottonwood
Prunus serotina – Black cherry
Pyrus calleriana – Bradford pear  NN
Robinia pseudoacacia – Black locust  NN
Rubus phoenicolasius – Wineberry  NN
Toxicodendron radicans  – Poison ivy
Ulmus americana – American elm
Ulmus parvifolia – Chinese elm  NN
Wisteria sp.  – Wisteria  NN

ALONG ADJACENT BROAD STREET LAKE

ANNUAL PLANTS

Acalypha rhomboidea – Copperleaf 
Ambrosia artemisifolia – Ragweed 
Arthraxon hispidus – Small carpgrass  NN 
Commelina communis – Dayflower  NN 
Cyperus iria – Ricefield flatsedge  NN 
Digitaria sanguinalis – Large crabgrass  NN 
Diodia virginana – Virginia buttonweed   
Echinochloa crus-galli – Barnyard grass  NN 
Eclipta prostrata – False daisy  NN 
Euphorbia  nutans – Eyebane 
Lindernia dubia – Yellowseed false pimpernel
Persicaria longiseta – Oriental lady’s thumb   NN
Persicaria  sagittata – Arrowleaf tearthumb 
Setaria pumila – Yellow foxtail  NN 

 

PERENNIALS

Andropogon virginicus – Broomsedge bluestem 
Apios americana – Groundnut 
Apocynum cannabinum – Dogbane 
Asclepias incarnata  –   Swamp milkweed
Calystegia sepium – Hedge false bindweed 
Cyperus strigosus – Straw-colored flatsedge 
Desmodium glabellum  – Dillenius’   ticktrefoil
Eupatorium serotinum – Late-flowering boneset  NN
Hibiscus moscheutos – Swamp rosemallow 
Ludwigia peploides – Floating primrose-willow  NN
Lythrum salicaria – Purple loosestrife  NN 
Mikania scandens  – Climbing hempweed
Panicum virgatum – Switchgrass 
Paspalum setaceum  – Thin paspalum 
Persicaria hydropiperoides –  Swamp smartweed  
Phragmites australis – Common reed    NN 
Plantago lanceolata – Narrowleaf plantain  NN 
Phytolacca americana – Pokeweed
Solanum carolinense  – Carolina horsenettle
Solidago altissima – Tall goldenrod 
Solidago gigantea – Giant goldenrod
Sorghastrum nutans – Indiangrass 
Symphyotrichum pilosum – White oldfield aster 
Symphotrichum lanceolatum – Panicled aster
Tridens flavus – Purpletop 

 

WOODY PLANTS

Alnus serrulata – Smooth alder
Amorpha fruticosa – Desert false indigo  NN
Ampelopsis heterophylla – Porcelainberry  NN 
Catalpa bignonioides – Southern catalpa  NN 
Cephalanthus occidentalis – Buttonbush
Clematis terniflora – Autumn clematis  NN 
Lonicera japonica – Japanese honeysuckle  NN 
Nyssa sylvatica – Black gum 
Parthenocissus virginiana – Virginia creeper 
Prunus serotina – Black cherry
Rubus sp. – Blackberry 
Sambucus canadensis – American black elderberry 
Sassafras albidum – Sassafras
Toxicodendron radicans – Poison ivy 
Ulmus americana – American elm
Viburnum dentatum – Southern arrowwood

English names are from various sources.

NN =  Species not native to New Jersey

 

SUMMARY

Around the parking lot:  110 species total, of which 53 were annual plants, 34 were perennials, and 23 were woody plants or woody vines.  Of the 53 annuals, 32 were non-native.  Of the 34 perennials, 16 were non-native.  Of the 23 woody plants, 13 were non-native.  Overall, of the 110 total species, 61  were non-native .

Along the lake:  55 species total, of which 14 were annual plants, 25 were perennials, and 16 were woody plants or woody vines.  Of the 14 annuals, 8 were non-native.  Of the 25 perennials,  5 were non-native.  Of the 16 woody plants, 5 were non-native.  Overall, of the 55 total species, 18  were non-native .