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BOTANICAL
EVALUATION OF THE GOAT ISLAND COMPLEX, NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK |
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Luna Island Luna Island may have been an Indian burial site. Archeological remains in the form of burial artifacts (bones) were reported in an article appearing in the Niagara Falls Gazette (July 22, 1912; Scott & Scott, 1983). A picture included in the 11th Annual Report of the Commissioners (1895) shows the stone bridge erected in 1894 between Luna and Goat Islands. Luna Island was heavily wooded, as was Robinson's Island just north of it. There was no vegetation to be seen along the island margins, unlike the thickets which occur there now. No railings or other obstructions were in place at the time the photograph was taken. Among the trees were several Arbor Vitae trees on the northwest end of the Island--interpreted as such because of the narrow conical form of the trees, by their growth on the river's edge, and by their clumped habit in shade, great size and the characteristic thinned tops of old trees (as opposed to Red Cedar). The understory seems bare of shrubs and herbs. Two long-dead and tall tree trunks appear in the center of the island, the tops of the Junipers were naked of leaves but otherwise the crowns seem to be intact, in spite of what must have been heavy frost deposition in winter. An old picture is appended to the 11th Annual Report of the Commissioners (1895) showing the girth of certain of the trees that occurred on Luna Island, including what look like Basswood trees with large-leaved stump sprouts. The diameter of one tree was broader than that of the lady leaning on it. A winter photograph was published in the 17th Annual Report of the Commissioners (1901) in which the west part of the island is shown without vegetation, excepting a small area surrounded by paths on the southwest corner. The island seems well wooded in its eastern half, as discussed above. Snow damage to vegetation only occurred in the area directly in line with the prevailing wind on the western extremity. A summertime photograph of the island's west end shows a proliferation of paths, really areas where the vegetation has been destroyed by trampling. In 1887, Olmsted and Vaux's accepted recommendations for the maintenance of this island were: "The intention of the plan is, that the walk from the foot-bridge to this island shall be carried, as at present, to the verge of the fall at its west end, but that visitors shall be prevented from crowding upon the side of the island toward the bluff, and that bodies of foliage shall here be grown sufficient to secure the larger part of the ground which visitors will be allowed to occupy from the sight of those looking from the superior point of view on Steadman's [sic] Bluff." In 1909, the Superintendent removed all of the "dead wood" from Luna Island and "its shore riprapped, graded and planted with Berberis thunbergii." This Japanese Barberry makes "a low but very dense growth and as it is covered with very sharp thorns it will prove a better protection to the river bank than an iron railing, with none of the objectionable features" (26 Ann Rep Comm, 1926). Today the vegetation is heavily managed and artificial, with a lawn in the center, increasing in elevation to the east or upriver. On this grade are several trees, mentioned below. Willow and Poplar thickets exist at the river's edge on the north and eastern sides, and low thickets on the south. There is no apparent reason to keep the central area denuded. Alien plants, such as the ground covers provided by Periwinkle (Vinca minor) and English Ivy (Hedera helix) prevent development of the native vegetation competing with them on the island's margins. Tartarian Honeysuckle and an alien species of Dogwood, possibly Cornus alba (Tartarian or Siberian Dogwood), occupies part of the river banks. Buckthorn is infesting this area, as is Privet. The back or eastern side of Luna Island could all be revegetated with a small, rustic path from which beautiful views upriver may be had. This policy would not compete with island use, for, from observing the behavior of visitors during the summer season, they almost exclusively use the asphalted viewing platform at the island's western extremity. Natural regeneration presently favors saplings of Willow, Cottonwood (Populus deltoides), Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), Ash (Fraxinus), Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana). Over a century ago, Elizabeth Gertrude Britton and Eugene A. Rau collected specimens of mosses on Luna Island during the 1886 foray of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Buffalo that year (see bryophyte section). Before the Island became State Property, George Clinton collected a specimen of fungus from one of the conifers, Polyporus abietinus. The Conchological Section of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences made forays to Luna Island "from whose rocky edges we pick Goniobasis up to a few inches of where the waters make their destined plunge over the brink," Robertson & Blakeslee, 1948). In 1972, the bedrock on Luna Island was stabilized with the insertion of dowels, bolts and cable tendons, drains, etc. for the release of hydrostatic pressure in the bedrock layers. Although it could not be ascertained for this study, some portions of the west end, or brink of Luna Island may have been blasted away when the "projecting ledge of Lockport dolomite at the crest of the Bridal Veil Falls" was removed by blasting in 1955 (Krajewski & Liberty, 1981). Early testimonials of the beautiful, overhanging foliage over the western face of Goat and Luna Islands by Olmsted (in Gardner, 1880) and Chamberlin (see section on crest vegetation) indicate the loss from caprockblasting and trimming activities. A beautiful pre-1937 daguerreotype of the verdure-covered caprock face of Luna or Goat Island at Stedman's Bluff was reproduced by Adamson (Fig. 151, p. 152, Met. Mus. Art, New York, gift of I.N. Phelps Stokes, E. S. Hawes, A. M. Hawes & M. A. Hawes, 1937). Here is probably where lovely colonies of Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) occurred, although Day gives no localities (Day, 1888), as masses of these plants grow today in the dolomite caprock along the Niagara Gorge, Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus), and the Cliffbrake fern, rare in New York State (Pellaea glabella), in addition to grape and festoons of Climbing Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens). There is little, if any, evidence that this cliff face plant community has survived to the present day. VASCULAR PLANTS * Acer campestre HEDGE MAPLE. Center of lawn, 1988. Acer saccharum SUGAR MAPLE. Seedlings in northern thickets [obs. 1988]. * Arctium sp. BURDOCK. Northern thickets, path edge [obs. 1988]. * Berberis thunbergii JAPANESE BARBERRY. Thickets east end, 1988. Bromus inermis HUNGARIAN BROME- GRASS. Crest area (obs. 1988). Carex hystericina
PORCUPINE SEDGE. Collected June 23, 1890 by L. N. Johnson (herbarium of L. H.
Lighthipe, information conveyed by B. Santos Lorenzo, BBG Herbarium) Carex laxiflora LOOSE-FLOWERED SEDGE. By bridge, 1988. Carex rosea ROSE SEDGE. Northern thickets, 1988. Cersium sp. THISTLE. [Obs. 1988]. * Chrysanthemum leucanthemum OX-EYE DAISY. Crest area [obs. 1988]. * Cornus sanguinea BLOOD-RED DOGWOOD. Planted on north margin [obs. 1988, see species catalogue].++ * Coronilla varia CROWN VETCH. Abundant [obs. 1988]. * Corylus avellana EUROPEAN FILBERT. "Planted," Day, 1888. * Daucus carota QUEEN ANNE'S LACE. Rocky west end [obs. 1988]. * Diplotaxis sp. ROCKET. Rocks at brink [obs. 1988]. Eupatorium maculatum JOE-PYE-WEED. Crest [obs. 1988]. Fraxinus sp. ASH. Thickets, north side and east [obs. 1988]. * Hedera helix ENGLISH IVY. Dense, masses choking all margins of the island, 1988. Hypericum perforatum COMMON ST. JOHN'S WORT. 1988. * Ligustrum vulgare PRIVET. Thicket on the east side [obs. 1988]. *Linaria vulgaris BUTTER-AND-EGGS. 1988. * Lythrum salicaria PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE. Wet crest area [obs. 1988]. Monarda fistulosa BERGAMOT. 1988. Morus rubra RED MULBERRY. 1896. Ostrya virginiana HOP-HORNBEAM. Crown blighted, 1988. Parthenocissus quinquefolia VIRGINIA CREEPER. North and eastern thickets, 1988. * Plantago lanceolata ENGLISH PLANTAIN. 1988. * Poa compressa CANADA BLUE-GRASS. Rocks by brink [obs. 1988]. Populus deltoides COTTONWOOD. Two trunks, northern thickets [obs. 1988]; crest area [obs. 1988]. * Potentilla recta SULPHURY CINQUEFOIL. 1988. Prunella vulgaris HEAL-ALL. 1988. * Prunus [cf. mahaleb]. Ornamental shrub planted on edge of center lawn, 1988. * Pyrus malus APPLE. 1988. Quercus prinoides var. acuminata YELLOW OAK. Several trees by bridge [obs. 1988]. * Rhamnus cathartica BUCKTHORN. Abundant in eastern thicket [obs. 1988]. Rhus radicans POISON IVY. Northern thickets [obs. 1988]. Rubus odoratus PURPLE-FLOWERING RASPBERRY. Northern thickets [obs. 1988]. Rumex crispus CURLED DOCK. Rocky west end [obs. 1988]. Salix lucida SHINING WILLOW. Eastern thickets, 1988. Salix rigida HEART-SHAPED WILLOW. Thickets E end, 1988. Solidago sp. GOLDENROD. Rocky west end [obs. 1988]. * Taraxacum officinale DANDELION. [Obs. 1988]. Tilia americana BASSWOOD. [Obs. 1988]. * Ulmus campestris ENGLISH ELM. "Planted," Day, 1888. * Vinca minor PERIWINKLE. Covers edge by river [obs. 1988]. Vitis riparia FROST GRAPE. Abundant on north and eastern sides [obs. 1988]. FUNGI Polyporus abietinus. Goat I. (Luna I.) [handwriting G. W. Clinton] July 4 [1880] (BUF). LICHENS Bacidia sp. On rock, Harris 16326 (NY), on rock, Harris 16327 (NY), on rock, Harris 16328 (NY). Caloplaca cerina. On bark, Harris 16333 (NY). Lecanora dispersa. On rock, Harris 22858 (NY). Lepraria finkii. At base of Ulmus, Harris 22842 (NY), on Quercus root over water, Harris 22847 (NY). Phaeophyscia orbicularis. On dead Ulmus, Harris 22843 (NY), on Ostrya, Harris 22851 (NY), on rock, Harris 22861 (NY). Protoblastenia rupestris. On rock, Harris 16324 (NY). Pyrenocollema strontianensis. GENUS AND SPECIES NEW TO NEW YORK STATE. On rock, Harris 16317 (NY). Verrucaria sp. Harris 22852 (NY). Xanthoria fallax. On dead Ulmus, Harris 22843a (NY). BRYOPHYTES: HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS Funaria sp. Luna Island, Niagara Falls, Aug. 21, 1886 [New York Botanical Garden] (NY) Tortula mucronifolia (as Barbula mucronifolia) Luna Island, Niagara Falls, N.Y. E. G. Britton & E. A. Rau. Aug. 21, 1886, North American Mosses named and presented by E. G. Britton, Aug. 21, 1886. Tortula mucronifolia (as Barbula mucronifolia) Hab. banks of Luna Island, Niagara Falls, North American Mosses, Aug. 1886, Eugene A. Rau, Bethlehem, Pa. [printed label] (NY). Tortula mucronifolia (as Barbula mucronifolia) Hab. banks of Luna Island, Niagara Falls, North American Mosses [printed label], August 1886 Eugene A. Rau, Bethlehem, Pa. [printed label] [New York Botanical Garden] (NY). BRYOPHYTES: MODERN COLLECTIONS Amblystegium tenax. var. tenax. 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16318 (BUF, NY), 16332 (BUF, NY). Brachythecium rutabulum. 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16321 (BUF, NY). Bryum caespiticium. 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16325 (BUF, NY). Bryum flaccidum. 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16316 (BUF, NY), 16320 (BUF, NY). Fissidens taxifolius. 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16323 (BUF, NY). Funaria hygrometrica. 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16330 (NY). Hymenostylium recurvirostrum. 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16331 (NY). Schistidium alpicola. 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16319 (NY). Tortula mucronifolia. 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16329 (BUF, NY). Weissia controversa. 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16315 (BUF, NY).
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