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THE BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF G. W. CLINTON |
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THE BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF G. W.
CLINTON –July 1864 |
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[1864.] July 3. Walked, on R. R., to Smoke's
Creek, & got a very few seeds of Collinsia for Gray. Walking back,
collected Lilium superbum (mere Canadensis, deep red & many flowered) (in
which I don't believe). Rhus venenata, some grasses & Carices, including
comosa and crinita, Rumex altissimus ! and another R., probably crispus, but,
the enlarged valves plainly denticulate. Took also Asclepias Cornuti,
phytolacoides, incarnata. [1864.] July 4. After Breakfast, took from Day's
garden, Spiraea sorbifolia, & a blue, spiked Veronica, also Festuca
elatior. Walked with him to Dr. Hauenstein, & got there a yellow
Tragopogon (black rooted) or ...
plant. 1 umbellifer which Mr. H. called Ch..., [Cheirophyllum?] &,
perhaps, another, smaller, one. Obs.
Sanicula. At Smoke's Creek, a Sanicula is abundant, leaves ans'g
[=answering] Gray's description of
those of Canadensis, but, sterile flowers pedicelled, & styles long &
recurved. After dinner, Squaw Island, Day joined me. Walked
over the Island, & up the Pier to the Ferry, then up the Canal a way,
then struck Niagara St., & so home. Collected some Carices, grasses,
&c., not yet examined. It is strange that Alnus serrulata should be
confined to that little spot opposite the Ship lock. On my steps, found the Rev. James Fowler, of
Richibucto, Kent Co., New Brunswick, a Botanist, with a card of introduction
from Prof. Gray. Introduced him to
Day, &c. (Near head of the Island, white flowered
Asclepias Cornuti? & Rumex with red stem & denticulate calyx leaves,
2 specimens each. Also twigs of young Populus balsamifera, with cordate &
ovate leaves. Near the Lock, Urtica gracilia, 2 specimens. Along & inside
the bank of Harbor, going up Apocynum cannabinum v. a specimen. Above the
Sycamore, went into edge of Marsh for a tall grass (Glyceria aquatica) &
found there also in the water, Sparganium simplex and a profusion of a very
pretty Juncus. The same one? is
commonish, over the wet meadow at head of Island. Took also the big Sprg'm [=Sparganium], sed seu eurycarpum,
vel ramosum, vel ambo? [=whether eurycarpum or ramosum or both]. Collected
also Galium boreale. Collected also Eatonia , Calamagrostis
, took specimen or so of Scirpus limatus & sylvaticus v.
atrovirens & sylvaticus? & eriophorum, & some grasses &
Carices, probably some new, unless one Glyceria?, might be G. pallida, but spikelets too small (= small
G. fluitans). Walking back, took, from a garden what Day thinks may be a
Camila & also 1 specimen of
Coriandrum sativa. [Spiraea sorbifolia L. is a synonym of Sorbaria
sorbifolia (L.) A. Br., the False Spiraea in the Rosaceae.] [1864.] July 5. Engaged all day in Court, &
P.M., with Day, & Rev. James Fowler of Richibucto, Kent Co., N.
Brunswick, (introduced by Prof. Gray's note,) in making up bundle, from my
duplicates for Mr. F. [1864.] July 6. Obs. The leaves of Allium
Canadense are flat above, somewhat rounded or convex below. Examined a Bromus secalinus. Upper
palea is white & diaphanus in the middle with a green vein or rib on each
side, ciliata. After dinner, rode, by St. car, to the Plains,
turned in, to the right, by the new Rom. Cath. chapel to first wood, took
there a couple of grasses & some overripe Carices. Crossed to the Ulmus
racemosa grove, & took another grass, may be Eatonia, but, probably
Agrostis scabra or alba, then, by the quarries, to the place where Day found
Staphylea, the Bromus Kalmii, abundant, also the Triticum repens v. nemorale
of my List, took specimen of them both. Found also, in open, very dry, but
unploughed land, thereabout, one tuft of what seems to be a small Scirpus (S.
Clintonii), & may be the one I sent Gray, & which I thought I collected
in the swamp at Akron. Went by the road towards Ambrose's Tavern, & in a
grain field on the left Raphanus sativus growing as a weed, took 3 specimens.
Returning by the Schanzlin Road, before reaching French Pauls, took 3 or 4
specimens of a grass from the edge of a field on the left. After tea, wrote
to Gray & mailed him the tuft of Scirpus? and 2 specimens of the
Triticum. [Ulmus racemosa Thomas is Ulmus Thomasi Sargent,
according to House, 1924)]. [1864.] July 7. The Panicum collected
yesterday has slightly softly hairy sheathes, but is, most probably, P.
latifolium. What can I do with the
grasses without a microscope? The Triticum, the one spike I examined, has
uniformly 3‑flowered spikelets... in.
[=inquiry, to inquire]. Are the leaves flat? no, involute. Recd. letter & package from Sidney G. Smith,
Esq. Norway, Maine. W. Jefferon, tinsmith, near corner of Niagara
& Mowhawk, brought & showed me a fungus looking growth, white,
peanut- shaped, found in a coconut, says there was milk in the nut, the meat
fine. It had been attached to the shell, or nut, not like fibre at small end.
P.M., 2*15', went to Niagara Falls. Down by Ferry
Stairs, Triticum caninum? Aira caespitosa, an Agrostis, Carex Oederi.
Collected beautiful specimen of C. aurea, a handfull, found they were over‑ripe.
Near the Falls, Festuca ovina var. duriuscula, small. On the Island, picked up divers things. By
the [Terrapin] Tower, Astragalus Cooperi in seed, Collected Cinna,
Calamagrostis. There, & along the
bank, below Summer house, the Triticum of the Plains. Lithospermum officinale out of flower.
Hypericum kalmianum not in. Returned
by 6*15' train. [The Niagara Reservation at Goat Island was
established in 1885. The Summer house was a building that existed while the
Porter family still owned the islands at the brink of the falls. The Ferry
Stairs were at what is now the Prospect Park area on the mainland just
downstream of the American falls. The ferry was over to Canada where a
corresponding ferry station was located where Clinton also liked to collect.] [1864] July 8. By 9 A.M. train to Lewiston,
crossed in small boat & walked up to Brock's Monument, Alyssum calycinum
in seed. Got a few in different specimens, & filled a pocket with
siliqua. Returned & recrossed. At landing also along r.r., took some
specimens of Apocynum cannabinum, with narrowish leaves, v. glaberrimum. In
the river bank, leaves of Populus balsamifera. Back of Scoville's old place, & on the other side of r. r.,
Asplenium eburneum. Walking up r. r., Astragalus cooperi, specimen, with
fruit & flowers. By road side, 2 specimens of Matricaria, Parthenium
integrifolium. In wood opposite DeVeaux College, collected Eatonia? some
Carices, and what seemed to be depauperate wheat (=Triticum vulgare) one
clump of it, some 3 or 4 culms. In Whirlpool wood Chimophila umbellata,
Pyrola secunda (almost seeded) P. rotundifolia, Galium lanceolatum,
Melampyrum. Going along bank S...cum
?, Triticum, like it, but not awned & no root stalk
[spelled 'stock' in the text and probably a miswriting] Bromus Kalmii (=B.
ciliatus), very tall & panicle more spreading, &c. Rhus aromatica in
fruit. Going to the depot at Suspension Bridge, by the track, on the clay
bank opposite the switch tender's hut, Lycium barbarum has established
itself, several bushes, armed. Took specimen. Home by 6* P.M.
Train. [1864.] July 9. The Bromus collected yesterday
is, plainly, B. ciliatus. On east
side of Main, near Clinton, just outside of the curb‑stone, opposite [Uric?]
the optician's, found 2 specimens of Lepidium sativum? & gave Day
one. [1864.] July 10. Before Breakfast, took from
before Pen'y [=Penitentiary], some more of the Cynosurus, did not see any
Bromus mollis. After dinner, walked to Wheelbarrow Point & back. Rained
finely before I got back. Rained in most refreshing showers all the P.M.,
& during the night of the 10th & 11th. [See June 21 and 27 above regarding Cynosurus.] [1864.] July 11. Walked to Sandytown. Collected
Euphorbia helioscopia, & platyphylla. Took up Juncus nodosus v.
megacephalus, & find it has little tubers on its roots. [1864.] July 12. Took 5 A.M. to Rochester. Found
Dr. Booth at his father's jewelery
store, No. 5 State Street. Walked out 5 miles South, to the locality
of Dr. B's. Geranium, which, with
him, I think is Geranium pusillum. Grows by the fence side, berm bank of the
Genesee Valley Canal, just this (Rochester) side of a canal bridge, which we
crossed. In a swampy place, between River & Canal, just beyond a Nyssa
multiflora tree, got a creeping grass more than one flowered, which I don't
recall, = Glyceria pallida. On the way up, by the feeder, saw Day's chenopod
(C. urbicum v. rhombifolium), and am satisfied that it is a common
Chenopodium, C. urbicum v. rhombifolium
Aproaching Mt. Hope, collected some Nasturtium officinale in a ditch,
& visited the locality of Trollius, which had long passed, found no seed. Got back to Rochester about 1 P.M. and started
immediately for the head of Irondequoit Bay, by Buffalo St., to University
Avenue, & then along the Avenue, a 3 mile walk. Going out, just this side
of one King's grocery, left hand side of Buffalo St., & a little before
reaching University Avenue, by the fence of a garden, inside & outside, a
tall composite, not yet in flower, took a bud about to open & a cauline
leaf, flower large, yellow. (=July
24, Dr. Booth writes" the comp. is as you guessed, Sonchus
arvensis.") On the other side, near the corner of the Street &
Avenue, collected the Onopordon. In a field on the right, coming in the
Central R. R., observed a showy rose
in bloom way back, &, in returning, went to it. It turned out to be Rosa setigera, which D. B. tells me is,
also, below the Falls, which Fall he did not mention. At the Bay (or rather
bayou ) on the right of our path, is a knoll, wooded, 60‑80 ft. high, which,
in returning, we walked round. On the inner side, found at least 3 small
Panicum, one, evidently, depauperate, one a thin shining leaved, & the
other (which Dr. B. calls, I think mistakenly, P. viscidum) a very hairy one.
Also picked up, thereabout, P. latifolium, & a very small leaved small P.
Collected also some Linum virginianum, Gerardia flava, &c., &c., The
Aira flexuosa common on the knoll, but now in seed. Returned by 8*5' train,
& got home at about 10* P.M. Found a letter from Gray, announcing Scirpus
Clintonii. [Chenopodium urbicum L. var. rhombifolium Moquin
(= C. rhombifolium) "is a form with the leaves more or less wedge‑shaped
at the base, and with longer and sharper teeth. ‑ Not rare eastward.' p. 363,
Gray 1862. The Central R. R. is the New York Central, many of whose branch
lines radiated from the city of Rochester.]
[1864.] July 13. P.M. At St. John's Thal, near
old rock work, found what I suppose to be Matricaria chamomilla, L. About
Swartz's ravine collected the small, thin panicled grass, with flattened
culm, geniculate at almost every joint, which generally reclines on the
earth, bowing from side to side like a politician passing through a crowd
(perhaps Agrostis alba?). Also 2 or 3 specimens of a Carex, very much like
retrocurva, only the leaves quite narrow, = C. digitalis. In Day's Sphagnum,
the Cypripedium spectabile in blossom. In the cemetery, 2 specimens Lepidium
sativum, in the waste ground. [The cemetery is Forest Lawn.] [1864.] July 14. A.M. By Street Car to Mr.
[Mrs.?] Clinton's at Black Rock. Took from his [her?] garden Bromus
secalinus, very small & delicate. D. F. Day having, lately, informed me
that the Frasera [x] in the plain gave no signs of flowering this year, I
went, P.M., by R. R. to Tonawanda, to examine it in the first wood out of
Tonawanda, on both sides of the Lockport R. R. where there is a great deal of
it, & did not find a single plant with any sign of flowering. On the
Plains it did not flower year before last. Took some Pinus strobus, &
other things, including Carex comosa or pseudocyperus. The Carya at the
Tonawanda station, corner of the platform is C. tomentosa. In the water, by
the mill at the Point, took a Chara & Ceratophyllum? Took a small root of
Frasera for Gray. Returned by 6*45'train, & found John A. Paine, Jr. at my house, & he left for
Utica same night. [Note there is a Mrs. Jane Clinton of Black Rock
in Clinton's miscellaneous index. Reference to Tonawanda station may be
Tonawanda Falls as there is a reference to the falls for July 14, 1864 in the
miscellaneous index. The New York Central Rail Road was cobbled together from
several operating roads in 1853, one of which being the Rochester, Lockport
& Niagara Falls, as well as the Buffalo & Lockport. In 1836 there was
a Tonawanda Rail Road, 1852 the Rochester, Lockport & Niagara Falls, in
1853 the Lockport & Tonawanda. There was no Tonawanda Station on the
Rochester, Lockport & Niagara Falls Branch, but there were three on the
Lockport Junction to Tonawanda: Lockport Junction, Halls Station and
Tonawanda. Tonawanda was a station between the LaSalle and Black Rock
stations of the Buffalo & Lewiston Branch as well as a terminal station
on the Canandaigus & Niagara Bridge Branch (French 1860 pp 69‑70)]. [1864.] July 15. Went, by 11*10' train to Silver
Creek. Euphorbia lathyris in fruit of the full size, Chimaphila maculata, do.
[=ditto]. At my old Carex side‑hill place, collected some small Carices,
& what is probably a small form of Festuca nutans. On the hill, beyond
the woods, Rosa lucida. In the wood, Panax quinquefolia. Walking from the
Station into the village, in the grove on the left, close to fence &
overhanging the sidewalk, was a Morus alba in fruit, some of the fruit ripe
& ripish, & 2 red squirrels enjoying it. Found nothing in the ravine beyond the creek, unless a Sanicula
I took be Canadensis, vera [=true]. In the wood beyond the Station, on the
left, a white fruited Actaea with thick pedicels. Took the 3*45' train
home. [Actaea pachypoda Ell, the White Baneberry or
Doll's‑eyes has white berries with a broad pedicel, unlike the other member of
the genus, A. rubra (Aiton) Willd. with typically red fruits and slender
pedicels. The White Baneberry is typical of rich deciduous woods.] [1864.] July 16. P.M. Walked in Plains with Day,
through White's Grove, across fields to old hovel on edge of Delaware St.
woods, searched the swamp behind it for Dioscorea, in vain, but behind it,
found a fine Rosa setigera in full flower, & took specimen. Abundance of
Ipomoea pandurata in the field back of Mochel's [?] Tavern, & some flower
buds on the [sp.?]. Took, from Mochel's garden Allium schoenoprasum.
Spiranthes gracilis not up yet. The Frasera leaves withering & no sign of
a flower stalk. Each of us dug a root for Gray. In an open, dry field, beyond
the Delaware St. wood, in crossing to the road that comes out on
Williamsville road, a great deal of a trailing blackberry, which Day calls
canadensis, but I am inclined to think it villosus, v. humifusus. Took 2
specimens, in green fruit. Made bet with Day, 2 glasses of beer, that we'd
find 12 new things this year. [1864.] July 17. P.M. Crossed Buffalo Creek at
the Ship Canal & walked up the beach to the Turnpike, picked up a little
moss‑like Eleocharis, less than 1' high, think it has a running root stock.
Crossed the Bridge, & walked up, by the Furnaces, to Farmer's Point,
& walked up the Creek around it.
When just around it, noticed below the bank, near the Creek, Plantago
major, very thrifty, flowering scapes 1*9' ‑ 2*2'[one foot nine inches, two
feet two inches ‑ note the Eleocharis just mentioned was less than one inch
high], branching, at about 1' from the tip: into 2‑6 branchlets, some of them
forking again, took some of them. Took also, from the Point, Sinapis
arvensis? pods ripe, spreading, & Juncus nodosus?, & J. tenuis? Day mentions that Campanula Garganica
(rapunculoides?) has escaped, in Niagara St., same side & above Capt.
Don's. Walked up & picked one, in the darkish dusk. [Campanula Garganica in Wood's Botany p. 196]. + + + + +
+ + + [1864.] July 18. Walked, with Day, up Niagara
St. In garden & N.W'y [=westerly] corner of N. [=North?] & Franklin
Street, Reseda alba & Lepidium sativum. Howland's garden, took Delphinium
azureum? Trumpet flower ['Tecoma'
written above], Aconitum napellum. Also Iberis and Alyssum, growing as
garden weeds. The Geranium (spontaneous) may be G. pusillum. P.M. walked on Black Rock Pier & head of
Squaw Island, collecting Junci & Scirpi. Scirpus sylvaticus? not ripe, by
a good deal. S. lineatus over ripe, S. lacustris about ripe. Eleocharis
tenuis? very tall, no fruit, but whether it had not shed it? The immature
Juncus I have taken for megacephalus, probably is not. Our J. Balticus does
bear capsules. Picked up, probably, another J. [Tecoma radicans in the Botanical Index is
Campsis radicans (L.) Seem. ex Bureau,
native west of Buffalo, the Trumpet-Creeper or Trumpet-Vine, a member of the
Bignoniaceae, together with the Catalpa-trees and Paulownia.] [1864.] July 19. Out to Genesee St. Wood, nil,
except some Platanthera flava too far gone in seed, & a tall grass,
immature, probably Phalaris, of which I took one. On, across fields &c.,
to the orchid wood, nil! Then down the Conjocketies [Creek]. Collected Glyceria
pallida, decumbent, creeping or rooting at the lower joints. Rumex
verticillata, a Juncus (probably articulatus) and Scirpus eriophorum in
beautiful condition. Soon after crossing the road which somes out at Faber's
[?] Tavern on the Schanzlin Road, I struck to the wood bordering on the
Schanzlin Road, & so home, collecting leaves of Ulmus racemosa from my
tree. [1864.] July 20. Crossed at Waterloo. On the
beach near & above where the mill was, took the 4 Euphorbias helioscopia,
platyphylla, maculata, polygonifolia, walked up nearly to the S. B. [sp?]
landing, then, across fields to the r.r., up r.r. to junction, then into
& through woods on the right. A
threatening thunderstorm drove me back. Solanum carolinense, in the muck
along the r. r., thriving, just commencing flowering. [1864.] July 21. Went, with Spencer &
George, to Niagara Falls, & met there, at the Station, John T. Bush, who
took us to his (the old Buchanan) farm to which he had, within a few days,
moved; and thence to the Devil's Hole, where we fished & caught a few
Sheepshead, and, having been joined by Mr. B. & daughter Florence, Miss
Armstrong, & Mr. & Miss. Russell [Mrs. & Miss.?] had a nice
chowder, & then returned to the Farm. At Devil's Hole, found a grass
which I packed in my papers, & left at the farm, next morning, supposing
we'd return. Dr. Van Rensselaer called in the evening. [Rev. Dr. Van Rensselaer was associated with
DeVeaux College at Whirlpool Point (DeVeaux Point, see miscellaneous index).
Spencer and George Clinton were Clinton's sons.] [1864.] July 22. Walked over to Day's landing
& got some bait, intending to take Mr. Bush's boat at Tonawanda &
float down to Navy Island. Went up, by 10 A.M. train, and took the boat, and
rowed over to Grand Island wind strong & up the river, so we could not
float. Boys & Bush went into the woods & shot an owl. I fished &
caught some rock bass, & then rowed up Spicer's Creek & met them. I
picked up there two tall grasses, one of which, if a Calamagrostis, is a
species I had not collected before. Also a Potamogeton. Went up to the dock.
The boys went off into the woods, nil.
Bush & I called in & saw Mr. Nice, who gave us some dinner.
Recrossed the river in time to catch the two P.M. train, & B. went home
in one & we in the other. [Clinton in his miscellaneous index puts this
citation for Grand Island under 'Whitehaven'. There is presently a Whitehaven
Road on Grand Island.' To float down to Navy Island one would need to be on
the west side of Grand Island, near its foot (Buckhorn Island). Spicer's
Creek is on the eastern side of Grand Island.] [1864.]
July 29. Day, who had been paying a few days visit at Mr. Jones's near
Forestville in Chautauqua Co. left, at my house, of his spoils gathered near Mr.
J.'s, Glyceria Canadensis, Eriophorum Virginicum, Platanthera blephariglottis
(lip not much fimbriate.) Rhynchospora alba and, gathered in Evans, Cassia
Marylandica. He says he has seen Glyceria canadensis in Day's Sphagnum. sed? [1864.] July 30. Went with George in boat to
Sheenwater [Grand Island]. On Canadian side below Falconwood, in marshy land,
close to shore, collected a small Sagittaria, some with subsessile fertile
flowers, some with nothing but staminate flowers and all pedunculate. On head
of Strawberry, ret'g [=returning], picked up a few familiar things. [1864.] July 31. P.M. walked, on St. L. R. R.
& went to 2d dark wood. Collected
some Carex comosa, & fam'r [=familiar] things. The whole country
dried up. Day picked up, at Black Rock Dam, the typical form of Stachys
palustris, and Heliopsis laevis v. scabra.
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Scientific names may be looked up in the online checklist of Western New York plants. Find genus names beginning with A - C D - K L - P Q - Z. |