The Cayuga Flora

I was recently contacted by Robert Meadows of the State of Delaware's Division of Fish and Wildlife. Robert is an environmental scientist who has lots of experience with wetland restoration, and also, coincidentally, some family roots in the area. He is interested in at least two very cool things...1) unraveling the mysteries of whether or not cattails are native, and 2) the study of a native Phragmites species, which I will cover shortly.

But first, Robert turned me on to this little gem:

The Cayuga Flora Part I: A Catalogue of the Phaenogamia Growing Without Cultivation in the Cayuga Lake Basin By William Russel Dudley: ""


Now, to the Phragmites... Robert inquired as to whether he could do a survey of my portion of the Canoga Marsh. He was intrigued by the fact that the above referenced Flora accounting hints that Phragmites were "abundant" in the Canoga Marsh at the time of the survey, whereas now it is a pretty mono-typical cattail marsh...what happened?

Stay tuned...