Rainsford 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 Rainsford Island.

Island Acreage: 21.6

Owner: City of Boston, MA

Quadrangle: Hull, MA

Survey Dates: 29 June, 2001; 13 August, 2002; 25 September, 2002.

Data Notes:

• = introduced species

(v) = voucher specimen

(p) = photograph

Due to formatting restrictions, species scientific names are not italicized in the data table.

Download This Dataset

Notes on Habitats and Flora

This dumbbell shaped island consists of two drumlins connected by a narrow sandy and stony neck of land. Due to a long history of institutional use and occupancy, Rainsford’s vegetation is more weedy and less diverse than it is on most islands of similar size.

Rough old fields of perennial forbs and grasses dominate the uplands on the southwestern half of the island. A long border of lilac (Syringa vulgaris) crosses this side of the island on a north-south axis. Rainsford’s higher, northeastern drumlin features dense, shaded thickets of shrubs (Lonicera japonica, Rhus typhina, Rosa multiflora) and non-native trees, including Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila), English oak (Quercus robur), and small-leaved linden (Tilia cordata). The shoreline is both sandy, especially on the southeastern side, and rocky.

Mossy stonecrop (Sedum acre) and three-lobed violet (Viola palmata) are two species found on Rainsford that were not seen on any other Harbor Island. The stonecrop population grows on a ledge at a high point on the western drumlin. These plants were first noted by Dale Levering (1978). The three-lobed violet, one of only two violet species observed on the Islands in 2001, was found along a high, open overlook on the northern side of the eastern drumlin.

Where this belongs

• Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

Where this page came from

This page was imported from National Park Service. Produced by the U.S. National Park Service and, as a work of the United States government, in the public domain.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.