Agarista bracamorensis has been rediscovered in the Peruvian Andes, near the village of El Espino, near Jaén, and the collections reported here represent the first since the type gathering by A. J. A. Bonpland in the early 1800s. A revised description of this species is presented, and it is compared with A. subcordata and A. albiflora, two putative relatives that also occur in northern Peru. The vegetation in which this species occurs is briefly described, including a list of common associated species.

Lepidium latifolium (perennial pepperweed) is an herbaceous perennial, native to Europe and western Asia, that is now well established at many locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut. This species is considered a major invasive species in the western United States and appears likely to become invasive in the east if left unchecked. We showed that the distribution is greater than previously documented in New England and that populations appear to be expanding. Individuals of the species can produce thousands of seeds and we found that these seeds are tolerant to many days of inundation by salt water so that dispersal by tidal and river currents is likely. In addition, populations can expand at least 2 m/yr from growth by rhizomes, and densities exceeded 50 shoots/m² in some areas. We identified 17 species of plants that are likely impacted by the expanding populations and 23 families of arthropods associated with L. latifolium in some of these areas. In wetland habitats, repeated pulling of shoots to remove much of the rhizome was effective at stabilizing or eradicating whole, well-defined populations. This treatment was most effective if continued for two or more growing seasons.

We investigated current forest composition in relation to land use history at Broad Meadow Brook, a 157 ha urban wildlife sanctuary in Worcester, central Massachusetts. We obtained historical information from aerial photographs dating back to 1938, maps dating to 1831, various published sources, and interviews with long-term residents. We sampled tree vegetation in 35 20 m × 20 m plots and understory vegetation in 140 5 m × 5 m subplots. We obtained ages of several dozen trees by coring. Most of the sanctuary supported dry, mixed-oak forest that has been subject to frequent fires. Disturbed oak woods bore a greater variety of plants than older oak forest, including several non-native species. Mesic forest supported Fraxinus americana, Acer rubrum, and A. saccharum, with an abundant A. platanoides understory, a legacy of nearby residential plantings. Acer rubrum heavily dominated wet woodland. A small, previously cultivated plot supported an open canopy of A. rubrum with a dense understory of herbs and shrubs and showed little tree regeneration. A wooded dump dating to the early to mid-1900s supported a greater percentage of mesic, early-successional, and non-native species than surrounding dry woodland. Pinus strobus and Tsuga canadensis were rare throughout the sanctuary, a likely result of extensive fires. The site contrasts strongly with Harvard Forest sites 48 km to the northwest in Petersham, Mass., presumably reflecting climatic differences and the greater influence of fire and other human disturbances.

The 1055 ha Strouds Run State Park is located in the southern unglaciated Allegheny Plateau physiographic province in southeastern Ohio. The park has a rugged landscape with steep-sided, narrowly rounded hills and narrow, V-shaped valleys. The vegetation consists mainly of oak-dominated and mixed mesophytic forests but also includes marshes, rock outcrops, and three small prairie-like openings. This study documents the terrestrial vascular flora of Strouds Run State Park and compares it with the flora of the same area reported in 1957. Between 2003 and 2005, 638 species in 367 genera and 108 families were found in the park. This total includes five State-listed, “potentially threatened” taxa: Arabis hirsuta var. adpressipilis, Carex cumberlandensis, Corallorhiza wisteriana, Cystopteris tennesseensis, and Spiranthes ovalis. The number of species increased from 534 to 638 over the course of 49 years, while the percentage of alien species declined from 23.6% to 18.7%. However, the number and abundance of alien species that are invasive have increased greatly since 1957.