The Eurasian Rhamnus cathartica is widespread, common, and naturalized in parts of the northeastern United States. Other nonnative buckthorn species are also present but underreported because intraspecific leaf polymorphisms, hybridization, and imprecise literature descriptions confuse identifications. A study of Rhamnus populations in Tompkins and Onondaga counties in New York and Hartford County in Connecticut provided an opportunity to revisit the literature and to propose identification aids based on infrequently reported fruit stone number and mature fruit pulp color. These characters facilitate inferences of ancestry of apparent hybrids involving R. cathartica, R. davurica, and R. utilis.

Fowler Lake is a small reservoir atop Cave Mountain at the Buffalo National River in Arkansas, U.S.A. We report on the floristic community at this reservoir in addition to describing large floating vegetation mats that occur in this system and the mechanisms that allow their formation. In 2019, floristic surveys assessed 30 species of hydrophytes and helophytes representing 16 families and 26 genera. In addition to the speciose families Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, and Poaceae, the families Araceae and Polygonaceae were represented by three or more species. Six species observed at Fowler Lake represent new county records. Floristic surveys provide valuable information to assess ecological impacts and management decisions in areas like the Ozark Plateau, where relatively little work has been done on regional aquatic macrophytes. This study represents the first comprehensive floristic survey of Fowler Lake at the Buffalo National River and serves as a reference for continued study of that system and aquatic plants throughout the Ozark Plateau.

We examined changes in the native vascular flora of Franklin County, Massachusetts, a largely rural county with a long history of botanical investigation. The historical flora was documented using herbarium specimens and literature records, and the current flora was assessed in 10 years of field work starting in 2010. The county contains 26 towns, and apparent changes were based on town-level presence/absence. In total, 1205 species were recorded. Apparent losses from the historical flora totaled 5.6% of species, and apparent gains totaled 4.2%. Several families exhibited greater declines than the flora as a whole, including the Orchidaceae, Ophioglossaceae, Ranunculaceae, and Violaceae. Species dependent on fungi during at least part of their life cycle declined relative to other species, but were concentrated in a small group of families, including the Orchidaceae and Ophioglossaceae. Species with fleshy fruits increased relative to those with ant-dispersed seeds. Annuals increased relative to biennials and perennials, probably due to the increasing extent of ruderal habitats. Graminoids showed greater apparent increases than forbs, which may reflect undercollecting of the former taxa during the historical period. Species changes were related to habitat, with marked increases in plants of ruderal habitats, but other apparent changes may reflect sampling biases. Northern taxa appear to be declining relative to other species, particularly in towns at lower elevations. This study is one of several that have examined floristic changes in the northeastern United States and is part of a nascent literature suggesting that climate changes have altered the southern New England flora in the past century. Additional documentation of regional floras is needed to facilitate assessments of future floristic changes.