Native Plants Reported from or Likely to Occur in Plymouth County, MA
Includes 1,139 species, subspecies, natural varieties, and natural hybrids
Source: Massachusetts County Checklist (2011, First Revision)

A reminder: No one should attempt propagation or installation of state-protected rare plants listed here as Endangered, Threatened, or of Special Concern (as well as Historic plants). Manipulating Watch-Listed plants is not prohibited; however, a good practice is to voluntarily report to NHESP any such manipulations, especially because the status of Watch-Listed plants may be eventually elevated to state-protected.
The listing includes 114 plants (10%) that are present in adjacent counties both north and south of Plymouth (NO—Norfolk, BR—Bristol, BA—Barnstable), yet not known from Plymouth County (PL). Such gaps may merely depict gaps in collections. Each of these plants is supplied with a note providing justification for its inclusion.
[Alternative View: by Family, Then by Species—Plymouth County Plants Only]
Notes & Disclaimer
      Taxonomic treatments constantly change. A few changes took place during the years passed from the publication of the Checklist 2011, so current approaches to species may sometimes deviate from those in the Checklist. Some names had been missing from the 2011 Checklist and were recognized later, for example, at least some records of Amelanchier laevis from Plymouth County must belong to Amelanchier x intermedia (a hybrid of Amelanchier laevis and A. canadensis). In fact all records at Salicicola from Plymouth County belong to the latter species and not to Amelanchier laevis. It is quite possible that Amelanchier laevis is not present in Plymouth County.
      Changes in understanding the scope of certain species may affect their state-protected status. For example, prior to publication of the Checklist 2011, the understanding of Nantucket shadbush Amelanchier nantucketensis had been changed. It was decided that inland populations of a shrub formerly treated as a separate species Amelanchier x micropetala actually belonged to A. nantucketensis previously known from just Cape Cod and the Islands. The change involved the treatment of Plymouth populations as well as the population in the Blue Hills Reservation and resulted in adding many new occurrences to the range of A. nantucketensis. Consequently, the species lost its state-protected status. At Salicicola we disagree with this decision: we believe lumping A. x micropetala and A. nantucketensis was not enough justified; Nantucket shadbush must retain its protected status. However, this list depicts the currently lowered (Watch-Listed) status of the shrub along with the concept of its presence in Plymouth County.
      Additional changes in comparison with the Checklist 2011:
* The spelling/style of common names has been unified, typos noticed in the Checklist corrected.
* The following species have been excluded from the list of native plants:
Aronia arbutifolia (according to the study undertaken by Bryan Connolly (PhD Thesis, 2014), it does not occur in coastal New England, existing records appearing to be mis-identifications);
Typha angustifolia (now treated as not native in Massachusetts, or even invasive: [1], [2], etc.);
Salsola kali (both ssp. kali and ssp. pontica are non-native, according to the Flora of North America).

Generated Feb. 10, 2021, 5:16 p.m. (UTC) — Draft #1.0.7 [revno 35+]