Since the mid-1980s, the Flora Committee of LIBS has been meeting more-or-less monthly, except in the summertime, for the purpose of compiling information on Long Island's flora. After much work, the committee is about to distribute (late 2004) a draft atlas of the flora to other botanists who are familiar with the local flora for comments, corrections, and updates.

Below is a sample preliminary set of maps for the Betulaceae through Cactaceae as it appeared in the most recent installment of the atlas in the LIBS Newsletter (Jan-Mar 2002). An explanation of the map symbols is provided here.

Key to Symbols
Different symbols are used to indicate different types of data. These symbols are placed in a town or, in cases where insufficient information is available, centrally in a county. In places where we felt that more detail was warranted, the symbols were placed in parts of towns (such as Fishers Island, Gardiners Island, E and W East Hampton, E and W Southampton, N and S Brookhaven, etc.). Open symbols are used to indicate that the species has been documented no more recently than 1979. Closed symbols represent records from 1980 on. Circles are used to indicate specimens, triangles to indicate reports, and squares to indicate recent reports that are supported by pre-1980 specimens.

Open symbols (no data more recent than 1979)
- a specimen is known from the county, town, etc.
- a report is known from the county, town, etc.

Closed symbols (data since 1980)
- a pre-1980 specimen is known and a report since 1980 is also known

Click on the thumbnails below to view a larger image.