APPENDIX 1

ANALYSIS OF THE TREE SPECIES OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND NAMED IN THE RECORDS OF THE BRITISH AND POST-CONFEDERATION PERIODS (1758 — circa 1900)

INTRODUCTION

This Appendix presents an analysis of all of the references to named tree species on Prince Edward Island in the contemporary written records from the beginning of the British colonial period in 1758 to the end of the nineteenth century. A principal aim of the analysis is to determine the relative importance of the various tree species in the forests of the island, so as to arrive at a description of the tree species composition of the forest, especially before settlement by Europeans had destroyed much of that forest.

114 of the 172 documents included in this ’sourcebook’ contain references to named tree species, ranging from the single mention of one tree species to multiple mentions of many different species. (For information on the background of each of the recorders, including the extent of their experience of the island, see Appendix 3.) It should be noted that for many of the trees, the naming by the recorder is only to the level of the tree genus with no attempt being made to identify the species — though where only one species in a genus occurs on the island (examples are oak and beech) the identification is automatically to the species level. However, even when this is not so, the species can sometimes be inferred from the context.

For each tree genus, and for its species where this is possible, the records have been analyzed under six sub—sections: (1 ) identification and nomenclature — any problems that the recorders may have had in identifying the genus or species are considered, and the variety of names used on the island for the species is examined; (2) general distribution and abundance — all of the comments on the distribution and abundance of each species on the island are assembled and used (along with the frequency with which the species turns up in tree lists and in other records) to construct a picture of its abundance and distribution on the island; (3) specific areas — for each tree species or genus all of its geographically locatable

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occurrences have been brought together and for most species these have also been plotted on a map; (4) tree size — all references to the size of the trees, both qualitative and quantitative, have been assembled; (5) habitat and community relationships — all data on the tree associates and on the forest-types in which each species occurred, as well as any comments on their soil or habitat relationships are examined; (6) properties and uses — all comments on the quality of the wood (or of any other tree product) are included, as are the uses to which the tree products were put.

Seven tables are presented (Tables 1—2 to 1-8) which assemble all of the data contained in ’tree lists’, that is, lists of tree species made by those recorders whose intention it was to provide a list of the trees occurring on the island. Thirty-seven such lists have been found in the documents, all but three of which appear to have been intended to be applicable to the island as a whole1 — though in fact most of the list-makers would have known only a part of the island. Although very variable in their completenessz, when examined collectively,

1 The exceptions are Morris (1769), who lists the trees along the

eastern frontage of Lot 13 (which he refers to as "timber trees natural to these northern colonies"); Curtis (1775); who lists the trees in the forests near Elizabethtown, New London Bay; and Pollard (1898). the trees that he speculates would have occurred on the site of Charlottetown before land clearance, though his hypothetical list is clearly based on the trees occurring in the island's forests in 1898.

2 The thirty-seven lists vary in the number of species they contain: 5 or fewer species (five recorders): Holland 1765 (Mar); [Clark] 1779; Inglis 1789; Martin 1837; Anon. 1877; 6-10 species (thirteen recorders): Holland 1764; Holland 1765 (Oct); Morris 1769; Patterson 1770; Curtis 1775', [MacDonald] 1804; Selkirk 1805; Anon. 1808; [Hill] 1819; Murray 1839; Gesner 1846; Monro 1855; Crosskill 1904; 11—20 species (nine recorders): Patterson 1774; [Cambridge] 1796; Walsh 1803; Selkirk 1803; Johnstone 1822; Hill 1839; Pollard 1898; [Bain] 1882; Burke 1902; 21—30 species (nine recorders): Stewart 1806; MacGregor 1828; Bouchette 1832; Bagster 1861; Bain 1890; McSwain & Bain 1891; Macoun 1894; Johnson 1895; [Watson] post 1904; 31 or more species (one recorder): Sutherland 1861. It should be noted that the list of [Bain] (1882) contains only the island's broad-Ieaved trees, while a part of the list of [Watson] (post 1904) is missing,