The Rediscovery of Ledum groenlandicum Oeder (Ericaceae) in New Jersey

Ledum groenlandicum, Labrador tea, is an ericaceous evergreen shrub of acidic, wet areas common to northern regions of North America. The range has historically been reported as far south as northern New Jersey (Britton and Brown 1897; Gleason and Cronquist 1991). Reports and herbarium vouchers intimated that this species was restricted to Morris and Sussex Counties. However, the latest New Jersey Natural Heritage ranking for L. groenlandicum in Morris County is SX. -species that have been determined or are presumed to be extirpated, documented from a single location (NJ Natural Heritage Program 1999). Hough (1983) stated "verified Morris County site 1977, recently reported destroyed." The Morris County's occurrences are well documented for the single location between Dover and Mount Hope. This area was a larch swamp discovered by Mr. M. E. Palmer, a Budd Lake resident who with Kenneth Mackenzie visited and first collected specimens from this site in 1918, the earliest record: Mackenzie 8390, (CHRB, NY). This area was given the appellation of "Palmer's Bog" by Mackenzie (1918) in his follow-up article. Other vouchers were gathered from approximately the same site: "Dover," 1932, J. L. Edwards 774, (CU); "0.75 miles SSW of Mt. Hope," 1948, J. L. Edwards s.n., (CHRB); "North of Mt. Pleasant Avenue between Mt. Hope and Dover," 1958, Frank Hirst 43, (PH). No vouchers were found for Morris County at BKL, GH, NYS, SIM, or YU (herbaria abbreviations based on Holmgren, et al., 1990). Unfortunately, this Morris County location experienced vast disturbance, including housing, construction of Interstate 80, and shopping malls that obliterated all trace of the larch swamp and