I think the list is probably the best long-term item coming out of this discussion. Perhaps when done, it might be posted to the NPS website or some other "permanent" location for down load?

Also, I don't know if anyone has mentioned them, but ailanthus altissima (Tree of Heaven at one end; Ghetto Palm at the other of the naming spectrum) is a common house indicator, although birds spread them to places where houses were never located. There is also another fast growing, soft wood Chinese "weed wood" with very large (20cm) multi-lobed leaves that I've never seen outside an urban environment in VA.

Also, while not exactly on point for house sites, intentionally introduced invasives such as Johnson Grass for cattle fodder can help demarcate old fields, Kudzu for same although that stuff will eventually cover the planet, and multi-flora rose all date to the 20th century for introduction. Thinking ahead a bit, bio-sampling will undoubtedly have bug parts so Japanese Beetles may be in the sample, thus post-dating 1939 if memory serves.

Finally, there's a website that has a rather extensive list of invasive plants at:  http://www.invasive.org/weedcd/

Lyle Browning


On Mar 26, 2011, at 10:02 AM, Brad Laffitte wrote:

> Thanks to everyone for the overwhelming response and discussion.
>  
> The whole purpose of posing this question to the group revolves around what seems to be a lack of literature on the subject.  We all seem to have experiences and knowledge with vegetation signatures and historic sites, but these connections seem to only be mentioned "in passing" in the literature for the southeastern U.S.
>  
> I work as an archaeologist at Fort Polk in west-central Louisiana.  We have noticed over the years that many historic sites (as indicated from historic aerials and other documentation) were missed during previous surveys.  I am currently writing an article discussing the reasons behind these sites being "overlooked", which will have a section specifically on vegetation that will largely be written by the installation botanist.  He is very knowledgable on the subject, but I'm trying to help him find any previous work done for the area or comparable resources.  We would like to, as was mentioned in one of the previous emails, develop a list of trees/shrubs/plants that almost certainly indicate a homestead (due to them having to be planted and/or not spreading heavily) as well as a list of those that are suspicious enough to justify surveyors briefly veering from their transects to further investigate.  This will help ensure that future surveyors
> can be briefed beforehand with respect to types of vegetation to "be on the lookout for".
>  
> Many thanks,
> Brad Laffitte
> 
> 
>