Or mock orange or lilac....



Misty Jackson, Ph.D., RPA
Arbre Croche Cultural Resources
214 South Main Street
Leslie, Michigan 49251
517-589-2467
517-525-3060
On Mar 26, 2011, at 2:31 PM, ray ezell wrote:

> I've not seen anybody mention dog-hobble....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Raymond D. Ezell, RPA
> Sr. Archaeologist
> 
> ECS Mid-Atlantic, LLC
> 915 Maple Grove Drive, Suite 206, Fredericksburg, VA  22407
> T: 540-785-6100  D: 540 -785-6764    F: 540-785-3577  C:   540-379-5518  
> [log in to unmask]  •  www.ecslimited.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Lyle E. Browning <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Sat, March 26, 2011 1:45:57 PM
> Subject: Re: Vegetation and Historic Sites
> 
> 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
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
>