Two centuries ago, in 1819, Dr. Henry McMurtrie published Sketches of Louisville and its Environs, Including Among a Great Variety of Miscellaneous Matters: a Florula Louisvillensis or a Catalog of Nearly 400 Genera and 600 Species of Plants That Grow in the Vicinity of the Town, Exhibiting Their Generic, Specific, and English vulgar names.
The title, incredibly long as was often the case with many 19th century gentleman's publications, sums up the contents of the list rather completely.
There are flaws and misidentifications, omitted plants not yet discovered and absent from the list, but Florula Louisvillensis provides great insight into the state of the flora as it was early into the settlement of the town. The phrase "In the Vicinity of the Town" leaves much to be desired and we see the author takes fairly frequent liberties, including species outside their natural range, often from southern Illinois, Ohio, or Western Pennsylvania. In other scenarios plants have lost much ground as in Mountain Maple (Acer spicatum) which grew on the banks of the Ohio according to a Charles Wilkins Short specimen.
There are many vegetables, herbs, agricultural crops, and early European weeds listed in addition to a plush list of native forbs, grasses, and aquatic plants.
The earliest crops being grown in Louisville included corn, soybeans, buckwheat, wheat, hemp, hops, tobacco, and jute, while vegetable gardens contained a combination of native and European vegetables such as North American natives: potatoes, squash, pumpkins, peppers, Jerusalem artichokes, and tomatoes. Louisville's earliest introduced vegetables included asparagus, parsnip, okra, kidney and lima beans, sweet potato, garlic, shallots, horseradish, cabbage, mustard, eggplants, beets, radishes, turnips, cucumbers, garden strawberries, watermelons, and spinach.
Now completely absent from the city, were the wild strawberries (Fragaria virginica) that graced lawns, which have since been completely supplanted by false Indian strawberry (Potentilla indica syn. Duchesnea indica) which would not have been in Louisville until much later. Where we now grow leeks, wild ramps would have once grown in abundance in some of our rich woods (Allium tricoccum) -[not listed in Florula].
We now fill out our farmer's markets with novel exotic vegetables such as arugula, kohlrabi, Siberian kale, canteloupes, peanuts, broccoli, zucchini, leeks, figs.
European herbs such as basil, fennel, rosemary, oregano, marjorum, thyme, carrots, celery, parsley, yarrow, Roman chamomile, mayweed, lavender, catnip, sheep sorrel, and mugwort were mentioned in Florula Louisvillensis.
The orchards of the early 1800s contained introduced apple, peach, and pear trees, red raspberries, and native blackberries, dewberries, currants and black raspberries. Early 19th century Louisville also contained native wild fruit and nut trees such as pawpaws, persimmon, black huckleberries (Gaylussacia baccata syn. Vaccinium resinosum), hickories (Carya spp. syn. Juglans spp.), butternuts, hazelnuts, and black walnuts.
Medicinal European plants included Castor beans (Ricinus communis), common burdock (Arctium minus) and common mullein (Verbascum thapsus). When C.S. Rafinesque published Medical Flora: Or, Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States, fully 77% of the plants listed were native to North America, according to Ronald Stuckey a famous Charles W. Short researcher. Dr. C. W. Short was known for his time teaching early American medical botany at Transylvania University, later moving to Louisville and playing a key role in the founding of the medical academy that would become the University of Louisville.
The earliest Kentucky forage grasses were barley, spring rye, oats, Timothy, perennial rye, and the native grasses, Virginia rye, woodland bluegrass (Poa), switchgrass, and Kentucky's native bamboo, giant river cane (listed in duplicate as both Miegia arundinaria, and Arundo gigantea) now identified as Arundinaria gigantea, which merges both names.
Prairie grass enthusiasts find Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans syn. Andropogon nutans, L.), feather grass (Stipa virginiana), Bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis), Broom sedge (Andropogon virginicus), eastern gama grass (Tripsacum dactyloides), Canary grass, Phalaris Grass (Phalaris arundinacea). However, notably absent were Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Americna beak grass (Diarrhena americana), dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepsis), and river oats (Chasmanthium latifolium). Early perennial year round grazing patterns may have put a lot of pressure on certain grassland species in the days soon after the disappearance of the migratory buffalo. It's known that cattle prefer river cane, which is high in crude protein and relatively low in fat, and will eat all of it until they have depleted what they can reach.
I speculate that many plants poisonous to grazing cattle, sheep, and goats might have disappeared quickly once their toxicity was known due to agricultural eradication attempts that may have included false indigo (Baptisia spp.) -[not listed], and Wild Lupines (Lupinus perennis) and white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) which did make the list. This would help explain why white snakeroot was not listed as abundant growing in woods of Cherokee Park in 1941 by Slack, but it now abundant.
Wetland plants of this list have been largely devastated by the 20th century draining of the Wet Woods to install the drainage canals throughout Fairdale and Auburndale to the southwest of Louisville. Certain ponds, lakes, and marshes contain disjunct populations of some of these species which are all but gone otherwise: sweet flag (Acorus calamus), Pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata), Steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa), the now extinct Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), swamp lousewort (Pedicularis lanceolata), swamp speedwell (Veronica scutellaria), bog violet (Viola lanceolata), Bladderwort (Utricularia macrorhiza), Willow herb (Decodon verticillatus), Illinois pondweed (Potamogeton illinoensis)- [being herbicided in FINS properties to make fishable], Twisting screwstem (Bartonia paniculata syn. Centaurella paniculata), and Swamp tupelo (Nyssa aquatica), Arrow arum (Arum virginicum), and Marsh St. John's wort (Triadenum virginicum), Virginia willow (Itea virginica).
Some notably missing forbs from this list, now rare, endangered, or extinct include Big leaved scurf pea (Orbexilum macrophyllum), Short's Goldenrod (Solidago shortii), Running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum), Kentucky glade cress (Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata), the rare saprophytic Crested Coral Root Orchid (Hexalectris spicata), Indian turnip (Medeola virginiana), Green dragon (Arisaema dracontium). Even the common wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia) was absent the list.
Some surprising species listed in Florula Louisvillensis include Golden club (Orontium aquaticum), Skunk cabbage (Symplocos foetidus), Trailing arbutus (Epiegaea repens), partridge berry (Mitchella repens), spotted wintergreen (Chimaphilus maculata), Great rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum), High bush cranberry (Viburnum macrocarpon syn Vaccinium macrocarpa), Indian paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea syn. Bartsia coccinea), Fairywand (Chamaelirium luteum syn. Veratrum luteum), Green False Hellebore (Veratrum viride), Eastern featherbells (Stenanthium gramineum syn. Veraterum angustifolium), Leather leaf (Myrica asplenifolia), and the endangered American barberry (Berberis canadensis).
The earliest crops being grown in Louisville included corn, soybeans, buckwheat, wheat, hemp, hops, tobacco, and jute, while vegetable gardens contained a combination of native and European vegetables such as North American natives: potatoes, squash, pumpkins, peppers, Jerusalem artichokes, and tomatoes. Louisville's earliest introduced vegetables included asparagus, parsnip, okra, kidney and lima beans, sweet potato, garlic, shallots, horseradish, cabbage, mustard, eggplants, beets, radishes, turnips, cucumbers, garden strawberries, watermelons, and spinach.
Now completely absent from the city, were the wild strawberries (Fragaria virginica) that graced lawns, which have since been completely supplanted by false Indian strawberry (Potentilla indica syn. Duchesnea indica) which would not have been in Louisville until much later. Where we now grow leeks, wild ramps would have once grown in abundance in some of our rich woods (Allium tricoccum) -[not listed in Florula].
We now fill out our farmer's markets with novel exotic vegetables such as arugula, kohlrabi, Siberian kale, canteloupes, peanuts, broccoli, zucchini, leeks, figs.
European herbs such as basil, fennel, rosemary, oregano, marjorum, thyme, carrots, celery, parsley, yarrow, Roman chamomile, mayweed, lavender, catnip, sheep sorrel, and mugwort were mentioned in Florula Louisvillensis.
The orchards of the early 1800s contained introduced apple, peach, and pear trees, red raspberries, and native blackberries, dewberries, currants and black raspberries. Early 19th century Louisville also contained native wild fruit and nut trees such as pawpaws, persimmon, black huckleberries (Gaylussacia baccata syn. Vaccinium resinosum), hickories (Carya spp. syn. Juglans spp.), butternuts, hazelnuts, and black walnuts.
Medicinal European plants included Castor beans (Ricinus communis), common burdock (Arctium minus) and common mullein (Verbascum thapsus). When C.S. Rafinesque published Medical Flora: Or, Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States, fully 77% of the plants listed were native to North America, according to Ronald Stuckey a famous Charles W. Short researcher. Dr. C. W. Short was known for his time teaching early American medical botany at Transylvania University, later moving to Louisville and playing a key role in the founding of the medical academy that would become the University of Louisville.
The earliest Kentucky forage grasses were barley, spring rye, oats, Timothy, perennial rye, and the native grasses, Virginia rye, woodland bluegrass (Poa), switchgrass, and Kentucky's native bamboo, giant river cane (listed in duplicate as both Miegia arundinaria, and Arundo gigantea) now identified as Arundinaria gigantea, which merges both names.
Prairie grass enthusiasts find Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans syn. Andropogon nutans, L.), feather grass (Stipa virginiana), Bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis), Broom sedge (Andropogon virginicus), eastern gama grass (Tripsacum dactyloides), Canary grass, Phalaris Grass (Phalaris arundinacea). However, notably absent were Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Americna beak grass (Diarrhena americana), dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepsis), and river oats (Chasmanthium latifolium). Early perennial year round grazing patterns may have put a lot of pressure on certain grassland species in the days soon after the disappearance of the migratory buffalo. It's known that cattle prefer river cane, which is high in crude protein and relatively low in fat, and will eat all of it until they have depleted what they can reach.
I speculate that many plants poisonous to grazing cattle, sheep, and goats might have disappeared quickly once their toxicity was known due to agricultural eradication attempts that may have included false indigo (Baptisia spp.) -[not listed], and Wild Lupines (Lupinus perennis) and white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) which did make the list. This would help explain why white snakeroot was not listed as abundant growing in woods of Cherokee Park in 1941 by Slack, but it now abundant.
Wetland plants of this list have been largely devastated by the 20th century draining of the Wet Woods to install the drainage canals throughout Fairdale and Auburndale to the southwest of Louisville. Certain ponds, lakes, and marshes contain disjunct populations of some of these species which are all but gone otherwise: sweet flag (Acorus calamus), Pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata), Steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa), the now extinct Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), swamp lousewort (Pedicularis lanceolata), swamp speedwell (Veronica scutellaria), bog violet (Viola lanceolata), Bladderwort (Utricularia macrorhiza), Willow herb (Decodon verticillatus), Illinois pondweed (Potamogeton illinoensis)- [being herbicided in FINS properties to make fishable], Twisting screwstem (Bartonia paniculata syn. Centaurella paniculata), and Swamp tupelo (Nyssa aquatica), Arrow arum (Arum virginicum), and Marsh St. John's wort (Triadenum virginicum), Virginia willow (Itea virginica).
Some notably missing forbs from this list, now rare, endangered, or extinct include Big leaved scurf pea (Orbexilum macrophyllum), Short's Goldenrod (Solidago shortii), Running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum), Kentucky glade cress (Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata), the rare saprophytic Crested Coral Root Orchid (Hexalectris spicata), Indian turnip (Medeola virginiana), Green dragon (Arisaema dracontium). Even the common wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia) was absent the list.
Some surprising species listed in Florula Louisvillensis include Golden club (Orontium aquaticum), Skunk cabbage (Symplocos foetidus), Trailing arbutus (Epiegaea repens), partridge berry (Mitchella repens), spotted wintergreen (Chimaphilus maculata), Great rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum), High bush cranberry (Viburnum macrocarpon syn Vaccinium macrocarpa), Indian paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea syn. Bartsia coccinea), Fairywand (Chamaelirium luteum syn. Veratrum luteum), Green False Hellebore (Veratrum viride), Eastern featherbells (Stenanthium gramineum syn. Veraterum angustifolium), Leather leaf (Myrica asplenifolia), and the endangered American barberry (Berberis canadensis).
Other rare species that do no occur in the Outer Bluegrass Region, but instead the Knobs and Scottsburg Lowland are Virginia Tephrosia/ Goat's beard (Tephrosia virginiana syn. Galega virginiana), Meadow beauty (Rhexia virginiana), Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), Wyandotte beauty (Synandra hispidula). As close as Harrison counties, one can find American columbo (Frasera verticillata), and Canada hemlock (Tsuga canadensis syn. Pinus abies), growing near Hemlock Cliffs.
The earliest traces of European and Eurasian weeds in 1819 Louisville, KY included Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale syn, Leontice), Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota), Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), roadside pennycress (Thlaspi alliaceum), common field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris), perennial sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus), hedge mustard (Sisymbrium officinale), speedwells (incl. Veronica agrestis), English plantain (Plantago lanceolata), red and Dutch white clovers (Trifoliums), stinkgrass (Eragrostis cilianensis syn. Briza eragrostis) . To this day, they each can be easily found in dense populations almost anywhere in the city. Indian heliotrope (Heliotropum indicum), is an exception, growing along the Ohio River but not seen elsewhere. Forget me not (Myosotis scirpioides) tends to occur only on clean water streams such as Goose Creek.
The flora of 1819 contained no traces of modern invasive species. These would come in successive denturies, and include 1980s garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), 1950s, Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), 1900s Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), Princess Tree (Paulownia tomentosa), Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), 2000's Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna), Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidata), 1940s Kudzu (Pueraria montana), Porcelain berry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata), Chicory (Cichorium intybus), Asian bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), pre-1940s Japanese honeysuckle vine (Lonicera japonica), Crown vetch (Segurigera varia), 1940s Autumn olive (Eleagnus umbellata), Clematis (Clematis ternifolia), Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris syn. Thapsia trifoliata), or Musk thistle (Carduus nutans).
There had already been the introduction of the hedgerow shrub species Privet (Ligustrum vulgaris) which is quite invasive in modern day Louisville. It appears most of what is here is Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) though English privet persists wherever it was once a hedgerow or shrub. Some less aggressive ornamental European additions to the landscape of 1819 included European Larch, European St. John's Wort, Quince bush, Lilac, and European hawthorn.
A couple questionable and elusive orchids appear on the list: although the Three Birds Orchid (Triphora trianthosphora syn. Arethusa pendula) was collected in Jefferson Memorial Forest, and the Dragon's Mouth orchid (Arethusa bulbosa) which doubtfully ever occurred in Louisville or Kentucky. Fringed orange prairie orchid (Platanthera ciliaris) does not occur close to Jefferson County, however other species in this genus Platantera, including fringeless purple prairie orchid (P. peramoena), and (P. lacera) and green fringed orchid which can be found near the original Mann's Lick site in Fairdale. This site unfortunately is subject to commercial development and is not expected to preserve these rare orchids, which has been the fate of most every wetland in Louisville once developers got a notion to drain and destroy them.
The earliest traces of European and Eurasian weeds in 1819 Louisville, KY included Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale syn, Leontice), Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota), Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), roadside pennycress (Thlaspi alliaceum), common field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris), perennial sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus), hedge mustard (Sisymbrium officinale), speedwells (incl. Veronica agrestis), English plantain (Plantago lanceolata), red and Dutch white clovers (Trifoliums), stinkgrass (Eragrostis cilianensis syn. Briza eragrostis) . To this day, they each can be easily found in dense populations almost anywhere in the city. Indian heliotrope (Heliotropum indicum), is an exception, growing along the Ohio River but not seen elsewhere. Forget me not (Myosotis scirpioides) tends to occur only on clean water streams such as Goose Creek.
The flora of 1819 contained no traces of modern invasive species. These would come in successive denturies, and include 1980s garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), 1950s, Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), 1900s Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), Princess Tree (Paulownia tomentosa), Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), 2000's Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna), Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidata), 1940s Kudzu (Pueraria montana), Porcelain berry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata), Chicory (Cichorium intybus), Asian bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), pre-1940s Japanese honeysuckle vine (Lonicera japonica), Crown vetch (Segurigera varia), 1940s Autumn olive (Eleagnus umbellata), Clematis (Clematis ternifolia), Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris syn. Thapsia trifoliata), or Musk thistle (Carduus nutans).
There had already been the introduction of the hedgerow shrub species Privet (Ligustrum vulgaris) which is quite invasive in modern day Louisville. It appears most of what is here is Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) though English privet persists wherever it was once a hedgerow or shrub. Some less aggressive ornamental European additions to the landscape of 1819 included European Larch, European St. John's Wort, Quince bush, Lilac, and European hawthorn.
A couple questionable and elusive orchids appear on the list: although the Three Birds Orchid (Triphora trianthosphora syn. Arethusa pendula) was collected in Jefferson Memorial Forest, and the Dragon's Mouth orchid (Arethusa bulbosa) which doubtfully ever occurred in Louisville or Kentucky. Fringed orange prairie orchid (Platanthera ciliaris) does not occur close to Jefferson County, however other species in this genus Platantera, including fringeless purple prairie orchid (P. peramoena), and (P. lacera) and green fringed orchid which can be found near the original Mann's Lick site in Fairdale. This site unfortunately is subject to commercial development and is not expected to preserve these rare orchids, which has been the fate of most every wetland in Louisville once developers got a notion to drain and destroy them.
Yellow lady slipper orchid was omitted from the list, but not Adam and Eve's orchid (Aplectrum hyemale), Crane fly orchid (Tipularia discolor). As described above,
Additionally some milkworts (Polygala spp.) were listed, which did really occur here but are very rare. For instance purple milkwort (Polygala sanguinea) seems to prefer sunny drainage ditches within the old Wet Woods swamp that spans from Prestonia and Okolona to Fairdale and Auburndale.
In place of our invasive 21st century honeysuckle one would have found orange trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens syn. Lonicera virginiana), which has been nearly driven locally extinct, now only known to occur wild in Iroquois Park. Red coral honeysuckle/ trumpet honeysuckles also occurs nearby but is very difficult to find growing wild. (Lonicera sempervirens).
Where we would now find Oriental bittersweet vine, once Wax work grew (Celastrus scandens), which now only grows well in southern Jefferson, north Bullitt Counties, and Meade Counties, locally speaking.
The northeastern shrub Pinebarren goldheather (Hudsonia ericoides) was a waif, if it ever really grew in Louisville but found its way onto Frederick Law Olmsted's list of Woody Plants of Kentucky planted in Cherokee Park by virtue of its appearance on McMurtrie's list. The same was the case for American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) which has not been recorded growing native and wild in Kentucky except in Lyons County.
The northeastern shrub Pinebarren goldheather (Hudsonia ericoides) was a waif, if it ever really grew in Louisville but found its way onto Frederick Law Olmsted's list of Woody Plants of Kentucky planted in Cherokee Park by virtue of its appearance on McMurtrie's list. The same was the case for American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) which has not been recorded growing native and wild in Kentucky except in Lyons County.
Several Andromeda (reclassified as Eubotrys -dog hobble - or Fetterbush (Lyonia) also found their way into Olmsted's arboretum style design for Cherokee Park. Many of the Ericaceous (Heath family) shrubs listed by McMurtrie were also unsuccessfully attempted in plantings by Olmsted on Cherokee Park's limestone soils, though probably occurred in Knobs, such as Iroquois Park, Waverly Park and Jefferson Memorial Forest. The exotic buttercup--devil in the bush (Nigella damascena), is not found in Kentucky in modern times, but may have appeared here in the 19th century.
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=NIDA
Some plants now long missing from Louisville, listed by McMurtrie include American chestnut (Castanea americana), American chinquapin (Castanea pumila), Virginia bunchflower (Veratrum virginicum), White Gentian (Gentiana alba), Atamasco lily (Zepharanthes atamasco), Canada lily (Lilium canadense), Woodland pinkroot (Spigelia marilandica), Canadian Yew (Taxus canadensis), Lupine (Lupinus perennis), and wood lily (Lilium philadelphicus).
Others from Florula Louisvillensis which have become exceedingly rare include American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), Big toothed Aspen (Populus grandidentata) misidentified as quaking Aspen.
Not only did McMurtrie's list include vascular plants, but also a list of fungi and mosses and lichens growing in the vicinity of Louisville. The list was rather limited and crude, but still it mentioned six species of Boletus, Agaricus mushrooms limited to two genera. Mosses included six genera: Brium, Fontanalis, Hypnum, Mnium, Phascum, and Sphagnum. Over the last two centuries, many discoveries have been made in this field including Morels (Morchella), Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus),
The full list can be viewed at http://books.google.com/books/about/Sketches_of_Louisville_and_Its_Environs.html?id=ySAmAAAAMAAJ beginning at page 211.
Then in 1941, a master's thesis was published by a Louisville, KY schoolteacher named Mabel Slack for Cornell University under Dr. Wiegand, which exhibited the flora of Cherokee Park (located in the Highlands neighborhood). The floral inventory showcased the surviving flora of the park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who was heavily informed of the local flora by C.S. Rafinesque's list allegedly plagiarized by McMurtrie for the Florula Louisvillensis according to Mabel Slack.
Some plants now long missing from Louisville, listed by McMurtrie include American chestnut (Castanea americana), American chinquapin (Castanea pumila), Virginia bunchflower (Veratrum virginicum), White Gentian (Gentiana alba), Atamasco lily (Zepharanthes atamasco), Canada lily (Lilium canadense), Woodland pinkroot (Spigelia marilandica), Canadian Yew (Taxus canadensis), Lupine (Lupinus perennis), and wood lily (Lilium philadelphicus).
Others from Florula Louisvillensis which have become exceedingly rare include American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), Big toothed Aspen (Populus grandidentata) misidentified as quaking Aspen.
Not only did McMurtrie's list include vascular plants, but also a list of fungi and mosses and lichens growing in the vicinity of Louisville. The list was rather limited and crude, but still it mentioned six species of Boletus, Agaricus mushrooms limited to two genera. Mosses included six genera: Brium, Fontanalis, Hypnum, Mnium, Phascum, and Sphagnum. Over the last two centuries, many discoveries have been made in this field including Morels (Morchella), Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus),
The full list can be viewed at http://books.google.com/books/about/Sketches_of_Louisville_and_Its_Environs.html?id=ySAmAAAAMAAJ beginning at page 211.
Then in 1941, a master's thesis was published by a Louisville, KY schoolteacher named Mabel Slack for Cornell University under Dr. Wiegand, which exhibited the flora of Cherokee Park (located in the Highlands neighborhood). The floral inventory showcased the surviving flora of the park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who was heavily informed of the local flora by C.S. Rafinesque's list allegedly plagiarized by McMurtrie for the Florula Louisvillensis according to Mabel Slack.
