book publishing and projects fund accounts.

A HEART FELT THANKS

On February 5'“, 2002, alter a one month deferral, the Natural History Society held its annual general meeting. Ben Hoteling, the out-going President presented the Nominating Committee report. David Seeler was elected as President, Dwaine Oakley as Vice-President, ija Page as Treasurer, and Bonnie McOrmand as Publicity Director, and Ben Hoteling moved to the position of Past President. Lois Doan agreed to stand for another term as Secretary while Eric Marcum moved to the position of Program Director.

The members expressed their thanks to Ben Hoteling for his three years service as President, Michelle Johnston for her two years service as Treasurer and two years service as Secretary, Jim Jenkins for his one point seven years service as Vice President and four years as Treasurer, to Meike Keunecke for her seven years service as Program Director, and to Ray Cooke for his three years service as Past President and five years service as President. Members also expressed their heart felt thanks to the new Board members and to those who agreed to continue for their significant contributions to the Society’s members and the Island public.

PLANT NEWS — MORE ISLAND RECORDS! by Robert Sharkie, Island Nature Trust

This past summer, Island Nature Trust began a plant survey on the Federal Crown lands adjacent to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island National Park; this is the first detailed work in this location since 1981/82. Researchers finm the Trust began fieldwork on the 1700 hectare site on June 4'11 and continued through to the last week in August, gathering data and constructing a plant list. Conducted using a belt transect protocol, the study resulted in the coverage of not less than five percent of the entire site and included active and retired agricultural lands, forest fragments, salt marshes, streams, and hedges.

A quick look at the data shows some interesting results. As many as 112 new records for the study area have been identified including several provincially rare species and three new provincial records. Rarities include Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellata), Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) and White Avens (Geum canadense); our new records are Pink Honeysuckle (Lonicera X bella), European Fly Honeysuckle (Lonicera xylosteum) and Oak Leaved Mountain Ash (Sorbus thuringiaca).

Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellata) was discovered in a heavily used section of the park, growing immediately beside a walking trail. It is a hemiparasite, meaning that it receives part of its energy by attaching to a host plant with root-like structures called haustoria. Trust field staff also found this plant during studies at Greenwich in 2000 where it was again found growing in a very disturbed habitat.

Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) is a small delicate plant with lobed leaves and long soft hairs along its stem; the flowers are pinkish.

White Avens (Geum canadense) is also a rarity, but it was found to occur much more frequently than expected and in habitats ranging from roadside ditches to interior forest. In fact, we took steps to confirm the . .. plant’s identity as it was found so often we believed it am... mm»... could have been a similar more common species. Our initial assessment was correct however, and this discovery may result in the recommendation that White Avens be updated from