Pine Barren Sandwort (in bloom)

[BarryC]

If you want to see literally TONS of Pine Barren Sandwort in bloom, check out the Batsto/Pleasant Mills cemetery, right now. It's unbelievable! Plus there is Dwarf Dandelion and some unusual, probably non-native succulent-type plant in bloom too.
Barry

 

[sschliv]

Usually lots of prickly pear too!

 

[BarryC]

Actually the reason I went there that day was to see the Prickly Pear in bloom and I found few if any flowers or buds. I don't know why.

 

[sschliv]

Another good spot is right next to Harrisville ruins/Bodine Field. It is about 200ft in from rt 679 along one of the roads leading to Bodine.

Haven't checked it out this year though.

 

[German]

I've always found cemeteries great places to look for plants. The Reevestown cemetery just north of Warren grove is one of my favorites in early spring. There is more pixie and trailing arbutus than there is grass!

 

[BarryC]

I've been to that cemetery, but only once, years ago. I'd love to see the Pyxie and Trailing Arbutus.
Near me, within the city limits of Egg Harbor City there is a ghost town called Gloucester, or Gloucester Furnace.
On the high ground there, there is a lot of Pine Barren Heather, Yucca, and Prickly Pear, but the Prickly Pear there is different than any of seen anywhere else. I go there about once a week to see it. The "leaves" are 4 inches or larger and the flowers are quite big too. And there is an awful lot of it. This is the largest Cactus I've seen in NJ. It's unbelievable. I've been photographing it and I hope to be mailing my film away soon.
Barry

 

[JeffD]

Cacti and Yucca in New Jersey?! Interesting! I haven't seen that growing in the wild since I left New Mexico, where I lived off and on for a couple of years. In Southwestern NM, roads are lined with Yucca for miles. I remember a guy who ran a nursery in his back yard telling me that the roots of Yucca go all the way to China and that the Chinese like nibbling on these roots.

 

[German]

Yep, Jeff, there are cacti in NJ. The prickly pear is the only one that is native east of the Misssissippi River though. It's well adapted to the pine barrens' sandy environment, and since it can also tolerate salt spray, it's found on our barrier islands as well. The yucca is not native however, but has been widely planted as an ornamental and has escaped cultivation in some places. I've seen it growing along sand roads where people have dumped stuff, including yard debris that must have included yucca parts.