Tag Archives: Vermont

Argyresthia castaneella Busck

American Chestnut Ermine Moth (Argyresthia castaneella)  

The American Chestnut Ermine Moth, which is known from New Hampshire and Vermont was described in the year 1915, since that year no trace of this species could be found again.  

The larvae of this species fed on the bark of the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.), a tree species, which is nearly extinct now, and of which today almost only small sprouts exist, of which only very few get large enough to produce sufficient quantities of bark.  

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edited: 23.09.2017

Astragalus robbinsii var. robbinsii (Oakes) Gray

Robbins’ Milkvetch (Astragalus robbinsii var. robbinsii)  

Robbins’ Milkvetch was described in 1841, it includes around seven varieties which occur in northern North America, some have highly restricted ranges others are more common.

The nominate variety certainly was one of those with a rather restricted distributional area, it is known from limestone ledges on only a single site on the Winooski River in the town of Colchester in Chittenden County, Vermont, USA. This habitat was destroyed by the building of a dam in 1894, leading to the global extinction of this plant.

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References: 
[1] Nathaniel Lord Britton; Addison Brown: An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British possessions: from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102d meridian. New York: C. Scribner’s sons 1913

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Depiction from: ‘Nathaniel Lord Britton; Addison Brown: An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British possessions: from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102d meridian. New York: C. Scribner’s sons 1913’

(public domain)

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edited: 19.09.2019