The Nicholas Keith room at the Wellington County Museum and Archives was standing room only on Oct. 17 when the county historical society launched a book about the flora of Wellington.
Ian Easterbrook told the audience the Wellington County Historical Society has published one book per year about the history of the county, and it has also sponsored other books specific to Wellington. In the past, it has sponsored books about the birds, and then mammals.
He said in 2001 the society decided it was time to consider the plant life of Wellington County.
He introduced scholar Richard Frank (Ph.D), of Rockwood, and botanist Allan Anderson, of the University of Guelph, the book’s authors.
The Flora of Wellington County project was begun in 2001, and contains over 150 large pages, plus index, plus a large number of maps that outline such things as environmentally sensitive areas and wooded areas.
Frank told the audience that upon embarking upon the project, there were some difficulties, not least of which was deciding what parts of Wellington County to include, considering that the county has had several boundary changes over the years.
“We spent a lot of time going over the areas,” he said, adding that the authors eventually decided to use the maps from 1985 as their guide. One problem was having to adjust all the townships to fit into the Wellington area, because places like Garafraxa and Luther changes and were ultimately divided, with some parts being added to Dufferin County.
He noted to chuckles from the audience that 17,000 hectares of land ultimately were found to be missing, and he added there are still some discrepancies.
He noted that Paul Day, of Trees for Mapleton, found some Ministry of Natural Resources maps that proved to be most helpful to the project.
Frank said that every township lot and concession was considered, along with what was growing in each of them.
He noted that the forest of Wellington County once covered most of its land mass, and had been there for 8,000 years, hence it had created its own environment. He noted that the land in West Luther eventually caught fire and burned for years.
When the fire finally went out, the land was lower by at least a metre.
He also noted that he suspects that John Galt, the founder of Guelph, saw “cathedral like” trees felled by pioneers who seldom realized what they were taking out as they forged livings in the new land.
“I think he had regrets,” Frank said.
Anderson said that there had been a survey of flora in Wellington County in the early 1940s, and that list was helpful.
But, he added, the latest study found up to 300 more plants that can be added to that list.
Copies of The Flora of Wellington County are available at the Wellington County Museum’s gift shop and Roxanne’s Reflections in Fergus.
