Notes From Nature Talk

WHAT IS THE LOCATION?

  • Captain_Geronimo by Captain_Geronimo

    I'm trying to decipher the location of this specimen in Blodgett Forest. I read it as 16 kilometers from East Georgetown.
    Can that be right? Why would he give the distance in kilometers? Could it be "169 in kilometers" from East Georgetown? Does Blodgett Forest extend that far?

    Thanks for any help.

    Posted

  • asallans by asallans scientist

    Hi Captain - I believe this is reading "16 air km E. Georgetown", probably interpreted as 16 air kilometers East of Georgetown. I'm not quite clear what unit an "air km" is, but I've seen it on many of these. Hopefully one of our Calbug team members will jump in when they can later today. - Andrew

    Posted

  • cerabilia by cerabilia scientist

    "Air" means straight line on a map as apposed to 16km driven along a curvy road.

    Posted

  • xairbusdriver by xairbusdriver

    "Air KM" and "air miles" is short for "As the crow flies." LOL! Obviously, this 'air' distance didn't apply to aircraft when some of these specimens were collected prior to ~1903! 😃

    I see this often in the descriptions but I wonder how valid those distances are today. Many town/cities are far larger than when these specimens were collected. Secondarily, are those distances from the town center? The court house? Etc. Too bad that all these collectors didn't have or use public land surveys that were often around since the early 1800's. They divide each square mile into sections/townships/etc. Wiki page: Section (United States land surveying)

    Posted