New shrub in Fort Tryon

Today I was in Fort Tryon Forest, northern Manhattan. Most people know the garden, but there is also a woodland that hangs over the Henry Hudson Expressway, just south of Inwood Hill Park.

This is one of those sites where there weren't a lot of existing records, because on a casual walk through I got 52 new listings. The most exciting was yellowroot (Xanthorrhiza simplicissima), because this species is new to City records. The shrub has deep green, pinnately divided leaves, that sprout in a tuft. It flowers in early spring, with many tiny purple flowers in drooping racemes. (And yes, it does indeed have yellow roots). The plant is not native to New York City, its range is south and east, from Pennsylvania to Florida.