Herbarium and Janet’s Garden

The Emily deCamp Herbarium was founded by the deCamp family and friends who love nature and want to promote it in an engaging and educational fashion. The Herbarium’s mission is to show how diverse and fantastic New Jersey’s native wildlife can be by:

  • Illustrating the chain of life, by teaching it in an interesting way
  • Helping the public get started on their own area

The Emily de Camp Herbarium is located at the Forked River Interpretive Center and Coast Guard Station 112 (a former Coast Guard Station) in Island Beach State Park, south of Seaside Park, NJ.

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Plant Communities

Transect

Click an area of the picture to read about a community.

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Bayshore Tidal Marsh Freshwater Wetlands Maritime Forest Edge Thicket Secondary Dune Primary Dune

The Plant Communities: An Overview

There are nine plant communities at Island Beach State Park. Although, the above picture might seem to indicate that the plant communities appear in a clear order from bay to ocean, this is a broad generalization. Some communities may be found in other places when conditions permit. For instance, freshwater wetlands can be found just east of the thicket on the A13 trail. Similarly, much of the tidal marsh in Island Beach State Park is found at the southern end of the park, with the middle and northern areas of the park being dominated by bayshore community.