Stumbled upon these beauties over at the Brooklyn Magazine archives. Amazing anything can survive in the cesspool that is the Gowanus Canal. Be sure to read up on the lion, shark, and snake sightings below, hilarious Gowanus-lore.

LOCAL FLORA

1. ARTEMISIA VULGARIS“MUGWORT”   2. PAULOWNIA TOMENTOSA “EMPRESS TREE”
3. ROBINIA PSEUDOACACIA “BLACK LOCUST”   4. AILANTHUS ALTISSIMA “TREE OF HEAVEN”

LAND- AND WATER-BASED FAUNA

1.PROCYON LOTOR“RACCOON” 2. ONDATRA ZIBETHICUS“MUSKRAT”  3.PANTHERA LEO“LION”* 4.PYTHON RETICULATUS“RETICULATED PYTHON” ** 5.SELACHIMORPHA “SHARK” *** 6. ANGUILLA ROSTRATA“AMERICAN EEL” 7. CYANEA CAPILLATA“LION MANE JELLY FISH” 8. HELIX ASPERSA“LAND SNAIL” ‡   9. MARGARITIFERA MARGARITIFERA“MUSSEL” 10. CALLINECTES SAPIDUS“BLUE CRAB”

*Tiny Tim, the bodyguard of mobster Joey Gallo (about whom Bob Dylan wrote the song “Joey”), was said to have wandered the neighborhood with a pet lion cub on a leash. **A really big snake was spotted in 2008 at the end of Degraw Street, near the canal. It’s likely that it escaped from the nearby Gowanus Houses.***In 1950, a medium-sized shark made its way up the canal where it was pumped full of bullets by the local police. ‡Actually edible, so long as you don’t stare for too long into their deep, dark little eyes.

// Illustrations by Melinda Josie. Footnotes and whatnot from Brooklyn Magazine.