496 ricker: botanical activity in district of Columbia 



Prof. Lester F. Ward began collecting plants in the District 

 of Columbia in the spring of 1872. It was September, 1880, 

 when he first decided to prepare a catalogue of District plants, 

 and on January 22, 1881, he presented to the Philosophical 

 Society of Washington a paper entitled Field and Closet Notes 

 on the Flora of Washington and Vicinity, in which he outlined 

 his plan for a new catalogue of District plants, the character of 

 his work on the subject for the preceding four years, and pre- 

 sented the manuscript of his catalogue with its introduction for 

 inspection. On May 6, 1881, the same data but in more detail 

 were presented before the Biological Society of Washington. 

 After going over the subject with Prof. S. F. Baird the manu- 

 script was accepted for publication as a bulletin of the U. S. 

 National Museum and went to the printer on June 22, 1881. 

 The check list was added in 1882. Some copies of the completed 

 Flora were issued without the map on March 14, 1882, and not 

 accepted, but it was completed April 12, 1882.2" 



Six supplements to Ward's Flora were published from 1884 to 

 1901 by Ward, Knowlton, Holm, and Steele and this period 

 marks the beginning of a very large increase in the number of 

 botanists, using the term in a broad sense, in the District of 

 Columbia. This was due to the increase of the staff of the 

 Department of Agriculture. The larger proportion were pathol- 

 ogists engaged primarily in economic work and there did not 

 result any greatly increased activity in making known the 

 District flora. 



Dr. Ferdinand Blanchard, a well known botanist of Peacham, 

 Vermont, was employed at the Census Office from 1890 until his 

 death in 1892 and did considerable local collecting. Many of 

 his specimens are in the National herbarium. 



At the beginning of this period or about November, 1890, 

 there was organized the Botanical Club of Washington, but for 

 unknown reasons it was short lived, the last meeting being held 

 April 7, 1892. No complete list of members exists, but the records 

 of the bi-monthly meetings^i refer to at least 39 members, in- 



20WARD, L. F. Glimpses of the Cosmos, 2:448-462. 1913. 

 2' The record book is now in the possession of Mr. L. H. Dewey, the last sec- 

 retary of the Club. 



