INTRODUCTION 



The first flora of Indiana was a "Catalogue of the phaenogamous and 

 vascular cryptogamous plants of Indiana" by the Editors 1 of the Botanical 

 Gazette and Prof. Charles R. Barnes, published in 1881. To this was 

 added a supplement in April, 1882. These listed 1,194 species native to 

 the state and 140 species that had been introduced. 



Stanley Coulter in 1897 compiled a list of Indiana plants by families 

 (Proc. Indiana Acad. Sci. 1897: 158-165. 1898). This list contains 124 

 families, 534 genera, and 1,369 species, an increase of only 35 species. 

 The names of the species are not given and the totals include both native 

 and introduced species. 



The second flora was "A Catalogue of the flowering plants, ferns, and 

 fern allies indigenous to Indiana" by Stanley Coulter, published in 1900. 

 He lists 1,765 species but this number includes both native and introduced 

 species and some erroneous reports. I have studied this catalogue and as 

 I interpret the species, the list should read 1,400 native species, 177 estab- 

 lished exotics, 34 not yet established, and 154 species to be excluded for 

 various reasons. It should be borne in mind that when this catalogue was 

 published the author was not able to verify reports as critically as has 

 been done in the present flora. At that time reports by recognized botan- 

 ists were accepted. It must be remembered that our early botanists did 

 not have access to large herbaria and had few books or perhaps only 

 one book to guide them in naming plants. 



Since the publication of these floras much work has been done in the 

 state by various botanists. Among the principal collectors the following 

 persons may be mentioned: Edna Banta, A. R. Bechtel, Chas. M. Ek, Ray 

 C. Friesner, Ralph M. Kriebel, Marcus Lyon, Jr., Scott McCoy, Madge 

 McKee, J. A. Nieuwland, J. E. Potzger, Paul Weatherwax, Winona Welch, 

 and T. G. Yuncker. 



Improved highways and the automobile have greatly facilitated collect- 

 ing. I have been collecting for 40 years. Since 1914 I have used an auto- 

 mobile, traveled over 125,000 miles, and collected in each of the 1,016 

 townships in Indiana. My accession numbers are now over 59,000. 



The plan of this flora is to include all the species native to Indiana, 

 although a few are now known only from herbarium specimens, and in- 

 troduced plants that are known to be established. Introduced plants that 

 have been reported as escapes without data concerning their establish- 

 ment are carried in an excluded list with all the data which I can assemble. 

 If one of the excluded species is later found to be established, the data 

 here recorded may be of service. In the excluded list are included also 

 species that are no longer regarded as segregates, species which have 

 been erroneously reported for the state, and those which do not have 

 sufficient data to warrant their inclusion. 



1 J. M. Coulter and Stanley Coulter. 



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