PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 



In 1885, in attempting to make a complete list of the flowering plants 

 of the State of Connecticut, the author entered on an untrodden field. 

 "While the catalogue then produced was necessarily very imperfect 

 it is hoped that it was not entirely without use. In 1896, the earlier 

 edition having been exhausted, and much new material having been 

 collected through the enthusiastic work of systematic botanists, both 

 professional and amateur, it was deemed advisable to publish a second 

 edition. Two years later a supplement including numerous additions 

 and corrections was issued. 



Again many new facts regarding the flora of our state have accumu- 

 lated, and there is, furthermore, an added reason for once more revising 

 the catalogue since it is desirable to present the families in the new and 

 more philosophical order, used by Engler & Prantl in their ' ' Natiirliche 

 Pflanzenfamilien " and now being generally adopted. 



In the present unsettled state of nomenclature among botanists a 

 satisfactory selection of plant names is a matter of great difficulty. 



For efficient assistance in this part of his work the author is indebted 

 to the kindness of Messrs. B. L. Robinson and M. L. Fernald of the 

 Gray Herbarium of Harvard University. 



In the use of such adjectives as " common," " frequent," " rare," etc., 

 the personal equation enters to a considerable extent. However, after 

 an experience of thirty-five years in botanizing over large areas in the 

 state and in later years receiving assistance from nearly a hundred cor- 

 respondents, the author is inclined to regard as common only those plants 

 which occur in large quantities on considerable tracts throughout the 

 greater part of the state. As correspondents are apt to consider even a 

 rare plant as common if it chances to be locally abundant in their particu- 

 lar region, it has seemed best to determine the relative abundance or 

 scarcity of particular species by applying a decimal scale to their 

 frequency over the whole state. 



In addition to previous acknowledgments of assistance the author is 

 newly indebted to Charles B. Graves, M.D., of New London, E. H. 

 Eames, M.D., of Bridgeport, Mr. A. W. Driggs of East Hartford, Mrs. 

 Elisha E. Rogers of Norwich, Mr. E. B. Harger of Oxford, and Mr. 

 Luman Andrews of Southington, for accurate and very complete lists of 

 plants of their respective regions; also to many notes of new and rare 

 plants in Rkodora, the eminently scholarly journal of the New England 

 Botanical Club. 



To render due acknowledgment to all the correspondents who have 

 contributed to the value of the catalogue would necessitate more space 

 than can be allotted in this preface, but their names will be found 

 throughout the following pages. 



It is again necessary to request the users of this list to furnish such 

 additional information or corrections as may from time to time be noted 

 by them. 



Plainville, April i, 1900. 



