scientific names, Lawson does distinguish .species, mentioning 

 no less than ten oaks. Much curious information about native 

 and exotic trees gives a quaintness to the work without detract- 

 ing from its value as the first attempt to givi^ anything like a 

 complete list of the trees of South Carolina. Lawson states 

 in his introduction that he has treated the natural products of 

 South Carolina in the section relating to North Carolina, not 

 considering it necessary to make any division "since the prod- 

 uct of South and North Carolina is the same." Lawson 's 

 work marks a new period in the history of our native trees and 

 Lawson himself stands as our first botanist. 



MARK CATESBV 



Lawson 's contribution appears slight when conipared with 

 that of the illustrious traveler who followed him. Mark Cates- 

 by published in 1731 and 1743 the two folio volumes of his 

 Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, 

 a work treating of both flora and fauna, and illustrating in color 

 each species described. The color plates represent the first 

 attempt to illustrate the flora of South Carolina, and while 

 Catesby is too often careless about specifying the distribution 

 of his species, general deductions lead to the conclusion that a 

 large part of the trees are described from South Carolina. 

 Unfortunately, the descriptions are frequently inadequate and 

 unscientific, but the plates are fairly accurate and in spite of 

 certain conventionalities in drawing, as, for instance, the for- 

 mal method of depicting leaf veining, are generally unmistak- 

 able. They have proved of inestimable value to later students. 

 Linnaeus' reference to Catesby 's plate of the Water Oak, to 

 cite a single example, fixes the determination of his Quercus 

 nigra as referring to that species and not to the Black Jack 

 Oak {Q. marilandica Muenchh.). Catesby pictured the major- 



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