PREFACE. V 



botanists all over the country, who have furnished specimens of plants 



from their various localities with the greatest readiness. The author 



must, for the present, content himself with this general expression 



of his gratitude, as the list of names to be mentioned is altogether 



too long for insertion in this place, and as due credit will be given 



in the text in each individual case. But justice and gratitude both 



demand that a special acknowledgment should be made, even here, of 



the many favors received at the hands of the authorities of the Botanical 



Garden at Cambridge. The unrivalled facilities of this institution have 



been extended to the writer, and to all those associated with him in the 



preparation of this work, with an unfailing courtesy, for which it seems 



almost impossible to return adequate thanks in words. 



It only remains that the author should say a word in regard to his own 



share in the undertaking. As already stated, the present work is not 



exclusively botanical in its character, but is intended to be a contribution 



to general intelligence. American botanists have done their task so well, 



that there is scarcely room for even an illustrated work with botanical 



aims alone. Indeed, but for the labors of Professor Gray, Professor 



Wood, Dr. Chapman, Mr. Sereno Watson, and other botanists still living, 



and of the many who have gone before, the work could not have been 



undertaken at all. The author's task, therefore, has been chiefly to 



point out the lessons which their labors teach. They have sown the 



seed, — he shows how to gather the crop. He may not have told all 



that might have been said ; but he believes enough has been brought 



together to lend fresh interest to the even more than twice-told tale of 



our native flowers. 



THOMAS MEEHAN. 



Germantown, Philadelphia, May, 1878. 



