igoi] The Ottawa Flora, 



20I 



THE OTTAWA FLORA. 



In working up the flora of Ottawa the writer has been much 

 impressed with the narrow limits ascribed to some species, and the 

 few locaHties that have been even cursorily examined. The inten- 

 tion of this note is to encourage beginners and show how much is 

 yet to be done in this vicinity. 



The herbaria of those who worked in past years show that 

 most of their work was done in the seventies. Mr. R. B. Whyte 

 did his work chiefly in 1875, 76, 77, 78 and 79. Dr. H. M. Ami 

 in 1879, Dr. James Fletcher chiefly in 1878 and 1879, though he 

 has been doing active botanical work ever since. My own work 

 and that of my son, J. M. Macoun, commenced in 1883 and has 

 been continued ever since. Mr. William Scott, Head Master of 

 Toronto Normal School, did a great deal of good work from 1891 

 up to the time he leit for Toronto. I'he above names are given 

 because the collections made by each of them may still be studied. 

 Each collector had apparently his own "beat." 



Mr. R. B. Whyte, first in the field, did most of his collecting 



on the east of the city, but the Gatineau river, Hull, Beechwood, 



and the Bank street road on the Glebe property, were his chief 



hunting grounds. Dr. Fletcher made his earliest collections in 



old Stewarton and the vicinity of Billings' Bridge. Later the 



writer collected in the Beaver Meadow beyond Hull, and the above 



with Dow's Swamp, Rockliff'e Park and Beechwood are the only 



localities which have been exhaustively examined by him around 

 the city. 



Dr. Fletcher, in his Flora Ottaivaensis, intended to include a 

 radius of 30 miles from Ottawa, but outside of five miles from the 

 city scarcely anything has been done. The only points we have 

 specimens from are Eastman's Springs, Casselman, South Indian, 

 Carleton Place, Stittsville, Aylmer, Chelsea, King's Mountain, 

 Kirk's Ferry, Templeton and Buckingham. 



Since the building of electric roads and the multiplication of 

 railways there is no difficulty now in getting about, and the writer 

 makes an earnest appeal to the members of the Ottawa Field- 

 Naturalists' Club to commence active work in all branches in 

 the spring, and he can assure them that in no branch is the 

 field exhausted. 



John Macoun. 



Nov, 30th, 190 1. 



