Notices on the Floras of Cincinnati. 239 



NOTICES OF THE FLORAS OF CINCINNATI, PUB- 

 LISHED FHOM 1815 TO 1879, WITH SOME ADDITIONS 

 AND CORRECTIONS TO THE CATALOGUE OF JOSEPH 

 F. JAMES. 



B}^ Davis L. James. 



During the past sixt3^-five 3'ears, four floras of Cincinnati have been 

 published. It is proposed to give some account of these, noting their 

 especial features and extent, atthe.sanae time noticing some lists of 

 more general scope, which are of value to the local botanist. To give 

 an account of the botanists of early times in the west, though it 

 would probably be of interest, would exceed the limits of our subject, 

 and for the present, we will confine ourselves to the limits above stated. 



The first attempt toward a list of the plants growing in the immedi- 

 ate vicinity of Cincinnati, was published by Dr. Daniel Drake,, in his 

 Picture of Cincinnati, in the year 1815.* This list, alphabetically^ 

 arranged, comprises 99 species, belonging to 59 genera, beside Several 

 species and varieties of Prunus, Crataegus, Juglans, and Smilax men- 

 tioned without specific names. There is in addition a list of 35 species 

 useful in medicine, and not included in the previous list, and a long 

 note on ^sculus maxima, a large form of M. glabra, but regarded by 

 Dr. Drake as distinct. Some notes on the economic value of native 

 plants, with a Floral Calendar, complete the notice of the botany of 

 the Miami valleys. 



In 1835, Dr. J. L. Riddell published a synopsis of the plants of 

 Ohio, and supplemented it by a list of additions, which, as stated on 

 the title, was read March 16, 1836, before the Western Academy of 

 Natural Sciences. These lists were published in the Western 

 Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences,! and re-issued in 

 pamphlet form. This flora has very full notes of localities and habi- 

 tats, and a flora of Cincinnati could be compiled from it. It was in- 

 tended as a catalogue of the plants of the whole State, and, therefore, 

 is not included in our enumeration. The same remark applies to Dr. 

 Short's Catalogue of the Plants of Kentucky, printed in 1833, J two 

 years before Riddell' s. 



=■■ Natural and Statistical View, or Picture of Cincinnati, and the Miami country. Illus- 

 trated by Maps, by Daniel Drake. Cincinnati, 1815, pages 76, 90. 



t Volumes 8, 9 — 1834-5 The reprints are not obtainable. 



X Transylvania Journal of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky. The catalogue will be found 

 in volume 6th, and supplements in subsequent volumes. 



