PREFACE. 



Tin-: purpose in issuing this volume at the present time is two- 

 fold: on the one hand, it is intended to stand for what is 

 known of the flora of the region under discussion ; and on 

 the other, by presenting these facts, to incite students of botany 

 to further observation. The publication of a list of species which 

 is still incomplete might be condemned were it not that this is 

 the first published list for the area covered. In studying the 

 flora of a particular section, one of the first needs of the botanist 

 is to know what has been done by others in his field, and, to him, 

 an incomplete list is far better than none. 



This work is part of a general plan for an extended study of 

 the flora about the headwaters of the Susquehanna river. There 

 is still much work to be done before our list will approach any- 

 thing like completeness, and the co()peration of all botanists in the 

 region is desired. It is intended to record all subsequent observa- 

 tions in a series of annual appendices to this volume, and addi- 

 tions and corrections will be gratefully received and proper credit 

 given. To this end, the author offers to identify any specimens 

 which may be sent to him at Binghamton. 



In the compilation of the list the fact has been developed that 

 nothing has been published on the flora of our region except a few 

 stray notes in various botanical journals. We have been fortunate, 

 however, in that several able botanists have made our territory 

 the scene of their labors at different times, and this list is based 

 largely upon their notes. Mr. Frederick V. Coville, Botanist of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, has made a very 

 careful examination of the botany of central Chenango county. 

 Dr. C. F. Millspaugh, now Curator of the Field Columbian Mu- 

 seum, Chicago, made many observations upon the flora in the 

 vicinity of Binghamton and Waverly during ten years' practice 

 of medicine in these places. It was in this region that most of 

 the plants figured in his "American Medicinal Plants" were stud- 

 ied and depicted. Mr. David F. Hoy, Registrar of Cornell Uni- 



