PREFACE. 



The first edition of this book was prepared for the press during the evenings and Satur- 

 days of the month of January, 1879. The hope that an abler hand would undertake the 

 task deferred the beginning, and the needs of a class of over five hundred pupils hastened 

 the completion of a work that would have been more slowly elaborated had the reputa- 

 tion of the author been the only consideration. The errors incident to such rapid work 

 were as far as possible corrected the following year, in a second edition, which was pre- 

 faced as follows: 



"I have endeavored to prepare an inexpensive manual which will enable beginners in 

 botany to determine the names of all plants with conspicuous flowers that may be found 

 growing wild in the Central Valley of California from Visalia to Marysville, and through 

 the Coast Ranges from Monterey to Ukiah. Over six hundred species of plants are 

 characterized by descriptions condensed, for the most part, from Vol. I of the 'California 

 Botany,' and Sereno Watson's 'Revision of the North American Liliacese.' Valuable 

 material has also been obtained from a 'Revision of the Eriogone^e,' by Torrey & Gray, 

 Gray's 'Synoptical Flora of Xorth America,' and 'Gray's Manual of Botany.' 



"Plants belonging to the Parsnip, Aster, Willow, Oak, and Pine Families, are not de- 

 scribed, being mostly too difficult for beginners, or of little interest to them. The Intro- 

 ductory Lessons are designed to show the learner how to study the growth of plants, aa 

 well as to give such knowledge of their structure as will enable him to understand the 

 descriptions in the Flora. The 'Glossary of Generic and Specific Names ' will enable the 

 student to make appropriate common names for most plants. 



"To the authors whose works have furnished the materials for this book is due the 

 credit for whatever of excellence it may possess; to the compiler, who may, in a few 

 cases, have misrepresented these authors, attaches the blame for most of its defects. 



"I am indebted for suggestions and criticisms to Prof. E. W.Hilgard, Dr. C. L. Ander- 

 son, Prof. W. H. Brewer and Dr. Asa Gray. To the latter I am especially grateful for 

 his kind interest in uiy humble work. " 



One third of the second edition was new matter, and only about half of the book in its 

 present form is printed from the stereotype plates of the first edition. The newer half 

 of the work, although necessarily partaking somewhat of the nature of patchwork, is as 

 good as I can make it. My drawings upon wood have been faithfully engraved, and, 

 though claiming no artistic merit, will, I trust, prove helpful to the learner. With few 

 exceptions — always noted in the text — the plants, or parts of plants, are represented of 

 the natural size. Besides the more obvious improvements, an entirely new Analytical 

 Key replaces the old one; and our most common oaks are described. 



