197 



" Range— The region over which a type spontaneously grows. 



" Locality— The approximate geographic position of an individual speci- 

 men. 



" Station— The spot upon which the specimen has been collected or 

 • observed. 



" Habitat — The character of the place in which a type occurs." 



To illustrate the use of these terms Mr. Coville takes Juncm cooperi and 

 the particular specimens of it collected under No. 204 of the report, tabu- 

 lating the data as follows : 



" Range, in the lower Sonoran zone from Vegas Wash, Nevada, westward 

 in California through the Amargosa valley, Death valley and Panamint 

 valley, and again at Borrego Springs in the Colorado desert. 



" Localitii, Death Valley, California. 



" Station, edge of salt marsh about 400 meters east of Bennett Wells, 

 Death Valley, California. 



" Habitat, densely alkaline moist soil, apparently only that containing 

 compounds of boracic acid." ^ 



I have given this extract in full for the purpose of showing what a com- 

 plete record is essential to the fullest knowledge of a flora, and also to em- 

 phasize the importance of " mass distribution " embraced under the head 

 range, a fact rarely given by untrained collectors. As this series of defi- 

 nitions proceeds from the office of the Government Botanist they may be 

 used in full assurance of their ready correlation. In the collection for the 

 purposes of the proposed biological survey then, collectors should as far 

 as possible, record in a concise and systematic manner, the following data : 

 1. Range, 2. Locality, 3. Station, 4. Habitat, 5. Local peculiarities, 6. 

 Name, if known, 7. Date, 8. Abundance. 



All notes should be kept in a note-book, the plant being known by a 

 serial number, and the name of the eollector. 



Serial numbers should be carried forward from season to season. Thus 

 if the last serial number of 1S93 was 378, the first number of 1894 should 

 be 379. Plants then are known by the number, the name of the collector 

 and the date, as " 21()2 Jones 1893." By this means plants are readily 

 identified wherever they may be distributed, and provision made for fu- 

 ture revision and correction. 



Should a special collecting trip be made, the following additional notes 

 should be recorded : 1. Itinerary, 2. Weather, daily, 3. Noteworthy plants 

 observed but not collected. 



