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= FOREWORD 
THIs BOOK is a selection of more than 600 of the more common wild 
flowers of Illinois. It has not been intended as a complete botanical 
record, either seasonally or geographically, but rather as a guide to 
the enjoyment of those flowers most frequently met in walks through 
our woods and fields. For that reason the descriptions are as non- 
technical as possible, and the less familiar botanical terms employed 
are explained in the introductory chapter. 
This way of presenting to the people of Illinois, and especially 
the youth, an ordered description of the state’s principal wild flowers 
originated in a manuscript acquired by the Natrurat History 
Survey in 1929. It was written by Dr. W. B. MacDougall, then 
assistant professor of botany in the University of IIlinois. 
Publication of the book was delayed until a suitable place for it 
could be found in the Survey series, and by the time of its allocation 
another and inclusive project had been undertaken which materially 
“ affected much of the original writing. This project was the Flora of 
Illinois, for the compilation of which Dr. Herman S. Pepoon of 
Y= Chicago was engaged. To sustain a more perfect agreement between 
the two texts, Dr. Pepoon was consulted on the preparation of this 
“wild flower collection, and to him fell the task of checking the new 
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information and revising the keys. In this manner about one 
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hundred sixty additional species were placed in the work, mostly as 
footnotes, and all the main descriptions were reworked to conform to 
the standard of information it was felt that each should supply. 
Without the assistance of several Illinois botanists the book 
could not have merited the confidence of its sponsors or the public 
to whom it is presented. Dr. MacDougall having removed from 
the state, it was found necessary to confer with other scientists. 
It is for this reason that authorship of the book is not ascribed to 
one writer, and that we record our thanks and appreciation of those 
friends who have contributed to this endeavor. 
~ Nomenclature, which follows the seventh edition of Gray’s 
=) Manual except for a few obligatory changes, has been certified by 
“Mr. Paul G. Standley of the Field Museum of Natural History, 
LN Chicago. Two sections in the introductory chapter have been 
‘prepared by men outside the Survey staff—the ecological material 
iN entitled “Plants in Their Homes,” page 2, by Dr. George D. Fuller, 
associate professor of botany in the University of Chicago, and the 
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