INTRODUCTION 



The present paper constitutes a working flora for the high Sierra 

 Nevada of California. It has been the intent of the author to present 

 a list of all the plants now found within the higher portions of the 

 Sierra with suitable keys for their detennination. The reference to 

 each species or varietr includes the authoritr for the accepted name 

 and reference to the place of publication together with a synonomr. 

 There has been no effort to make the synonomy exhaustively inclusive, 

 only those synonyms being listed which, in the writer's opinion, are 

 apt to be met in the usually available literature and confused with 

 the accepted name. Each specific or varietal reference in the list 

 also includes the ''type locality" where the plant was collected from 

 which the original description was drawn; a statement as to the 

 geographical range of the plant and one concerning its zonal position 

 in the Sierra. The citation of all specimens examined by the writer 

 has not been thought necessary; only those specimens are included 

 which are believed to have some significance in showing the range of 

 the plant within the limits of the Sierran region or to which attention 

 is directed in the notes subjoined to many of the references. Prefixed 

 to the Annotated List will be found sections descriptive of the geology, 

 topography, and climatology' of the range. 



A few words should be added concerning the inception of the study 

 now in part completed and acknowledgment made of assistance 

 received from numerous friends. My interest in the plants of the 

 Sierran region goes back to the time when, for a number of years, I 

 lived the greater part of each year near the line separating the great 

 forest belt from the higher mountains and found opportunity from 

 time to time to make excursions into the summit region. Subsequently 

 while a student at Stanford University and Assistant in the Dudley 

 Herbarium, it fell to me to work over the collections made by the late 

 Professor W. E. Dudley preparatory to their incorporation into the 

 Herbarium. Dr. L. E. Abrams suggested the possibility of using these 

 collections as a basis for an extended study of the high mountain floras 

 of the state. The work then begun required the examination of other 



