THE BOTANY OF HINGHAM. 



BY THOMAS T. BOUVE. 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 



In presenting to the public an account of the plants of Hing- 

 ham, the writer desires to express his great indebtedness to sev- 

 eral persons, without whoso aid the work of collecting specimens 

 and identifying them could not have been accomplished in the 

 short time allowed for its completion. Especially would he state 

 that without the active co-operation of his esteemed friend Mr. 

 Charles J. Sprague, many plants of our flora would undoubtedly 

 have remained unknown, and certainly no attempt would have been 

 made to include the Grasses or the Carices in the list of species. 

 He gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to the Misses Ellen 

 and Isabel Lincoln, by whose zeal and intelligent assistance a 

 considerable number of the plants enumerated were discovered 

 within the town limits, and to Mr. Fearing Burr, Mr. I. Wilbur 

 Lincoln, and Mr. Henry C. Cushiug also for valuable aid. 



It is to be regretted that the botanists of Hingham whose inves- 

 tigations preceded those of the writer, Mr. James S. Lewis, Mr. 

 Fearing Burr, and others, did not prepare and preserve herbaria 

 for their own study, and for the service of those who should follow 

 them. The Rev. John Lewis Russell was the only one who 

 appears to have preserved the plants he obtained ; but he made 

 such disposal of his collections, to different parties in distant 

 places, as to make it practically impossible to examine more than 

 a very few of the specimens found by him in Hingham. 



The list of plants as presented includes but very few that have 

 not been collected by the writer, or by those referred to who have 

 aided him. Those that have not come under his own eye and 

 study have been admitted on the high authority of the Rev. Mr. 

 Russell and Mr. Fearing Burr. Plants found in the immediate 

 neighboring towns, even but a few feet from the boundary line, 

 but not within it, have been rigorously excluded. 



Some reasons why many plants occurring in not far distant 

 localities find no home in Hingham, may be of interest to the 

 reader. Its climatic conditions, compared with those of other 

 towns, particularly those of the North Shore, will account for this 

 in a great degree. Cape Ann has the influence of the cold ocean 

 currents between the Gulf Stream and the land. Hingham, being 



