4 SYLVAN ONTARIO. 



the district may be seen and studied. The collection and care of such 

 specimens has made, necessary an accurate knowledge of their features, 

 and the method employed in introducing them to successive classes has- 

 helped to make possible the preparation of this hand-book. 



A few words may be added by way of introduction to our learned 

 friends and the expert botanists. Although this work is intended mainly 

 for beginners, it is hoped that it may prove suggestive to more mature 

 students and help to stimulate a more lively interest in our Forest Flora, 

 which is often little understood even among ardent collectors. It is be- 

 lieved that the method employed may fairly claim to be original. Certain 

 American authors, notably Apgar and Newhall, have approached the sub- 

 ject in a somewhat similar way, but the analysis of the latter guides us 

 scarcely farther than to the natural order, while that of the former de- 

 pends very largely on flower and fruit and stops at the genus, which is 

 often only the beginning of difficulty. 



For the facts of distribution, especially in the south-western part of 

 the Province, Macoun's Catalogue has been chiefly relied upon, and the 

 nomenclature employed is in most cases that with which our students are 

 familiar. The drawings have been made by the author, and, in nearly all 

 cases, from typical natural leaves. The accompanying fractions indicate 

 the size as compared with the actual leaves, and the numbers correspond 

 with those of the Leaf Index and the succeeding pages. In the notes on 

 the various species special references are in some cases made to the Silva 

 of Muskoka, with which the author is naturally most familiar. This has. 

 seemed fitting from the fact that this interesting district has apparently 

 not received from botanists the attention which it deserves. Much care 

 has been taken to ensure correctness in description and habitat, and 

 observers everywhere are requested to make known the errors and omis- 

 sions brought to light by their investigations. From the similarity of 

 the floras in neighboring Provinces and States it is hoped that the useful- 

 ness of this manual will not be confined to the territory for which it has 

 been prepared, especially since blank pages have been added for the use 

 of students in noting further species or other items of interest. 



Finally, let it -be kept always in mind that this is but an Index to one 

 page in the infinite Book of Nature. Taken by itself it may prove as 

 interesting as is usual with an index or a dictionary. When read in con- 

 nection with the living things which it introduces there is reason to hope 

 that it may happily combine instruction with recreation in a way not 

 without interest to the thoughtful reader. 



GRAVENHURST, May, 1901. 



