Preface 



The project of an accurate and authoritative catalogue of all 

 the plants known to grow without cultivation in Connecticut 

 originated among several enthusiastic botanists who understood 

 the value of records founded upon careful study of the flora in 

 the field as well as in the herbarium. To arouse the wadest 

 possible interest in the undertaking the Connecticut Botanical 

 Society was organized in January, 1903, for the chief purpose of 

 accumulating and recording this knowledge, and committees 

 were appointed to gather and collate all available data bearing 

 upon this particular line of research. 



The labor of this never-ending investigation had barely begun 

 when the State Geological and Natural History Survey was 

 authorized. Upon the organization of this Survey its superin- 

 tendent, Prof. William North Rice, sought the cooperation of 

 this Society to report upon the flora. It was realized then as 

 now that the very nature of the subject would require many years 

 of careful study to arrive at an approximately exact knowledge 

 of the distribution of our plants, since parts of the state were little 

 known botanically, while even those areas most carefully worked 

 over furnished frequent surprises. 



That the present work is incomplete goes without saying. A 

 work of this character must always be incomplete if for no other 

 reasons than the advent or naturalization, from time to time, of 

 unexpected species, or the hybridization or artificial segregation 

 of some already known. But the opportunity to disseminate 

 existing information is very acceptable at this time, inasmuch as 

 the many evident deficiencies may thus be made apparent to those 

 who can add to our knowledge. 



The present volume, treating of the ferns, fern-allies and 

 flowering plants, is intended to include only such species, varieties 

 and named forms as have been critically examined by at least 

 one of the compilers, and which are represented by authentic 



