PREFACE. 



THE followins Catalogue was undertaken a number of years a^o— at a time when the works which 

 prcft'ssed to treat of the plants of this country were few in number, and those few far from being complete. 



Having experienced much difficulty from the want of satisfactory aids, when I began to investigate our 

 native vegetables, it very early occurred to me, that if the lovers of Botany throughout the United States 

 were to prepare and publish local Floras^ or Catalogues of the plants of their respective neighborhoods, — 

 carefully describing such as were little known, or had been entirely overlooked,— it would be the readiest 

 mode of obtaining the materials for that great desideratum, a complete American Flora. It was under 

 this impression that I began to collect the plants of this vicinity— with the intention of publishing a list of 

 them, in a form that should exhibit the views which I entertained respecting such local contributions. 



In pursuance of this plan, I v/as actually preparing the present catalogue for the press, when the appear- 

 ance of Mr. Pursh's valuable Flora induced me to pause, and revise my humble performance. The subse- 

 quent publication of Mr. Nuttall's e.xceilent work on the North American Genera, and, more especially, 

 of Dr. Barton's Flora Philadelphica,— which comprised the greater portion of the plants of this district,— 

 seemed to supersede the utility of my project; and I relinquished, for a time, all idea of printing. My at- 

 tention, however, to the subject of a local Flora, was not remitted; but, on the contrary, avaihng myself of 

 the assistance afforded by those recent works, (as well as by the admirable Sketch, of Mr. Elliott,) I pro- 

 secuted my investigations with renewed diligence. I had, moreover, the pleasure to communicate a taste 

 for botanical studies to several intelligent gentlemen of the vicinity, who materially aided me in my re- 

 searches,— and who have since embarked, with a laudable zeal, in a more extensive exploration of the 

 Natural History of this region. At the instance of those gentlemen— and with a hope that it might be 

 found somewhat useful, as a sort of Index to the Botany of tiie district,— and perhaps be instrumental in 

 inciting the youth of the County to prosecute such researches— I finally resolved to print a few copies. I 

 was the more readily induced to do so, from having on iny hands the accompanying engravings, which I 

 had procured for the work several years before. 



Such is, briefly, the history of the present catalogue. It has no pretensions to any thing more than a 

 faithful endeavor to present a view of the character and distribution of the phaenogamous plants of this vicin- 

 ity. Nevertheless, local and circumscribed as it is, and imperfect as I am sensible it must be,— I am wil- 

 ling to flatter myself that when its original design is considered, the cultivators of Botany, in the United 

 States, will be disposed to regard it with indulgent liberality. To them it is submitted as a mere coup 

 d'essai,— ihe first offering of an ardent admirer of the science, who would be happy to contribute his mite, 

 in any way, towards promoting a more intimate knowledge of American Plants. 



The plan of the work is that which I had originally adopted; e.xcept that I finally determined to annex to 

 the authority, cited for each genus and species, a very brief description, drawn from the best sources with- 

 in my reach,— and carefully compared, as far as practicable, with specimens before me. In this way I 

 thought I could render the catalogue more satisfactory, by giving the reader some clue to the characters of 

 the plants enumerated— and perhaps enable him to comprehend more distinctly what it was I intended, 

 where I have been mistaken. I have given a number of the %/io)ii/ms of late writers on American Plants, 

 with a view to the same object. I regret exceedingly that I did not possess the first volume of Dr. Tor- 

 rey 's excellent Flora, until it was too late to avail myself of the instruction it affords. In my estimation, it 

 gives the most clear and satisfactory account of the plants of this region, that has yet appeared, and had I 

 been so fortunate as to have obtained it in time> I should certainly have adopted, to a very great extent, 

 both its arrangement and nomenclature. Taken in conjunction with Mr. Elliott's sketch of the Botany of 

 the South, it will, when completed; laave but little to desire, as to the descriptions of the known plant'; of 

 the United States 



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