PREFACE. ni 



plants found near Troy by the late Mr. H. H. Eaton. Silliman's Journal contains descrip- 

 tions of New- York plants by Mr. David Thomas, Prof. Dewey and others. In the Reports 

 of the Regents of the University are several local catalogues of plants, which are useful 

 in giving the geographical range of many species. Some of the most important of these 

 lists are the following : Rare plants detected in Westchester County, by Samuel B. Mead, 

 M. D., published in the Report for 1830; List of indigenous plants growing in the vicinity 

 of Kinderhook, by W. V. S. Woodworth, to be found in the Report of 1840 ; Plants 

 growing near Aurora, Cayuga County, by Alexander Thompson, M. D., printed in the 

 Report of 1841 ; Catalogue of plants in and about the city of Rochester, with their times 

 of flowering for 1841, in the Report of 1842. In the same report is a very full and accu- 

 rate catalogue of the plants of Oneida County, by P. D. Knieskern, M. D. In the Report 

 of the following year is a Botanical Calendar for the year 1842, by Prof. Dewey. The 

 Annals of the New-York Lyceum contain an excellent paper by Dr. Gray, on some rare 

 plants of the northern and western counties, besides other articles in which New- York 

 plants are described or noticed by Dr. Gray and myself. 



Lastly I may be allowed to notice the Flora of North America, by Dr. Gray and myself, 

 not only because it is published in New-York, but also as containing the results (as far as 

 the work extends) of our numerous observations on the plants of this State. 



There are few regions north of Virginia, possessed of greater interest to the botanist, 

 than the State of New-York. The geographical range of plants being limited by the 

 characters of the soil and rocks as well as by temperature, and the geological features of 

 the State being greatly diversified, our Flora embraces nearly as many species as the whole 

 of New-England. The able geologists of the Survey have fully described the physical 

 characters of the surface, so that I may omit such details here. For botanical purposes, it 

 is sufficient to divide the State into four Floral Districts, which nearly correspond with the 

 Zoological Regions of Dr. Dekay. With the exception of the first, they cannot be very 

 accurately circumscribed. 



1. The Atlantic Region. This consists of Long Island alone ; for although Staten 

 Island, as well as the Island of New- York and a part of Westchester, are within the limits 

 of salt water, they belong, botanically considered, to the Second Region. Besides numerous 

 maritime plants, Long Island affords many species that are found in no other part of the 

 State. Some of these characteristic plants are the following, viz : Clematis ochroleuca, 

 Polygala lutea,* Hudsonia ericoides, Drosera filiformis, Ascyrum stans, Jlrenaria squarrosa, 

 Clitoria Mariana., Eupatorium leucolepis, E. rotundifolium ^ aromaticum, Aster spectabilis, 

 Chrysopsis falcata, Coreopsis rosea, Lobelia J^uttallii, Euphorbia Ipecacuanha, Eleocharis 

 tuberculosa, and Panicum verrucosum. Most of these plants are also characteristic of the 

 great tertiary region of the United States, particularly of that portion of it which embraces 

 the pine barrens of New-Jersey. 



• See Appendix. 

 B* 



