INTRODUCTION 



heart; thus an idler will make it the record of a 

 summer's wanderings and write in bits of verse and 

 prose that fit the subjects; the exact and botanical 

 soul can add descriptions, Bertillon measurements, 

 variations of nomenclature, drawings of parts to 

 heart's content: children will enjoy mounting the 

 flowers they find opposite their pictures. While 

 to the botanist it will be a most convenient field- 

 book, for at the end of the season his various jot- 

 tings will be found already classified and indexed. 



In arrangement, the excellent method inaugu- 

 rated by Mrs. Parsons, now customary in most non- 

 technical flower-books, has been followed here, that 

 of grouping the flowers according to color. With- 

 in the color-divisions the plants are arranged ac- 

 cording to their time of appearance. 



The nomenclature is that of the latest edition 

 of Gray's "Manual." The pronunciation is indi- 

 cated, since it sacrificed no space and may be a 

 convenience to children and those of us whose in- 

 stincts about the pronunciation of a botanical name 

 are not always infallible. 



The common names of plants are legion, of these, 

 the best known and most generally used are in 

 large type, the less important ones in small type and 

 they are given lest some reader look for a flower 

 under the alias by which he knows it, and missing 

 this should think his friend omitted in this "Who's 

 Who." 



