PREFACE 



THIS little work on the flowers and native plants of 

 Central Canada is offered to the Canadian public .with the 

 hope that it may prove a means of awakening a love for the 

 natural productions of the country, and a desire to acquire 

 more knowledge of its resources. It is not a book for the 

 learned. The aim of the writer is simply to show the real 

 pleasure that may be obtained from a habit of observing 

 what is offered to the eye of the traveller, whether by the 

 wayside path, among the trees of the forest, in the fields, or 

 on the shores of lake and river. Even to know the common 

 name of a flower or fern is something added to our stock of 

 knowledge, and inclines us to wish to know something beyond 

 the mere name. Curiosity is awakened, and from this first 

 step we go on to seek for higher knowledge, which may be 

 found in works of a class far above what the writer of the 

 present book can aspire to offer to the reader. The writer- 

 has adopted a familiar style in her descriptions of the plants,., 

 thinking it might prove more useful and interesting to the 

 general reader, especially to the young, and thus find a placer 

 on the book-shelves of many who would only regard it for 

 the sake of its being a pretty, attractive volume, on account 

 of the illustrations. These, indeed, are contributed by the 

 pencil of a gifted and accomplished lady, Mrs. Agnes 



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