10 METASPERMAE OF THE MINNESOTA VALLEY. 



county and Mankato. With the addition of these, the total 

 number of locality -citations is not far from 6,000. 



Determination of ranges outside of Minnesota. Curiously 

 enough there is no work accessible to students of the Minne- 

 sota flora in which the complete range of Minnesota plants is 

 given. This can readily be excused in the case of fungal or 

 algal lists, for the ranges of many of these lower forms are 

 very insufficiently known and could scarcely be compiled with- 

 out great labor and uncertainty. In the case of the higher 

 seed-plants, the Metaspermae, there is less difficulty in obtain- 

 ing the intra- and extra- continental distribution, but in manuals, 

 floras and lists published in America it is common for the 

 range, outside of the area arbitrarily chosen, to meet with little 

 or no consideration. This is proper if the list is intended 

 only as an enumeration, but if it is meant to be serviceable to 

 students in any other way, it would seem scarcely out of place 

 to indicate in it the complete range of each species noted. In 

 no other way can the plants of a region be presented logically 

 to the student. This is especially true when the lists are based 

 upon unnatural districts of observation. In any case it seems 

 useful to know the general range. With this in view, the 

 writer has been at considerable pains to compile from the 

 original sources, as far as possible, the American and Old- 

 World distribution of all plants which are considered as native 

 to the Minnesota valley that is, all plants introduced within 

 its borders by agencies other than the activities of man. Cita- 

 tions of page and number are given of all authorities thus con- 

 sulted. The principal local floras of America have been indexed 

 and certain lists of the Old World, comprising some from both 

 Atlantic and Pacific regions, have been included in this tabula- 

 tion. Under each specific name citations of literature upon 

 which geographical range is based may be found, and reference 

 to such cited works will be sufficient in most cases to fill out 

 the detail of distribution which is suppressed for want of space. 



Citation of generic and family ranges. The genera and fami- 

 lies are handled in much the same way as the separate species 

 and varieties. Under each generic name is cited the principal 

 synonymy, excluding most pre Linnean names, and following 

 this a few standard compendia of genera or generic indices. It 

 is thus possible for the student to refer at will to the detailed 

 descriptions of genera found in the cited works, or very readily 

 to come into a knowledge of the literature concerning any 

 genus of his inquiry. The number of species referred to a 



