214 Statistics of the Flora of the Northern Siates. 
and Middle States, north of Virginia, 1833, although the elements 
are - aeueaninaes different and the ten largest orders are not the 
same througho 
Moreover, our ten predominant rom as not properly cor- 
respond with the ten mentioned by D dolle as generally pre- 
dominant in the temperate regions of the baat pine ere: 
viz. “ of os first rank, Composite, Graminee, Cyperacea, Legu- 
n the Crucifere, Umbellifere, auch Ctaasieilice —_ 
minose ; 
then, Pata less decidedly, the Labiate, Rosacea, and Scro 
lariacee.+ Nor would they do so if, by dividing the Hricacee 
into smaller ones, we were to exclude that fami y from the list 
of those (eleven in number) which severally comprise not 
than two per cent of our phzenogamous species. ‘I 
 Sageaepes families accord indeed with De Candolle’s conclu: 
sion, only the Cyperacee with us are remarkable for surpassing 
the Dramas But the next three in our list are quite differ- 
ent, even if we omit Hricacee, being Rosacee, Scrophulariacee, and 
Orchidace eo all three of De a secon rank fall be- © 
low firs and one of them ryophy 
would “fall still til if it were not str by the Hlecebrti 
so — regarded as a distinct family. 
easy to see that these differences are owing to the unusual 
shies of our ee in Cyperacee (chiefly in Curves), and to our — 
. 
* The schedule drawn from Beck’s = is ag follows : 
265 
prema 
sae 169 
races, 157 i 
Homie sace, 97 
Amentacee, 94 | =1066 species out of 2125 rin ne 
Leguminose, 80 plants. . 
iate, 59 
Ranunculaces, 50 
Scrophulariaceze, 48 
Orchidacee, 47 J 
The differences are readily to be accounted for. 1. The Ri cee mo of Amentacet 
in this list for Hricacee in the other, results from the form order having — 
ing fi 
r of Carices, in which the Northern United States are absolutely bat rich ; which 
increase has resulted 
ulted from the remarkable attention and repeated = ration tit 
genus has received sinee Saga time, from several hands, and perba 5 also fro 
a minuter discrimination of the species than in other families. 3. The order Rosace@ 
te imes as ma’ duced 
ne rs We 
proper poten of most of these orders, and swells the number of the Phanoga- 
which strangely takes precedence of the Leguminose, is unduly expanded a e 
pease nts to 2125, while we count only 2091 truly indigenous — within a0 
Foaialt larger and now ag og ee known. 
Me: Alph. De Candolle: Geogr. Bot., p. 1 
