.APR 10 19!7 



THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. 



Vol. XI. OTTAWA, OCTOBER, 1897. No. 7. 



THE CRYPTOGAMIC FLORA OF OTTAWA. 



By Prof. John Macoun, M.A., F.L.S., F.R.S.C. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



For a number of years the writer has been collecting and studying 

 the Cryptogamic flora of Ottawa and the surrounding country, during 

 his holidays and in spare hours. At the present time his notes and 

 observations have accumulated to such an extent that he considers it 

 better to publish an incomplete list rather than wait until his excursions 

 could take in a wider area and mclude a larger number of species. 



Dr. James Fletcher, in ^^ Flora Ottawaensis" includes an area of 

 about 30 miles around Ottawa, and the writer purposes to cover 

 about the same radius, but owing to want of time and other causes, 

 only the district close to the city has been properly examined. It is 

 the writer's intention to continue this work and from time to time 

 publish the additions made by himself or others. The aim of the 

 writer has been to place in the herbarium of the National Museum a 

 complete set of all the species enumerated, but where possible a char- 

 acteristic specimen of each species has been laid aside so that should 

 the day ever come when the local flora of our city and its vicinity be 

 gathered into one herbarium the Cryptogams will be forthcoming. I 

 may then say that every species which appears in the following lists is 

 held in duplicate and can be seen and examined at any time by those 

 interested in the study of botany. 



My notes extend over many years,- as my first collections were 

 made in the autumn of 1883, and have continued up to the present 

 time. Owing to my absence from the city every summer, my collecting 

 is chiefly done m September and October, and hence many fungi that 

 are quite common around the city do not appear in the hsts. 'Musci 

 Hepaticse, and Lichens are more fully represented, but there are many 

 species yet to be detected when my excursions become more widely 

 extended. 



