54 



points without unduly duplicating what has been said about it 

 already. 



This book is doubtless based on more thorough work than any 

 other state flora ever published. The author has lived in Indiana 

 all his life, and has been studying the flora of the state for over 

 forty years, and he began publishing notes on it in 1904. (He has 

 also traveled and collected in several other states, and in Central 

 America.) He had previously published books on the trees, shrubs 

 and grasses of Indiana, some of them in two or more editions ; 

 and in a long bibliography at the end of the present volume 34 of 

 the titles, or about 5% of the total, are by him. Good roads and 

 automobiles, although they have expedited the destruction of natural 

 vegetation in recent years, have enabled Mr. Deam to visit every 

 township in the state ; something that probably no botanist has 

 done in any other state. 



Accuracy in identification has been his constant aim, and the 

 aid of several specialists has been enlisted to that end ; but of course 

 there will always be some doubtful cases, on account of intermediate 

 or imperfect specimens, differences of opinion, or even perhaps 

 recent mutations in the plants themselves. 



In nomenclature the work is very up-to-date. Apparently all 

 recent revisions involving Indiana plants have been taken advan- 

 tage of, some as late as 1940 being cited in footnotes. Changes since 

 the latest manuals available have been surprisingly numerous, and 

 a great many of the names used will be unfamiliar to readers who 

 have not kept up with recent developments as closely as Mr. Deam 

 has. Nearly 22% of the species (not counting varieties and forms) 

 in his catalogue bear names different from those used in Robinson 

 & Fernald's Manual of 1908. Some of these innovations are re- 

 cently discovered or recently introduced species, some are changes 

 in classification due to increasing knowledge, and some are due 

 to differences of opinion as to generic or specific limits, or new 

 nomenclatorial rules. And Mr. Deam has done very little of the 

 changing himself, but has accepted the judgment of other workers if 

 after carefully weighing the evidence he believed it to be valid. A 

 list of new names appearing for the first time in this book (p. 1112) 

 includes only 17 cases, and those mostly varieties. In his treatment 

 of families and genera he has been very conservative, following 

 Robinson & Fernald's Manual pretty closely. 



