REVIEWS 123 



our knowledge of plant distribution" in that state. Of these, only two are 

 really comprehensive, with maps showing the known distribution of each 

 species by counties within the state. Some of our states, like Florida and Idaho, 

 have never had even an attempt at a state flora published ; others have state 

 floras which are so hopelessly out-of-date as to be practically worthless {e.g., 

 Kentucky, published in 1853 ; Louisiana, 1852 ; Massachusetts, 1835 ; South 

 Carolina, 1816-1824). The only work on Illinois previous to this which might 

 have any claim to the title of a state flora was Patterson's "Catalogue," pub- 

 lished in 1876, 2 and consisting of a mere annotated list of 54 pages. 



While Dr. Jones' book is based merely on field studies of the past five years 

 and on herbarium specimens deposited mainly in the herbarium of the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois, it is an excellent piece of work and fills a gap in botanical 

 literature. As the author himself states "it is hoped that the present study may 

 serve to stimulate further interest in the local flora." The book will surely 

 serve as a solid foundation on which Dr. Jones and others can later build a 

 more comprehensive flora, in the fashion of Deam's work on Indiana, 8 based on 

 much more field work and the examination of the material in many more of 

 the world's important herbaria, with the distribution of each species indicated 

 by counties on outline maps. In this connection one paragraph from Jones' 

 introduction is well worth repeating here and deserves to be pondered by 

 American taxonomists : "Although it is now almost a century and a half since 

 the first botanical explorers visited Illinois, our knowledge of the botany of 

 this region is far from complete. In a few areas fairly adequate botanical col- 

 lections have been made, but more than half of the 102 counties of Illinois, 

 according to the records at present, are almost wholly unexplored botanically. 

 The distribution of the 'lower plants' of Illinois is comparatively unknown, 

 and we lack even a check-list of the algae, fungi, and bryophytes. Obviously, 

 much work remains to be done on the botany of Illinois." 



Jones' book gives no detailed descriptions of the families, genera, or species 

 treated, as most standard floras do, nor are there any illustrations of the 

 plants, nor any specific distributional maps. Instead, the book is arranged in 

 the form of a gigantic key, through which the student may carry his plant 

 specimen and eventually arrive at the correct name. This key divides the vas- 

 cular plants into two groups: (1) Seed Plants and (2) Ferns and Fern-allies. 

 The Seed Plants are divided into: (a) herbaceous plants and (b) woody 

 plants. These, in turn, are divided into 18 sections with easily-observed charac- 

 ters like "herbs with compound leaves," "grass-like plants," etc. Each of 

 these sections contains one or more families. There follow keys to the genera 



1 Blake, S. F. State floras of the United States. Chron. Bot. 7: 258-261. 1942. 



2 Patterson, H. N. Catalogue of the phaenogamous and vascular cryptogamous plants 

 of Illinois, native and introduced. 1-54. 1876. 



3 Deam, C. C. Flora of Indiana. 1-1236, 2250 maps. 1940. 



