128 



that many of the plants from Colorado so referred may rather 

 pertain to the mut. oinocarpa (cf Torreya, 1904, p. 58) of 5. 

 niicrobotrys. 



REVIEWS 



Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Connecticut* 



In the many contributions to the flora of restricted areas 

 one, of two fundamental ideals, must color the whole tone 

 of the work. One of these aims to present a list of all the 

 plants which are known to grow in the area treated and to out- 

 line the local distribution of them. Such a work is subjective, a 

 record of facts, and perhaps the only method that can safely be 

 pursued in a preliminary treatment. At its best it is little more 

 than a carefully prepared record of undigested and often indigest- 

 ible facts. 



Contrasted with this necessary but somewhat prosaic concept 

 is the local flora which aims in some measure to account for the 

 distribution of the plants in the area treated. A work of this char- 

 acter must digest the records of previous workers, or else begin 

 the accumulation of new ones, and from this point onwards its 

 aims are objective. It is not merely a record of facts but a pro- 

 jector of ideas. It does not confine itself to recording the occur- 

 rence of such a plant at such a place, but seeks to unfold the 

 reason of its occurrence at that place and its non-occurrence else- 

 where. That in most cases the attempt is an approximation to 

 failure proves nothing, except the desirability of attempting a work, 

 the failure of which postulates a vastly greater contribution to our 

 knowledge of plants, than is conc-eivable in the most successful 

 works of the old order. 



It must be a matter of regret to those interested in local flora 

 work hereabouts, that the recently issued, catalog of Connect- 

 icut plants must undeniably be placed under the first of these cat- 



* Catalogue of the flowering plants and ferns of Connecticut growing without culti- 

 vation. Prepared by a committee of the Connecticut Botanical Club. Published as 

 Bull. 14. Conn. Geol. and Nat. Hist. Survey. 1-569 pp. Hartford. 1910. 



