23 



work of this kind, one is forced to conclude that its value is never 

 going to be fully appreciated by beginners. 



In the case of the indigenous species, it is to be regretted that 

 the authors have selected as their southern boundary a barrier 

 so easily crossed as the Calapooia Range. Experience shows 

 that the species which have been regarded as distinctively Cali- 

 fornian are pressing steadily northward, and in many cases have 

 been reported far within the limits of this manual. No hard and 

 fast geographical line of this sort can ever be drawn, and the 

 attempt to do so only confuses and misleads the beginner. In 

 the same way, species that have been considered as belonging to 

 the flora of the interior are continually being transported down 

 the Columbia, and even travelling over the lower summits of the 

 Cascades. To say that these species are only recent introduc- 

 tions, and do not belong ecologically to this district, is only to 

 beg the question. How can we show that they have not been 

 here as long as the species which are more characteristic? The 

 desert plants growing on the gravelly prairies about Salem are 

 just as integral a part of the local flora as any typical w^est-coast 

 forms. 



The fact remains that the number of trained observers here in 

 Oregon is all too few to keep pace with the exuberant invasion 

 of foreign species. A few notes based on my own collections 

 during the past three seasons may serve to show that we cannot 

 accept the Flora of the Northwest Coast as final — which its dis- 

 tinguished authors would be the last to claim. 



The following list is not intended to be exhaustive. I am sure 

 that other collectors in this field, notably Mr. M. W. Gorman, of 

 Portland, and Professor M. E. Peck, of Willamette University, 

 will be able to add many names to this enumeration. It is 

 simply a record of plants that I have myself collected, and that 

 have in most cases been submitted to Professor Piper himself for 

 identification. In the case of the grasses I am under obligation 

 to Mrs. Agnes Chase, of the Bureau of Plant Industry at Wash- 

 ington, D. C, for her kindness in determining my specimens. 

 Mr. Kenneth K. Mackenzie, of New York City, has been good 

 enough to verify the sedges. Some of the rarer introduced plants 



