$2 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



VI 



_ ' REPORTrOF THE STATE BOTANIST 



Scientific investigations. The investigations of the State Botanist 

 during 19 1 8 have been largely directed toward the completion of 

 a catalog of the flora of the State. 



Among the early catalogs of the State flora, perhaps the first is 

 that by Jacob Green, published at Albany in the Transactions of 

 the Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts, volume 5, 1814. It 

 was followed in 1837 by Torrey's Catalogue of the Plants of the 

 State, revised in 1840. Torrey's work culminated in the publication 

 in 1843 of the well-known Flora of New York (Nattiral History of 

 New York) in two voltmies, and it was supplemented by a revised 

 catalog in 1849 and 1866. Since then our knowledge of the flora 

 of the State has developed greatly and rapidly, but the results of 

 this advance are, for the most part, scattered through the pages 

 of many different publications. The annual reports of the State 

 Botanist from 1869 to date have been the repository of much of the 

 information regarding new additions and new knowledge of the 

 vegetation of the State. Numerous botanical periodicals which 

 have come into existence during the past thirty-five or forty years 

 also contain a large amount of scattered information relative to our 

 flora. 



Space does not permit the enumeration of the many local floras. 

 A complete bibliography of the botany of the State published in 

 Musetim Bulletin 188 covers this phase. 



These sotirces of information, together with the several large 

 herbaria which contain extensive collections of the plants of the 

 State, serve as the foundation of this catalog which will appear as 

 a separate publication. 



Identifications. The number of specimens identified by this office 

 during the year is 380, and the mmiber of persons for whom these 

 identifications were made is 102. This includes identification of 

 poisonous and edible mushrooms, diseased plant material, woods, 

 seeds, ferns and flowering plants. 



Additions to the herbarium. The number of specimens of New 

 York State species which have been added to the herbarium from 

 current collections during the year is 360; from the contributions 

 462, a total of 822 specimens. Of these a large n\miber are new 

 to the herbarium. 



Collections were made by the State Botanist in the following 

 counties: Albany, Genesee, Herkimer, Madison, Monroe, Oneida, 



