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PREFACE 



The object of this little volume is to bring within 

 reach of those who have not access to the earlier works 

 on our flora, the most important facts relating to the bot- 

 any of Maryland and Virginia. This is perhaps best ac- 

 complished by the reprinting of old records, as the reader 

 will thus obtain an objective view of the works of the 

 pioneers. 



Jacques Philippe Cornut's Historia Plantarum Ca- 

 nadensitim , published in Paris, 1635, is undoubtedly one 

 of the earliest records of North American plants. This 

 work contains descriptions and illustrations of many spe- 

 cies the geographical ranges of which include not only 

 Ne-zv France but also New England and the territory 

 southward to Virginia and the Carolinas. Of the nu- 

 merous species described whose identity has been estab- 

 lished beyond any possible doubt, we may cite Filix bac- 

 cifera (JF. bulb if era), found occasionally in our region, 

 and Adiantmn americanu?7t (A. fiedatuni) one of our 

 characteristic ferns of low, deciduous woods. 



In 1640. Parkinson published his Theatrum Botani- 

 cum wherein he records many plants from Virginia. We 

 may cite again Adianturn -pedalum under the name of 

 Adianthnjn fruticosum am erica nam . The weird, but 

 beautiful j r ?i?iipcr;ts virginiana, the characteristic or- 

 nament of the lower Potomac region and elsewhere, is 

 mentioned by Parkinson. 



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