PREFACE’ 
Wap Flower study is a pursuit fraught with pleasure 
and with: 
“Health that mocks the doctor’s rules.” 
It doesnot require a preparatory course nor any special 
instruction to become acquainted with the more com- 
mon Wild Flowers and their individual traits. Every 
dooryard and field, wayside, mountain and valley, 
from the polar regions to the tropics, and from ocean 
to ocean, abounds in these free-born gifts of Nature. 
‘There can be no reason why every one should not 
become acquainted with and enjoy them. The descrip- 
tions which follow are, therefore, intended to bring 
those seeking information on this subject into contact 
with the more common species in the most direct and. 
interesting manner. The book includes many simple 
accounts of plant and flower connection with history, 
medicine, and legend, together with bits of folk-lore 
and poetry. The time of flowering, the range and 
locality where each flower may be sought, are 
given, and, above all, the author aims first and last 
to interest and instruct those who seek ready and 
reliable information on the subject.. Hundreds of 
notes recorded in the descriptions contained herein 
were made on the spot where the plants were growing 
naturally, and many of the descriptions were written 
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