HISTORICAL NOTE. 



From 1789 to 1876 the botanical literature relating to California 

 was confined chiefly to the descriptions of new species or annotated 

 catalogues of collections made by various expeditions or by local 

 collectors. 



The first systematic treatise upon the plants of California was pre- 

 sented in the Botany of California, the first volume of which 

 appeared in 1876, the second being published four years later. In 

 these two volumes we have the first general account of the California 

 flora. The work was based primarily upon a study of the plant 

 collections of the California Greological Survey made by W. H. 

 Brewer from 1860 to 1865 and later by H. N. Bolander, and also upon 

 the rather considerable collections of the Pacific Kailroad Surveys 

 from 1851 to 1857. This material was supplemented by collections, 

 some small, some considerable, made by resident collectors. The 

 manuscript of the Polypetalaa was produced by the combined labors 

 of W. H. Brewer and Sereno Watson; the Gamopetalse were done by 

 Asa Gray, while the second volume from the Apetalse to the Crypta- 

 gams was elaborated by Watson with the assistance of specialists in 

 various groups. 



The two volumes made a pretentious work. As we are now able to 

 perceive, there were many omissions, there were errors of judgment, 

 and little is suggested of the amount of variation which is prevalent 

 in so many Californian genera and species. But if one note the 

 exceedingly inadequate material at the disposal of these authors, oft- 

 times extremely meager, then we may well wonder that the work 

 was so capably done, that it has stood so well the test of two decades 

 of constant use. At this time our judgment is qualified by experi- 

 ence with its merits and demerits, and it is a secure judgment that 

 although progression has left the Botany of California behind, it 

 will always occupy the position of a classic. 



In 1878 and in 1884 Asa Gray gave to the botanical world two 

 parts of the Synoptical Flora of North America, in which were, of 

 course, very considerable additions to the knowledge of the Califor- 

 nian flora. This work, so widely used, still remains as the only gen- 

 eral revision of the North American Gamopetalae. 



From 1885 to 1895 the most active contributor to Californian 

 botanical literature was E. L. Gi-eene. His papers upon plant 



(iii) 



