PREFACE 



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In offering this Catalogue to the public, it is proper to state 

 that it has been prepared veiy ' hurriedly; the collection upon 

 which it is based, with the exception of the part taken from 

 the fine herbarium of the State Agricultural College, and from 

 a few comparatively small collections made in previous years, 

 having been made during the summer of 1875. Although 

 Botany is taught quite generally in the various schools of the 

 State, yet, with few exceptions, little or no attention is given 

 to the systematic preparation and preservation of native plants, 

 even in the higher Institutions; hence the difficulty of making 

 a complete showing of the Iowa flora. 



In preparing the work, accuracy has been thought more de- 

 sirable than a larger list of names. It is to be hoped that 

 as soon as data can be secured, a more complete Catalogue, 

 with the Cryptogams added, may be published before many of 

 "~J the rarer kinds of plants are exterminated by fires, cattle, cul- 



tivation, and other causes. 



The information is yet too' meagre for a paper on the very 

 interesting subject of geographical distribution. Though lying 

 \ west of the Mississippi river, which would seem to indicate a 



western flora, the State in this respect is characteristically 

 eastern. Yet the greater or less variation in the manner of 

 growth, development of parts, and habitat, often show the 

 effect upon the species of the western climatic and other 

 influences. 



Collections have been received from various places in the 

 eastern half of the State, and the middle through to the Mis- 



