PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITIONS. 



A few words will not be out of place by way of preface to 

 the List of Common Canadian Plants contained in the fol- 

 lowing pages. It will be observed that the List is confined 

 to wild plants, the exclusion of cultivated Species having 

 been determined on, partly because of the difficulty of know- 

 ing where to stop when an enumeration of tliem has once 

 been entered upon, and partly because it was thought that, 

 on the whole, more important results would be attairie.d by 

 directing attention exclusively to the denizens of our own 

 woods and fields. What is really desired is, to create among 

 our young people an interest in the Botany of Canada, and 

 it seems not unreasonable to hope that this end may be better 

 attained by placing within their reach some such handy 

 volume as the present, dealing only with such plants as grow 

 spontaneously within our limits. 



The great majority of the plants described have been psr- 

 sonally examined, and their occurrence verified, by the writer, 

 his observations having been directed to what may fairly be 

 regarded as representative district;^ of the older Provinces, 

 but special acknowledgments are also due to Prof. Macoun, 

 of the Geological Survey, for the free use of his valuable 

 notes, and other friendly assistance. 



Whilst diligence has been exercised that no commonly 

 occurring plant should be omitted, yet it can hardly be that 

 such omissions do not occur, and the writer will be most 

 grateful to_ any observers into whose hands the List may 

 come, if they will kindly draw his attention to any such 

 defects, so that they may be remedied in subsequent editions. 



The Classification and Nomenclature adopted are very 

 nearly those of the Sixth Edition of Dr. Gray's Manual of 



