PREFACE. 



The present Bulletin was planned as a part of the North Caro- 

 lina forest exhibit at Chicago. It was begun before the opening 

 of the World's Fair, but, for reasons which need not be recited 

 here, remained unfinished. Since that time it has been continued 

 under stress of other work as opportunity arose, and has reached 

 it present condition only after long delays. 



It is intended, first, to present a succinct statement of certain 

 salient characteristics of the more important trees'of North Caro- 

 lina. The forest flora of no other State is more varied, nor in 

 many ways so interesting as this. Partly for" this reason, and 

 partly for the uses of this Bulletin in identifying trees through- 

 out the State, a close restriction to those species which are of 

 present value for lumber has not been maintained. 



The second part of the Bulletin, a short account of the various 

 forest regions of the State, is contributed entirely by Mr. Ashe, 

 whose acquaintance with the woodlands of North Carolina is so 

 much more extensive than my own that I have thought it best not 

 to attempt to edit his MS. in any way. 



In all matters of punctuation, capitalization, and nomenclature, 

 I have preferred to follow the established usage of the Geological 

 Survey throughout, rather than depart from it in a few cases 

 where my individual preference might have been different. 



The material contained in the accounts of the various trees has 

 been gathered chiefly from various publications, assisted by such 

 personal observations as I have been able to make, or as have 

 been contributed by different observers. I have to express my 

 indebtedness in particular to Prof. Sargent's magnificent "Silva 

 of North America," to Dr. Curtis' "Trees of North Carolina," 

 and to Dr. Chapman's "Flora of the Southern States." Other 

 authorities have been consulted in the course of preparation, but 

 these are the principal ones. 



