NOTE 



The necessary precursor of all phytogeographical investi- 

 gation is accurate and thorough acquaintance with the flora 

 of the territory in question. Hence the reports of the Survey 

 hitherto have been devoted chiefly to bare lists of additions 

 and the results of collections in the various parts of the 

 State. Much that has been published in this way stands 

 in need of revision, and the catalogue of species, now ten 

 years old, requires complete overhauling, in the light of the 

 subsequent development of the science and of more com- 

 plete data as to the distributional boundaries of species. If 

 the Seminar can command the means therefor, it is hoped 

 that a descriptive catalogue of the flora of the State may 

 be issued soon as one of the publications of the Survey. But 

 all this work is preliminary to the study of the vegetation, the 

 foundation of which has been laid during the past sixteen 

 years; and study of the vegetation as such has been looked 

 forward to as the ultimate purpose of the Survey. 



Under the direction of the Seminar, Mr. J. J. Thornber 

 has been engaged for some years past in the investigation 

 of the prairie-grass formation in the best known and most 

 accessible region of the State. The results of his work are 

 given chief place in this report. 



In the list of additions to the reported flora, Messrs. Pound 

 and Clements have identified the fungi, Mr. C. J. Elmore 

 the diatoms, and Messrs. J. L. Sheldon, G. G. Hedgcock, and 

 A. A. Hunter have assisted in various groups. The thanks 

 of the Seminar are due to Kev. J. M. Bates and to Messrs. 

 M. E. Moore, of Springview, and J. P. Anderson, of Lamoni, 

 Iowa, for collections. Above all, however, the Seminar is 

 indebted to Mr. G. W. Holdrege, without whose generous 

 assistance adequate investigation in an area as extensive as 

 Nebraska would have been impossible. 



Chakles E. Bessey, 

 KoscoB Pound, 

 FuEDEEic E. Clements, 

 March 12, 1901. Eddtorial Committee. 



