PREFACE 
THIS little work on the flowers and native plants of 
Central Canada is offered to the Canadian public, with the 
hope that it may prove a means of awakening a love for the 
natural productions of the country, and a desire to acquire 
more knowledge of its resources. It is not a book for the 
learned. The aim of the writer is simply to show the real 
pleasure that may be obtained from a habit of observing 
what is offered to the eye of the traveller,—whether by the 
wayside path, among the trees of the forest, in the fields, or 
on the shores of lake and river. Even to know the common 
name of a flower or fern is something added to our stock of 
knowledge, and inclines us to wish to know something beyond 
the mere name. Curiosity is awakened, and from this first 
step we go on to seek for higher knowledge, which may be 
found in works of a class far above what the writer of the 
present book can aspire to offer to the reader. The writer: 
has adopted a familiar style in her descriptions of the plants, 
thinking it might prove more useful and interesting to the: 
general reader, especially to the young, and thus find a place 
on the book-shelves of many who would only regard it for 
the sake of its being a pretty, attractive volume, on account 
of the illustrations. These, indeed, are contributed by the 
pencil of a gifted and accomplished lady, Mrs. Agnes 
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