THE CAYUGA FLORA. xxiii 



observed along the banks of the creek plants of Pentstemon pubescens, 

 About a mile farther I came to the bank of the lake. The shore 

 which I came to was clear and gravelly with some common weeds 

 growing near it as thistles, mulleins, etc. I followed the shore of it 

 for several miles, being in my route. It is generally covered with 

 oak, maple and hickory Buphthalmum heleanthoides is the first 

 yellow Syngenesia plant I seen this year, Taraxacum excepted. A 

 A small Rose, similar to the one I called last year R. monticola, is 

 very plenty here and spreads a most agreeable fragrance through the 

 air. A species of Crataegus, Ludwigia nitida, Ceanothus America- 

 nus. Lilium Canadense, Apocynum androsaemifolium, with a tall 

 Molugo ? Orchis fimbriata, Cornus with white berries, Brigeron co- 

 rymbosum, Typha angustifolia, Smyrnium cordatum, Mimulus alatus, 

 Galium hispidum, Veronica scutellata and some more common plants, 

 I observed in the meadows leading to the lake. I traveled as far as 

 the town of Milton, where I stood over night. The road, as soon as I 

 had left the banks of the lake began to be quit of interest, as the fences 

 of both sides and cultivated fields, with continued plantations and 

 farms occasioned the road only to be covered with common weeds, 

 amongst which the Verbascum thapsus, Anthemis cotula, and Poly- 

 gonum hydropiper, have the upper hand. In one of the woods on 

 this road I collected specimens of Niphrodium filix-mas ? ' 



David Thomas, who came from Pennsylvania in 1805, and settled in 

 Cayuga Co. near Aurora, was at first a teacher, and afterward the en- 

 gineer of the western division of the Erie Canal during its construc- 

 tion. He had an extensive botanic garden at his place east of Levan- 

 na and was an enthusiastic botanist as well as cultivator of plants. 

 He was the first to distinguish and describe Ulmus racemosa, which 

 he did in the Amer. Jour, of Sci. Vol. XIX, p. 170. The plates of this 

 and those of the Dicentras in Vol. XXVI, were drawn by his son 

 John J. Thomas, who made an extensive collection of the local 

 plants in 1827, when he was seventeen. This herbarium is still well 

 preserved and is frequently referred to in this catalogue. Some of the 

 specimens are very valuable, in showing the character of the ealier 

 flora. For the great kindness of Professor Thomas in going over with 

 this herbarium in the writer's presence and stating many interesting 

 facts, the latter wishes here to make due acknowledgement. 



Dr. Aikin, a young medical student and pupil of Professor Amos 

 Eaton, visited this region about 1830, and reported several rare plants. 

 Dr. Jedediah Smith of Geneva, Dr. Alex. Thompson of Aurora, Dr, 

 H. P. Sartwell of Penn Yan and Dr. S. B. Bradley of Greece all bota- 

 nized more or less within our limits, and discovered many interesting 

 things. Dr. Asa Gray, in 1831, visited the Montezuma Marshes and 

 this lake, stopping at Sheldrake, and finding two rare plants Pogonia 

 pendula aud Linaria Elatine. In Seneca Co., probably, he obtained 

 Goodyera Menziesii. He visited Ithaca but did not remain long. 

 Rev. J. W. Chickering and Prof. W. H. Brewer collected several hun- 

 dred specimens between Cayuga and Seneca Lakes, while they were 

 teachers at Ovid. 



From i860 to 1865, the Hon. H. B. Lord reported a considerable 



1 As Pursh elsewhere refers to Nephrodium marginale, the nearest 

 relative of N. filix-mas, no doubt the one above mentioned was Aspid- 

 ium Goldianum, a species not then described, but which is in his 

 herbarium under the name of N. filix-mas, from an unknown Amer- 

 ican locality. 



