PREFACE 



THIS Catalogue is intended to facilitate the study of the Plants 

 growing spontaneously in the vicinity of the city of New- York. 

 It is believed there arc few species hitherto observed in this neigh- 

 borhood which arc not to be found in it ; though it is not to be 

 supposed that the list is by any means complete. The few that 

 have not come under our own observation, have been inserted on 

 good authority. 



The Catalogue of Plants growing about Plandome, on Long- 

 Island, published in 1 807, in the Medical Repository,! was the 

 first attempt to enumerate the native plants of the vicinity of New- 

 York. It contains three hundred and ten species, some of which 

 are rare. 



In 1812, J. LeConte, Esq. published in the Medical and Phi- 

 losophical Register,! a list of four hundred and fifty plants, col- 

 lected by him on the island of New- York. 



These are the only local Catalogues of Plants, relating to this 

 section of our country, which have hitherto been published. 



Though our Catalogue embraces all the plants which have been 

 observed within thirty miles of the city, yet our herborizations 

 have been mostly confined to its immediate vicinity. The island 

 of New- York has been pretty well explored, particularly the 

 woods from Manhattanville to Bloomingdale, the banks of the 

 Hudson, and the low grounds near Greenwich. The woods with- 

 in a few miles of Brooklyn, and the sea shore about Bath, have 

 been frequently examined. Few places have afforded us more 

 plants, than the vicinity of Hoboken and Weehawk, and the neigh- 

 boring marshes. Many excursions have been made to these pla» 



f Hex. 2. vol. 5. p. 123—1,31. Vol. 2. p. 134— 142. 



