PREFATORY. 



This Catalogue embraces all the indigenous and naturalized plants, that 

 have been discovered and ascertained, within forty or fifty miles of Amherst 

 College. To these I have added such as are peculiar to the White Mountains 

 and the sea coast of New England ; so that if the young gentlemen, whose 

 disposition to promote the interests of science appears so favourably in the 

 publication of this catalogue, shall hereafter be located in any part of the 

 northern section of the United States, they may have a pretty complete list 

 of the plants growing in their vicinity. The parficular uses of such a Cata- 

 logue as this, are,first,to facilitate the student's examination of plants, by point- 

 ing him to those species which he may expect to find in his district, and whose 

 descriptions, therefore, he may select in the Floras, Compendiums, and Man- 

 uals of American plants : secondly, it presents him at once with an authority 

 for each specimen, with the most important synonyms ; and thus saves him 

 the very great labour of comparing together the descriptions given by different 

 writers; a work which severely tasks the powers of the most accomplished 

 botanist. Thirdly, in the case of rare plants, it points the student to the 

 particular places in this vicinity where he may find them. And finally, it 

 may serve as a very convenient index to an Herbarium; since, for this pur- 

 pose, it is only necessary to mark with a pencil, against the name of a plant 

 in the Catalogue, the page of the Herbarium where a specimen of it is placed. 



It is not less than twelve yeas since an examination of the plants of this 

 vicinity was begun. Among my early coadjutors in this work, I cannot omit 

 to mention Prof. Stephen VV Williams of Deerfield, and Dr. Dennis Cooley, 

 formerly of the same place. The herbarium of (he latter,collected and arrang- 

 ed with great industry, contains nearly all the plants hitherto found in this 

 district. I am also indebted to several gentlemen of distinguished ability, 

 for much assistance in the determination of species : particularly to Rev. 

 Chester Dewt ;y, Principal of the Gymnasium in Pittsfield, in the difficult 

 genus Carex: to Prof. Lewis C. Beck of Albany, in the Filices and Musci: 

 and to Prof. John Torrey of New York, in almost every part of the subject, 

 especially the Grasses and the Class Cryptogamia. 



Exclusive of the plants peculiar to the White Hills and the sea coast, and a 

 few others mentioned on account of their beins; rare and interesting, this Cata- 

 logue contains Five Hundred and Thirty One Genera, and Fourteen 

 Hundred and I orty Seven Species, which occur within fifty miles of 

 Amherst. Of these, one Hundred and Thirty Six Genera, and Four Hun- 

 dred and Fifty Species, belong to the Class Cryptogamia. Of course, the 

 phenogamous plants amount to Tk ee Hundred and Ninety Five Genera, and 

 Nine Hundred and Ninety Seven Species. Undoubtedly many more remain to 

 be discovered in this district, which appears to be unusually rich in vegeta- 

 ble productions, for this latitude. Indeed, every week's delay in the printing 

 of this catalogue, has added to the number of species it contains. In the class 

 Cryptogamia, especially, it cannot doubted, that with proper skill in this 

 difficult department of botany, ample leisure, and the requisite works, (so 

 dificult to be obtained in this country) the number of species might be great- 

 ly increased, if not doubled. Probably too, some corrections in this part of 

 the Catalogue would thus be made : since the species in this class cannot be 

 considered, in general, so well established as those of the other classes. 



Amherst, August I, 1829. 



