hood of Charleston.* At the end of his list of the more noticeable 

 native and naturalized plants of South Carolina, in the volume on 

 South Carolina published by the State Board of Agriculture in 

 1883, Mr. Ravenel gives the number of flowering plants known 

 at that time in South Carolina as 1,810. A considerable number 

 have been added since, and with a complete survey the total would 

 probably reach over 2,100. 



A history of the botanical work done in Darlington County can 

 be written in a few words. As it lies somewhat off the direct line 

 between Charleston and the North, or between Charleston and 

 Columbia, few itinerant botanists have stopped in the district. 

 Dr. Lester F. Ward passed through the county in 1895 and col- 

 lected a few plants near the town of Darlington; and it is pos- 

 sible that Prof. Louis E. Gibbes of Columbia or Mr. H. W. 

 Ravenel may have picked up something here. However, I have 

 not seen or heard of any specimens in their collections from this 

 section. The botanical exploration of the county has been con- 

 fined almost entirely to one man. Rev. M. A. Curtis, a gifted 

 botanist of wide reputation, was for nine years (1847-1856) rector 

 of the Episcopal church at Society Hill in the eastern part of 

 Darlington County, about seventeen miles from Hartsville. He 

 gave his attention largely to fungi, and together with the Rev. 

 M. J. Berkeley of England published a large number of new 

 species in that group. However, he did not by any means neglect 

 the flowering plants. He published no list of Society Hill plants 

 or any papers dealing exclusively with the flora of this region, 

 but several new species of Angiosperms were described by him 

 from Society Hill, among them being Ilex Amelanchier and 

 Baptisia Serenae. Appreciation must also be expressed for the 

 work of Mr. W. D. Woods, of Darlington, who through news- 

 paper articles, correspondence and personal effort, has encour- 

 aged through a long life the study and preservation of our native 

 trees. 



CLIMATE OF HARTSVILLE. 



The altitude of Hartsville is 214 feet, its latitude about 34° 

 4 m and 2 se % its distance from the sea about eighty miles. The 



♦In addition to these Dr. F. P. Porcher has published as a thesis for the 

 degree of M. D., an extensive and valuable Medico-Botanical Catalogue of 

 the "Plants and Ferns of St. John's, Berkeley, South Carolina" ; and a paper 

 by me on the Flora of the Isle of Palms, appeared in Torreya for August, 

 1905. 



