PREFACE. 5 



more particularly, from the enthusiasm 

 and zealous energy of the members in 

 this delightful science, the large prepon- 

 derance in the number of the Genera of 

 thephoenogamous ]^hnts, that are intended 

 to be described in the Flora, in compari- 

 son with those of other authors on Amer- 

 ican Botany. At the end of this article 

 a table is exhibited of the number descri- 

 bed by each, as well as the time of their 

 respective publications. On a reference 

 to the table, it will not escape observation, 

 the great disparity existing betweeii rn(h 

 result of the labours of Michaux and loh, 

 with those of the late Mr. Elliott^ of 

 Charleston, S. C: the former after ex- 

 ploring, during six years, the whole north- 

 ern continent of America, published in 

 Paris, their Flora Boreali-Americana ; 

 while, the states of South Carolina and 

 Georgia, only, are the limit to the inde- 

 fatigable research, and unwearied zeal of 

 the latter, who modestly styles it a Sketch 

 of the botany of those two states. 



It may not be amiss, here, to state the 

 following singular occurrences respecting 

 the growth of some plants noticed by one 

 of the members, in which the rest fully 

 concur, as appears from an extract of the 



