INTRODUCTION 



\Ye have made bold to present this little booklet in an emergency so that the 

 participants in the Third Annual Wild Flower Fete might have something that 

 would convey in a permanent manner the immense scope and variety of plants 

 comprising the flora of California. 



The work has been accomplished by utilizing persistently for a period of about 

 two months several of the "wee sma" that bring today and tomorrow in close 

 communion. 



It was the intention at first to omit a number of the large families like the 

 grasses, conifers and ferns, but the list seemed so inadequate without them that a 

 decision was made to include all and to seek the aid of friends to further its com- 

 pletion. The first to respond to the call for help was Mrs. Harriett P. Kelly to 

 whom we are indebted for the material on a large number of the families includ- 

 ing the Liliaceae and Coniferae. Through the exceeding kindness and generosity of 

 Mrs. Carlotta C. Hall, the authority on the ferns of the State, we are able to 

 present a complete list of the ferns here published for the first time. 



Mr. L. S. Smith, R. P. Bledsoe and R. Gardner, students in the class in 

 Agrostology at the University of California, are largely responsible for the grasses. 



For lack of both time and space it has been necessary to omit the listing of 

 the species of the large genera like Astragalus, Lupinus and Trifolium in the Legu- 

 minosae Aster and Chrysothamnus in the compositae and carex in the cyperaceae. 



An endeavor has been made to note the plants of food value for man or stock, 

 and those with medicinal properties. 



Four hundred or more of the species which we have come to regard as our 

 own are in reality introductions from other countries. Some of them are exceed- 

 ingly valuable forage plants. Many are neutral while others invade the domains 

 of the farmer and seriously interfere with the maximum production of his crops. 



It has been our joy and privilege to have been closely associated with wild 

 and cultivated plants from early boyhood to the present time. As a member of a 

 Boys' Club, some fourteen strong, and fourteen years, we made long excursions to 

 the country bringing home with great pride the violets, primroses, cowslips, hare- 

 bells and hyacinths of the woods to plant with much care in our gardens. And 

 so this early found inspiration is still with us and leads us to believe that the Boys' 

 Outing Farm, the California Wild Flower Fete and an annotated list of wild flowers 

 are all worth while and have behind them the making of men. 



