INTRODUCTION 



In 1831 there was published in New Haven by Hezekiah Howe 

 a " Catalogue of the phamogamous plants and the ferns growing 

 without cultivation, within five miles of Yale College." On ex- 

 amining this catalogue with some care, about twenty years ago, I 

 found recorded in it the names of a good many plants which I could 

 not find anywhere near New Haven, and of some which I could not 

 believe had ever been found within the borders of the State of 

 Connecticut. The venerable Dr. Eli Ives was then living, and, 

 when I questioned the accuracy of the Catalogue, he informed me 

 that it was hastily prepared by Dr. William Tully, Dr. Melines C. 

 Leavenworth and himself, each person adding to the list all the 

 plants he remembered to have seen, and, as two of the gentlemen 

 had botanized in other parts of the country, it was possible that 

 they had attributed to New Haven some plants which they had 

 seen only elsewhere. The explanation is perfectly satisfactory ; 

 but while it may account for the presence in the Catalogue of 

 such names as Abies nigra, Acer dasycarpum, Drosera filiformis, 

 Rhexia Mariana and Solidago Virga-aurea, it much diminishes 

 the value of the work as showing the species found here half a 

 century ago. 



It has been the intention of the compilers of the new Catalogue 

 to admit no species to its pages until fully proved to occur within 

 the assigned limits, and in most cases to require the proof of actual 

 specimens collected before accepting the name. Stations for the 

 less common species are given, perhaps almost too profusely, but 

 it is thought that this very profuseness will not only add to the 

 present usefulness of the Catalogue, but may afford to the Botan- 

 ists of succeeding generations a valuable means of observing the 

 changes which time and man's influence will surely produce in the 

 flora of our region. Linnma borealis occurs rather sparingly 

 in Milford, and still lingers on a knob at the southern end of 



