32 
BOTANICAL GEOGRAPHY. 
the fact with the Maize, Mayzea cerealis (Zea 
mays of L) the Orange tree, the Chicasa 
plumb Prunus angustifolia , the Catalpa tree, 
the Peach tree, and the holy plant Nelumbium 
luteum! besides several kinds of Beans, Tobac- 
co, Potatoes, Squashes, Pumpkins and Melons 
that were cultivated by our native tribes before 
Columbus or at least the invasion of Soto be- 
tween 1540 and 1543, and subsequent French 
and English colonies. 
The number of Genera and Species of each 
botanical region, and their proportion of Trees, 
Shrubs, Plants, Herbs, Grasses, Ferns, Mosses, 
Lichens, Fungi, &c. is not only variable in 
each, but difficult to fix, owing to the great 
number that are common to several blending on 
the limits. In general the Trees, Shrubs, Ferns 
and Grasses, increase in number from North to 
South, while the Acotyle plants diminish ; but 
Fungi are most numerous in the Alleghanian 
region, by Schweinitz account of them they 
nearly equal the Phenogamous plants. 
However all the calculations heretofore made 
were erroneous, depending on the peculiar 
knowledge of the writer and his limited views 
of Genera. Forster said they were only 1200! 
in 1771, Eaton in 1833 said exactly 5267! 
Torrey about 8000 ! I say 15000 and am near- 
er the truth : at least 10,000 are Vascular 
plants in the whole of North America, north of 
Mexico, with about 5000 cellular plants, where- 
of nearly 300 are trees or palms. Our largest 
Flora, the Floridian contains 6000 species at 
least, while the smallest, the Boreal, has hard- 
ly 1000 species, and no more exist in the Lime- 
stone region of Kentucky. The number of Ge- 
nera will depend on the reformed view and cor- 
rection of them. 
