REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON BOTANY. 
563 
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON BOTANY. 
The committee would again urge the attention of the Society 
to the importance of preparing a new list of plants for the pro- 
vince. The preparation of such a list has been under considera- 
tion for several years past, but owing to the delay in issuing the 
new edition of Gray’s Manual, the work has not been undertaken. 
There has been considerable confusion in recent years in the 
Northeastern United States and Canada in regard to botanical 
nomenclature, and the making of distinct species out of those that 
have been hitherto regarded only as varieties or forms. The 
appearance of the new edition of Gray’s Manual will, it is hoped, 
authoritatively settle many disputed points about the naming of 
plants and the confusion arising from sub-division of species. In 
such circumstances it is wiser to wait ; and the waiting time may 
be used to good advantage if all students interested in the plants 
of New Brunswick will investigate during the coming season and 
send reports (accompanied by specimens) of any new species 
found, or the distribution of those plants described as rare in the 
lists that have appeared from time to time in the Bulletins of the 
Society. In collecting plants, students should be careful to give 
notes of the exact situations in which they are found, such as so 1 
conditions and association with other plants — in a few words, to 
give as accurate a picture as possible of the surroundings and 
conditions of each plant. We are in need of more information 
concerning the distribution of weeds andi the introduction of new 
forms as they may appear; to make observations of our forest 
trees and their conditions of growth, and what trees are becoming 
rare, and the cause; to collect all the facts about the local uses 
of plants and their local names. 
The range and distribution of our flowering plants and ferns 
have not been very carefully studied, except in a few separated 
districts. The greater part of the province remains yet to be 
visited by plant students and reported upon. 
