KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS OF 
CENTRAL IOWA 
HENRY S. CONARD AND WIN IFRED ELESWORTH 
Botanizing in Iowa has always been hampered by the lack of 
a local flora/ To identify our plants in a manual for the north- 
eastern United States is a task for indomitable enthusiasts, or for 
specialists. Beside this, the keys now extant are phrased in tech- 
nical language, requiring a minute knowledge of Botany and 
detailed dissection of specimens. 
For the aid of beginners, the writers have tried to prepare a 
simple key to the families of plants of central Iowa. We have 
omitted families not known in that region. We have disregarded 
species and genera which do not occur in our range. For ex- 
ample, our key gives Gentianaceae, but provides no means for 
tracing Menyanthes, since that genus occurs only in the northern 
counties. Such examples, however, are few, and the key could 
be used in schools or colleges all over the state without much in- 
convenience. 
We, have provided means for tracing dioecious plants when 
only one kind of flower is found. A special section is devoted 
also to monoecious plants. It has not been possible to eliminate 
the counting of ovary cells, but the calls for such counting have 
been reduced to a minimum. The key is eminently “artificial,’' 
avowedly so. When students have learned to know a hundred 
families in this simple way, they should, of course, use a more 
technical key. In any case, the detailed descriptions of families 
should be looked up in a complete manual. 
By way of orientation, we have prefixed a synopsis of the 
plant kingdom, and a key to the principal groups of plants, along 
lines already published in these proceedings and elsewhere. We 
invite criticism of the entire contribution, hoping thereby to effect 
such corrections as will make a thoroughly workable key. 
