United States National Museum

\ \ rD(p.n ^cparimcnf of fhc ^nUviovt MUSEUM. U. S. NATIONAL 26 5/ r', BULLETIN OF THE MUSEUM, UNITED STATES NATIONAL ISTo. 2 3. THE SMITHSONUN INSTITUTION. PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF Washington-, aovebnment^rinting office. 1881. ADVEETISEMENT. This work is the twenty-sixth of a series of papers intended to illus- trate the collections of natural history and ethnology belonging to the United States, and constituting the National Museum, of which the Smithsonian Institution was placed in charge by the act of Congress of August 10, 1846. It has been prepared at the request of the Institution, and printed by authority of the honorable Secretary of the Interior. SPENCER F. BAIED, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution, Washington^ July 1, 1881. auiDE D THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON AND VICINITY. LESTEH F. ^\^^RD, J^, MI. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1881. PREFACK. The outline of this work was presented as a communication to the Philosophical Society of Washington, January 22, 1881. The aim of the writer was to furnish a guide to botanists in exploring the locality and an aid to beginners in practical botany. To this latter class the Appendix is especially addressed, but as it is equally applicable toother localities, and as nothing, it is believed, analogous to it has been published, it may be found useful outside of Washington. The introduction also contains suggestions which, if followed in a sufficient number of localities by those pieparing local catalogues, would greatly aid in making the botanists of the country acquainted with the geographical distribution of plants thoughout the United States and the special peculi- arities of certain regions. Tlie manifest imperfections of the treatise may not be without their uses in stimulating local collectors and others to correct them and pro- duce something better. In the investigation of the flora of Washington, so many able and active botanists and so many energetic amateurs have co-operated that it would almost seem invidious to single out any as the subjects of special thanks, and it has been deemed the most equitable plan to give ^special credit to the first discoverer of each rare jjlant, wherever this can be known, under its proper head in the detailed enumeration. I cannot, however, refrain from expressing my special obligations to Dr. George Yasey, Botanist to the Department of Agriculture, for his kindness in placing the National Herbarium at my disposal and in examining and reporting upon many critical and puzzling forms, especially in the OyperacesB and Graminese. I also desire to acknowledge in an especial manner the valuable services of Mr. M. S. Bebb, of Eockford, 111., in identifying the local Salices, which, though comparatively few, are very interesting and in a high degree confusing to any but a trained specialist like Mr. Bebb. 5 g PREFACE. Institute, Prof. J. W. Cliickering, jr., of the Columbia Deaf and Dumb kindly looked over in addition to much other valuable assistance, has important the proofs as they came from the press and suggested many thanks are additions and improvements, for which service my special due. L. F. W. Washington, December 25. 1881. CONTENTS. Page. I. lutroductory remarks 9 II. R.auge of the local flora 10 III. Compar' on of the flora ofJ1830 with that of 1880 11 IV. Localities of special interest to the hotanist 17 V. Flowering-time of plants 26 VI. Autumnal flowering 32 VII. Albinos 33 VIII. Double flowers, etc , 33 IX. Statistical view of the flora 34 By series, classes, orders, and genera 34 Introduced species 35 Shrubby species 36 Comparisons with other floras 36 X. Abundant species 47 XI. Classification adopted 50 XII. Common names 54 XIII. Concluding remarks 55 XIV. Explanations 58 XV. Flora 61 Phaenogamia... 61 Dicotyledons 61 Monocotyledons 117 Gymnosperms , 137 Cryptogamia 137 Vascular 137 Cellular 140 XVI. Summary I45 XVII. Checklist 148 Appendix; Suggestions to beginners 209 1. Identification of plants 210 2. Collection of plants 212 3. Preservation of plants 218 4. Making a herbarium 225 5. Care of duplicates 231 6. Exchanging plants 232 7. General remarks on herbarium work 235 Additions and corrections 238 Index 239 7 I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. This monograph has resulted from a suggestion made to the writer in the spring of 1880 by a member* of the Committee on Publications of the Philosophical Society of Washington, relative to the preparation of a revised catalogue of the plants of this vicinity. While there now exists a provisional catalogue, containing most of the species which have been collected or observed by botanists during the past six or seven ye&rs, it consists of so many small annual accretions, due to constant new discoveries, and contains withal so many blemishes and imperfections incident to its hasty compilation and irregular growth, that it has ceased in great part to meet the demands of the present time. The elaboration of a systematic catalogue of the local flora was uot, however, at the outset at all contemplated, but merely the i)resentation of certain notes and special observations on particular species, which had been made in the course of some nine years of pretty close atten- tion to the vegetation and somewhat varied and exhaustive field studies in this locality. The flowering-time of most species here is much earlier than that given in the manuals, and is, moreover, in many cases, very peculiar and anomalous, rendering it important to collectors, as well as interesting to botanists, to have it definitely stated for a large propor- tion of the plants. It being thus necessary to extend the enumeration so far, it was thought that the remainder might as well be added, thus rendering it a complete catalogue of all the vascular plants known to exist here at the present time. To these has been appended the list of Musci and Hepaticcc prepared by the late Mr. Kudolph Oldberg for the Flora Columbiana, which is inserted unchanged, except in so far as was required to make it conform strictly to the work of Sullivant, which has long been the standard for this country. ' Prof. Cleveland Abbe. 10 F1>0EA OF WASHINGTON AND VICINITY. Dr. E. Foreman lias also furnished the names of a few of the Chara- cece collected here by himself, and named by Professor Farlow of Cam- bridge, which, in the present unsettled state of the classification of the CryiJtogams, have for convenience been placed at the foot of the series. In undertaking this compilation I have endeavored to resist the usual temptation of catalogue-makers to expand their lists beyond the propor- tions which are strictly warranted by the concrete facts as revealed by specimens actually collected or species authentically observed, but have been content to set down only such as I can either personally vouch for or as are vouched for by others who have something more substantial than memory to rely uj)on, preferring that a few species actually occur- ring, but not yet seen, should be omitted and afterwards sui)plied, rather than that others supposed to exist, but which cannot be found, should stand in our flora to be apologized for to those who would be glad to obtain them. A few species, however, which are positively known to have once occurred within our limits, but which have been obliterated in the course of the constant changes taking place, have been retained, as well as several of which only a single specimen has been found ; but in all such cases the facts are fully stated in the notes accompanying each plant. II. RANGE OF THE LOCAL FLORA. The extent of territory which has of late years been tacitly recog- nized by botanists here as constituting the area of what has been called the " Flora Columbiana " is limited on the north by the Great Falls of the Potomac, and on the south by the Mount Vernon Estate, in Vir- ginia, and Marshall Hall, just opjiosite this on the Maryland side of the river, while it may reach back from the river as far as the divide to the east, where the waters fall into the Chesapeake Bay, and as far west- ward as the foot of the Blue Ridge, so as uot to embrace any of the peculiarly mountain forms. Practically, however, the east and west range is much less than this, and only extends a few miles in either direction. The only three cases in which these limits are overstepped in this catalogue are in including : 1. Drciba ramosissinia, not yet collected this side of Hariier's Ferry, but which may be confidently looked for 5 2. Filago Germanica, collected at Occoquan Falls, and liable to be found farther north ; and 3. Poterium Sangimorha, obtained from Odenton, Md., an introduced species which may yet be found nearer home. FLORA OF WASHINGTON AND VICINITY. 11 III. COMPARISON OF THE FLORA OF 1830 "WITH THAT OF 1880. Washington and its vicinity has long been a field of botanical re- search. The year 1825 ^ritnessed the dissolution of the " Washington Botanical Society," which had for many years cultivated the science, and the same year also saw the formation of the "Botanic Club," which continued the work, and in one respect at least excelled the former in usefulness, since it handed down to us of the present generation, a valuable record in the form of a catalogue of the plants then known to exist in this locality. This catalogue, which was fittingly entitled Florae Columbiance Prodromus, and claimed to exhibit " a list of all the plants which have as yet been collected," though now rare and long out of print, is still to be found in a few botanical libraries.

Load more