Flora of New York/Preface

Flora of New York is intended as aid in determining whether or not a particular plant taxon is native to New York State. If it is native, the book will indicate how likely that type of plant is to be found now and in the foreseeable future. If the plant is not native, the book will show how much of a problem that plant is likely to be in New York.

Flora

The term Flora, as used in the title of this book, for one thing of-course means "plants," as in "flora and fauna."^[1] But the term "flora" has also been used for a type of book that describes the plants growing in a particular region, as in John Torrey and Asa Gray's 1838 work, A flora of North America.^[2] Torrey also wrote A Flora of the State of New-York in 1843.^[3] It's doubtful whether his book will ever become a true Torreyesque "Flora," so there is no article "A" introducing the title. Nor is there a "The," as that might sound like a promise to include all the plants of the state, and nobody needs that kind of pressure. There will be an attempt however to include all of the plants listed in the New York Flora Atlas,^[4] an online publication of the New York Flora Association. Currently this only includes the vascular plants, which for now, for practicality, will be a limitation also imposed on this book.

Conception

Format

Classification scheme

The classification scheme for the angiosperms has been taken largely from James Reveal's paper "An outline of a classification scheme for extant flowering plants," published in Phytoneuron in 2012, and being kept up to date online as of 15 May 2013.

References

↑ This may invoke a scene from Bambi, but seems preferable to "Vegetables of New York," as in "Animal, Vegetable or Mineral."
↑ A flora of North America: containing abridged descriptions of all the known indigenous and naturalized plants growing north of Mexico, arranged according to the natural system by John Torrey and Asa Gray, New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1838.
↑ A Flora of the State of New-York: Comprising Full Descriptions of All the Indigenous and Naturalized Plants Hitherto Discovered in the State: with Remarks on Their Economical an Medicinal Properties Carroll and Cook, 1843 - 572 pages.
↑ New York Flora Atlas. New York Flora Association

[1] This may invoke a scene from Bambi, but seems preferable to "Vegetables of New York," as in "Animal, Vegetable or Mineral."

[2] A flora of North America: containing abridged descriptions of all the known indigenous and naturalized plants growing north of Mexico, arranged according to the natural system by John Torrey and Asa Gray, New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1838.

[3] A Flora of the State of New-York: Comprising Full Descriptions of All the Indigenous and Naturalized Plants Hitherto Discovered in the State: with Remarks on Their Economical an Medicinal Properties Carroll and Cook, 1843 - 572 pages.

[4] New York Flora Atlas. New York Flora Association

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