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Catalogue of the Plants of the State of Illinois By I. A. Lapham, of Milwaukee Wisconsin
During several journeys through the state of Illinois at various times since the year 1836 I have carefully noted her botanical productions, and hence am able to make a catalogue of the species growing within her boundaries. But the following enumeration embraces many species which I have admitted on the authority of others.
As early as 1794 Andre Michaux a distinguished botanist of France visited Illinois in search of plants which were to be sent home to enrich the gardens and [pleasure?] grounds of his own beautiful country. In 1803 was published in Paris his "Flora Boreali Americana", the first general work on the botany of North America, in which a number of plants are set down as having been found "in regione Illinoensi" or "in vastissimus pratensibus? [Illinoensibus."
In 1826 Dr Lewis C. Beck published his contributions towards the botany of Illinois and Missouri in the 10th & 11th volumes (1st series) of Silliman's American Journal of Science and Arts. But most of the localities mentioned by Dr Beck are in Missouri.
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In the same work, volume 46, for 1843, we find a catalogue of a collection of plants made in Illinois and Missouri by Charles A. Geyer, with critical remarks [&?] by George Engelmann M.D. of St Louis. In this paper several new species are described, and quite a number added to the flora of the state.
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Dr. C. W. Short of Louisville Ky., has published in the Western Journal of Medicine for March 1845, an account of his observations, (made in Autumn) on the Flora of the Prairies of Illinois. He traversed the central portions of the state and returned by a different route, which gave him an opportunity of seeing and examining the face of the country and its productions, under a great variety of aspects. Being an enthusiastic botanist, and traveling in a light covered waggon, well prepared for making extensive collections, his observations are of great value, and add much to our knowledge of the peculiar vegetation of the central portions of the state. I cannot resist the temptation to copy a few of his graphic descriptions.
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To Dr. [L?].B. Mead of Augusta, Hancock County, I am indebted for a catalogue of the plants growing in that vicinity, and also for very numerous specimens. He has probably devoted more time and labor to the examination of Illinois plants than any other botanist, and his collections now form part of most of the [principal] herbaria in the world.
To Dr. George [Engelinam?] I am also much indebted for a [manuscript with a line through it] list of the plants found in the southern part of the state, mostly opposite St Louis. His accurate knowledge of the plants of this country is well known, and will give confidence in any statements that rest upon his authority.
In Wood's Class Book of Botany, a number of species are credited to Illinois.
In addition to all these sources of information I have had an opportunity to examine the extensive collections of plants made by Mr. Robert Kennicott, Mr. Emile Clausen and others and exhibited. at the State Fair held at Chicago in 1855. This collection besides adding quite a number to the species before known as belonging to the state, was of material aid in showing their distribution.