It has long been customary for members of the Committee on the Virginia Flora, a more or less voluntary organization of botanists scattered throughout the State, to comment facetiously that the most recent book on the State flora was published two centuries ago, reference being made to the “Flora Virginica” of Johannes Fredericus Gronovius, which first appeared in 1739. This expression is no longer apt, however, for there appeared in December 1961 A.B. Massey’s long-awaited “Virginia Flora,”* an annotated catalog of plant taxa recorded for the State.