INTEODUCTION. 



ON THE HABITATS OF PLANTS THEIR PARTIALITIES TO 

 CERTAIN SOILS AND LOCALITIES THEIR IMMIGRATIONS, 

 AND PECULIAR STATIONS OF THE RARER ONES. 



" From lea to croft, from mead to arid field ; 

 Noting the fickle seasons of the sky, 

 Changes of herbage, and salubrious flowers." 



DYER'S FLEECE. 



To know where plants grow, and how to collect them 

 with the greatest facility, is the first aim of the bota- 

 nical neophyte. Most alluring and conspicuous when 

 in flower, they are best observed at the period of their 

 inflorescence, but, as this varies with different families 

 and species, the exact time of the flowering of each 

 becomes a matter not merely of curiosity but of im- 

 portance. Hence the utility of a vegetable calendar, 

 that shall be indicative of " the time of flowers," and 

 displaying each season, as it advances or declines, 

 proclaim to the enquirer what he is likely to find in 

 bloom in any month or week when he contemplates 

 an exploration. A plant that is not sought for, unless 

 it be a very common one, is not likely to be found ; 

 and I have myself frequently been in the vicinity of 

 curious productions, which escaped my observation, 

 from my ignorance of their being within my reach, 

 at the time of my sojourn near them. Much then 



B 



