INTRODUCTION 



It is not the purpose of this book to compete with the many excellent works on the 

 selection and cultivation of trees and shrubs, but to provide the amateur without 

 previous knowledge of the subject wath the means of identifying any tree or shrub 

 he is likely to meet with, growing in the open in any part of the British Isles. The 

 explorations of Wilson, Henry, and others, have resulted in such a large addition 

 to our shrub flora in recent years that even the experienced professional gardener 

 is often at a loss when confronted with many of the newer kinds. As, however, 

 there can be few parts of the world left unexplored by collectors, it is probable 

 that the limit has now been reached in the case of hardy trees and shrubs; and the 

 time has arrived to place before the public a tree and shrub flora of these islands in 

 a readily accessible and inexpensive form, and with some prospect of completeness. 

 The most popular method of identification is by means of illustrations. In 

 this book will be found illustrations of 1,311 species, belonging to 534 genera. 

 As the total number of genera described here is 552 it will be seen that nearly 

 every genus of tree or shrub native to the British Isles or cultivated in our gardens 

 has been figured. To illustrate every species, amounting to 1,732 in all, would 

 have made the book too bulky and expensive. It should not, however, be difficult 

 to name any species, first, by comparing it with the illustrations of others in the 

 same genus, and then by referring to the descriptions given in the later part of 



the book. 



As this book could not have been produced without special facilities for 

 examining private collections of exotic trees and shrubs, it remains for the author 

 to express his thanks to all those owners who have so kindly placed their col- 

 lections at his disposal, and particularly to the Rt. Hon. Henry Hobhouse; to his 

 son, Mr. A. L. Hobhouse (whose head-gardener, Mr. E. W. A. King, has been 

 of the greatest help); to Sir Henry Hoare, Bart.; and to Mr. A. Lewingdon, who 

 is in charge of the Earl of Ilchester's fine collection of sub-tropical plants at 

 Abbotsbury in Dorset. 



Valuable help has been freely and generously given at all times by the Directors 

 and Staff of the Botanical Gardens at Kew and Cambridge, especially by Messrs. 

 W. J. Bean and V. S. Summerhayes; by Messrs. D. Stewart & Sons, Ltd., 

 Ferndown Nurseries, Wimborne; and by Messrs. John Scott & Co., The Royal 

 Nurseries, Merriott, Somerset. 



Apart from local floras the works most frequently consulted have been Rehder's 

 Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs Hardy in North America and Bean's Trees 

 and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles. Also the excellent catalogue issued by 

 Messrs. Hillier & Sons, Winchester, has largely influenced the scope of this work. 



September 1935. ^' 



