^n 



SYNONYMS 



AND 



CROSS-REFERENCES. 



T^UlilNGr the progress of tlie Dictionary of Gardening, I have received many letters 



l_J complaining tliat certain plants had not been mentioned in its pages. In the 

 vast majority of cases, tlie plants quoted as omissions have appeared under their correct 

 names; but the antiquated or absolutely incorrect names have, through various causes, been 

 omitted. Frequently, too, it has hajopened that a plant well-known under some incorrect 

 name should have been placed in a genus the initial letters of which had already been 

 passed ; in most of such cases, the information as to correct name is given in the body of 

 the work — a case in point is ^ Anoectochiliis Loioi, which is really Bossinia marmorata. The 

 cross-references in this list will enable correct names to be readily ascertained. 



L 



The genus Areca furnishes an example of another kind. The plants described in the 

 Dictionary under this name are true Arecas^ but in gardens and nurseries a number of widely 

 different plants are included under the same generic name. Some difficulty might, there- 



■ ■ 



fore, arise in the case of those avIio are not aware of the great changes in nomenclature which 

 have occurred amongst Palms, and some time would be lost in referring to the half-dozen 

 genera mentioned as containing species formerly placed under Areca. The list of Synonyms 



w 



and Cross-references will render it easy for anyone to arrive at the information they 

 seek, e.g,y Areca Baiieri is referred to its proper genus — Bliopalostylis ; A. httescens to 

 Chrysalidocarpiis ; A, Verscliafelti to Hyophorlej &c. 



Not unfrequently the correct name of a plant has been determined when too late to insert 

 it after the garden name. Aralia Chahrierii is a case in point : this has not yet flowei^ed in 

 this country, and its real affinities might have remained obscure for an indefinite period, had 

 not my colleague, Mr. Watson, noticing the resemblance between Aralia Chahrierii of the 

 nurseries and a plant in a foreign botanic garden under the name of EliBodendron^ carefully 

 compared, on his return, the material he collected for the purpose, and proved the Aralia 



# 



Chahrierii in question to be no Aralia at all, but Elceodendron orientahy a native of Mauritius, 

 &c. (no 



corrections. 



ongm 



was published in the nursery catalogues). This list contains many such 



In order to economise space, when the specific name remains unchanged under another 

 genus the cross-reference to the genus alone will be given. Synonyms and names of included 

 genera to which reference is made are printed in italics. 



Geoege Nicholson. 



