66 TRESinEXTI AI. ADDKKSS SKCTlOiN C. 



SCOI'K 



In preparing the following paper I have had to remember 

 that I am addressing not only botanists ; my botanical friends 

 must therefore pardon me if I have made some statements which 

 are to them so obvious as to seem unnecessary. 



Let us consider for a moment the ground which a botanical 

 survey of the country should cover, \vith the two objects in 

 view, (i) increase of knowledge, and (2) its practical applica- 

 tion. The subject is so large that it is divided into several 

 branches, each of which is usually dealt with by one or more 

 specialists ; these are :— 



Taxonomy and Morphology. 



Geographical Distribution or Floristic Plant (Geography. 



Ecology or Ecological Plant Geography. 



Economic Botany. 



Plant Pathology. 



Physiology, Anatomy, Histology, and Cytology. 



Genetics. 



We will Ijriefly consider these in detail. 



Taxonomy, 



Taxonomy or Systematic Botany deals with the relationshi])s 

 of plants, their naming and classification. Before we can cata- 

 logue and describe intelligently the uses of plants, their ecological 

 and geographical distribution, their morphology, anatomy, his- 

 tology, cytology' or physiology, or, in fact, anything else about 

 them, we must have names by which to refer to them intelligibl}-. 

 and descriptions by which to identify them. 



For this reason the collection and publication of descriptive 

 accounts of the plants comprising a flora is the first step towards 

 a knowledge of that flora. This essential work is, however, but 

 a means to an end, though unfortunately sometimes mistaken 

 for the end itself. 



The preparation of a descriptive handbook or " Flora " 

 follows, for the use of students and those investigating other 

 branches of botanical science. 



The Spermaphyta. 



!Much work has already been done in the collection and 

 description of the elements of the native flora of South Africa. 

 The original descriptions of the species are widely scattered 

 through botanical literature, and the collection of them all in 

 one library would involve a heavy expenditure of time and 

 money ; in fact, it would now be well-nigh im|X)ssible to secure 

 all of them. 



But we are indebted to the foresight of the Directors and 

 staft's, past and present, of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,* 



* AkhouRh it was Prof. Harvey, of Dublin University, aided by Dr. 

 Sender, of Hamburg, who actually prepared the first three volumes of the 

 ■' Flora Capensis," Harvey, " its principal author," states that it was Sir 

 William Hooker, Director of Kew, who " suggested " the work, and 



