4 INTRODUCTION. 
Tue method of classification that has been adopted in this work is the 
division of all flowering plants except grasses into erect plants, consisting of trees, 
shrubs and herbs; climbing plants; prostrate plants, that lie on the ground; 
water plants; which grow in water and are descended from land plants as they 
possess flowers which require wind or insects for their fertilization; leafless 
plants, which include many parasites. 
Where it has proved necessary, the above classes have been sub-divided 
again into those plants with opposite and those with alternate leaves, these again 
have been separated into those with stipules (stipulate) and those without stipules 
(exstipulate) and these still further sub-divided into those with simple, those with 
lobed, and those with compound leaves. 
Even these divisions are not sufficient to differentiate every single plant, 
it has therefore proved a necessity to supply a short description. The descriptions 
are arranged according to the sequence of the natural orders in Bentham and 
Hooker’s Genera Plantarum. 
Under the botanical name of each plant are the English and Urdu names, 
if any are known, then follows a reference to the page and volume of the Flora 
of British India where the full description of the plant will be found, to this has 
been added the habitat of the plant and its uses. 
Tn cases where plants comply sometimes with the characteristics of one 
class and at other times with those of another the plant has been described in one 
class and merely a cross reference given in the other. Such cases occur among 
plants, which may be at some elevations trees, and at others merely shrubs. 
Plants, which are commonly found to have established themselves as escapes 
or to be cultivated, but are not indigenous in the area, have been entered here. 
It is essential to have good sight or to use a magnifying glass in examining 
plants ; this is especially necessary in noting the presence or absence of stipules, 
as they are often very minute. Young shoots should always be selected in 
examining the leaves for stipules, as in many plants the stipules wither and fall 
off, while the leaves are still young. In identifying herbs the whole plant should 
be examined, as the character of the portion underground is of importance in the 
process of identification. 
