Vi. 
It is possible that some of those who use this book will be 
afraid of the ‘ Latin names” of the plants. Whenever, therefore, 
a plant has a colloquial name of its own, this is added in italics. 
The student is strongly recommended, however, to make himself 
familiar with the proper botanical names. ‘These are really no 
more difficult to learn than the names (mostly Latin or Greek 
words) given to human beings, and serve the same useful purpose 
of calling attention to their relationships. Thus the name, Viola 
tricolor, of the Pansy or Heartsease, shows at once that it 
belongs to the same genus as Viola odorata, the Sweet 
Violet, and Viola canina, the Dog Violet. In this important 
respect the popular names are, unfortunately, singularly mislead- 
ing. The Dog Violet, the Water Violet, and the Dame’s 
Violet, for instance, instead of belonging to the same genus, as 
the names would seem to imply, are scarcely even distantly 
related to each other. It is no doubt convenient to have these 
familiar names for the more common plants, just as we often use 
nicknames for our more intimate friends, but we should know the 
real name as well. 
The nomenclature employed in this book is that of BEntHAM 
and Hooxer’s “ British Flora,” and (with few exceptions, of which 
a list is given) of the cheaper and more“ popular” work, JOHNS 
and Exriort’s ‘“‘ Flowers of the Field,’’ so that this book may be 
used as a companion to either. All trees and flowering plants 
admitted by Bentham as English or Welsh (except the Grasses 
and Sedges, which are omitted, as too difficult for a work of this 
kind), are included, so that the collector who comes across a rare 
plant (and most rare plants are common in some locality or other) 
will not find himself left in the lurch just when he most wants help. 
PART II. COLLECTION AND EXAMINATION 
OF PLANTS. 
It is seldom necessary (except for Herbarium specimens) to 
pull a plant up by its root. The portion gathered for examination, 
however, ought to include both leaves and flowers (with fruit, if 
present), together with enough of the stem or branch to show how 
the leaves are arranged on it and attached to it. If there are 
leaves at the base of the plant which evidently differ from those 
on the stem, some of these should be taken, and tied to the rest 
of the specimen. Many of the trees and aquatic plants, however, 
may be identified from a specimen with leaves only, without any 
flowers, though of course these should be gathered when present. 
In all cases a knife does less damage than pulling with the hands, 
while for water plants a hook at the end of a stick, or even a 
