APPENDIX I. 



SYNOPSIS OF THE NATURAL ORDERS AND GENERA OF NEW ZEALAND PLANTS. 



In the prefatory remarks to the 'Flora of New Zealand/ p. 2, I proposed appending to this work a 

 synopsis of the New Zealand Natural Orders : and to this I have, upon further consideration, added a 

 synoptical table of the genera also, arranged according to the artificial or Linnsean system. My object in 

 this is to facilitate the reference of many of the obscure genera to their proper places, and by no means to 

 obviate the necessity or to supersede the use of a sound elementary acquaintance with the Natural Orders, 

 as illustrated in the books which I have mentioned in the Preface as necessary to be studied. An accu- 

 rate knowledge of the Natural System is indeed the foundation of botany ; but to acquire it through the 

 study of New Zealand plants is extremely difficult, owing to those peculiarities of the flora dwelt upon at 

 p. xxviii. of the Introductory Essay ; and I have therefore availed myself of artificial characters in the 

 following attempt so to group and define the Orders and Genera, that the student may, at any rate in 

 some cases, provided he proceeds with care, be able to refer even the most obscure New Zealand plant to 

 its genus. 



It is assumed that the student who intends availing himself of these Keys has mastered the rudiments 

 of botany, and consequently understands the structure of Grasses, of Composite, Conifer®, Orchicha, etc. ; 

 there are, however, besides these, certain genera of curious or anomalous structure whose place in the 

 system could hardly be found out by the beginner, but which may easily be recognized after reading their 

 descriptions ; as Viscum, Eujphorhia, Rupjpia, ZannicheUia, Preycinetia, Gunnera, Callitriche, Piper, Pepe- 

 romia, Zemna, and others. It would be impossible for any one who was not both an experienced botanist 

 and dissector to find out the names of these genera and to understand their affinities ; and as it is not to be 

 expected that an unaided student can do so, they should be sought for in their appropriate localities, stu- 

 died, and preserved in the herbarium. 



I would here impress upon the beginner the importance of keeping an Herbarium, which is the 

 library of the botanist as well as his museum. This he should regard as the foundation and depository 

 of his knowledge and experience ; it should, as far as possible, embody all the information he possesses in 

 the shape of notes, descriptions, and sketches, and it should contain not only specimens to look at, but 

 plenty of spare flowers, fruits, seeds, etc., for re-examination and dissection ; varieties, monsters, and all 

 structural and morphological anomalies should be so preserved in it that their peculiarities may at once 

 be perceived ; for these are necessary to be understood, and are instructive even to persons who are not in- 

 terested in systematic botany. It must be remembered that the great value of a good herbarium does not 

 depend upon its being the means of readily naming a plant (though that is a most important one), but 

 upon the information it conveys respecting each individual contained in it as a member of the vegetable 

 kingdom, the area and conditions to which it is confined, and the variations to which it is subject : it 

 should present, in short, as far as possible, a history of the species in the widest acceptation of the term. 



The student must bear in mind that the following Keys are very imperfect. I have not the requisite 

 familiarity with New Zealand plants in all their forms to enable me to offer them as anything but at- 

 tempts, and can only repeat what I have before said (p. 5) with regard to native names, that if they lead 

 to the determination of one difficult plant out of five, their object will be answered to my satisfaction. 



