PREFACE. 



IN writing a book of this kind, it is quite impossible to avoid all occasion 

 of censure. There is not a single part of the scheme which I have 

 followed that could not be severely criticised, either in one way or in 

 another. I have followed, in the general arrangement of the families 

 and in the case of the more critical genera, the classical work of Bent- 

 ham and Hooker, but I have attempted to quote all the species men- 

 tioned in the Ninth Edition of the London Catalogue. I am quite 

 aware that, in classing many of the "species" of this work as subspecies, 

 I am probably exposing myself to a great deal of perhaps avoidable 

 blame, but my reason for this course is perfectly conclusive to my own 

 mind. 



No one can doubt that the idea of a " species " depends entirely 

 on the personal experience of the botanist. None who have worked on 

 English Botany have had such a wide experience of plants of all nations 

 as the authors of the Genera Plantarum, and I prefer to take their view 

 as being in the main more serviceable and orderly than that of those 

 whose experience, though profound, is confined chiefly to European 

 plants. 



The Record List has involved a vast amount of labour. All the 

 MSS. of Watson's Topographical Botany in the Natural History Museum 

 have been consulted, and the records are quoted under the names there 

 mentioned. I have to thank Mr Carruthers for his kind permission in 

 this respect. In the case of Dr Davidson's records, I have been put in a 

 difficult position. His plants are now in California, and I cannot obtain 

 any information as to who named them. With this exception it may, I 

 think, be considered certain that the records are entirely correct, for I 

 have taken the best advice as to all critical species, and spared no trouble 

 in verification from all sources. 



