AUTHOR'S NOTE 



IT has been a very real source of personal gratification to be 

 allowed to complete the work left unfinished at the lamented death 

 of Mr. J. S. Gamble, and this not so much as a botanist, but rather 

 as a tribute to the memory of one for whom I have a sincere 

 admiration and affection. 



I have endeavoured to adhere as precisely to Mr. Gamble's 

 scheme as lay in my power. 



I have to acknowledge with thanks the assistance of several of 

 my colleagues at the Kew Herbarium, but I alone must be charged 

 with all the shortcomings. I must also gratefully acknowledge 

 advice and help from my friends Mr. J. H. Burkill and the late 

 Professor W. G. Craib. I am indebted to Mrs. Gamble, who proved 

 unfailingly encouraging and patient, and to Sir Arthur Hill, K.C.M.G. , 

 F.R.S., for his kind support. Finally, I thank my wife for help in 

 preparing the Indexes. 



A very large number of botanical specimens have been examined 

 and compared in connection with the flora ; not only those in the 

 Kew Herbarium, to which, during the progress of the work, Mr. 

 Gamble's own herbarium and that from South India collected and 

 presented by Sir A. G. and Lady Bourne were added, but also those 

 among the large sets obtained on loan from the Superintendent 

 of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, the Principal of the 

 Government Agricultural College at Coimbatore, and the Conservator 

 of Forests, Travancore. Further, the Professors of Botany at 

 Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh kindly placed the Indian 

 specimens in their charge at the disposal of Mr. Gamble and myself. 

 Through Mr. A. Meebold, the collection of Indian grasses he made 

 from 1908 to 1912 were lent to me by the Direcor of the Breslau 

 Museum. A number of the type-specimens of species described by 

 Retzius from plants collected in S. India by F. G. Koenig were 

 kindly sent on loan from the Lund Herbarium. Smaller, but 



