PREFACE 



IN 1912 the late Mr. J. S. Gamble, C.I.E., F.R.S., was requested 

 to undertake the preparation of a * Flora of the Presidency of Madras,' 

 a task for which he was remarkably well qualified owing to the 

 exceptional knowledge of the Flora he had acquired during his long 

 service in the Presidency as Conservator of Forests. During the 

 course of his extensive and careful tours he made very complete 

 collections of plants of the Presidency, and formed and maintained 

 a very complete private Herbarium, which he subsequently pre- 

 sented to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Mr. Gamble retired 

 from the Indian Forest Service in 1899, and at the time was fully 

 occupied with the publication of his ' Materials for a Flora of the 

 Malayan Peninsula'. The first part of the * Flora of the Presidency 

 of Madras ' (Ranunculaceae to Opiliaceae), consisting of 200 pages, 

 was published in November, 1915, and the draft of the botanical 

 portion of about the first 132 pages was prepared by Mr. S. T. Dunn, 

 as explained by Mr. Gamble in his introduction to this part, since 

 Mr. Gamble had not at the time completed his Malayan work. 

 The remainder of this part and the editing of the whole and the 

 preparation of Parts II- VII inclusive was undertaken entirely by 

 Mr. Gamble. Part II was published in 1918 and was followed by 

 Part III in 1919, Parts IV, V, VI and VII in 1921, 1923, 1924 and 

 1925 respectively ; Part VII being published very shortly after Mr. 

 Gamble's death on October 16th, 1925. The publication of this part 

 carried the work to the end of the Euphorbiaceae. With the consent 

 of the Government of India and of Mrs. Gamble, the completion of 

 the ' Flora ' was entrusted to Mr. C. E. C. Fischer, late of the Indian 

 Forest Service, now Assistant for India, Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 Kew, who had had many years of experience in the Madras Presi- 

 dency, and thanks to his knowledge of the flora the work has now 



