PREFACE. 
N presenting to the public a treatise like the present, it would naturally be 
expected that the author should state the grounds upon which he rests his 
claim to attention. With this expectation he most cordially complies. Soon 
after the publication of his " Sylva Americana," in 1832, at the solicitation, 
not only of personal friends, but with the expressed wishes of numerous indi- 
viduals to whom he was comparatively a stranger, he undertook the prepara- 
tion of a work on the trees of this country, more complete and extensive in its character 
than had hitherto been published. With this view, in connection with other pursuits, 
he extended his researches by travelling and residing for a time in various parts of North 
and South America, the West Indies, Europe, and Western Africa, where he availed 
himself of the advantage of not only verifying or correcting the observations which had 
been made by others on the trees of these countries, but examined them under various 
conditions in a state of nature, as well as in nurseries and collections of the curious. 
In the year 1S38, he announced to the public, through a " Memorial praying Con- 
gress to adopt measures for procuring and preserving a supply of timber for naval pur- 
poses," [Doc. 241, 25th Congress, 2d Session, Senate,] that he had commenced the prep- 
aration of a treatise on this subject, setting forth the course he was pursuing and the 
chief objects of inquiry; but owing to the party strife and political warfare which ex- 
isted at that period, he regrets to say that no action was taken in the matter beyond re- 
ferring said memorial to the Committee on Naval Affairs, and ordering it to be printed. 
In 1843, at the request of his friends, definite proposals were issued by the author 
for publishing the work in a popular form, and a large number of wealthy and public- 
spirited citizens proffered him their aid, to whom he can not here omit to acknowledge 
his lasting obligations ; but, owing to various causes which have unavoidably retarded 
the publication, it could not with propriety be issued before the present time. 
While complying with this request, he has read or consulted the works of all the most 
judicious authors on the subject, both ancient and modern, with the view of giving a 
concise account of such trees and shrubs as are cultivated or growing in America, as 
would interest the general reader, and, at the same time, would prove economical and 
useful to the artisan, the planter, and to those interested in arboriculture, in a more ex 
tended sense. 
The pictorial illustrations of this work have either been made directly from drawings 
after nature, or from accui'ate delineations already in existence, one figure representing 
the general appearance of each tree, and another of the leaf, flower, fruit, &c, in order 
that the descriptions may be better and more clearly understood, and to render their 
identity more certain. 
The classification he has preferred to adopt is the Natural System, chiefly for the 
sake of aiding in generalizing on the species and varieties contained in each family or 
tribe, which is in accordance with the plan adopted by Professor Don. in " Miller'? 
