INTRODUCTION. 



The method of classification that has heen adopted in. this work is the 

 division of all flowering plants except grasses into erect plants, consisting of trees, 

 shrubs and herbs ; climbing plants ; prostrate plants, that lie on the gromid ; 

 water plants, which grow in water and are descended from land plants as they 

 possess flowers which require wind or insects for their fertilization ; leafless 

 plants, which include many parasites. 



Where it has proved necessary, the above classes have been sub-divided 

 again into those plants with opposite and those with alternate leaves, these ao-ain 

 have been separated into those with stipules (stipulate) and those without stipules 

 (exstipulate) and these still further sub-divided into those with simple, those with 

 lobed, and those with compound leaves. 



Even these divisions are not sufficient to differentiate every single plant, 

 it has therefore proved a necessity to supjily a short description. The descriptions 

 are arranged according to the sequence of the natural orders in Bentham and 

 Hooker's Genera Plantarum. 



Under the botanical name of each plant are the English and Urdu names, 

 if any are known, then follows a reference to the page and volume of the Flora 

 of British India where the full description of the plant will be found, to this has 

 been added the habitat of the plant and its uses. 



In cases where plants comply sometimes with the characteristics of one 

 class and at other times with those of another the plant has been described in one 

 class and merely a cross reference given in the other. Suth cases occur among 

 plants, which may be at some elevations trees, and at others merely shi-ubs. 



Plants, which are commonly found to have established themselves as escapes 

 or to be cultivated, but are not indigenous in the area, have been entered here. 



It is essential to have good sight or to use a magnifying glass in examining 

 plants ; this is especially necessary in noting the presence or absence of stipules, 

 as they are often very minute. Young shoots should always be selected in 

 examining the leaves for stipules, as in many plants the stipules wither and fall 

 off, while the leaves are still young. In identifying herbs the whole plant should 

 be examined, as the character of the portion underground is of importance in the 

 process of identification. 



