INTRODUCTION. IX 



to be regretted, as I have since had an opportunity, by ex- 

 cursions made to Cunnamara and other parts of the country, 

 of adding several interesting plants to our Flora ; and valuable 

 contributions have continued to be made by my friends, down 

 to the last hour of going to press. 



In 1833 a small volume appeared, entitled the Irish Flora, 

 containing short descriptions of most of the Phgenogamous 

 Plants and Ferns of Ireland that were known up to that time. 



The limits of a preface do not permit my entering into detail ; 

 but almost every page of the work bears evidence of the zealous 

 assistance of my Botanical friends, and the extent of my obliga- 

 tions. I cannot, however, omit mentioning the late Mr. Tem- 

 pleton of Matone, near Belfast, who greatly contributed to our 

 knowledge of the plants and animals of the north of Ireland. 

 To Doctor Drummond of Belfast I am indebted for several in- 

 teresting species of Algae, thus rendering that part of the work 

 more complete than it otherwise would have been. , 



Mr. David Moore, my late pupil, has supplied some of the 

 more recent and interesting additions to our Flora, among which 

 I may mention Pyrola secunda, Rosa Sabini, and Carex JBux- 

 baumii, as the most interesting. He has distinguished himself, 

 during the last two years, by his researches in the County of 

 Derry, where he has been employed as Botanist to the Ord- 

 nance Survey ; which, under the able superintendence of Colonel 

 Colby and Captain Portlock, is likely to throw much light on 

 every branch of natural history connected with Ireland. 



The first part of the work contains the Phaenogamous, or 

 Flowering Plants, Ferns, and Characeae, arranged according to 

 the natural method, on the plan adopted by Professor De Can- 

 dolle in his Theorie Elementaire, 2d ed., and Professor Lindley 

 in his Synopsis of the British Flora. I have been induced to 

 adopt the natural system, not only because it is the method fol- 

 lowed by Dr. Allman, the learned Professor of Botany in Trinity 

 College, and which, although more difficult to beginners, is best 

 calculated to give the student an accurate knowledge of the 

 science; but as the Linnaean method enables us to ascertain 



b 



