36 INTRODUCTION. 



they are stalked, whereas in the plant under examination they 

 are sessile. In V. Chamcedrys, they are egg-shaped and ses- 

 sile, in which respects they agree ; deeply serrate also, which 

 is the case ; and the stem has two opposite rows of long hairs, 

 which was a circumstance that attracted our notice at our 

 first inspection of the plant. The name of the plant therefore 

 is Veronica Chamadrys, the latter word being its specific, the 

 former its generic name. Its English name is seen to be 

 Germander Speedwell. 



The words " Clusters many-flowered ; leaves egg-shaped, 

 sessile, deeply serrate ; stem with two opposite rows of long 

 white hairs," form the specific character. After it a brief de- 

 scription of certain parts of the plant is given, together with an 

 indication of its duration, time of flowering, place of growth, 

 and sometimes its uses. Reference is then made to a figure of 

 it in Sir J. E. Smith's English Botany, and to a fuller descrip- 

 tion in the English Flora of the same author, 



In this manner, the student proceeds with every plant that 

 he may procure. The assistance of a person already somewhat 

 proficient in the science, will be useful at the commencement, 

 but is not indispensable. Sometimes a plant may present 

 itself which is not found to belong to the class or order indi- 

 cated by its stamens and style. In this case there will be found 

 a reference in Italics, at the end of the generic table, to certain 

 genera, by turning to which it will be found. Thus, a plant 

 occurs with one stamen and one style, which we do not find to 

 correspond with the genera Salicornia, Hippuris, Zostera, or 

 Char a. But we observe, after these genera in the table, refe- 

 rence made to several plants, of which the first is Valeriana 

 rubra. We then turn to the Index for Valeriana, and finding 

 that genus at the page indicated, compare our plant with the 

 species, V. rubra, when we find it to agree. This is one of the 

 most puzzling circumstances connected with the examination 

 of plants, and arises from the impropriety of separating a species 

 from others of the same genus, although it may happen to differ 

 in the number of stamens or pistils. 



With these explanations, it is presumed that the student will 

 be enabled to use the following descriptive arrangement of 

 British Plants. Should a term occur, not included in the pre- 

 ceding account of the parts of plants, it will be found by refer- 

 ring to the glossary at the end of the volume. 



The only instruments necessary in the examination of plants 

 with the view merely of finding out their names, are a sharp- 



