INTRODUCTION 



The distribution of plants in the British Isles is of interest from a broader point 

 of view, viz. the European range of each species. According to their British 

 range, Watson placed plants in groups, such as Germanic, Atlantic, &c., and these 

 terms have been used to denote the general range of a species in relation to the 

 Continent or their possible origin. There are divergent views as to the origin of 

 the British Flora, as expounded by Dr. Clement Reid and Dr. Scharff (see Vol. I). 



The range of our native species should, however, be studied in relation to that 

 of the range on the Continent. The countries in which British species are found 

 on the Continent or elsewhere are cited by Hooker in his various works, in the 

 Index Kewensis and Supplements, and Nyman's Sylloge ; and the various floras of 

 each country give a more accurate idea of the range of each species. A compre- 

 hensive work upon the geographical distribution of plants remains to be written. 



Perhaps the thorniest side of botany is that of nomenclature. Until a student is 

 quite proficient, however, this side-branch of botany should be left severely alone. 

 Even specialists in this department of botany differ widely in their choice of names 

 and the mode of citing them. There does not exist a single textbook upon the 

 subject at the present time, and the history and data of nomenclature are scattered 

 through a vast number of separate works, periodicals, and papers, to which access 

 is not always easily obtained. The amount of bibliographical work to be done in 

 this branch of botany is enough to occupy the entire attention of a student, a fact 

 which no doubt causes many an exponent of the subject to dogmatize where little 

 or no practical acquaintance with the plant itself has been obtained. Hence it is 

 not to be wondered at that the field botanist and the pure nomenclaturist are often 

 at variance. 



Some principles affecting the nomenclature of plants have been given in 

 Vol. I. At the present time specific names date from 1753, the date of 

 Linnaeus's Species Plantarum, and the rules of nomenclature follow the Vienna 

 Actes, or International Rules, adopted in 1905 (see Vol. I). 



In so far as British plants are concerned, the nomenclature used in the standard 

 works, such as Hooker's Students' Flora, Babington's Manual, or F. N. Williams's 

 Prodromus Flora Britannicce, may suffice for the ordinary student. The history 

 of the standard names or their synonyms, and dates of adoption, are given in the 

 last, and some of the older works. The current names are given in Druce's 

 List of British Plants, the London Catalogue of British Plants, and Rendle and 

 Britten's List of Seed Plants. 



Some useful papers upon nomenclature, touching the priority of names so far 

 as a number of genera and species are concerned, have been written from time 

 to time (e.g. Mr. G. E. Druce's papers On the Nomenclature of British Plants 

 [1906-07]). 



Further information will be found in the Journal of Botany, which is, in fact, 

 largely concerned with nomenclature, and in the Reports of the Botanical Exchange 

 Club of the British Isles and of the Watson Exchange Club. 



So far as classification goes, changes are less frequent. Names may change 

 often, but the order of arrangement of plants is less frequently altered. 



For a good summary of this question in general, see Dr. A. B. Rendle's 

 The Classification of Flowering Plants. Lindley's Vegetable Kingdom gives some 

 details of the early classification. Sachs' History of Botany, Dr. J. R. Green's 

 History of Botany, Mrs. Arber's British Herbals (Cambridge University Press), 

 Dr. Oliver's work in the same series all give details of famous botanists 

 and their work, with some notes on classification. The classification used on 

 the Continent is that of Engler and Prantl, which is summarized in Dr. Carter's 



