166 PHYTOGKAPllY. 



the distinguishing marks of doubtful or difficult species, 

 should be shortly and distinctly given. 



260. 

 The synonomy of a Flora is properly confined to an account 

 of the best plates, and to a reference to preceding authors. 

 It is necessary to give the situations, especially of rare plants, 

 with much exactness, and this is best done in the language 

 of the country. Provincial names of plants are added, to 

 enable us, when necessary, to obtain explanations respecting 

 their situations from the inhabitants of the district. Lastly, 

 it will not be supei-fluous to describe the uses to which plants 

 are put. All these requisites have been fulfilled in the most 

 perfect manner by Linnaeus, in his Flora of Lapland. This, 

 therefore, is the model for all future attempts. 



VIIL Descriptions of Gardens. 



261. 

 Another branch of botanical literature consists of cata- 

 logues and descriptions of plants which are reared in gar- 

 dens. These catalogues are often merely registers, which 

 have been printed to promote the commerce of one garden with 

 others. In this case, nothing else can be required but that 

 the plants should be correctly and exactly named. New 

 species are either described in an appendix, as has been done 

 by De CandoUe, in his Catalogus plantarum Horti Motispeli- 

 ensis, 1813 ; or they are merely cited, their description being 

 left to future works. 



262. 

 More circumstantial catalogues, like those which ^vc have 

 of the gardens at Kew, Copenhagen, and Berlin, contain 

 much that is superfluous indeed, because they frequently re- 

 peat well known specific characters ; but they are useful, part- 

 ly from giving more exact characters of new species, partly 

 from a more careful sifting of synonymes, and partly from 



