Introduction. xvii 



vii*idis, are pronounced An-e-mo-ne el-e-gans, A-do-nis ver-na- 

 lis, and Hel-leb-o-rus vir-i-dis. Or, to render our meaning more 

 clear, Anemo'ne el'egans, Ado'nis verna'lis, and Hellel/orus 

 vi/idis. The few exceptions to the foregoing rule, as, for 

 instance, where two or more vowels come together, seem to 

 require no explanation, as no difficulty is likely to be ex- 

 perienced in ascertaining the correct pronunciation. 



Geography of Plants hardy in the British Isles. In the 

 chapter on Climate will be found some information respecting 

 the countries which furnish the greater part of the exotic 

 plants hardy in Britain. The few remarks to be made here 

 refer to the classes of hardy plants inhabiting different regions. 

 Every part of the world has what is termed its characteristic 

 vegetation, depending to a certain extent upon climate and 

 soil, but probably more upon other causes which have been 

 variously explained by different investigators. We have only 

 to speak of facts as they are, without any speculations as to 

 the agencies which have operated to bring them into existence. 

 Experience teaches us that plants are not by any means dis- 

 tributed and confined, in a wild state, to localities best suited 

 to them, or where alone they will nourish. Frequently we find 

 that plants attain a development unknown in their natural 

 state, when conveyed to a distant part of the world possessing 

 a similar climate. This may be attributed, in a great measure, 

 to freshness of soil. In our Australian colonies, for example, 

 many of our common weeds have been introduced with grain 

 and cereals, and in many instances where they have escaped 

 beyond the limits of cultivation, they have taken complete 

 possession of the soil, to the total exclusion of the native 

 vegetation. In course of time the vigour of these introduced 

 plants diminishes, and they are gradually reduced to more 

 equal terms with the native plants. This fact supplies a valu- 

 able hint to the cultivator respecting the importance of change 

 of soil, and explains the relative fertility of freshly-broken 

 land. But this is a digression: we were about to speak of 

 the different classes of plants characterising the vegetation 

 of various regions possessing a similar climate to our own. 

 Taking first of all the Coniferae, the members of which, with 

 few exceptions, are evergreen, we find that the majority come 



a 



