viii Preface. 



work of this description, and equally as a matter of course, 

 whilst correcting them, we have committed others. As nothing 

 is more difficult than to discover our own mistakes, the com- 

 piler would feel obliged to anybody for corrections, and for 

 suggestions respecting additional information. The nomen- 

 clature of the Coniferae is perhaps the least satisfactory, on 

 account of the difficulty experienced in identifying the culti- 

 vated forms with their wild parents. So many of them appear, 

 even in a natural state, under two or more very different forms ; 

 and in the case of dioecious species the determinations fre- 

 quently admit of great doubts regarding their accuracy. These 

 doubts cannot be cleared up in the absence of cones or adult 

 development. But, after all, the correct original name is 

 not of so much importance to the cultivator as the value of 

 the plant in question for useful or ornamental purposes, 

 though it is desirable to know what is meant by a certain 

 name, and whether this name be restricted to one form, 

 or, as is too often the case, applied to several distinct things. 

 It may be objected that there is a want of uniformity in the 

 present work, and that too much prominence is accorded to 

 some genera, whilst others, whose species are equally difficult 

 of discrimination, are treated less in detail. Doubtless this is 

 true, and it can only be pleaded in extenuation that the desire 

 to keep within the limits of a handy volume was the only 

 influence that impelled us to this course. The selection may 

 not be in every instance the best, but it is thought that details 

 respecting the history of ' florist's flowers,' like the Aster, 

 Dahlia, and Rose, and descriptions of all the species in cultiva- 

 tion belonging to a genus like Lilium, will be more acceptable 

 than a complete description of the rarer plants in cultivation. 

 As a rule, those who make large collections are botanists, 

 possessing a more or less extensive botanical library. This 

 work being intended for amateurs and gardeners of limited 

 scientific attainments, everything has been simplified so far as 

 is consistent with perspicuity. In nearly all cases information 

 respecting the structure of the ovary, and the position, number, 

 and form of the ovules in different orders has been omitted, 

 the mature seed-vessel, or fruit, and its contents alone being 

 described. For the use of those unacquainted with Greek and 



