and Examinaiion of Hiveris "^Popular Catalogue" 11 



object being, as there stated, to second the influence of the Arhorefum 

 Britannicum, in introducing a correct and uniform nomenclature. As it may 

 be interesting to some of our readers to hear how these " Proposals " have 

 been received by nurserymen, we shall here state the general result up to 

 this time. 



The only London nursery establishment that has accepted our proposals 

 is that of Messrs. Whitley and Osborn of Fulham ; and we have accordingly 

 examined the principal genera of trees and shrubs in their nursery, and a 

 catalogue of these, with the same names as in the Arhoretuni Britannicum, is 

 now printing, and will very shortly make its appearance. It is but justice to 

 Messrs. Whitley and Osborn to state that, before they heard of our proposal, 

 they had carefully compared their plants with the figures in the Arboretum 

 Britannicum, as well as with the living specimens in the Horticultural Society's 

 garden, so that in the genera A"cev, C'ratae^gus, Pyrus, &c., we found scarcely 

 a single error. On the whole, being well acquainted with the nomenclature 

 used in all the nurseries in the neighbourhood of London, we can confi- 

 dently state that the nomenclature of the Fulham Nursery is by far the most 

 correct. 



With respect to the country nurserymen, several have corresponded with 

 us on the subject of our " Proposal." One or two intend to have their 

 collections completed from the Fulham Nursery, and to print catalogues with 

 the nomenclature of the Arboi'etum Britannicum ; others have sent up speci- 

 mens to be named, and some few have sent for copies of the Arboretum, in 

 order to ascertain the correct names of those trees and shrubs which they 

 already have. 



One or two nurserymen, both in town and country, have published short 

 catalogues of their trees and shrubs without any authorities for the names; 

 but of these nurserymen and their catalogues, we shall, with one exception, 

 take no notice, because we can on no account approve or recommend them. 

 The exception we allude to is Mr. Rivers, junior, of Sawbridgeworth, who 

 has just printed what he calls A Popular Catalogue of Trees and Shrubs, which, 

 in so far as it may obtain circulation, will have a tendency to defeat all the 

 objects which we have had in view in publishing the Arboretum Britannicum. 

 In Mr. Rivers's catalogue no distinction whatever is made between species 

 and varieties, and no authorities are given for the names; so that, in point of 

 real information, it is not a whit in advance of the nurserymen's catalogues of 

 the last century. But, that we may not make any assertion respecting this 

 catalogue, without proving what we say to be correct, we shall proceed to 

 examine it ; and, in order to give the reader Mr. Rivers's reasons for pub- 

 lishing it, we shall commence with the following quotation from his first 

 page: — 



" In the following catalogue, the name by which the different famihes of 

 plants is best known is given first in the column. 



" The genus under which they are arranged in Loudon's Arboretum Britan- 

 nicum is in a parenthesis to the right : and when different from that under 

 which they are arranged here, it is given and marked ' A. B.' 



" Owing to the numerous changes that have taken place in the nomen- 

 clature of plants lately, these references have become quite necessary. Those 

 beautiful shrubs well known as Berberis fascicularis, Berberis Aquifolium, &c. 

 &c., are now Mahonias ; and cases like this are very numerous, of plants, 

 after being cultivated for many years, and having become well known under 

 their first Latin name, being at once transferred by botanists to some fresh 

 genus, much to the inconvenience of cultivators. Thus, that pretty evergreen, 

 Crataegus glauca, is now Stranvaesia glaucescens ; and the confusion in the 

 genera and species of Crataegus, Pyrus, Amelanchier, Mespilus, Stc, &c., is 

 boundless. It may serve to illustrate how far this rage for change extends, 

 when it is stated that the well-known genus Ribes is now divided by the 

 Continental botanists into seven distinct genera, viz. Adenobotrya, Calobotrya 

 (under which is placed Ribes malvaceum}, Chrysobotrya (which includes 



