and Examination of Rivers^ s " Popular Catalogue" 1 3 



midalis, tortuosa longifolia, vaiiegata, &c., are so slightly marked, that, to a 

 person wishing either to simplify or to select, they are not worth notice. Add 

 to this, that some of the names, such as macrophylla, pendula, and variegata, 

 belong alike to varieties of more than one species, as may be seen by referring 

 to our Arboretum Britannicum or Hortus Lignosus. 



Some persons who purchase a few trees and shrubs may be thought to care 

 very little about their names, provided the plants are handsome ; but this is 

 by no means always the case, for the first question that is asked of the gar- 

 dener, by any lady or gentleman who has been struck with the appearance of 

 any plant, is, " What is its name ? " But, supposing that some masters or mis- 

 tresses care little about the names of their plants, is it nothing to prevent young 

 gardeners from acquiring correct ideas of nomenclature ? 



If Mr. Rivers, instead of giving his list of Acacias, had enumerated the same 

 plants in the following manner, his readers would have had something tangible 

 to go upon; and, when they ordered plants, the nurserymen apphed to would 

 at least have been able to find out what was wanted : — 



Robi'n/^ Pseud-Jcacia Ro. Pseud-^c. 



amorphaefolia Link. gracilis 



crispa Dec. heterophylla 



microphylla Lod. pyramidalis 



procera Lod. dubia Fauc. 



sopko7'(efd\ia Lod. inermis Dec, 

 spectabilis Dum. rubra 



tortuosa Dec. hispida L. 

 longifolia major 



echinata Lod. viscosa Vent. 

 floribunda alba 



formosissima 



It appears, by this list, that no fewer than fourteen of Mr. Rivers's twenty- 

 four kinds are varieties of the common Pseiid-Jcacia; and everyone at all 

 acquainted with that tree knows that the difference between the varieties is 

 for the most part so very slight, as to be hardly worth keeping distinct. In 

 short, any one may obtain as many varieties as he chooses, by sowing a bed 

 with the seed, and selecting the most distinct of the seedlings. Is it not 

 therefore likely to increase confusion, rather than to lessen it, to mix 

 fourteen obscure varieties with five distinct species ? If Mr. Rivers had 

 even given all the varieties of Robink Pseud-Jcacia together, the con- 

 fusion would have been less ; but nothing can be worse than the manner in 

 which he has jumbled them together in his list. After giving two varieties of 

 Robinia Pseud-/4cacia, he introduces a distinct species, R. dubia ; then he 

 gives five varieties of R. Pseud-Jcacia, next two species and their varieties 

 (No. 9 to No. 13, inclusive) ; then he recurs to R. Pseud-^cacia, and gives 

 four or five more varieties of that species (for R. pendula may belong to 

 several species); next follows the species R. hispida; and, between that and 

 the concluding species R. viscosa, is introduced R. variegata, which may 

 belong to all or any of the species, there being rose acacias with variegated 

 leaves, as well as common acacias. What is the confusion produced in 

 botany by the changes of names alluded to by Mr. Rivers, compared with the 

 confusion which this mode of confounding the names of trees and shrubs and 

 varieties and species in nurserymen's catalogues will produce in nurseries, 

 gentlemen's gardens, and in the minds of young gardeners ? The changes 

 introduced by botanists have at least the advancement of science for their 

 object, but what object Mr. Rivers can have in view, we leave it for our readers 

 to determine. For our own parts, we confess it baffles our penetration ; as we 

 cannot think so ill of him as to suppose that he wishes to induce his customers 

 to purchase, as distinct species, plants differing in little else but the names he 

 has thought proper to assign to them ; and, as to the confusion which he 

 deplores, instead of being lessened, it appears to us to be greatly increased. 



