IV PREFACE. 



the subject may form different conclusions from those to 

 which he has been led. 



This volume being intended as a field-book or travelling 

 companion for botanists, it is advisable to restrict the 

 space allotted to each species as much as possible, and ac- 

 cordingly the characters and observations are only such 

 as appear to be necessary for an accurate discrimination 

 of the plants. Synonyms have been almost wholly 

 omitted, but usually one British and often a foreign figure 

 of each plant is quoted. Localities are only given for 

 new or rare plants, the existence of so complete a work as 

 Mr. Watson's New Botanist's Guide having made it un- 

 necessary inconveniently to swell the present volume by their 

 introduction ; but in order to convey some idea of the dis- 

 tribution of plants throughout the United Kingdom, the 

 letters E., S., and I. have been appended to the descriptions 

 of such species as have, it is believed, been only found in 

 England, Scotland, or Ireland respectively, — all plants 

 without such an addition and not inclosed in brackets having 

 been observed in each of them. The descriptions of a con- 

 siderable number of plants which only occur in the Channel 

 Islands ; or, although included in our lists, there is reason 

 to suppose have never been really detected in Britain ; or 

 have been added to our Flora by previous writers but are 

 not now to be found ; or, although decidedly naturalized, 

 have very slender claims to be considered as aboriginal 

 natives, are included within [ ] ; and notices of a few plants 

 concerning which more accurate information is requisite 

 are distinguished in a similar manner. It is hoped that by 

 this arrangement the truly indigenous species will be clearly 

 distinguished from those which have little or no claim to be 



