INTRODUCTION. xi 



botanist, and his records are worth no more than those of the 

 Professor. Again Babington records about twenty plants on his 

 own authority which no one else has ever seen, e.gi, Plantago 

 media certainly does not occur, 'yet he calls it "common.'' In 

 some cases he may have been deceived with regard to the leaves 

 of plants which were not in flower. On the other hand, there are 

 some unaccountable omissions, e.g., Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus, 

 Centaurea aspera. Orchis Morio. The fact appears to be that he 

 had not sufficient time to study the flora of the Islands properly, 

 and yet naturally wished to make his book as complete as possible, 

 and so occasionally jumped to conclusions on insufficient evidence. 



In the Bulletins Annuels of the Societe Jersiaise the following 

 lists have appeared : — 



{a) List of the Plants of Mt. Orgueil. E. Duprey, 1894, p. 265#. 



{b) List of Phanerogams and Ferns. J. Piquet, 1896. 



(c) Supplementary List to (6). 1898. 



(d) List of Plants found on the Ecrehos Eocks. L. V. Lester, 

 1898. 



Mr. Piquet's list is an advance in some ways on the " Flora 

 Sarnica." Most of the imaginary species have disappeared, and 

 it represents the results of fifty years' study of Jersey plants 

 by a keen and intelligent observer. But there is httle or no 

 attempt to distinguish between natives and the most obvious 

 aliens, and comparatively few localities are given. 



The hsts of plants in the two editions of Ansted and Latham's 

 "Channel Islands" are derived from the "Flora Sarnica" and 

 Mr. Piquet, and contain little that is original. 



The various British Floras seem to depend almost entirely upon 

 the " Flora Sarnica," and reproduce its errors with great fidehty, 

 without contributing anything that is new. 



In Jersey, as elsewhere, the study of plants has often been 

 pursued with more zeal than discrimination, and a large number 

 of records exist which still "need confirmation," and probably 

 will continue to need it for some time to come. A Ust of these 

 doubtful records is appended at the end of the Flora. I have 

 excluded all plants which I have not either seen growing in Jersey 

 myself or seen Jersey specimens of. The sohtary exception, so 

 far as I know, is Valerianella eriocarpa, which is admitted on the 

 authority of Mr. J. W. White. 



It is a pleasant duty to express my gratitude to many botanists 



