PEBFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. vii 



in it for several years, but still more so on a careful revision of both MSS. and 

 printed proofs, undertaken by Dr. Lindley in the most disinterested and kind 

 manner. Nevertheless, such is the typographical diminutiveness, that we cannot 

 imagine but some errors have eluded lis. Should it reach another edition, we shall 

 have great pleasure in effecting any emendations which our correspondents or friends 

 may discover and communicate. It will be manifest that two distinct courses have 

 been followed with regard to the ornamental and trivial species. Possessing nothing 

 to recommend them to notice, or to render the enrolment of their habits, native 

 country, &c, at all desirable, we have arranged the latter in aggregated groups ; 

 after their more interesting allies where these exist, and directly following the 

 general remarks on those genera which comprise no ornamental species. On the 

 description of each meritorious plant included in the columns opposite its appellation, 

 we shall descant more largely, when considering the abbreviations. 



Respecting the number of scientific terms herein explained, we may be allowed 

 to say that no other popular glossary contains such a copious collection. Their 

 explication is in exact accordance with the views of the most learned botanists, 

 merely being reduced to dimensions which best .comport with simplicity and 

 conciseness. 



Considering the immense field which this volume occupies, the accentuation of 

 generic, specific, and all purely botanical names that are not Anglicised, must be 

 regarded as a highly valuable characteristic. By the extreme perspicuity of the 

 marks employed, their full and universal adaptation, and the fact that they were all 

 supplied by the first botanist in England, (Dr. Lindley,) the botanic student or 

 other assiduous examiner will here meet with a fund of accurate instruction in this 

 particular, to which only the most laboured and extremely expensive publication 

 can at all pretend. 



It might be assumed that the signs used are sufficiently common to require no 

 comment ; but, for the benefit of the less informed, we shall just show the manner 

 in which they apply. In the first place, the vowel in each word over which the 

 primary accent occurs, sustains all the emphasis of the syllabic pronunciation, 

 independently of the real nature of the sign. Further, the employment of the long 

 quantity (") or the short quantity (") simply denotes that the vowel above which 

 they are placed is to be sounded long and broadly, or short and abruptly. To vary 

 our expression, the short vowel is perpetually pronounced in conjunction with the 

 next consonant, and the long one has its own distinct and final sound, as if the 

 letter were doubled, but the voice rested on each. In all cases when the last 

 syllable but one is marked long ("), the accent falls on that syllable ; and when 

 the last syllable but one as marked short ("), the accent falls on the last syllable 

 but two. Thus Romaniis would be accented Romanus, and tricSUSr would be 

 accented tricolor, although the i on which the accent is placed is short. It is 

 extremely important to bear this in mind. 



To reduce the work to the smallest practicable size, it has been found requisite 

 to abridge the language conveying many of the details, and that this may be rightly 

 comprehended, we shall now enter on its elucidation. First, the numerical figures 

 which follow the recognised specific names in the general list, and such as precede 

 the synonymes, have, as before hinted, a direct connection with each other, 



