PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



When an author offers to the public a work, the greater part of the information 

 contained in which is already available in detached fragments or other forms, his 

 first duty is to exhibit the propriety of its publication ; and prove, beyond question, 

 that he has been instigated to his task by no unworthy desire of fame, but by a 

 distinct and certified persuasion of its demand and utility. 



Happily, in the present case, we are enabled to court scrutiny into our motives, 

 being fully prepared to explain and 'justify them. During the numerous interviews 

 enjoyed by us with the leading patrons of floriculture, the want of a pocket com- 

 panion, such as that now furnished, has ever been especially and forcibly urged. 

 There are,, it is true, Catalogues, Encyclopasdias, Lexicons, and Cultural Directories, 

 all highly valuable in their respective spheres, and essential adjuncts to a gardener's 

 or amateur's library : but they are too elaborate, verbose, technical, or uninteresting, 

 to be readily and thoroughly appropriated ; the expense, also, of several is neces- 

 sarily enormous, and beyond the means of the great majority of those who thirst 

 after botanical and floricultural literature ; and no single one, much less a set, 

 embracing all the subjects of this Dictionary, is conveniently portable, or can ever 

 be carried, without discomfort, beyond the porch of the proprietor's domicile. 



Comprehensive compendiums, in which scientific and popular details are abridged, 

 combined, and thus brought within the pecuniary reach as well as easy examination 

 of those whose income and time are subjected to many other more pressing 

 exactions, are highly commendable if attentively and clearly arranged ; but their 

 usefulness is in proportion to the precision and accuracy of the manner in which 

 they are compiled. 



The Pocket Botanical Dictionary, then, has been prepared solely as an instant 

 resource and standard of consultation ; and for this purpose will be found invaluable 

 to the professors and lovers of horticulture, in all its branches and of every grade. 

 Within its columns is compressed all the most important information relative to 

 admired plants which its small size and avowed design would admit. With this in 

 his pocket, the possessor or cultivator of plants may perambulate his own garden, 

 visit those of his friends or public establishments, and attend floricultural exhibi- 

 tions, in the full assurance that if any particular object engage his attention, he may 

 at once derive every fact of interest respecting both it and its congeners which is 

 yet known in this country, and form an idea of the facility or difficulty, and con- 

 sequent expense, attending its conservation. Such is, cursorily, the prime purport 

 of this publication, and the aim of its author. To supersede the necessity for 



