Introduction. XVil 
viridis, are pronounced An-e-mé-ne él-e-gans, A-dé-nis ver-nd- 
lis, and Hel-léb-o-rus vir-i-dis. Or, to render our meaning more 
clear, Anemo’ne el’egans, Ado’nis verna’lis, and Helleb’orus 
viridis. The few exceptions to the foregoing rule, as, for 
instance, where two or more vowels come together, seem to 
require no explanation, as no difficulty is likely to be ex- 
perienced in ascertaining the correct pronunciation. 
Geography of Plants‘kardy in the British Isles.—In the 
ehapter on Climate will be found some information respecting 
the countries which furnish the greater part of the exotic 
plants hardy in Britain. The few remarks to be made here 
refer to the classes of hardy plants inhabiting different regions. 
Every part of the world has what is termed its characteristic 
vegetation, depending to a certain extent upon climate and 
soil, but probably more upon other causes which have been 
variously explained by different investigators. We have only 
to speak of facts as they are, without any speculations as to 
the agencies which have operated to bring them into existence. 
Experience teaches us that plants are not by any means tiem 
tributed and confined, in a wild state, to localities best suited *:, 
to them, or where alone they will flourish. Frequently we find 
that plants attain a development unknown in their natural 
state, when conveyed to a distant part of the world possessing 
a similar climate. This may be attributed, in a great measure, 
to freshness of soil. In our Australian colonies, for example, 
many of our common weeds have been introduced with grain 
and cereals, and in many instances where they have escaped 
beyond the limits of cultivation, they have taken complete 
possession of the soil, to the total exclusion of the native 
“vegetation. In course of time the vigour of these introduced 
plants diminishes, and they are gradually reduced to more 
equal terms with the native plants. This fact supplies a valu- 
able hint to the cultivator respecting the importance of change 
of soil, and explains the relative fertility of freshly-broken 
land. But this is a digression: we were about to speak of 
the different classes of plants characterising the vegetation 
of various regions possessing a similar climate to our own. 
Taking first of all the Conifers, the members of which, with 
few exceptions, are evergreen, we find that the majority come 
a 
