Preface. Vii 
are already apparent; but a iine must be drawn somewhere, 
and in the choice of species one is naturally influenced to a 
certain extent by one’s own knowledge and predilections. 
Under each order, several of the showiest or commonest of its 
members found wild in Britain are described or noticed. Ex- 
ceedingly common plants are not technically described, for 
the simple reason that it is wholly unnecessary; but any in- 
teresting facts, such as date of introduction, native country, 
and other details respecting the changes years of cultivation 
have effected in well-known plants, like the Dahlia and Aster, 
are briefly noticed. Very rare plants, and especially those 
species requiring considerable skill and experience to grow 
them successfully, are usually mentioned without description. 
In those instances where there are several often closely allied 
species of the same genus in cultivation, the peculiar charac- 
teristics of each species are as much as possible inserted in the 
descriptions. It frequently happens that the genus of a plant 
is well known, but from the similarity of species, or some other 
cause, its specific identity is not so easily remembered, and 
hence the value of a book of reference containing the infor- 
mation sought. Plants vary so much under cultivation that, 
without trustworthy evidence respecting their descent from 
certain wild types, they would often be considered as specifi- 
cally distinct from their progenitors ; and therefore all descrip- 
tions must be accepted subject to the changes a plant is likely 
to undergo under artificial conditions. To overcome this 
difficulty as much as possible, the characters of the cultivated 
plant are given or allusion made to the changes effected by 
long culture. 
The information given under each species is culled from 
various sources, as it was not practicable to have all the species 
in a fresh state at the right moment; but only the most trust- 
worthy authorities have been consulted. It should be men- 
tioned here, that although free use has been made of the 
French work, even to the extent of translating some para- 
graphs in their entirety, Messrs. Decaisne and Naudin are in 
no way responsible for the alterations in nor »nclature, limita- 
tion of species, or any other changes that have been introduced. 
Naturally, we might expect to find some errors in sifting a 
