PEEFACE. 



This volume being intended as a field-book or travelling 

 companion for botanists, it is advisable to restrict the space 

 allotted to eaob species as much as possible ; and accordingly 

 the characters and observations are only such as appear to 

 be necessary for an accurate discrimination of the plants. 

 Synonyms have been almost whoUy omitted ; but the plates 

 of the original English Botany or some other British plates 

 are quoted. Syme's English Botany may vcell be used by 

 those who desire full descriptions of the plants ; and the 

 plates in that work have often had valuable additions made 

 to those of the old English Botany, from which most of 

 them are taken. Localities are only given for new or rare 

 plants ; Mr. Watson's New Botanist's Guide and his later 

 piiblications, and the numerous local floras render it un- 

 necessary inconveniently to swell the present volume by 

 their introduction. But in order to convey some idea of 

 the distribution of plants throughout the United Kingdom, 

 the letters E., S., or I. have been appended to the descrip- 

 tions of such species as have, it is believed, been found in 

 England, Scotland, or Ireland. The descriptions of a con- 

 siderable number of plants which only occur in the Channel 

 Islands, and are, therefore, not properly parts of the British 

 Flora ; or which, although included in our lists, there is 

 reason to suppose have never been really detected in Britain ; 

 or, although naturalized, have very slender claims to be 

 considered aboriginal natives ; or which are now supposed 

 to be lost by the alterations made in the places where they 

 were found by our predecessors ; are included within [] ; 

 and notices of a few plants concerning which more accurate 

 information is requisite are distinguished in a similar man- 

 ner. It is hoped that by this arrangement the truly indi- 

 genous species will be clearly distinguished from those 

 which have little or no claim to be considered aboriginal 

 or even thoroughly naturalized. The attempt to do this 



