iy PREFACE. 
the subject may form different conclusions from those to 
which he has been led. 
This volume being intended as a field-book or travelling 
companion for botanists, it was advisable to restrict the 
space allotted to each species as much as possible, and ac- 
cordingly it will be found that the characters and observa- 
tions are only such as appear to be necessary for an accurate 
discrimination of the plants. Synonyms have been almost 
wholly omitted, but usually one British and often a foreign 
figure of each plant is quoted. Localities are only given 
for new or rare plants, the existence of so complete a work 
as Mr. Watson’s New Botanist’s Guide having made it un- 
necessary inconveniently to swell the present volume by their 
introduction ; but in order to convey some idea of the dis- 
tribution of plants throughout the United Kingdom, the 
letters E., 8., and I. have been appended to the descriptions 
of such species as have, it is believed, been only found in 
England, Scotland, or Ireland respectively,—all plants 
without such an addition and not inclosed in brackets having 
been observed in each of them. The descriptions of a con- 
siderable number of plants which only occur in the Channel 
Islands ; or, although included in our lists, there is reason 
to suppose have never been really detected in Britain; or 
have been added to our Flora by previous writers but are 
not now to be found; or, although decidedly naturalized, 
have very slender claims to be considered as aboriginal 
natives, are included within [ ]; and notices of a few plants 
concerning which more accurate information is requisite 
are distinguished in a similar manner. It is hoped that by 
this arrangement the truly indigenous species will be clearly 
distinguished from those which have little or no claim to be 
