PREFACE. V 



Among the new plants discovered by Mr. 

 Croom, and communicated to me, are a beau- 

 tiful evergreen Andromeda ; an arborescent 

 Taxus, allied to T. Canadensis, but attaining a 

 height of thirty feet ; a noble new genus of 

 Coniferae with the foliage of Taxus and a fruit 

 as large as a nutmeg, which Dr. Arnott will 

 shortly publish under the name of Torreya ; 

 and a very distinct new genus, to which I have 

 given the name of Croomia, in honour of my 

 departed friend. 



Mr. C. had projected a plan for extensive 

 botanical explorations in Florida; and during 

 his last visit to New- York, he commenced 

 some arrangements with a view to publishing 

 a continuation of Michaux's North American 

 Sylva, a task for which he was peculiarly well 

 qualified. It was his intention to devote much 

 of his future life to the examination of the 

 rare and imperfectly described southern plants, 

 and he had provided himself with some of the 

 best works and other means calculated to ren- 

 der his labours effective ; but in an unexpected 

 moment he was arrested in the midst of his 

 scientific career and all his fond hopes blasted. 



