

PKEFACE. 



The object which it was proposed to accomplish by the publication of this 

 Treasury op Botany, was to bring together, into the form of a Dictionary, 

 a concise account of all the Plants concerning which a general reader was 

 likely to seek for information ; adding thereto, where practicable, longer 

 notices of the more remarkable species, together with such popular matter 

 as would give interest to the otherwise dry technical character of generic 

 or specific descriptions. This information was to be diversified by wood- 

 cuts, and illustrated by views of scenery, representing the peculiar physio- 

 gnomy of vegetation in different parts of the world. 



The genera under which botanists have arranged the subjects of the Vege- 

 table Kingdom are however, as is well known, so numerous, that they could 

 not be all included in a moderate-sized textbook like the present ; and 

 hence selection became" a necessity. In the choice of subjects, it has been 

 made an especial object that none of the more important plants, whether 

 in regard to their utility, their beauty, or their interest to botanical students, 

 should be overlooked; although it is to be. borne in mind that, in a 

 progressive science like Botany, some omissions, such as of genera first 

 made known or brought into notice during the progress of the work, must 

 be inevitable. 



"What the Treasury oe Botany really comprises, therefore, is a short 

 history of those genera of plants which are known to possess especial interest 

 oh account of the medicinal qualities or the economical uses of their species, 

 or by reason of their beauty or utility as garden plants ; while to these two 

 groups has been added a still larger one, comprising a selection of genera 

 serving as representatives of the whole series of Natural Orders and their 

 subdivisions. The space devoted to each separate genus is necessarily brief; 

 and, except in the case of medicinal or economically valuable plants, of 

 ;vhich a rather fuller account is given, the object has been to convey some 

 notion of the characteristics of genera or families, rather than to attempt an 

 enumeration, much less a description, of the species of which they consist. 

 For that a massive Cyclopaedia would have been necessary. 



The remaining features comprised in the text of the Treasury are— a 

 Comprehensive Glossary of Botanical Terms, prepared by the late Dr. Lind- 

 ley ; an extensive selection of English Names of Plants, arranged, as far as 



