Ixil INTRODUCTION. : 
Each genus commences with the name, in Latin on the left, in English 
on the right. Where there is no English name suitable for the genus, the 
Latin one is repeated, as it must in that case be used as English. 
Then follow the generic character, a paragraph of remarks, an analytical 
key of species, and occasional memoranda on exotic cultivated species, all in 
the same form as in the case of the families. 
Each species commences with the name, consisting, both in Latin and in 
English, of two words. In Latin, the first word indicates the genus, the 
second the species; and the name is generally followed by the indication, 
in abbreviation, of the botanist who first fixed the name for the species in 
question. In these abbreviations, Zinn. stands for Linneus ; Br. for Robert 
Brown; DC. for De Candolle; Sm.for Sir James Smith. Other names 
are usually abbreviated by giving the first syllable with the first letter 
of the second syllable, as Hook. for Hooker. In English, the first word 
indicates the species, the second the genus; but both must be used in 
naming the plant, excepting in a few cases where the first word is a popular 
name applied to no other plant; the generic name may then, for ordinary 
purposes, be dispensed with, as: Charlock Brassica may be called simply 
Charlock. 
After the name a reference is given in a parenthesis to the figure of the 
species in the illustrated edition of this work. After the description of the 
species a reference is given to any name or names, different from the one 
here adopted, under which the species may be described in other works 
descriptive of British plants. Thus, under Brassica muralis, p. 36, ‘ Diplo- 
taxis muralis, DC.; B. brevipes, Syme,’ means that the plant is described 
as a Diplotaxis in the ‘Student’s British Flora,’ and as Brassica brevipes 
by Dr. Syme, in the new edition of ‘ English Botany.’ 
The next paragraph contains: lst, The indication of the geographical 
area of the species. This has only been done in a very general manner, and 
more especially with regard to its distribution in countries the nearest to 
Britain ; for it would have been quite foreign to the purpose of this work 
to attempt to fix, with any precision, the limits of the areas remote from 
Britain. Generally speaking, the species indicated as extending to southern 
Hurope penetrate more or less into Africa; if reaching the Caucasus, they 
often advance more er less into Persia and Arabia, etc. 2ndly, The distri- 
bution in Britain. This is also given in general terms, the object being 
to give the reader some indication whether the species to which he refers 
the plant, is likely to have been found growing in the places indicated. 
Directions to precise localities occupy too much space for any but very local 
Floras, or Botanists’ Guide-books. Exceptions are of course made for plants 
only known in a single locality. In all these indications Britain is meant 
to include Ireland. The Channel Island plants are only mentioned when 
they are not also found on the main British Isles. 
These stations are followed, in the same paragraph, by the period of 
flowering, printed in italics. The season is generally given rather than the 
month, as the flowering of plants always varies with the season. A spring 
flower which may appear in the beginning of March in a favoured situation 
on the south coast of England, may not open till May in the Highlands of — 
Scotland. ‘These periods of flowering, derived from personal observation or 
from the best sources-I had to hand, must, however, be taken with con- 
siderable allowance, for they are liable to much variation, according to 
local or temporary influences; and at any rate they can never be depended 
