70 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Flora of Iceland. 
that island, by obviating the necessity of their wading through 
all former published Floras. Moreover, steam navigation 
is opening up to British and American tourists Iceland as a 
new field both for science and sport; and it has already been 
visited by not a few travellers of the book-making class, who, 
I find, are not only committing, but in their works are likely 
to propagate, errors regarding its vegetation. <A revised list 
of the plants of Iceland might not only prevent some of these 
errors, but might contribute towards a better knowledge of 
the plants in question, by directing the attention of tourists to 
the defects of existing Floras, and so induce them to make 
collections and submit them to competent botanists for naming. 
With a view to supply this desideratum, I have drawn up 
the appended Flora, which is based essentially on the lists of 
Hjaltalin, Hooker, Vahl, and Babington. I found the pre- 
paration of the list a matter of much greater difficulty than 
I had at first anticipated ; and even with all the care that has 
been bestowed on it, the result cannot be regarded as other- 
wise than in great measure unsatisfactory. Great discrepan- 
cies occur between writers as to the numerical strength of the 
Icelandic Flora—some authors giving as many as 100 species, 
both of Phanerogams and Cryptogams, more than others, 
who equally profess to give a full list. I cannot help sus- 
pecting—though at present I am not in a position to prove— 
that some of the larger lists have been swelled by the names 
of plants which are either only supposed to be natives, or 
which cannot be natives, of Iceland! I have already men- 
tioned that my own observations and inquiries alike, as I will 
hereafter more fully explain, lead me to regard with great sus- 
picion the accuracy of the lists of Robert and Vahl. But my 
main difficulty has been in determining the modern syno-— 
nymy of the plants enumerated in the various lists I have 
consulted ; and I cannot better indicate the nature and extent 
of such a difficulty than by giving a few illustrations. 
1. Fungi.—The Rev. M. J. Berkeley wrote to me of the 
following :—Mucor Erysiphe: “ This is now a tribe rather 
than a species, consisting of several genera and numerous 
species.’ Peziza zonalis: “I know nothing of this. I cannot 
find the name anywhere.” Clavaria coralloides: “ Several 
