INTRODUCTIOISr xiii 



Whenever possible I took about with, me Endlicher's Genera Plantarum^ 

 Roxburgh's Flora Indlca^ Wight and Arnott's Prodi^omtts^ and in later 

 years Kurz's Forest Flora of Burma and other books as they appeared. 

 Whenever I could snatch an hour or two I examined the trees and shrubs 

 which I had found. Unfortunately for myself I never was a keen sportsman ; 

 thiSy however, gave me time during my life in Eurma, from 1856 to 1862, to 

 record descriptions with rough sketches of the plants examined. Man}' 

 specimens of my old Burma collections are, in accordance with my wish, at 

 the Herbarium of the Royal Gardens, Calcutta, but a portion I have kept, 

 and Lt.-Colonel Prain has most kindly lent me some of my old specimens for 

 examination. Thus I have been able to utilize for the present book a 

 considerable portion of my old Burma notes, and this will I trust increase its 

 value. It must not be supposed that in those days I knew the systematic 

 names of the trees and shrubs of Burma. In January 1860, I was able to 

 spend a few weeks with the late Dr. Thomas Thomson at the Calcutta gardens, 

 and while there obtained the names of some of the more important trees and 

 shrubs. Until then, and in most cases afterwards, I called them by their Burmese 

 names. In 1859 I drew up a descriptive account of eighteen kinds of bamboos, 

 all well known to me by their dimensions, their mode of growth, their culm- 

 sheaths and other characters, but until Munro's Monograph of Baviboos 

 appeared in 1866, I only knew them by their Burmese names. After I left 

 Burma and commenced work in the other provinces of the Empire, I had 

 even less time for botanical studies. The result has been that to the end 

 of my Indian career I remained ignorant of many trees and shrubs, to which 

 my attention had not been specially drawn. Intelligent readers will discover 

 in the Addenda appended to this book several species which I had omitted 

 because I did not know them. 



Third : The specimens and notes sent to me by my younger friends and by 

 my former colleagues. Before speaking of foresters I desire to state that the 

 Superintendent of the Royal G-ardens, Calcutta, has for several years past 

 most kindly sent me duplicates, which it was thought might help me in my 

 present work. Mr. John E. Dathie, the late Superintendent of the Saharanpur 

 Botanic Gardens, has sent me specimens, and has enabled me to 

 examine others collected by him in Northern India. Colonel A. A. Barrett 

 has at different times sent me most valuable material, with full notes, from 

 Abbotabad and from the Chitral valley, and Dr. T. Cooke has most kindly, 

 in the case of difHcult genera, permitted me to examine the specimens of the 

 rich collections made by him in the Bombay Presidency. 



The first collection from forest officers came from Mr. A. E. Lowrie, at that 

 time in charge of the forests of Ajmer-Merwara. It consisted of an almost 

 complete set of well dried specimens of the trees and shrubs of that district, 

 with copious and instructive notes, accompanied in many cases by pieces of 

 wood, which enabled me to understand difficult genera, such as Cordla^ better 

 than before. 



Prom Mr. J. S. Gamble, CLE. and F.R.S,, I have received repeated con- 

 signments of splendid specimens collected by him in Bengal and in the Madras 

 Presidency, which have been a great help to me in this work. Moreover, 

 when I had nearly finished bamboos, Mr. Gamble at my request most 

 generously sent for my inspection and examination the specimens which he 

 had received from India since the publication of his great work on the Indian 

 bamboos, including several new species named by him. 



Mr. J. W. Oliver, when Conservator in Upper Burma, sent me several import- 

 ant collections, made, partly by him, partly by Mr. E. M. Buchanan, on the hills 

 in the Ruby Mines district, and in that remarkable region of dry country on 

 both sides of the Irawadi river between Thayetmyo and Mandalay. Upper 

 Burma was annexed three years after I had left India, and these collections, 

 with Mr. Oliver's notes, as well as a number of specimens sent me by Mr. A, 

 Smythies, gave me some idea of the forest vegetation of that country. I had 



