X 



INTRODUCTION. 



introduced species exceeds that of all other states, 

 it may be said with safety, that, whereas in most 

 other countries the rare kinds are almost ex- 

 clusively confined to botanic gardens and public 

 institutions, the wealth and good taste of the 

 English gentry procure for all trees worthy of 

 introduction, and adapted to the climate, admis- 

 sion into the numerous parks with which the 

 whole land is studded ; where, without excep- 

 tion, for all purposes of observation and study, 

 they are as much the property of the curious 

 investigator, as of the lord of the soil himself. 

 Scarcely a town in England is be5'0nd a reason- 

 able distance of some lordly demesne, abounding 

 in fine specimens of most of our native trees, 

 as well as many foreign ones, to the former of 

 which the Author hopes to introduce his readers 

 in the following pages. 



Technical terms have been as far as possible 

 avoided : but since, in describing the structure 

 of a tree, it is necessary to apply to the several 

 parts the conventional terms assigned to each part 

 in scientific works, it has been judged advisable 

 to give a general but slight sketch of the ana- 

 tomical structure of a tree belonging to the class 

 in which all the British trees are comprised. 



The elementary organs of all vegetables are 

 either cells or vessels, which either singly or con- 

 jointly form what are called the cellular tissue and 

 vascular system of plants. Cellular tissue is the 

 simplest form of organised vegetable substance, 

 and may be stated to be a combination of mem- 

 branous cavities, the form and size of wliich are 



