51 
PREFACE. 
In this Encyclopaedia are included aU the indigenous,, cultivated^ and exotic 
plants which are now found in^ or have been introduced into^ Britain. The object 
of the work is to give a natural history of these plants^ accompanied by such 
descriptions^ engraved figures^ and elementary details^ as shall enable a beginner^ 
who is a mere English reader, to discover the name of every plant which he may 
find in flower, refer it to its proper place, both in the Natural and Artificial 
Systems of Classification, and acquire all the information respecting it which is 
useful or interesting. It must be evident to all who are conversant with the present 
state of botany, and who know the number of plants which have been introduced 
into Britain, that to accomplish that object within the limits of a volume is a 
task of no ordinary difficulty; some explanation of the manner in which it has 
been executed may therefore be required. 
The Work is divided into Two Parts. The First Part (page 1.) contains the 
Linnean or Artificial Arrangement of all the genera and species, with ail the 
details comprehended in botanical description and natural and artificial botanical 
history, and with engraved portraits of one or more species of each genus. The 
Second Part (p. 1051.) contains the Jussieuean or Natural Arrangement of all the 
genera, without repetition of the species or any details connected with them : but 
as the names of the natural orders are added after each genus in the Artificial 
System, and as each genus in both arrangements is numbered, a direct reference 
may be had from the second arrangement to the first, and from the first to the 
second ; reference may also be had indirectly, through the medium of the Contents 
or Index. 
An Introduction is given to each system of arrangement (p. 3. and 1051.), and 
a General Introduction to the whole work (p. 1.), in which its uses are explained. 
When the beginner has a plant in fiower and would ascertain its name, he will 
turn to the Linnean System, as explained in the Introduction to that system 
(p. 3.) ; and, when he has but a small part of any plant, he will turn to the Natural 
System, as directed in the General Introduction (p. 1.). 
AU the Technical Terms, or words not usually found in an English dictionary, 
are explained in the Glossary (p. 1094.) ; and engravings are given of such of 
the objects designated as might occasion any difficulty to a beginner. This 
Glossary and the two Introductions (p. 3. and 1051.) form together a complete 
Grammar of Botany. 
The Table of Synonymes in various languages (p. 1108.) may, to a certain 
extent, be considered as presenting the Popular Floras of the various countries where 
these names are used ; since it is only to the remarkable plants of a country that 
vernacular names are given. 
The signs used for the habits of plants (column 3.), and their duration in the 
garden (col. 4.), are improvements in botanical description by the Editor *, now 
appHed for the first time. The twenty-three varieties of habit are indicated by 
* Originally exhibited in the Encyclopedia of Gardening, 2d edit. 1824, p. 126. 
A 2 
