PREFACE. 
From the attention which has long been paid to the eluci- 
dation of the Flora of Britain and the numerous excellent 
otanists who have, since the time of the .justly celebrated 
i.ay (not to go further back), employed their talents upon 
an endeavour to determine the indigenous products of these 
kingdoms, the Author, in common it is believed with most 
English botanists, did not suppose that much remained to 
oe done in British botany ; for he could not expect that 
after the labours of such men as Smith, Hooker, Lindley, 
and others, and the publication of so invaluable and un- 
rivalled a collection of figures as is contained in the English 
Botany, there could still be many questions concerning the 
nomenclature, or any considerable number of unascertained 
species, the determination of which would fall to his lot. 
He had not however advanced far in the critical examina- 
tion of our native plants before he found that a careful 
comparison of indigenous specimens with the works of emi- 
nent continental authors, and with plants obtained from 
other parts of Europe, must necessarily be made, for it 
appeared that in very many cases the nomenclature em- 
ployed in England was different from that used in other 
countries, that often plants considered as varieties here were 
held to be distinct species abroad, that several of our spe- 
cies were only looked upon as varieties by them, and also 
that the mode of grouping into genera was frequently es- 
sentially different. 
The discovery of these facts produced considerable asto- 
nishment, and the author was led to consider what could 
have been the causes of so remarkable a discrepancy. The 
following appears to be the most probable explanation. 
It is well known that at the close of the last century Sir 
J. E. Smith became the fortunate possessor of the Her- 
barium of Linnaeus, and was thus enabled to ascertain, with 
very considerable accuracy, the British species which were 
known to that distinguished man, and to publish, in the 
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