April 1, 1S99.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
679 
TRIME^'S "FLORA OF CEYLON."* 
In noticing the fouvth part of tliis ^•^^hu^ble 
work, we cannot help taking- over >Sir Joseph 
Hooker's preface in full, so explanatory is 
it of the plan of the Flora and the contents 
of the present volume, as well as of the 
fifth part which is to follow and the complete 
Index which is to be siipplied :— 
PitEFACK TO Part IV. 
Being iustructed by the Government of Ceylon ':vith 
the completicii of Di-. Trimen's Haud-book of the 
Ceylon i'loi-ii (left uofiaishe-' through the lamented 
death of the duthor), I have to reader an account of 
the materials at my disposal for the above purpose. 
Premisinf4 that the th^ee Parts already published 
comprise three-fifths of the concempiatsd work, I have 
towariM its completion — 
1. The Natiirnl Older Eajjhorhirjceo'. (by Dr. 
Trimeu), neavly reaiiy ror press (about 140 species). 
2. A list of tiie genera and species of all the Orders 
from after EuphmiiicKeio to Ci/peracem inclusive, ia the 
sequence in which Dr. Trimen iutt-uded to describe 
them (i.e., in strict accordance with the Flora of 
British India), together with such synon3'ms and 
references as he thought necessary, liabitats, native 
names (few), and occasional notes. For Gramiime, 
which are to conclude the work, he left no materials 
whatever. 
3. That portion of the Peradeniya Ilerbarium 
which comprises the plants not published in Parts 
I. -III. ; and of the collection of drawings pertaining 
thereto. 
4. The Ceylon collections in the Kew Herbarium, 
which are much richer than those in that of Peradeniya. 
5. The remaining 25 of the 100 quarto lithographed 
and coloured Plates that accompany this work. These 
25 will appear with the present Part. 
Thus it appears that my share in the authorship of 
the H'lad-book, as originally contemplated by Dr. 
Trimen, will be confined to passing his account of the 
Euphor'jiacen: through the precis, ind to suppljing 
descriptions of all the -ucceeding Orders, together 
with a complete account • f O rantinen:, adding occa- 
sional notes on the geuera and species where I think 
it expedient to do so. 
In addition to the above, I propose to give in Pait 
V. (1), a key to the Natural Oidevs of Ceylon 
Floweiiiig plants, without which the work caniiot be 
of practical use to any but experienced botanists; (21, 
brief biographical notices, by Boulger, Esq., F.L.S,, 
of the botanists who have done most for the advance- 
ment of the Sinhalese Flora ; (3), two very instructive 
Maps, of the Kainfall and of the Forest Areas of 
Ceylon, issued by the Surveyor-Gsneral of the Colony, 
to whom I am greatly indebted for sanctioning this 
use of them. 
Regarding Iudex:s, it will be observed that i com- 
plete Index of the Latin, Sinhalese, ?.nd Tamil names 
of the plants described in Parts I. and 11. is appended 
to Part II. Part III. is not indexed. As I propose to 
append to Part V a complfte Index to the wholo work, 
I have confined the Index to Parts III. and IV. to 
generic names. 
It rem^iius to add to the above explanations that, in 
followiug Dr. Trimtu's footsteps, I shall adhere as far 
as possible to the plan he has adopted, in respoct of 
one point in which I have an observation to make. 
' rV Hand-book to the Flora of Ceylon containing 
descriptions of all the spfcies of Flowering Plants 
indigenous to the island, and Notes on their History, 
Distribution find Uses. By Henry Tiimen, M.B. 
(Lond.), F.R.S., Director of the Royal Botanic 
Uaidoiis, Cevlon. Continnpd by Sii" J. D. Hooker, 
O.C.S.I.. C.B.. F.B..S. With an Atlas of PI Uea 
iliusliatiiiK some of the more iutere.tin> species. 
Prt't IV.: Euphovbiacese— Naiadeoe. With Plates 
LXXVI— C. Published under the authority of the 
Government of Cevlon. London : Dulau t'i; Co., 37 
lioho Square, W., ISQS. 
Ho 
It refers to the following passage in the lutroduetion 
to Part I., p. V. : ' In the definitions of the Orders and 
Geneia, it must bs distinctly understood tliat the 
distiuguisLiing characters here given for each group 
do not include the v.'hole of those which belong : o it, 
but such only as are r^hown by the species found iu 
Ceylon.' Had the Flora of Ceylon been exhaustively 
explored, this cuiiailnient of the characters of the 
Ordei's and Genera, would not interfere with the value 
of the v/ork for its limited purpose, but su'jh, I feel 
satisfied, is not the case. There are still large areas 
of the Forest x-e5;ion \vhi".h await ths visits of keen 
collectors, and there are not a few common (some 
amongst the very commo; esti*) plant- of the plains of 
India thit h ive no: as ytt been collected in Ce ion. 
September, 1398. j. D. Hojkf.b. 
Sir Joseph's coacluding paragraph is parti- 
cularly uoticeabie, shewing, that m his 
opinion, the Flora of Ceylon is by no means 
exhaustively explored, but that there are 
wide areas of our Forest region still to be 
dealt with by careful botanical collectors. 
It is also .surprising to learn that some of 
the commonest plants iu Soutliern India 
have not yet been found iu Ceylon, not- 
withstanding the coastant iutercom^se 
through cooly immigrants, traders, cVrc. Of 
course, the plants may be here, though not 
as yet identified. Most of the names of 
past botanists and collectors have been given 
to plants they discovered, and so we are 
constantly reminded, in the Flora, of Burman, 
Thunbreg, Rottler, Moon, Gardener, Col. 
and Mrs. Walker, Major Foi'bes, Champion, 
James Macrae (Superintendent of Peradeniya 
Gardens 1827-30 — who is described as "an 
active collector, especially of orchids"), .T. G. 
Watson (Superintendent of Peradeniya 
Gardens from 1832 to 183S), Dr. Thwaites, 
Nietner, Kelaart, O. Brodie, Glcnaie, W. 
Ferguson, Beckett. Wall, Nevill, Pole, Mac- 
kenzie, D. Morris, W. Smith and Dr. Trimen 
himself. Among collectors still in our 
midst are Messrs. W. H. Wright, Xock, 
Alwis, Braine, F. Lewis and E. E. Green ; 
but iu view of Sir Joseph's remark there is 
clearly room for many more aptirt from 
Mr. Willis, his Assistant, Mr. Parkin, 
and Curator, Mr. Macmillan. It would be 
well if some of the educated permanent 
residents at outstations and in outlying 
districts gave their attention to the botany 
of their neighbourhood and after some study 
thej' might be able to add their contributions 
to futiu-e editions of the "Flora of Ceylon." 
We now proceed to afford some idea of 
the volume before us. It opens with the 
Natural Order "Euphorbiaceae" — herbs, shrubs 
or trees with often milky juice, and of these 
generic names with their subsidiary species 
are described, the same covering 78i>ages. .Sir 
Joseph Hooker's expLmatory note introductory 
to this order is of special interest (and -wo m-ay 
here mention that while the bulk of the 
work belongs to Dr. Trimeu. the large 
number of notes signed "J.D.H.", shews 
the great interest taken, and the varied 
amount of labour given, by the final editor) : — 
Chilli.- a tropical Oi'der, one of tha largest of 
flowering plants, and one of the sis largest of ihe 
• Of this IV oon^pi^aom exaioplo is toti/n iiuw 
plehtiiint, !>;■., a weed eXicutiiin, from Ainca to 
Australia ; the tiop cul representative of the Euiopeau 
P. avkuJaie, and l erhip^ the commonest of Indian 
dicotyloJonous p'.ants. Eepeci:«,Ily abundant in the 
Madras Pcniniala. 
