VI 
INTRODUCTION. 
the experiment being fully made of using the Jussieuan 
or Natural System for the general arrangement ; while the 
Linnaean was introduced into the Preface as an index to 
the other, and particularly for beginners. That this 
experiment was not unsatisfactory is demonstrated by 
the fact, that a sixth edition was called for in 1850, and 
after an interval of about five years a seventh, and now 
a new one has been demanded. The Linnsean method 
is not, therefore, now reverted to. Before Dr. Walker- 
Arnott’s name had been associated with the authorship 
of this Flora, he had published, chiefly for the use of his 
class, synoptical tables of the British orders and genera ; 
these, slightly modified, were inserted in the sixth and 
seventh, and will also be found in the present edition. 
Those of the orders are given under each great division, 
and of the genera under each order ; the detailed cha- 
racters of the orders are placed as formerly at the head 
of the genera, and those of the genus at the head of the 
species. 
By those who desire fuller information respecting the 
natural affinities of Plants, especially as concerns uni- 
versal Botany, the following works may be studied with 
advantage : — Dr. Lindley’s Introduction to Botany, and 
his admirable Vegetable Kingdom ; the 7th and last 
edition (by Sir W. J. Hooker) of Sir J. E. Smith’s 
Introduction to Botany ; Dr. Balfour’s Manual of Botany, 
and his Class-Book of Botany ; and Dr. Henfrey’s Ele- 
mentary Course of Botany. 
In most Floras of this country published previously to 
the British Flora, however excellent in other respects, 
either too much or too little space was devoted to the 
generic and specific descriptions and synonymes : in the 
one case swelling the book to a size which entails both 
expense on the purchaser, and difficulty in consulting 
the several volumes ; in the other, reducing the technical 
characters to the shortest possible compass, so that they 
