PREFACE. 
This Synopsis is intended primarily to facilitate 
the determination of the families of British Plants 
by students, and only secondarily to exhibit a faint 
philosophic outline of the Evolution of Flowering 
Plants in general. Therefore the characters of the 
less important or less well-represented families are 
not always given in full. In some cases, also, the 
sections into which the larger groups are divided 
are fully applicable only to the British families. A 
few deviations have been made from Engler’s plan, 
where it seemed likely that such a change would 
render the Synopsis more useful in this country. 
The foreign genera mentioned are those which 
should be known to students, or which are generally 
met with in gardens. Dr. Moss, of Cambridge, has 
kindly given permission for the use of the sectional 
names on pp. ii, 14, 16, 17. 
W. B. G. 
