THE VEGETATION OF THE DISTRICTS OF HUGHLI- 
HOWRAH AND THE 24-PERGUNNAHS. 
By D. Prain. 
4 
I.— INTRODUCTION. 
It has often been impressed upon the writer that a concise 
list of the plants to be met with in the vicinity of Calcutta might be 
useful to those whom duty or pleasure lead to reside in that city. The 
present paper is an attempt to supply such a list. 
This is by no means the first attempt to do what is required. It 
appears probable from letters that have been consulted by the writer, 
written between 1796 and 1828 by Dr. Francis Buchanan (afterwards 
Hamilton), once Superintendent of the*Royal Botanic Garden, that in 
its original form the Flora Indica of Roxburgh only consisted of the 
brief diagnoses which accompany all the species, and that the long 
and lucid descriptions which in the work, as we know it, are given 
for many, but not all, of the plants dealt with, were intercalated 
subsequently. It further appears that manuscript copies of the 
original Flora were available for use as early as 1798 by at least some 
of Roxburgh’s botanical friends. This, though it certainly covered a 
wider field than the vicinity of Calcutta, or indeed than the Presidency 
of Fort William, may be considered the first attempt to provide a list 
such as is required. 
The first serious attempt to provide exactly what is wanted was 
made in 1839 by J. W. Masters on behalf of the members of the 
Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, The title of Masters 1 
paper, Calcutta Flora , containing a Synopsis of Plants indigenous 
to or cultivated in the vicinity of Calcutta, arranged according to their 
natural families; with observations on the properties, and manner 
of cultivating some of the most interesting , l shows that the design of 
the author was somewhat ambitious : it is not therefore surprising to 
1 Transactions of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, vii. 
39-85 (1840). The paper was re^d 12th June 1839. 
B 
