INTRODUCTION 
XXXIX 
CLIMBING SHRUBS 
Shrubs are also proportionately much more numerous than in 
the British Islands, and the genera, of which there are climbing 
species, number upwards of thirty : — 
Schizandra 
Sabia 
Trachelospermum 
Cocculus 
Csesalpinia 
Cryptolepis 
Stephania 
Bauhinia 
Dsemia 
Cissampelos 
Mimosa 
Holostemma 
Capparis 
Acacia 
Cynanchum 
Hiptage 
Rubus 
Marsdenia 
Euonymus 
Rosa 
Pergularia 
Berchemia 
Hydrangea 
Tylophora 
Sageretia 
Hedera 
Hoya 
Helinus 
Jasminum 
Porana 
Vitis 
Vallaris 
Ficus 
THE HERBACEOUS ELEMENT 
Always continuing the comparisons with the British Flora, the 
herbaceous element demands little comment. Generally speaking, 
the herbaceous plants of Simla are showier than the British species. 
The principal and most striking diversity in the herbaceous 
vegetation of the two countries is due to the presence in Simla of 
a number of genera of the leading Natural Orders — Leguminosae, 
Composite and Graminese — which are altogether unrepresented in 
Britain. The same may be said of the Scrophulariaceae, Acan- 
thaceae, Labiatae, Amarantaceae, Urticaceae and Araceae. On the 
whole, the petaloid monocotyledons of Simla are more conspicuous 
than those of Britain ; yet none probably is so effective as the 
bluebell ( Scilla nutans) of British woods and meadows. Pro- 
minent among them is Lilium 'poly'phyllum , the subject of the 
Frontispiece. 
THE FERNS OF SIMLA 
The ferns of Simla are so numerous that the late Sir Henry 
Collett never intended to include them in the present work, but he 
contemplated publishing an account of them in a separate volume. 
He collected material for this purpose, and I have before me a list 
of seventy-one species collected by him during one season. As 
may be seen from the Bibliography at p. lxvii several other persons 
have made a special study of this class of plants, and Colonel 
