INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME II 
ENGLISH BOTANY 
A century has passed since Sir J. E. Smith completed the first edition of his English 
Botany *, and half a century since the appearance of the first volume of the third edition of 
the English Botany 2 by J. T. I. [Boswell-]Syme 1 2 3 . Much has been added in the meantime to our 
knowledge of British plants ; and it is felt that this increase is sufficient to justify at the present 
time the issue of a new, comprehensive, and authoritative British flora. 
THE CAMBRIDGE BRITISH EL ORA 
It is a truism to state that knowledge has no finality; but there is need to emphasise 
the fact that the knowledge of even a limited flora like that of the British Islands is not 
only now in a state of flux, but always must be, so long as botanists continue to investigate it. 
Discoveries are frequently made of plants which, though known to the botanists of other countries, 
have not previously been distinguished in the British Islands ; and occasionally plants are found 
in these islands which have previously escaped observation altogether. The knowledge of the 
distribution of the members of the British flora is being constantly augmented, whilst, at the 
same time, it is being rendered more precise. The knowledge too of the nomenclature of British plants 
is constantly being increased ; and unfortunately this knowledge sometimes necessitates the adoption 
of an unfamiliar name. We hope that this increased nomenclatorial knowledge will eventually result 
in a greater degree of stabilisation ; but we regret to record our belief that finality in the names 
of plants is no more possible than finality in any other branch of knowledge. 
The work will be completed in about ten volumes of which the present (Volume II) is the 
first to appear. This will be followed by Volume III : the order of appearance of the remaining 
volumes will be announced in due course. 
The objects of The Cambridge British Flora are three. First, an attempt is made to register 
the present state of knowledge with regard to British plants— their classification, their names, 
their characters, and their distribution. Secondly, an attempt is made to relate British plants 
to the allied forms of foreign countries. And thirdly, a hope is entertained that the work 
will result in stimulating further research concerning British plants, particularly with regard to the 
study of their variations and the distribution of the less well-known forms. 
Contributors to THE CAMBRIDGE BRITISH FLORA 
We have been fortunate in obtaining the assistance of many of the leading British field- 
botanists who have undertaken to contribute accounts of the genera of which they have made 
1 With illustrations by James Sowerby. Smith’s name does not appear in the first three volumes of the work; but in 
the preface to the fourth volume Smith states that he has “to answer for every word in this publication, except the letter- 
press to plates 16, 17, and 18.” The first edition of the English Botany is in the present work referred to as “Smith Eng. 
Bot .” or "Eng. Bot. ed. 1.” 
2 With illustrations by J. Sowerby, J. de C. Sowerby, J. E. Sowerby, and J. W. Salter. The - second edition of the 
English Botany was a reprint, with the text and plates rearranged in the Linnaean order, of the first. The Supplement to the 
English Botany was written by Sir W. J. Hooker and other eminent botanists during the years 1831 to 1863. Some parts, supple- 
mentary to the third edition, by N. E. Brown, were issued in 1891 and 1892. The three editions and the supplements are often 
referred to as “Sowerby’s Botany”; but the botanical portion of the work is by Smith (editions 1 and 2), W. J. Hooker and 
others (suppl.), Syme (ed. 3), and N. E. Brown (suppl. to ed. 3). In the present work, the third edition of the English Botany is 
referred to as “Syme Eng. Bot." or "Eng. Bot. ed. 3.” 
3 Ne Syme; later he adopted the name Boswell, and still later the name Boswell-Syme. In the present work, he is 
always referred to by his birth-name Syme. 
*5 
