166 
REVIEWS. 
July, 1889. 
work. It should also be a faithful record of all plants observed, 
whether native, alien, or casual, care, however, being taken to convey 
to the reader the true status of each plant recorded. Such a flora is 
a real gain to Science, and such a flora is the one now under review ; in 
all the points mentioned it is all that can be desired. 
But beside this there should be not only a general account of the 
district, but also of its area, extent of cultivation, with some account 
of its meadows, woods, rivers, marshes, heath lands, and the like, 
with comparative lists of the plants of near or contiguous districts ; 
in this respect the Flora of Herefordshire is scarcely level with the 
times. Still its excellencies are great, and quite condone for its short¬ 
comings. 
The work opens with a preface in which the authors acknowledge 
their indebtedness to some of the higher lights of botanical science, 
and give a short history of the progress of Botany in Herefordshire, 
together with the names of many of the past and present botanical 
investigators of that county ; and from this we learn that so far back 
as 1845 Mr. Purchas, the elder of the editors, had made an almost 
complete list of the plants of Herefordshire, so that the work of 
which this volume is the record was commenced nearly half a century 
ago. A summary of the Flora of Herefordshire was published in the 
Woolhope Club Transactions of 1867, and in this 863 species were 
recorded. In the present work, which is the first separate Flora of 
that county, we have 903 species recorded. 
A few of the greater elevations and characteristics of the Black 
Mountain and Malvern Hill ranges are also given. From these we 
learn that the highest point of the county is attained on the Ffwddog 
ridge of the Black Mountain at Cwarel-y-Fan (about 2,300 feet); the 
extreme northern point of the Hatterill ridge, where it overlooks the 
town of Hay, coming next with an altitude of about 2,200 feet. Of 
the Malvern Range the highest point in Herefordshire is the Hereford¬ 
shire Beacon, with an altitude of 1,390 feet. The undulating plain of 
the county has a mean altitude of about 200 to 290 feet. A description 
of the various grades of species is quoted from Watson’s Compendium, 
but no general summary is given ; this would have given additional 
value to the work. The types of distribution are described, but these 
types are not given in the text but are relegated to the “ Index to the 
Phanerogamic Plants”; and here the authors have gone beyond Mr. 
Watson, and included under their various types many plants not so 
recognised by Watson. The preface concludes with an account of the 
rainfall, climate, temperature, &c., of Herefordshire, by Mr. Henry 
Southall, F. R. Met. Soc., which is both interesting and valuable. 
This is followed by a definition of the botanical districts of Hereford¬ 
shire, by the Rev. W. H. Purchas ; with notes on their geology by the 
Rev. W. S. Symonds, F.G.S., Rector of Pendock. This occupies 
twenty-eight pages, and is a very full account. 
The county is divided into fourteen districts, the division being a 
purely artificial one; but, as this is accompanied by an excellent map, 
little is left to be desired. No plan of the Flora is given, but the 
reader learns incidentally on page 3, in a note on the White-flowered 
Aquatic Ranunculi: “The division and names here adopted are, as else¬ 
where in this Flora, those of the London Catalogue of British Plants, 
Ed. VII., 1874. Although in the case of the plants now under consider¬ 
ation, its classification cannot be considered very fortunate or instruc¬ 
tive.” 
Following the account of the districts is the Flora, which includes 
the Flowering Plants, Ferns, Mosses, and Fungi, and occupies, with the 
