ifi 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 10, 1903. 
-n w r« p T/” CJ Review copies of Books pertaining to the Garden should be sent as early 
IvlLt V 11L/ W OI DUUfVU. as possible to The Editor, “ G. W„” 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London. 
HAND-LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.* 
The first edition of the above work had been sold out for 
some time past, and that, together with, the fact, that numerous 
additions, had been made to the collection of living trees at 
Kew isinoe the publication of the first edition, has made it 
imperative that a new edition should! be forthcoming. The 
old one- was issued in two parts, the first in 1894, and the 
second in 1896, but both have noiv been brought up to date 
and combined in one volume, at a lower price. This we consider 
a distinct advantage to all concerned, for at, one handling 
reference can be made to all the trees and shrubs grown at 
Ivew. To the non-botanical gardener the single index will save 
reference to two. Being 1 arranged according to the natural 
system, and in no part alphabetically, the index will, indeed, 
be a boon to practical gardeners and lovers of trees and 
shrubs who may not be versed in the science of botany. The 
new edition therefore appeals to all concerned. It, runs to 
804 pages in, the aggregate, but as the left-hand page is left 
blank, new plants may be written against the proper place of 
insertion from time to time. 
At, a rough census, the first edition placed the number of 
species ,and varieties of plants grown at Kew as 20,000, of 
which 3,000 were hardy trees or shrubs. The latter, since 1894, 
have been augmented by 1,500, so that they now aggregate 
4,500. This may be taken as fairly representative of woody 
vegetation in the British Islands, exclusive of Conifer®. For 
the rest, the major portion of trees and shrubs hardy in Britain 
must be referred to those which are barely hardy in the lati¬ 
tude of London. One of the reasons put foffwardi as the aim 
and object of the first edition was the hope that it would 1 help 
” in establishing an approximate standard of nomenclature, 
which is often confused in gardens and too frequently 
erroneous.” This we consider one of the most important 
objects of the Hand-list, apart from being a guide to the 
trees and shrubs to be seen and studied in the collection. As 
matters have stood for years past,, the garden and nursery 
nomenclature of plants has been in a state- of hopeless con¬ 
fusion. Smith, Jones and Brown may catalogue one tree or 
shrub under three different names, and each give a glowing 
description of the plant in their own words, for which we do 
not blame them. Davis, or Jameson may buy from all three, 
only to have the mortification that he has got, three times as 
many plants of one thing as he wanted or has room for. 
Surely this insufficient reason for urging uniformity in nomen¬ 
clature. Brown and Jones may themselves be misled by a 
published account or description of Smith’s plant, and so the 
confusion becomes the more confounded. 
The only hope of arriving at a uniform system of naming is 
to adopt that of some leading authority or establishment whose 
whole time is given to a solution of this complicated business. 
The headquarters of botanical authority in this country are 
established at K-ew, and surely we have no need to look abroad 
for the help that is established at home. 
The new edition of the Hand-list in question has been care¬ 
fully revised and enlarged. In scanning its page®, we have 
little difficulty in discovering the finger-marks of a collaborator 
who- is thoroughly at home in the subject. 
The natural system of classification commences with 
Clematis, which heads the- order Ranunculaceae, and this is 
tlie plan of the Hand-list. We can refer only to a few of the 
emendations and alterations that have been effected in it. The 
additions constitute the largest item ; the alteration of names 
“ Hand-list of Trees and Shrubs, excluding-Conifer®, grown in 
Arboretum, Royal Botanic Gardens-, Kew.” (Second 
Edition.) London : Sold at the Royal Botanic Gardens, 
Kew. Printed for His Majesty’s Stationery Office by 
Darling and Son, Limited, 34-40, Bacon Street, E. 1902. 
Price Is. 3d. 
is only slight, and the-se, we presume, have only been made 
as the result of more experience, the -enlightenment of further 
research, or more mature consideration since the publication 
of the first,'edition. Clematis ooccine-a, of Engelmann, has been 
definitely referred to the C. Yiorna, of Linn®u®, known as the 
Leather Flower. C. Eremo-ntii has disappeared from the list 
without explanation ; possibly it lias been lost. C. integrifolia 
is a herbaceous species, -and has been left, out of this list. 
C. Pitcheri var. Sargenti has disappeared—for what reason it 
is not stated. 
On the contrary, the list has been growing apace-, the addi¬ 
tions being C. Arm-andi, C. Bergeroni, C. fusca, C. grata, 
C. heraclesefolia Lavallei, C. h. st-ans, C. Jackmani, C. leio- 
carpa, C. ligusticifolia, C. Pitcheri lasio-stylis, C. Ps-eudo-flam- 
mula, C. Sco-ttii, .and C. songarica. The Tree Peeonies have 
been augmented by P. lutea from the Mountains of Yunnan. 
The question of synonyms has always been a fertile source of 
trouble to gardeners and all connected with gardening, or the 
science of the subject. The advantage and utility of having 
them here recorded is that among -the- host -of conflicting names 
afloat, the reader, student, or gardener will be able to lay 
them aside in favour of the correct one. A good example 
of this will be found in Calycanthus glaucus, under which no 
less than fourteen synonyms -or aliases are recorded. The 
advantage of being able to 1-a.y -all of these -aside as useless 
incumbrances is obvious. 
A very important alteration has been made in the order 
Magnolia.ee-®. In the first edition were two- .species of plant® 
forming a somewhat anomalous tribe of the Magnolia family, 
but in the new edition the- number has been inere;asedl to four 
and the Hvhole tribe rai-sed to the rank of an order, the 
Troohodendrace®. We are now able; to place a plant coming 
under our notice, namely Eucommia ulmoides, which belongs 
here. Trachodendron aralioicles, o-n which the order is founded, 
we recorded nearly two years ago in The Gardening World, 
and at the time thought it a singular-looking object when in 
flower. The best-known plant in the new order is Cercido- 
phyllum japo-nicum. 
Taking a cursory glance through the book, we note that Acer 
Ginnala has been raised to the rank of a species, with 
Maximo-wicz as the authority; but that botanist was not 
always of the same- mind, for he -also- named it A. tataricum 
Ginnala. In matters of this kind there may never he^absolute 
finality until the science is sufficiently -advanced for botanists 
to be able to limit or define what constitutes a specie®. For 
the present the question is merely arbitrary and of convenience. 
The gender that certain names should hear is also a fluctuating 
quantity, for we have such variation in the terminations as 
Euoinymus europ®us, Populus alba, and Rh-amnus ealifornica. 
The question of hylaridity-amongst trees and shrubs found in 
a wild state is also much debated, and even -some of those who 
thoroughly believed that hybrids do occur in nature adopted a 
double system of nomenclature, giving an ordinary .specific 
name and also the parentage to which the plants in question 
were attributed. The specific names are here mostly adopted 
, in the case- of Willows, but there are- a few exception®. For 
instance, Salix Caprea x cinerea is adopted, and S. Reichardti 
given as a synonym. The reason for this is not stated,; pos¬ 
sibly it is a question of priority. We; are thankful that such 
names as Populus rasumowskyan-a are not very numerous. 
The Bamboo-s remain much as they were, though a. few 
alterations have been made, including the removal of Bam- 
busa pygmma to Arundinania p-ygm®a; Bamb-usa p-almata to 
Arunclinairia Kumasasa; Phyllo-staohys b-oryana to P. nigra 
boryama ; P. Gastillonis to P. Quilio-i Cast-illoni®; and P. mar- 
lia-e-ea to P. Quilioi marliacea. 
All this must have entailed a deal of labour and research, for 
which student® of botanical nomenclature in garden® cannot 
be too thankful, and we heartily commend the “ Hand-list of 
Trees and Shrubs ” as a reference book to- all concerned. 
