Vill PREFACE. 
however, it includes named specimens of many of the supposed “ new 
species” described by him during the last fifteen years of his life, and 
has thus enabled me to come to more certain conclusions respecting them 
than would otherwise have been the case. 
The private herbarium of the late Mr, John Buchanan has been 
forwarded for my inspection by the Council of the Otago University, to 
which body it was bequeathed. Although but a fragment of the collec- 
tions he formed during his lifetime, it has been of considerable service, 
as it includes the types of most of his new species, and the drawings and 
analyses prepared for his work on the New Zealand grasses. 
My friend Dr. Cockayne has supplied me with much valuable informa- 
tion, and a considerable amount of interesting material from the Southern 
Alps, the Chatham Islands, and other localities explored by him. Many 
of his specimens have been of particular value, from being specially 
selected to show the range and trend of variation in some of the more 
variable species of the flora. 
The Right Rev. W. L. Willams, Bishop of Waiapu, has placed me 
under many obligations by regularly forwarding specimens collected by 
him in the East Cape and Hawke’s Bay districts, and by his invaluable 
help in compiling the list of Maori plant-names given in the Appendix. 
Mr. W. Townson, of Westport, has for many years supplied me with 
numerous sets of specimens, both fresh and dried, collected by him in the 
south-west portion of the Nelson Provincial District, and often obtained 
from out-of-the-way localities and at considerable altitudes. So little 
was previously known respecting the botany of this portion of the colony 
that his collections and notes have been of great service to me. 
I am indebted to Mr. A. Hamilton for the loan of his extensive 
collection of the ferns of the colony. This is not only unusually com- 
plete and well arranged, but also contains many specimens of crested 
and other abnormal varieties. 
I have also to record my thanks to Sir James Hector, Mr. J, D. Enys, 
Mr, G. M. Thomson, Mr. H, Hill, Mr. Justice Chapman, Mr. Percy Smith, 
Mr. H. J. Matthews, Mr. F. R. Gibbs, Mr. J. H. Macmahon, Mr. J. Adams, 
Mr. R. H. Matthews, Mr. H. Carse, Mr. Elsdon Best, Mr. R. J. Kingsley, 
Rev. F. BE. Spencer, Mr. H. ©. Field, Mr. J. Rutland, Mr. F. A. D. Cox, 
Mr. J. Hall, Mr. H. H. Travers, Mr. J. B. Simpson, and several others, 
for the material assistance they have rendered me. 
Turning from New Zealand, I have now to express my gratitude to 
several friends and correspondents in Hurope. First of all, I wish to 
tender my special thanks to Sir J. D. Hooker, who during a correspondence 
extending over thirty-five years has been at all times ready to give me 
the benefit of his wide knowledge and experience, and who has evinced 
