PREFACE, V1l 
The synonymy I have treated in a similar manner. As far as the informa- 
tion at my command would permit, I have quoted all published names 
of endemic New Zealand plants, and all names founded upon New 
Zealand specimens. Further quotation would, in my opinion, be neither 
necessary nor expedient for the purposes of this work. 
Every botanist who prepares a Flora starts from the standpoimt 
reached by his predecessors in the same field. In the subjoined history 
of botanical discovery in New Zealand I have endeavoured to give a 
sketch of the labours of all those who have investigated the botany of 
the colony, either as authors or collectors, and who have thus assisted in 
providing material for future study and research. But, in addition, it is 
advisable to briefly mention the chief material upon which the present 
work is founded. At the outset I must state that I have relied very 
largely upon my own notes and observations, formed during thirty-five 
years’ continuous study of the flora, and upon my herbarium, which I 
believe to be the largest and most complete formed by individual effort 
within the colony. 
I am indebted to the Education Department for the loan of. that 
portion of the herbarium of the late Mr. Kirk which after his death was 
purchased by the New Zealand Government. Although comprising only 
a small part of the collections formed by this active and enterprising 
botanist, it nevertheless includes excellent and well-selected specimens of 
most of the species of the flora, including the types of the new species 
described by him, and has consequently proved an important aid to me. 
It is to be regretted that Mr. Kirk’s botanical papers and other manuscripts, 
none of which I have seen, were not included in this purchase. 
The Education Department has also placed at my service a set of the 
plants collected by Banks and Solander during Cook’s first voyage, a 
transcript of Solander’s manuscript descriptions, and a set of impressions 
from the copper plates prepared by Sir Joseph Banks to illustrate the 
descriptions. All these were presented to the Government a few years 
ago by the Trustees of the British Museum, and form a unique and 
valuable addition to the public collections of the colony. 
I am indebted to my friend Mr. D. Petrie, well known for his suc- 
cessful exploration in the Otago District, for the very valuable and 
important aid afforded by the study of his herbarium, which he has 
loaned to me in instalments during the progress of this work. It is 
specially rich in specimens of the rarer alpine plants of Otago, which, as 
a rule, are very poorly represented in other collections. 
The herbarium of the late Mr. Colenso has been lent to me by Mr. H. 
Hill, one of the trustees under his will. It contains a large amount of 
material, collected at various times between the years 1840 and 1898, 
but is to a great extent unarranged and unclassified. Fortunately, 
