of an Artificial System, to the exclusion of a natural one; for if any one can be more alive than another to the real advantage derivable from a knowledge of the characters of plants, when naturally combined, it is assuredly he, whose duty it is to teach the Science to those who are destined for the profession of medicine. The former method will soon enable the student to ascertain the Foxglove, the Cinchonas, the Squill, and innumerable other plants of which he would be ashamed to be ignorant: but the study of the latter alone will put it in his power to extend his inquiries, and with a prospect of success, to analyse other plants of the same Natural Order, among which he may expect to find the same or more powerful principles than what are hitherto known to us. This alone lays open a wide field of usefulness to the Botanist and the Physician; and with the view to so desirable an object, the name of the Natural Order to which each Genus belongs is mentioned in the following pages; and in the Appendix will be found a complete list of those Orders as far as British Botany is concerned, together with an enumeration of the Genera belonging to them. That the remarks upon the Natural Orders could not, owing to the limited nature of the present work, be further extended, is the less to be regretted, now that Mr. Lindley has published his Synopsis of the British Flora, arranged according to the Natural Orders: and now that the Nouveaux Elémens de Botanique of Professor Richard, have been rendered familiar to the English reader, by Dr. Clinton's Translation. This work of Richard contains an excellent Introduction to, and a Table of, the Natural Orders, and ought to be in the hands of every one who desires information upon the subject.

The labour of compiling the Flora of a country by a careful examination and comparison of specimens themselves, whether in a living or dried state, can only be appreciated by those who have been engaged in an employment of the same kind. The collecting of materials, indeed, in their native hills and vallies, upon the seashore, in the woods, and among the majestic alpine scenery with which the northern parts of our island, eminently, abound, generally in the society of friends of a congenial taste, or students full of ardour and enthusiasm, has been a very delightful occupation, especially when taken in conjunction with "anticipations of the

pleasure we may have to bestow on kindred minds with our own, when sharing with them our discoveries and our acquisitions." And the task of describing them has, in the present instance, been considerably lightened by the able assistance afforded by many of the most able Botanists of our country, whose names are mentioned, as far as was consistent with the nature of the undertaking, when treating of the respective plants they have tended to illustrate. Mr. Borrer, Mr. W. Wilson, the Rev. Professor Henslow, and the Rev. J. M. Berkeley, have, in an especial manner, rendered service, both by notes and illustrative specimens; and the former gentleman has kindly undertaken a complete revision of the genera Myosotis, Rosa, and Rubus.

The design of the work would not allow of so many stations being given for the rarer plants as could have been wished and hence the Author has been rather anxious to indicate the range of the species, than the precise spot where any particular one is found. The admirable Botanist's Guide of Messrs. Turner and Dillwyn, and the various local Floras, may, for information on this head, be consulted with great advantage; particularly Mr. Purton's Midland Flora, Mr. Jones' Botanical Tour in Devon and Cornwall, Mr. G. E. Smith's Plants of S. Kent, Mr. Winch's Essay on the Geographical Distribution of Plants in Northumberland, Dr. Greville's Flora Edinensis, and Woodforde's Catalogue of the plants of the same neighbourhood, Mr. Hopkirk's Flora Glottiana, Dr. Johnston's Flora of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the late Mr. Don's Plants of Forfarshire; and Mr. Mackay's Catalogue of the indigenous Plants of Ireland, which is the fullest list that has yet appeared of the vegetable productions of our Sister Kingdom.

The present volume may be said to terminate with the Ferns. A future one, for which the materials are in a state of very considerable forwardness, will contain the rest of the Orders of the Class Cryptogamia; and will be published in such a form, that it may either be considered the second volume of the British Flora, or the fifth of Sir J. E. Smith's English Flora, and consequently as completing the description of the Plants of our Island.

Glasgow, May 1st, 1830.

BRITISH FLORA.

CLASS I. MONANDRIA.

FROM μovos, one, and amg; in this sense applicable to the stamen : one stamen, which should here, as the stamens in all of the first 20 Classes, be found in the same flower with the pistil. But such is not constantly the case with any of the British plants in this anomalous class. Hippuris has often numerous lower flowers destitute of stamens; and many of those of Salicornia have two stamens. Chara, by many authors placed here, is assuredly a cryptogamous plant; Zostera has the stamens and pistils separate, as has Callitriche, in most instances; hence these two genera are removed to Monacia.'

ORD. I. MONOGYNIA. 1 Style.

1. SALICÓRNIA. Linn. Glasswort.

Perianth single, turbinate, fleshy, obscurely lobed. Stam. 1 or 2. Style short. Stigmas bi-trifid. Fruit, an Utricle, included in the enlarged Perianth.-Nat. Ord. CHENOPODEÆ. Vent.-Name, from sal, salt, and cornu, a horn, from the horn-like branches and saline nature of the plants.

1. S. herbácea, Linn. (jointed Glasswort); stem herbaceous, articulations compressed somewhat thickened upwards and notched, spikes cylindrical slightly tapering at the extremity. Hook. Scot. i. p. 1.

a. Stem erect. S. herbacea, Engl. Fl. v. i. p. 2.-S. annua, Eng. Bot. t. 415.-S. acetaria, Pallas.

3. Stem procumbent. S. procumbens, Eng. Bot. t. 2475. Engl. Fl ̧ v. i. p. 2. S. prostrata, Pallas.

The really anomalous Genera, such as Callitriche, and anomalous species, such as Valeriana rubra (which has but one stamen), Val. dioica, (which is diœcious, though the rest of the species have 2 stamens in the same flower with the pistil), &c. will, in general, be found noticed at the end of the respective classes and orders to which they appear to belong, and they will be referred to the proper stations; as at p. 3.

From ovos, one, and yun, here made applicable to the pistil, or style, an essential part of the pistil: or, when the style is so short as not to be visible, the stigmas are counted. The student will do well to bear in mind the meaning of the names applied to the Linnæan Classes and Orders, for they are beautifully expressive of their essential characters,

B

Salt marshes, plentiful. Fl. Aug. Sept. -Plant leafless, much branched and jointed; articulations a little thickened upwards, very succulent, shrinking much when dry, in which state the upper extremity of each articulation forms a two-lobed membranous socket or short sheath, which receives the base of the articulation above it. Spikes of flowers dense, lateral and terminal, equally jointed with the stem, and bearing, at the base of every short articulation, on two opposite sides, a cluster of 3 flowers, each composed of a single perianth, apparently quite closed at the top, and pierced, as it were, by the bi-or trifid stigma and the single or two stamens: when two, appearing in succession. Mr. Wilson observes that the central flower (of the erect var. at least) has two stamens; one placed below, the other above, the laterally-compressed germen, and the side flowers only one, placed above the germen.

2. S. radicans, Sm. (creeping Glasswort), stem woody procumbent and rooting, articulations cylindrical spreading and notched at the top, spikes oblong obtuse. Engl. Bot. t. 1691, & t. 2467, (S. fruticosa). Hook. Scot. i. p. 1. Engl. Fl. v. i. p. 3, and again p. 3. (S. fruticosa).

Muddy sea-shores, but rare; on the Norfolk and Sussex coasts. In the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, (Prof. Henslow). Near Newry, Ireland, Mr. J. T. Mackay. Fl. Aug. Sept. 2.-This scarcely differs from the preceding except in its more branching, straggling, and perennial stem, quite woody below, often growing at the edge of a low muddy bank, depending from it. The true S. fruticosa is a very different plant, and confined to the south of Europe and north of Africa.-The various species of this genus, as well as of others belonging to the same natural family, and growing abundantly on the coasts in the south of Europe and north of Africa, yield a vast quantity of soda, so much employed in making both soap and glass; whence their English name, Glasswort.

2. HIPPÚRIS. Linn. Mare's-tail.

Perianth single, superior, forming a very indistinct rim to the germen. Fruit, a small one-seeded Nut.-Nat. Ord. HALOrageæ. Br.-Name from ixos, a horse, and ουρα, a tail.

1. H. vulgáris, Linn. (common Mare's Tail); leaves 6—8 or 10 in a whorl linear. Engl. Bot. t. 763. Hook. Scot. i. p. 2. Engl. Fl. v. i. p. 4.

Ditches and, usually, stagnant waters; less frequent in Scotland. Fl. June, July. 2.-Stem erect, simple, jointed. Whorls of about 8 leaves, which are callous at the point. Flowers at the base of each of the upper leaves, the lower ones often destitute of stamens. Germen oval, inferior; within its minute rim or border, at the summit, which constitutes the calyx, is situated the stamen, with its large two-lobed anther: when young, having the style passing between the two lobes. Seed fixed to the top of the cell of the pericarp, and thus inverted.-In deep streams of water connecting the little lakes, or Broads, at Surlingham, Norfolk, I have had this plant pointed out to me, by Mr. Deere, 2 and 3 feet long, with the leaves excessively crowded, 3 and even 4 inches long, pellucid, with an opaque nerve, their points not callous; the whole plant submerged, and consequently barren. Again on Ben-y-gloe, in Scotland, at a consider

able elevation above the sea, I have found a variety, the opposite extreme of this, scarcely 4 inches high, and apparently the H. montana of Reich, Ic. t. 86. The arctic H. maritima is distinguished by having many elliptical leaves in the whorl.

(See Valeriana rubra in Cl. III.; Alchemilla arv. in Cl. IV.; Zostera in Cl. XXI.; CHARA. in Cl, XXIV.)

ORD. 2. DIGYNIA. 2 Styles.

(See Callitriche in Cl. 21.).

CLASS II. DIANDRIA. 2 Stamens.

ORD. I. MONOGYNIA. 1 Style.

* Perianth double, inferior, monopetalous, regular.

1. LIGÚSTRUM. Linn. Privet.

Cor. 4-cleft. Berry 2-celled, with the cells 2-seeded.-Nat, Ord. OLEINEÆ, Hoffmansegg and Link.—Name from ligo, to bind, on account of the use sometimes made of its long and pliant branches.

1. L. vulgáre, Linn. (Privet); leaves elliptico-lanceolate, panicle compact. Engl. Bot. t. 764. Hook. Scot. v. i. p. 3. Engl. Fl. p. 13.

v. i.

Thickets and, more frequently, in hedges. Fl. June, July. 2.-A Bush with opposite, evergreen leaves, which, as the plant bears clipping, is frequently planted for fences. Flowers small, white. Berries black, globose.

** Perianth double, inferior, monopetalous, irregular. Seeds enclosed in a distinct pericarp (Angiospermous). Gen. 2—4.

2. VERÓNICA. Linn. Speedwell.

Cor. 4-cleft, rotate, lower segment narrower. Caps. 2-celled.— Nat. Ord. SCROPHULARINÆ. Juss.-Name of doubtful origin. * Spikes or racemes terminal.1 Roots perennial.

1. V. spicáta, Linn. (spiked Speedwell), raceme spicate, leaves oblong obtuse serrated pubescent, the lower ones broader ovate or obovate and stalked, stem ascending branching only at the very base. Engl. Bot. t. 2. Engl. Fl. v. i. p. 17.

6. Stem leaves broader, approaching to elliptical. V. hybrida. Linn.— Engl. Bot. t. 673. Engl. Fl. v. i. p. 17.

Rare. On dry chalky pastures about Newmarket and Bury.-. in Lancashire, and in Wales, where, in addition to the station discovered for it in Ray's time, Mr. Wilson finds it at Ormeshead, and at Gloddarth near Conway. Fl. July, Aug. 2.-The V. hybrida seems indeed

1 V. arvensis, triphyllos, and verna, are placed in the third division, on account of their annual roots, although their inflorescence may mòr strictly be considered spicate or racemose, than as consisting of solitary and eaxillary flowers,