The Cambridge British Flora

Abstract

THERE can be no difference of opinion as to the need for a new, comprehensive, and authoritative British flora. Our knowledge of British plants has increased and broadened to an extent which renders the “English Botany” quite inadequate for critical work. Sir J. E. Smith's “English Botany,” with the admirable illustra tions by James Sowerby, goes back to the early years of last century; and the third edition, with its much inferior illustrations, is, from the point of view of the modern worker, almost equally out of date. One of the most important changes which has influenced British botany during the last half-century is the comparative study of our flora and that of other European countries. Prof. C. C. Babington was one of the first to appreciate the importance of this relation, and his manual, now in its ninth edition, is still regarded as the most critical presentation of the botany of the British Isles. It is appropriate that Babington's successor in charge of the Cambridge Herb arium, and the Cambridge University Press, should be jointly responsible for a comprehensive and up-to-date presentment of the same subject.

The Cambridge British Flora.

By Dr. C. E. Moss. Illustrated from drawings by E. W. Hunnybun. Vol. ii., Salicace to Chenopodiace. Pp. 206 + 206 plates. (Cambridge: University Press, 1914.) Price 2l. 10s. net.