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A PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC

Encyclopædia of Horticulture

FOR

GARDENERS AND BOTANISTS.

EDITED BY

GEORGE NICHOLSON,

Of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

ASSISTED BY PROFESSOR J. W. H. TRAIL, A.M., M.D., F.L.S., IN THE PARTS RELATING TO INSECTS AND FUNGI;

AND J. GARRETT IN THE FRUIT, VEGETABLE, AND GENERAL GARDEN WORK PORTIONS.

DIVISION I.—A TO CAR.

PUBLISHED BY

L. UPCOTT GILL, 170, STRAND, LONDON, W.C.

SOLE AGENT FOR THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA,

JAMES PENMAN, NEW YORK.

1887.

LONDON: PRINTED BY A. BRADLEY, 170, STRAND.

HE ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF GARDENING aims at being the best and most complete Work on Gardening and Garden Plants hitherto published. The aim is, indeed, a high one; but the Publisher, whose taste for Flowers has rendered the production a labour of love, has, on his part, spared no expense that the Typography and Illustrations should be of a very high class. It is to be hoped that earnest efforts to attain accuracy, by consulting the best Authorities, combined with no small amount of original research, have contributed to render the matter of the Work not unworthy of the form in which it is presented to the reader. The large number of Illustrations is an important feature; and it is believed that the figures quoted, and the references given to various works—in which more detailed information is contained than is desirable, or, indeed, possible, in these pages, on account of space—will greatly add to the interest and value of the work. Considerable trouble has been taken in revising the tangled synonymy of many genera, and clearing up, as much as possible, the confusion that exists in garden literature in connection with so many plants, popular and otherwise. In the matter of generic names, Bentham and Hooker's recently-completed "Genera Plantarum" has, with few exceptions, been followed; that work being the one which will, for a long time to come, undoubtedly remain the standard authority on all that relates to generic limitation. With regard to the nomenclature of species, I have endeavoured to consult the latest and most trustworthy Monographs and Floras, and to adopt the names in accordance with them. Now and then, certain plants are described under their common garden names; but they will, in such cases, be also found mentioned under the genus to which they really belong. A case in point may be cited: Anœctochilus Lowii is given under Anœctochilus, but the name it must now bear is Dossinia, and a reference to that genus will explain matters pretty fully, as far as the present state of knowledge goes.

I am greatly indebted to Professor J. W. H. TRAIL, M.D., F.L.S., &c., for his valuable contributions on Insects, Fungi, and Diseases of Plants, branches of science in which he has long been specially interested, and in which he is an undoubted authority.

Mr. J. GARRETT, of the Royal Gardens, Kew, late of the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens, is responsible for Fruit and Vegetable Culture, for most of what appertains to Florists' Flowers, and for General Gardening Work. For information on many special subjects—Begonias may be cited as an example—I am obliged for much assistance to Mr. W. WATSON, also of the Royal Gardens, Kew; in fact, the article Begonia, in its entirety, was written by him. Mr. W. B. HEMSLEY, A.L.S., has, throughout, given me aid and advice; and I have to acknowledge constant help from several other colleagues.

The Rev. PERCY W. MYLES, M.A., has taken no little trouble in working out the correct derivations of very many of the Generic Names; unfortunately, in a number of instances, lack of time prevented me from obtaining the benefit of his knowledge. I have to record my gratitude for help in so difficult a task, this special study being one to which Mr. MYLES has paid much attention.

GEORGE NICHOLSON.

ROYAL GARDENS, KEW.