FLORAL,
Illustrations of the
SEASONS,
Consisting of
The Most Beautiful, Hardy and Rare
HERBACEOUS PLANTS,
Cultivated in the Flower Garden,
from Drawings by
Mrs. EDWARD ROSCOE,
Liverpool,
Engraved by R. Havell, Junr.
London,
Published by Robt. Havell, Junr. 77, Oxford Street,
AND
Baldwin & Cradock, Paternoster Row.
1831.
TO WILLIAM ROSCOE, ESQ., F. L. S.,
&c. &c. &c.
My dear Sir,
In dedicating this Work to you, I am not presumptuousenough to believe that I can offer anything novel in a botanicalpoint of view, though I am sure you are too generous a patron ofthe science to discourage any effort, however feeble, which has forits object the diffusion of a taste for such pursuits: my motives,however, are not of this nature; I would offer it to you as a markof respect and affection, but more particularly of gratitude, for thewarm attachment you have ever evinced towards me, which hascontributed so much to the happiness of my life. With these sentiments,allow me to subscribe myself,
Your affectionate Daughter,
M. R.
Toxteth Park,
March, 1829.
PREFACE.
The present state of botanical knowledge renders it impossible for theAuthor of this Work to indulge in a hope, that she can add anything to thelearning and research which distinguish the science: as a humble followerof those who have added so much to our information on these subjects, shewould walk in their delightful paths, and gather some of those objects ofbeauty which lie scattered around her. To endeavour to place them in anattractive form—to attach to them useful and accurate information—hasbeen her pleasing task; and she will be amply rewarded if she should bethe means of affording any encouragement, particularly among her ownsex, to a taste for botanical pursuits. One of our greatest philosophers hasdeclared a "Garden to be among the purest of human pleasures"; and ifwe look for a still higher sanction—we have the divine command to
There is no pursuit which fills the mind with more noble and exaltedsentiments than the study of these works of Nature:—wherever we turnour attention, we shall discover in them ample lessons of instruction anddelight; in the structure of every plant, we shall find the most exactsymmetry, and the most perf