Excerpt from University of California Publications in Botany, Vol. 5 At first the study was largely systematic and morphological, with the entirely and naturally to be expected result that it was found that very considerable confusion existed in the naming of the different plants. Some two or three years were devoted to growing almost everything that could be obtained and attempting to straighten out the nomenclature, which has been a matter of no little difficulty. The only recent revision is that of Comes (1899) and this has been used, so far as it clearly applies, in unravelling the tangle of names current in trade and in the botanical gardens. After careful growing and selecting, about seventeen species as generally recognized, remain, together with some well-marked varieties. It seems best to enumerate and discuss these to some extent, in order that a basis may exist for more exact knowledge of the work in the following pages. I hope, also, to be able to return to these later and publish a critical discussion of them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.