After my retirement Mr. R. E. Massey was appointed, in 1912, Sudan
Government Botanist, and I had the good fortune of securing his co-
operation in bringing out a more complete Catalogue of the Flowering
Plants of the Sudan. Mr. Massey, by his presence on the spot, and by his
technical knowledge, has been able to give to the present Catalogue a
greater completeness and finish than I should have been capable of
unaided; he was also able to get further assistance from other persons
in the Sudan. He particularly and gratefully acknowledges the help he
received from Mrs. Crowfoot, wife of Mr. J. W. Crowfoot, Director of
Education, in a variety of ways, such as collections of plants,
Hadendowa and other vernacular names, and drawings and paintings of
plants. A number of Dinka and Shilluk names were also given by Mr. H. C.
Jackson, of the Sudan Civil Service, and Nuer names by the late Major
Stigand. A collection of plants of the Burun country, with their
vernacular names, was received from Dr. Kamar, of the Egyptian Army, a
further collection by Mr. Sillitoe, superintendent of Gardens, Khartoum,
from the Lado District, and one from Admiral Lynes, C.B., C.M.G., in
Darfur, mostly in the region of the range of mountains, called Jebel
Marra, which attains an elevation of over 10,000 ft., and bears a flora
quite distinct from all other parts of the Sudan.
The Catalogue was at first compiled without any descriptive matter, but
Mr. R. Hewison, Director of Agriculture and Forests, Sudan Government,
speaking on behalf of that Government, which is defraying the costs of
printing this book, expressed an opinion that it would be more useful to
officials in the Sudan if short descriptions were added. In order,
therefore, to supply these as quickly as possible we depended very
largely on descriptions in the Flora of Tropical Africa, which we
shortened considerably. My wife and I worked this out as far as and
including the Cyperaceæ, and Mr. Massey undertook to do the grasses,
part only of which have as yet appeared in the Flora. He desires to
acknowledge the aid received from Mr. C. E. Hubbard in the preparation
of the key to the Grasses. Mr. J. Hutchinson kindly helped us with
plants in the Kew Herbarium which have not been described in the Flora.
But a further acknowledgment is due to Mr. Hutchinson. He has regrouped
the Natural Orders according to the system described in his recent book,
_The Families of Flowering Plants, I. Dicotyledons_,[2] and has also
furnished a key to the Classification, thus bringing this book into line
with all the African Regional Floras which are to be taken in hand. He
has also consented to look over the proofs. Our most cordial thanks are
due for his help.
My wife has been constantly associated with me in my share of the work
from the time when we collected material in the Sudan until now, and
deserves also to earn her share of whatever credit may be given for this
work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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