This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.

This 1847 milestone in the development of plant taxonomy defines the vegetable kingdom in terms of 'alliances' of plants.

He was a prolific author of works for gardening practitioners but also for a non-specialist readership, and many of his books have been reissued in this series.