Vice-counties of Britain and Ireland
For the purposes of botanical recording, Great Britain was divided by Henry Cottrell Watson into 112 “vice-counties” in 1852. These were designed to be more equal in size than the traditional counties, and would not be affected by any subsequent changes to county boundaries. A similar system was applied to Ireland by Robert Lloyd Praeger in 1901, as vice-counties H1–H40, and the Channel Islands are often included as a 153rd vice-county (VC113 or C.I.). These vice-counties often preserve names and boundaries that have long since been replaced elsewhere, which can cause some confusion. For instance, the Vale of White Horse remains in VC22, Berkshire, although it was transferred to the administrative county of Oxfordshire during the local government reform of 1974.
Great Britain
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Ireland
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