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COMPANION
TO THE
BOTANICAL MAGAZINE,
( NEW SERIES).
0.1 18459
NOTICE RESPECTING THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS
OF KEW.
<6
So sits enthron'd, in vegetable pride,
Imperial Kew, by Thames's glittering side;
Obedient sails from realms unfurrowed bring
For her the unnam'd progeny of spring.”
Delighted Thames through tropic umbrage glides,
And, flowers antarctic bending o'er his tides,
Drinks the new tints, the sweets unknown inhales,
And calls the sons of Science to his vales.
In one bright point admiring Nature eyes
The fruits and foliage of discordant skies,
Twines the gay floret with the fragrant bough,
And binds the wreath round GEORGE's royal brow."
“ Sometimes retiring from the public weal,
One tranquil hour the ROYAL PARTNERS steal ;
Through glades exotic pass with step sublime;
Or mark the growth of Britain's happier clime.”
THE renewal of the Miscellaneous Information, under the
title of “COMPANION TO THE BOTANICAL MAGAZINE," which,
commencing in 1835, was carried on to the extent of two
closely printed volumes, affords an opportunity of laying
before our readers some particulars, which cannot fail to
interest all lovers of Plants and of Horticulture, respecting
the present condition and future prospects of the Royal
Botanic Gardens of Kew.
It is generally known that considerable changes in this
establishment were contemplated upwards of four years ago,
when, from a private garden, belonging to the Royal
Family, and maintained by funds from the Board of Green
Cloth, it was liberally ceded by Her present Majesty Queen
Victoria, and placed in the hands of H. M. Commissioners of
Woods and Forests, with the view of its being made available
B
le

2
to the general good. The public, too, having since had free
access to the gardens, under a few needful regulations, cannot
fail to have observed the many alterations and improvements
effected under the sanction of the above-mentioned Board,
and must feel desirous of some particulars respecting them.
It is with a view to satisfy this laudable curiosity, that the
following notice is now offered.
This is not the place to enter into the full early history of
the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, but a few statements are
necessary, selected from the best authorities.
About the middle of the 17th century, the spot that now
forms the gardens of Kew, with the residence, called Kew
House, was the property of R. Bennett, Esq., whose daughter
and heir married Lord Capel. This nobleman was much
attached to the cultivation of plants, and is said to have intro-
duced several new fruits and trees at Kew, which he had
brought with him from France; among them, “two Lentisks,
or Mastic-Trees,” are recorded, for which he paid £40 (an
enormous sum two hundred years ago) to one Versprit, and
four white striped and variegated Hollies, costing him £5 a
tree. In Macky's Tour through England in 1724, mention is
made of the “fine seat and excellent gardens, said to produce
the best fruit in England, belonging to that great statesman
and gardener, Lord Capel.” Kew House and Grounds then
passed into the hands of Mr. Molyneux, who was Secretary
to King George the Second (when Prince of Wales), and
who married Lady Elizabeth Capel. He was well known as a
man of literature and an astronomer, and with an instrument
of his own construction, in these very grounds, Dr. Bradley
made his valuable discoveries relating to the fixed stars,
to record which, an inscription was ordered, by the late King
William the Fourth, to be placed on the pedestal of the sun-
dial, erected on the identical spot where Dr. Bradley's telescope
had stood, upon the lawn, and opposite to the present palace.
The Prince of Wales, who was son to George the Second,
and father of George the Third, admiring the situation, took
a long lease of Kew House from the Capel family, about the
year 1730, and formed the pleasure-grounds, containing
nearly one hundred and twenty acres, which were finished by
his widow Augusta, the Princess Dowager of Wales, who
had great delight in superintending the improvements, then
carried on upon a most extensive scale. Originally, the
ground was one dead flat; the soil sandy, and, in general,
barren, and destitute of either wood or water. With so many
66

3
*
Gen, sit
transfer to
Bot gard.
Museums
whilton
24-23-68
6.28-37
38574
natural disadvantages, it was not easy to produce anything,
even tolerable, in gardening; but princely munificence, aided
by a Director, equally skilled in cultivating the earth, and in
the polite arts, overcame all difficulties. What was once a
desert is now an Eden. The judgment with which Art hath
been employed to supply the defects of Nature, and to cover
its deformities, hath very justly gained universal admiration,
and reflects uncommon lustre on the refined taste of the
noble contriver, as the vast sums which have been expended
to bring this arduous undertaking to perfection, do infinite
honor to the generosity and taste of the illustrious possessor,
who, with so liberal a hand, distributes the superfluity of her
treasures, in works, which serve at once to adorn the country,
and to nourish its industrious inhabitants.” *
At this time, Sir William Chambers was employed in deco-
rating the grounds at Kew with temples, &c., an account of
which he published in a large folio book, with many plates,
dedicated to the Princess Dowager of Wales, under the title
of “ Plans, Elevations, Sections, and Perspective Views of the
Gardens and Buildings at Kew, in Surrey, the Seat of Her
Royal Highness, the Princess Dowager of Wales.”
The Physick or Exotic Garden, † was also begun before
the year 1759, by the Princess Dowager; for we find in that
year, Mr. William Aiton, a pupil of the celebrated Philip
Miller of the Chelsea Gardens, was placed in charge of the
Botanical Garden at Kew; a gentleman distinguished no less
by his private virtues, than for his knowledge of plants, and
great skill in cultivating them. His professional abilities
soon procured him the friendship of the late Sir Joseph
Banks, which subsisted for life: the most curious plants
were collected from every part of the world, and Mr. Aiton's
care in rearing them, was evinced by his attention to the
various soils and several degrees of warmth or cold, that their
different natures required. The borders in the garden were
enlarged for the freer circulation of air where it was needful,
and the stoves improved, so as to afford the plants, as nearly
as possible, the atmosphere of those climates where they
originally grew.
* Sir William Chambers.
† This does not appear to have been the first Botanic Garden in Kew;
for Dr. Turner, the Herbalist, “one of the fathers of English Botany,” had
a Botanic Garden here, as well as at Wells, where he was Dean of the
Cathedral.
I Gentleman's Magazine, 1793.

4
In 1783, Mr. Haverfield having been advanced to a higher
office, was succeeded by Mr. Aiton in the lucrative post of
superintending the pleasure-grounds and kitchen-gardens at
Kew, conjointly with which he was allowed to retain his
former charge.
It was about the year 1789, that His Majesty George the
Third purchased Kew House, which was soon afterwards
pulled down, and the furniture removed to an old mansion,
înown by the name of Kew Palace, once the property of Sir
Hugh Portman, who is mentioned as “the rich gentleman
who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth at Kew.” This small
but picturesque old brick dwelling, which appears to be of
the date of King James or Charles I., was bought in 1781 for
Queen Charlotte, and was long the favorite suburban resi-
dence of the Royal Family. Her Majesty took great interest
in the increase of the collection of plants; and the late Sir
James E. Smith, President of the Linnæan Society, has borne
testimony to the love of Botany on the part of Queen Char-
lotte, when he says, “ the name Strelitzia * of Aiton, stands
on the sure basis of Botanical knowledge and zeal; and that
few persons have ever loved the study of nature more, or
cultivated it so deeply as Her Majesty. Under such Royal
auspices, and with the powerful patronage of Sir Joseph Banks,
it was only to be expected that the garden of Kew should
soon become celebrated all over the world. So early as 1760,
the great stove was built by Sir William Chambers, which
still exists, and must have been a remarkable structure for
that time of day, being 114 feet long; the centre, occupied
by the bark stove, 60 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 20 feet high,
* So called by Sir Joseph Banks and Mr. Aiton, in compliment to Her
Majesty, the Consort of George III., as Princess of the House of Mecklen-
berg Strelitz. It is a plant worthy to bear so great a name ; and noble
specimens are usually to be seen in flower, in one or other of the stoves,
during the winter months: especially that species on which the Genus was
founded, Strelitzia Reginæ, figured at Tab. 119 of the Old Series of this
work, and which has been justly described as one of the most brilliantly
colored flowers in nature. The Strelitzia augusta, a far more stately
plant of the Genus, and with larger, but very differently colored petals, has
recently flowered in the conservatory of Kew, and will soon find a place
in these volumes.—By the recent marriage of H. R. H. the Princess
Augusta of Cambridge with the Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenberg
Strelitz, this august name is still preserved in the family; and the amiable
Princess who bears it, has, we have ample opportunities of knowing,
evinced a no less lively interest in the present improvements carrying
on at Kew, than her Royal ancestor did in those to which we are now
alluding

5
exclusive of the tan-pit; and the two ends formed two dry
stoves, each 20 feet long, 18 wide, and 20 feet high.
In 1761, the Orangery was erected, also by Sir William
Chambers ; this is 145 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 25 feet
high, and in the same year was added the very elegant
Temple of the Sun, as it is called, of the Corinthian order,
and some young trees were planted near, now grown to be
nearly the most beautiful and ornamental in the garden, par-
ticularly an Oriental Plane and a Turkey Oak Such an
increase of plants had taken place in the year 1788, that a
greenhouse for Cape plants was built, measuring 110 feet
long; and another for New Holland ones, nearly the same
size, in 1792.
In 1768, a catalogue of the plants in the Exotic Garden at
Kew was published by Dr. Hill, under the title of “ Hortus
Kewensis," and a second edition the following year. But a
far more elaborate and important work appeared, in three
vols. 8vo, with some admirable plates, the “ Hortus Kewensis
of William Aiton,” in 1789, giving an account of the several
foreign plants which had been introduced into the English
gardens at different times, amounting to 5,600 in number;
and so highly was it esteemed, that the whole impression was
sold off within two years. Mr. Aiton did not long survive
this publication, for he died in 1793, in the sixty-third year
of his age, and lies buried in the church-yard at Kew, near
the graves of his distinguished friends, Zoffany, Meyer, and
Gainsborough. His pall was borne up at the funeral by the
most distinguished literary and scientific men of the day, by
Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Goodenough, afterwards Bishop of
Carlisle, Mr. Dryander, Dr. Pitcairn, Sir David Dundas of
Richmond, and Mr. Zoffany. A singular Genus of Cape
plants was named after him by the celebrated Professor Thun-
berg, and the admirable portrait of him, which we have often
seen in the library of the late Sir Joseph Banks, now in the
British Museum, represents him as holding a sprig of Aitonia
in his hand.
Mr. Aiton was succeeded by his son, William Townsend
Aiton, Esq., who was no less esteemed by His Majesty George
the Third than his father had been, and who, besides con-
ducting the botanical department, and taking the charge of
the extensive pleasure grounds, was also employed in the
improvement of the other royal gardens and pleasure-
grounds, in all which he displayed great skill and judgment
and an intimate acquaintance with his profession. The voyage
C

6
.
66
of Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks round the world,
those of Capt. Flinders and Mr. Robert Brown (Botanicorum
Princeps) and of Mr. Allan Cunningham to Australia, of
Bowie and Masson to the Cape of Good Hope and Brazil,
enriched the gardens at this period with the vegetable pro-
ductions of the Southern Hemisphere, to a degree which has
had no parallel, before or since, -add to this, one or more
collectors were, for a long period of years, employed in vari-
ous other countries abroad, and the produce of their researches
was deposited at Kew.
These vast accessions of plants to the garden occasioned a
new and greatly enlarged edition of Mr. Aiton's Hortus
Kewensis to be published by his son, in five vols. 8vo. (1810);
a work," as the author justly remarks, in the Dedication to
the King, “ rendered necessary to the public, not only by the
number of valuable plants continually sent home by your
Majesty's collectors abroad; but also by the influx of curious
Exotics, poured into the Royal Botanic Garden of late, by
your Majesty's subjects, anxious to aid, by their individual
exertions, that munificent patronage which has rendered
Botany a favorite pursuit among all classes of your Majesty's
people.” In the same Dedication Mr. Aiton acknowledges
the valuable assistance he (as well as his father) received
from the scientific knowledge and learning of Sir Joseph
Banks and Mr. Dryander. In this second edition too, the
Botanical world is indebted, for an entire revision of the
Orchideous and Cruciferous tribes, to the pen of Mr. Brown.
At various times, and especially during the life of His Majesty
George the Third, other houses, stoves, and pits were erected as
occasion required; but it must be confessed that, on the decease
of that revered monarch, and of Sir Joseph Banks, whom His
Majesty so much delighted to honor, and who died shortly
after the King, the Botanic Garden languished and suffered
from want of royal and scientific encouragement. During the
reigns of George the Fourth and William the Fourth, with
the exception of the few plants transmitted by collectors who
were occasionally employed, and one hothouse, (the consery-
atory,) being erected by the last-mentioned sovereign, (and it
is but justice to say this is the handsomest and most orna-
mental,) the Botanic Garden rather retrograded than other-
wise; its funds were diminished; and matters would have been
much worse, but for the truly parental affection cherished
towards the establishment on the part of Mr. Aiton and the
able exertions of his Assistant and Foreman (now the Curator)

in the gardens, Mr. John Smith. Throughout the country, a
feeling existed, which soon began to be loudly expressed,
either that the establishment should be entirely abolished, or
that it ought to be placed upon a very different footing, and
rendered available, as a great scientific establishment, for the
advantage of the public.
Government was happily ready to respond to this latter
feeling, and in 1838, the Lords of H. M. Treasury appointed
a Committee to enquire into the management, condition, &c.,
of the Royal Botanic Gardens. The result was that in May,
1840, a * Return” was made to the House of Commons,
consisting of a Report by Dr. Lindley, who, at the request of
the Committee, had surveyed the Gardens, in conjunction
with Messrs. Paxton and Wilson, two practical gardeners.
Strangers, or persons not well acquainted with the vicinity
of Kew, have often very incorrect notions of this establish-
ment; nor can it be wondered at that such should be the case,
seeing for how long a time it was the private garden of the
Royal Family, and taking into account, also, the great extent
and varied nature of the grounds. We shall in few words
describe them, as they existed at the period we speak of.
They consist of,
1st - The Grounds immediate about the Palace of Kew;
they are of small extent, (including a waste piece, on which
was begun the great edifice of Mr. Wyatt, soon afterwards
pulled down,) bounded on the North side by the road and
towing-path and the river, on the South and West by the
Pleasure Grounds, and on the East by the Botanic Gardens.
2d,—The Botanic Garden proper, the present unfavorable
entrance to which is on the South side of Kew Green, between
the residence of H. R. H. the Duke of Cambridge and that
occupied by General Sir George Quentin. It contained, at
the time in question, eleven acres, or thereabouts, of very
irregular outline, bounded on the North partly by the gardens
of the residences (chiefly Crown property) which stand on the
South side of Kew Green, in part by the Green itself, from
which it is separated by a handsome railing, and in part by the
gardens of H. M. the King of Hanover; Westward by the
grounds of the palace above mentioned ; Eastward by the
royal Kitchen and Forcing Gardens; and South by the Plea-
sure Ground.
* Not fifteen, as mentioned in the Report above named. That extent
must, we think, have been intended to include the Kitchen and Forcing
Gardens also

8
-
3d - The Royal Kitchen and Forcing Gardens, situated
between the Botanic Gardens and the Richmond road (where
is the entrance), and comprising about 6 acres.
4th,- The Pleasure Ground, consisting of 120 acres, an
extensive and beautiful area, lying to the South of the Botanic
Garden, and bounded by the Richmond road and the river.
For some years, this has been thrown open twice a week to
the public, during the summer months; it contains the well-
known pagoda, temples, seats, and an ornamental piece of
water, which was once a large lake, covering many acres.
5th,—To the South of this, and stretching between the
Richmond road and the river, almost into the lower part of
the town of Richmond, lies Richmond Old Park, or Kew
Park, as it is sometimes called ; a noble extent of pasture,
interspersed with many fine trees, and distinguished by the
Observatory, which was erected by George the Third, now
liberally granted to the use of the British Association, and
where this scientific body is carrying on an interesting series
of experiments on Terrestrial Magnetism.
The Report of Dr. Lindley, mentioned above, has reference
only to the 2d of these divisions; namely, the Royal Botanic
Gardens, and it states that “they occupy about fifteen acres
(see note supra), and contain many fine Exotic Trees and
Shrubs, a small collection of Herbaceous Plants, and numer-
ous specimens of Grasses. Ten different stoves and green-
houses,* built at different times, as occasion required, are
;
* As some of these houses have already been greatly altered, and others
are condemned, as unworthy of the gardens, it may not be uninteresting to
record their former extent, and contents, as given in the Report.
1. “A Palm Stove, 60 feet long, containing some fine old Palm trees,
&c., planted in the ground.”
2.
“ A Stove, 50 feet long, with a miscellaneous collection of stove
plants."
3.
“ Ditto, 60 feet, containing ditto, and two small tanks for aquatic
plants.”
4. " A small span Greenhouse, 40 feet long, occupied by a miscella-
neous collection of New Holland and Cape plants.”
5.
“A Dry Stove, 40 feet long, in two compartments, filled with
succulent plants.”
6. “A Greenhouse, 60 feet long, chiefly filled with fine specimens of
Cape of Good Hope and New Holland plants, among which are some noble
Banksias."
7. “A double Propagating Pit and Hospital, 35 feet long, with
cuttings and sick plants in one division, Ferns, Orchideæ, and other valuable
specimens in the other.”
8. “A Greenhouse, 30 feet long, containing small Cape of Good
Hope and New Holland plants.”

9
crowded together without plan or arrangement, all heated by
separate fires, producing a quantity of soot, which causes
much inconvenience; they contain a great variety of rare and
valuable Tropical plants, in good preservation. Besides these
houses, a fine Orangery stands in the Pleasure Grounds,
filled with Orange trees and other shrubs, of great size and
value, and a new architectural greenhouse (that erected by
William the Fourth, before mentioned). The report goes on
to state that “ the cultivation, on the whole, is creditable to
those individuals who have had charge of the garden, consid-
ering the crowded state of the houses, and the inadequate
funds allowed for its support. These causes, and the very
insufficient extent of ground allotted to the garden as a
National Institution for the encouragement and extension of
Botanical Science, prevent its fulfilling the objects for which
it was designed; neither does it seem to be useful as a private
Royal Garden, being only resorted to for supplies of flowers
and plants, on occasion of great entertainments at the royal
palace.
“ Of late years, the means of maintaining this garden
appear to have been considerably reduced ; one of the two
collectors, who had been sent abroad in 1814 to collect seeds
and plants and to communicate with similar institutions in
other countries, having been recalled in 1823, and the other
in 1830.”
It resulted from this investigation that the whole of the
Gardens, Pleasure Grounds, and Park was transferred to the
department of Her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods and
Forests. Mr. Aiton, on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of
his Directorship, retired from the charge of the Botanic Gar-
dens, and the writer of the present notice received instructions
from the Honorable Board of Commissioners to enter upon
9. “A Botany-Bay house, 110 feet long, crowded with magnificent
specimens, chiefly of New Holland plants."
10. “ An old Stove, reported to be the first house erected in the garden,
110 feet long, in three divisions, one occupied by noble succulents and other
plants; the second containing a stately Zumia pungens, Palms, &c.; and
the third a miscellaneous set of greenhouse plants, with a few forced flowers
for nosegays."
11. “In addition to these, there are, in the Pleasure Ground, a fine old
Orangery, above alluded to, 130 feet long, filled with Orange trees Arau-
carias, New Holland and other plants, of
great size : and
12. In another part of the Pleasure Ground, adjoining the Arboretum,
there has been recently erected an architectural greenhouse, 82 feet long,
42 feet wide, and 28 feet high.”
D

10
the important duties of that office in the spring of the year
1841, and to make, as speedily as possible, a report to the
Board, of such alterations as were deemed essential for render-
ing the gardens useful to the public at large and to our
colonies abroad. Many useful suggestions on these heads
are offered in the Report of Dr. Lindley, especially when he
observes, “ A National Garden ought to be the centre round
which all minor establishments of the same kind should be
arranged; they should be all under the control of the chief of
that garden, acting in concert with him, and, through him,
with each other; reporting constantly their proceedings, ex-
plaining their wants, receiving their supplies, and aiding the
mother country in every thing that is useful in the Vegetable
Kingdom. Medicine, Commerce, Agriculture, Horticulture,
and many valuable branches of manufacture, would derive
much advantage from the establishment of such a system.
From a garden of this kind, government would be able to
obtain authentic and official information on points connected
with the establishment of new colonies: it would afford the
plants there required, without its being necessary, as now, to
apply to the officers of private establishments for advice and
assistance.
- Such a garden would be the great source of new and
valuable plants, to be introduced and dispersed through this
country; it would be a powerful means of increasing the plea-
sure of those individuals who already possess gardens; and,
what is of far more consequence, it would undoubtedly become
an efficient instrument in refining the taste, increasing the
knowledge, and augmenting the amount of rational pleasures
of that important class of society, to provide for the instruc-
tion of which has become so great and wise an object with the
present enlightened administration.
Purposes like these could not be effectually accomplished
with such a place as the Botanic Garden of Kew now is
(in 1838). It would, however, prove an admirable founda-
tion; and the facility of reaching it, either by land or water,
renders it impossible to select a better site in the vicinity of
the metropolis.
“ To render it effective, it should be enlarged by the addi-
tion of, at least, 30 acres from the Pleasure Grounds of Kew.
Considerable additions should be made to the houses ; every
thing should be systematically named and arranged ; in short,
the garden should be perfectly adapted to the three branches,
of instruction, exhibition, and supply.”

11
Other alterations of a very important character could not
fail to suggest themselves to the Director on his becoming
intimately acquainted with the minutiæ of the establishment,
and many which it were tedious to narrate in this place.
One of the first of these was to throw open the Botanic
Garden for the admission of the public on every week-day,
from the hours of one to six, or, rather, till dark in summer;
and even to admit any respectable individuals coming from a a
distance, who may not be acquainted with this regulation, at
an earlier hour; and not only are the grounds, but the houses
also, open to visitors; and it is almost needless to say that the
number of these has been very considerable. Yet, what is
peculiarly gratifying, and contrary to the anticipation of many
persons, this privilege has been rarely abused. In the few
cases of an opposite description, the conviction (which must be
expected when trustworthy men are necessarily dispersed
through the garden at their various occupations) has produced
its own punishment.
Next to the facility of ingress, and consequent pleasure
and instruction to the public, the enlargement of the ground
was an important object. The limit of the garden was not
indeed exactly defined where it met the precincts of the
residence of H. M. the King of Hanover ; but permission was
soon granted to include within the Botanic Garden, all
the ground immediately adjoining the Conservatory and the
Orangery, which greatly augmented the beauty of the
view, and included between 3 and 4 acres. This addition
to the gardens, however, was rather to be considered orna-
mental than useful. Application was made by the Chief
Commissioner of Woods and Forests to Her Majesty, for such
an extent of land from the contiguous Pleasure Ground as
might afford the means of forming an Arboretum, suited to
such an establishment, and also of erecting a Palm or Tropica
stove, equally worthy of the place and the nation. Her
Majesty was graciously pleased to assent to this request, and a
portion of the Pleasure Ground, comprising about 47 acres,
and including a piece of water, was surveyed and permitted to
be enclosed with a light wire fence, so as still to open the
view into the rest of the Pleasure Ground, and added to the
beauty of the Botanic Gardens, which may now be estimated
to contain 60 acres, and the two areas are now laid into one.
Thus, here is a considerable space allotted for Arboretum, if
judiciously planted, and in grounds already so highly orna-
mental, and so furnished with well-grown trees, as to present
a

12
a
great inherent beauty, independently of the additional im-
provements which are in contemplation.
But changes now come to be noticed that have taken place
within the boundary of the old ground, or original Botanic
Garden : for in the same ratio that the space for hardy plants
needed enlargement, so did the accommodation for tender
plants; and plans were given in for those improvements, by
which such a transformation is effected in the aspect of the place,
that persons, who have not visited Kew Gardens for two or
three years, can scarcely recognize the localities. These alter-
ations may be best understood by a reference to the former
condition of the stoves and greenhouses (as given in the note
p. 8); and, at the same time, some changes will be detailed,
that are yet only in contemplation.
We will suppose the visitor to enter the garden from Kew
Green: he passes along an alley of shrubs, which turns at an
angle close to the present dwelling of the Curator, Mr. John
Smith, and after walking under a handsome specimen of Napo-
leon's Willow (Salix Babylonica) growing on the left hand
(and remarkable for a conspicuous and strong root which it sent
out for more than 20 feet in search of water) and a healthy
young Pinus Webbiana on the right, he enters the Arboretum
immediately opposite to a Glastonbury Thorn, which may often
be seen in flower on or before Christmas, and does not shed its
foliage till after that time, blossoming again in Spring. Near
the Thorn is a handsome Deodar, from the Himalaya Moun-
tains ( Cedrus Deodara); a Deciduous Cypress (Taxodium dis-
tichum), and a rare unkown species of the Genus supposed to
come from Japan; the curious and scarce Juniperus filiformis,
unique of its kind; Pinus macrocarpa, P. Coulteriana, &c.
&c. Here the visitor, attracted by the appearance of stoves,
probably turns to the left, or south, rather than into the right-
hand walk, which would lead more immediately to the old
Arboretum, and the first object he sees on the right-hand side,
opposite to a noble tree of the Downy-fruited Maple, (Acer
eriocarpum of North America,) is the house to which we
have been alluding, as about shortly to be removed, viz. :-
“ A Palm-stove, 60 feet long, containing, among other things,
some fine old Palm trees, planted in the ground.” These
Palms have greatly outgrown the house, and they are suffer-
ing extremely; but the building, which had been raised to
give them more room, is old and worthless, and will be
altogether demolished. In the meanwhile, preparations are
making for the removal of the Palms, and of a noble Screw
a

13
Pine (Pandanus odoratissimus), planted in the ground,
which, by digging round the roots, and limiting them within
a smaller compass, will allow of being set into a great tub,
and thus removed into the future Palm Stove. Besides the
plants just mentioned, this house at present contains a large
collection of Ferns; amongst them the Tree Fern of Van
Diemen's Land (Dicksonia antarctica), a fine specimen of
the Indian Dammara Pine (Dammara orientalis); and two
still rarer ones, the Dammara of New Zealand, or Cowdie
Pine (D. australis), so valuable for masts for our navy; some
miscellaneons bulbs, &c.
Following the same path for a very short distance, we
come on the left to
“ No. 2. A Stove, fifty feet long, filled with a miscellaneous
collection of plants.” At the time alluded to (1839), this,
like all the other hothouses and greenhouses described in
the list, was nothing more than a lean-to, presenting only a
South front, with a high back-wall on the North, and heated
by smoke-flues. The present erection, retaining its original
position and length, has been doubled, and is converted into a
span-house, giving, of course, twice the area of its former
dimensions; the new glass is all sheet-glass; the heating is
on the best construction, with hot-water pipes, and hot-water
tanks; slate tables are placed in the centre, and broad stone
shelves in the circumference; and there are pillars for
climbers. It is still, assuredly, “ filled with a miscellaneous
collection of plants;" but these are in a highly flourishing
condition, and as unlike plants cultivated with smoke-flues
as it is possible to conceive. One of the shelves is, at present,
occupied with a fine range of ever-flowering Begonias, whose
highly-ornamental foliage, amid a hundred modifications,
always preserves its peculiar character of obliquity, and is
thence, not inaptly called, Elephant's Ear. The Genus, too,
possesses a great advantage, in its species producing their
delicate pink or white blossoms at different seasons; so that
one or other kind may be seen in bloom all the year round.
Here, too, are the famous Tea Plants of Paraguay (Ilex
Paraguayensis), a kind of Holly, affording the beverage,
called Matè in South America, and used almost as extensively
in that great continent, as the Bohea, Souchong, and Hyson,
of China, are in Europe. The Upas or Poison Tree of Java
(Antiaris toxicodendron), to whose authentic virulence it
has been the pleasure of poets and travellers to add many a
a
E

14
-
horrifying imaginary incident: this most valuable specimen
was presented to the Royal Gardens, along with many other
oriental rarities, by the Hon. the Directors of the East India
Company. The Tanghin, or Poison Tree of Madagascar
(Tanghinia veneniflua), rendered infinitely more extensively
baleful than Upas by the execrable laws of the Malagassy
kingdom (for a colored representation of this tree, and many
particulars of its use in the native ordeal, as communicated
by the Missionaries, see the Botanical Magazine, Tab. 2968;
and Botanical Miscellany, v. 3, p. 275—291, Tab. 110). In
this same house, are Coffee and Chocolate shrubs, Black
Pepper, the Teak of India, the Cow-Tree or Palo de Vaca
of the Caraccas, Galactodendron utile, (described and figured
in the Botanical Magazine, Tab. 2723 and 2724), and a
multitude of other rare fruticose plants. The Telfairia
pedata (Botanical Magazine, Tab. 2751, 2), with its curiously
fringed flowers, would fill the building with the lengthened
branches which it throws out, if permitted to do so: the Gre-
nadilla (Passiflora edulis, Botanical Magazine, Tab. 1989);
the beautiful Gardenia Sherbourniæ,--these climbers, together
with the Passiflora alata, Allamanda cathartica, Echites
hirsuta, Poivræa coccinea and Roxburghii, Petræa volubilis,
Beaumontia grandiflora, and Ipomæa Horsfallia, twine round
the pillars.
It may be remembered by former visitors to the garden,
that, in the old state of this stove, there was a gate of entrance
at its west end, opening from the Arboretum into the Botanic
Garden, and that from this point, a wall went off (where a
Terebinth-Tree, and a large Salisburia now stand) to the
back of the “old stove,” and from the West termination of
that again in the direction of the old Orangery: this wall
formed the boundary (now pulled down) between the Arbo-
retum and the herbaceous ground.
“No. 3. A Stove, sixty feet long, with two small tanks,
for water-plants, occupied by a miscellaneous assemblage of
stove plants.” This remains still in the same condition as
when the Report was prepared ; and it is interesting, during
the short time it will be permitted so to stand, to compare
the state of its inmates, as to growth and vigour, with those
in the building just left, (No. 2,) where the improvements in
hothouse cultivation have been adopted. It is, however, in-
tended, during the present year, 1845, to make a span-house
of this, to carry it out to the length of ninety feet, joining it

15
to, and rendering it in every point, except as to internal
arrangement, like No. 2, when it probably will form a recep-
tacle for Orchideous plants.
“ No. 4. A small Span-greenhouse, forty feet long, con-
taining a miscellaneous collection of New Holland and Cape
plants.” This runs North and South, and may be entered by
a door opposite the centre of the house, No. 2, and it is, as to
external appearance, much the same as it originally was; but
the interior arrangement and mode of heating are altered,
and it is filled with Cape Heaths and Epacrideæ. Outside
this greenhouse, both on the East and West sides, are low
frames, warmed by a single hot-water pipe. That on the
East, contains Erythrinas, Alstroemerias, and other half-
hardy herbaceous plants ; that on the west side, together
with a number of half-hardy Ferns, and other rarities, pro-
tects the rare Beech-Trees of Cape Horn, Fagus Forsteri,
and Fagus antarctica,* the most southern trees in the world,
one of which has small evergreen leaves; also the Winter's
Bark (Drimys Winteri), Berberis ilicifolia, the rarest and
largest - flowered species of the Genus, &c. : all these were
brought home by the Antarctic Expedition, under the com-
mand of Captain Sir James Ross.
“ No. 5. A dry Stove, forty feet long, in two compart-
ments, filled with succulent plants.” This is a house,
situated a little to the south of No. 4, and which was sepa-
rated from it by a gravel walk; but the two compartments
have been since thrown into one : the building has been
besides doubled and converted into a span-house, heated by
hot-water, and joined to the South end of No. 4, opening into
it by a glass door. It is now occupied by an invaluable col-
lection of Cactuses and other stove succulents. Among
them are many species of Cactus, for the possession of which
we are indebted to the liberality of Mr. Parkinson, late
Consul-General to the Republic of Mexico, and, through the
same friend, to the obliging kindness of Mr. Staines of San
Luis Potosì. The Monster Cactus,” † with which the
* See Hooker's London Journ. of Bot. v. 2, p. 147, &c, for a full account
of these two species. They are trees of great beauty, attaining a large
size (Capt. Fitzroy measured the trunk of one of them, which was seven feet
in diameter): they have been found already to bear our winters.
† Since writing the above, and just before going to press, the appearance
of this hothouse has been materially altered by the arrival of five large boxes
of Cactuses from Mexico, sent by the same public-spirited individual whose
name is mentioned before, Frederick Staines, Esq. To make room for
them, several of the taller kinds of Cereus had to be removed elsewhere (to

16
Illustrated London News has made England generally ac-
quainted, is situated near the centre of the house: it is the
gift of the latter gentleman, and sure we are that no collection
in Europe possesses a more remarkable specimen of this
extraordinary and grotesque family. The low platform on
the west end, is chiefly occupied by the Nopal or Opuntia-
tribe of Cactus, upon some or other of which, especially the
Opuntia cochinilifer, the Cochineal Insect is extensively
reared in Mexico; the opposite side presents the different spe-
cies of Cereus, &c.; while, on the broad shelf in front, stands
an immense variety of Melocactus and Echinocactus. Against
the front of this hothouse, in the open air, grow some fine
plants, attracting general attention, of the Black Tea (Thea
Bohea), the Green Tea (Thea viridis), and the Sasanqua
Tea (Camellia Sasanqua): the latter being cultivated in
China solely for the sake of its flowers, which are said to
impart a peculiar fragrance and flavor, when mingled with
the foliage which affords the other kinds of Tea.
Nearly opposite to the east end of this house is
- No. 6. A Greenhouse, sixty feet long, chiefly occupied
by fine specimens of Cape of Good Hope and New Holland
plants; among which are some noble Banksias.” Of all the
66
2
)
a
the Conservatory), that the space might be occupied with others of that
family, before whose magnitude even our hitherto Monster Cactus has
shrunk into comparative obscurity. The latter will not, however, escape
notice, and may be recognized by the name and inscription it bears,
“ Echinocactus Stainesii,'' from San Luis, Potosì, presented by F. Staines,
Esq.; weight 235 lbs." There may now be seen two other individuals of
the same species; one nearly the same size, with peculiarly red spines; the
other bearing pale spines, but considerably taller than any of those just
mentioned.
The Monster, however, of the collection, though quite a different species,
and we may assert without disparagement to other Cactus collections, the
most astonishing plant of that tribe which has ever been sent from the New
World, is that to which the name is attached, Echinocactus Viznaga,
weight 713 lbs.” It would occupy too much space here, to detail the many
difficulties and obstacles which attended the uprooting of this gigantic plant,
and transporting it in a waggon, drawn by eight oxen, for a distance of
three hundred leagues, over mountains, and along the worst possible roads,
ere it reached the coast, whence it was shipped for Britain. The omission
of this narrative, is the less to be regretted, since it is fully given in the
Gardeners' Chronicle of March 1st, 1845. Suffice it to say, that this
Echinocactus is a perfectly distinct species, and that Viznaga is an appel-
lation given to it, and other thorny Cactuses, by the Spaniards, from the use
to which their numerous, strong, starry spines are applied. Viznaga, or
Visnaga is the name for the spiny rays of the umbels of Daucus (or
Ammi) Visnaga, and it means a toothpick; these Cactuses affording that
useful little article by wholesale, and without any artificial preparation.

17
changes that have yet been made, this edifice presents, per-
haps, the most important. The house was good of its kind
before, save in the mode of heating, and in the shelves or
stands which supported the plants. It has now been doubled,
converted into a span-house thirty-two feet broad; while,
extending North from this addition, a new wing is attached,
sixty feet long, and forming a span twenty-two feet in
breadth. The whole interior is neatly fitted up, with stone
shelving, and hot-water pipes, while copious concealed tanks
(as in our other new and improved houses) are added for the
purpose of catching and preserving a large body of rain
water; and it is glazed with sheet glass. This extensive, but
simple structure, is filled with a perfectly unique collection
of Banksias and other Proteaceous productions of Australia.
Coming, as many of these plants do, from the Southern
Hemisphere, they preserve their natural habits, and a large
proportion of them, especially the Banksias, may be seen,
bearing their curious flowers in the winter, and the Legu-
minose during our early spring months, when the fragrant
Acacias are in the highest perfection. It is now in contem-
plation, during the coming summer (1845), to add another
wing to this house, on the South side, corresponding with
that on the North; the whole building then will be in the
form of a cross, one hundred and fifty-two feet long.
“ No. 7. A Double Propagating Pit, or Hospital, thirty-
five feet long, with cuttings under bell-glasses and sick plants
in one division ; Ferns, Orchidaceous plants, and some other
valuable specimens, in the other.” To reach this house from
the one just described, the visitor must follow the path from
the eastern door of the last house (n. 6), and proceed to the
South, passing compartments of herbaceous plants, on the
right, among lawn, and the famous Chili Pine (Araucaria
imbricata), which was brought to England in the year 1792,
by Mr. Menzies, the surgeon of Capt. Vancouver's voyage,
comes into view. It is, perhaps, not generally known that the
seeds of this Pine are eaten in Chili, as those of the Stone
Pine are in Italy, or as Almonds are with us. The Com-
mander of the voyage and some of his officers were dining at
the table of the Governor of Chili, and a dish of these kernels
was served for dessert, when the surgeon of the expedition,
Mr. Menzies, requested permission to plant, instead of eating,
his portion, which was accordingly done, and five of the seeds
having germinated on board ship, were presented to the Royal
Gardens of Kew on the return of the expedition. The Chili
F

18.
Pine in question is the finest of these, and has already pro-
duced its remarkably large, almost globose, yet infertile cones.
Though the tree is in perfect health, it does not, however,
assume with us that striking pyramidal form which distin-
guishes it on the mountains of Chili; but a cutting, taken
from it, and planted at Dropmore, the seat of the late Lord
Granville, is now become a handsomer specimen than its
parent, and grows in the natural manner so peculiar to it.
Near the Araucaria, on the West, is a splendid specimen of
the Weeping Birch of Scotland; while, closer to the walk,
in concentric circles, with brick edging round the beds, is the
Grass collection, and a noble Hop-Hornbeam Tree (Ostrya
vulgaris). Turning to the left, in a recess which includes the
British Garden, we arrive at the house under consideration,
having a low span roof. In external form it is unaltered ;
but, inside, the division which made it a double house is re-
moved, the whole fitted up with slate shelving, tanks, and
hot water pipes, and it contains the chief part of the tropical
Orchideous collection, intermixed, however, with many rare
Ferns; among these the Acrostichum (Platycerium) grande,
from Australia, the gift of Mr. Bidwill, particularly claims
attention;* and no less two other plants, kept under glasses,
King-plant of Ceylon, Ànectochilus setaceus (see
Bot. Mag. t. 4123), which has rich velvety leaves, covered,
as it were, with a net-work of golden lace, and the equally
rare Pitcher-Plant of New Holland, Cephalotus follicularis
(Bot. Mag. t. 3118 and 3119), with its curious pitchers, as
the name implies, each terminated by a lid. This, as may at
once be seen, is a very distinct thing from the more common
Pitcher Plant of Ceylon (Nepenthes distillatoria), and it be-
longs to a widely different family.
“ No. 8. A Greenhouse, thirty feet long, in which are
small Cape of Good Hope and New Holland plants.” This
is a small, neat building, near, but not next to, No. 7,
attached to a dwelling occupied by one of the gardeners, in
very good condition, and not easily capable of improvement.
At this time it is filled with Mesembryanthemums and other
South African succulent productions, requiring a greenhouse
temperature.
the 66
* There is an excellent representation of this grotesque and rare Fern
published in the second volume (p. 181) of the “ Voyage of the United
States' Exploring Expedition," as it may be seen growing on the branch of
a tree in the garden of our friend, Alexander M Leay, Esq., at Sydney,
New South Wales.

19
Returning from this house, and continuing in the path
some way to the West, leaving the Hop Hornbeam on one
side and a noble Sophora Joponica on the other, you turn
into the main walk of the herbaceous ground, and come to
“ No. 9. A Botany-Bay House, one hundred and ten feet
long, crowded with magnificent specimens of New Holland
and other plants, especially the former.” This edifice also
remains in statu quo, and contains at this time a very mixed
collection; mainly, however, from South Africa and Australia,
and many of them very grand specimens, particularly those
from New Zealand, many having been presented to us by the
Rev. William Colenso, of the Church Missionary Society in
that island. The oldest and largest individuals, however, are
the gift of Capt. Sir W. Symonds, Surveyor General of the
Navy. Among them may be seen the New Zealand Pine
(Dammara australis), of which the long, straight trunks are
so valuable for spars of ships; the graceful Dacrydium cupres-
sinum ; the peculiar-looking Phyllocladus trichomanoides, and
other forest-trees of that singular group of Islands. There is
a striking character in the hue of the New Zealand trees,
which must give a sombre aspect to the forest when chiefly
composed of them.
This building is very much out of place in its present
position, and will be taken down as soon as a more suitable
range for greenhouse accommodation shall have been else-
where erected.
“ No. 10. An old Stove, reputed to be the first house
built in the gardens, one hundred and ten feet long, in three
divisions; one containing noble specimens of succulent and
other plants; the second, a stately Zamia pungens, Palms,
&c.; and the third, a miscellaneous set of greenhouse plants,
together with a few forced flowers for nosegays.” This was
indeed the first, or among the first houses erected by Sir
William Chambers, and is that alluded to at p. 4
supra, where,
however, its length is given by Sir William Chambers at one
hundred and fourteen feet. Its antiquity is indicated by the
large, massy, wooden beams, which, if the edifice were allow-
ed to remain, would yet outlive many of the more modern
wooden structures. The walls, however, have, in part, given
way. It stands condemned, and will be pulled down, as soon
as we are provided with the needful accommodation for its
fine inmates. The contents are still nearly of the same kind
as described by Dr. Lindley, and have suffered exceedingly

20
(6
for want of more space, and a more wholesome atmosphere in
the winter.
The above ten houses are all that are catalogued in Dr.
Lindley's Report. He alludes to the brick pits attached to
many of them “on the outside,” and to “ a damp pit for
raising seedlings;" the former are, generally speaking, remov-
ed, as alterations take place in the houses; for they are very
unsightly, and the glass suffers much from the fall of snow
and ice from the roofs above during the winter; and the latter
is so changed, that we shall, in continuing the catalogue,
call it
No. 13. This “ Damp Pit” was a deep frame or brick pit,
forty feet long, with a single row of lights, facing the South,
situated immediately in front of the dry stove, No. 5, and is
now raised and doubled, by a span roof, and fitted up with
tables and shelves, and iron pipes, and iron tanks, and is one
of the completest and most useful moist stoves in the esta-
blishment. In it a great number of our rarest tropical plants
are kept, till such time as they are fit for the larger stoves.
Here are, at this period, some fine young Bread-fruit Trees;
the hitherto almost unknown (to Naturalists) Teak of Africa,
often called African Oak; the almost as little known Na-
poleonea imperialis; a large - flowered new Gardenia (G.
Stanleyana, Hook.), and other treasures of Western Africa,
brought over by Mr. Whitfield, and presented by the Earl of
Derby; the curious Lace-Bark Tree, and the equally singu-
lar aquatic (Pistia Stratiotes); the splendid Clerodendron
speciosissimum, &c., &c.
Another moist stove we shall designate as
No. 14. It is situated in the recess of the garden, above
mentioned, near the British Garden, and between the houses,
Nos. 7 and 8, and is a low building fifty feet long, with a
double span roof, divided transversely into two compartments,
heated by iron pipes and tanks, and designed for a Propagat-
ing House and Hospital for tropical plants, to which it is
admirably adapted. Many or most of the new importations
are lodged for a while here, seeds are raised, and cuttings
struck. The crowded state of the Orchideous house (No. 7)
requires that several of the Orchideous plants should be re-
moved into this one; but it is only a temporary measure. As
the contents are not, in general, stationary, it is hardly need-
ful to speak of them ; but I may observe that, at the present
period, it contains many interesting Orchideous and other

21
.
plants, lately received from our Collector, Mr. Purdie, from
Jamaica and Santa Martha ; some fine young Tree Ferns,
also from Jamaica, the kind gift of Mr. Wilson; and many
other rare and interesting plants, but which are soon to be
removed to other stoves.
The houses now described, are all that are contained in
what was considered the Botanic Garden proper, at the period
of my being placed in charge of the establishment: but in
the adjoining palace grounds, two of the finest houses had
long been occupied with plants under the care of the Director,
and they are now included within the boundary. I allude to
the “ Orangery” and the “ Conservatory;” unquestionably,
two of the finest plant-houses at present existing at Kew.
The first of these, we shall call
No. 11. The “Orangery.” To arrive at this from the old
stove, n. 10, above described, we proceed from the western
end, past a stone tank, the Aquarium, for hardy water plants;
and taking the right hand turn, the handsome structure in
question comes into view. This is already briefly alluded to,
supra p. 5. It was erected by Sir William Chambers, in
1761, and is one hundred and forty-two feet long, thirty
feet wide, and twenty-five feet high. In the back shed,
are two furnaces to heat flues, laid under the pavement.
It was, until 1841 filled chiefly with Orange Trees, which
were then (with the exception of a few reserved as speci-
mens) removed to Kensington Palace, and their places sup-
plied by trees and shrubs, which were becoming too large
for the other greenhouses. Amongst them, may be seen an
invaluable collection of the more tender Conifere; the
superb Araucarias---excelsa, Cuninghami, Brasiliensis; Pinus
longifolia, &c., &c., &c.; noble specimens of Camellias,
Rhododendron arboreum, and a great number of New Holland
trees and shrubs. Well as this house may have served for
an Orangery, there is not light enough for greenhouse plants
generally, notwithstanding that two large windows have been
lately constructed (one at each end), at the suggestion of Mr.
Aiton, and three windows or ventilators at the back. To
render this house efficient, it should be doubled, and covered
by a double span glass roof.
Proceeding from the East end of this structure, and in-
clining to the North, we came to
No. 12. The “ Conservatory," as it is usually designated;
spoken of in Dr. Lindley's Report, as the “Architectural
Greenhouse, in the pleasure ground, adjoining the Arboretum,
G

22
eighty-two feet long, forty-two feet wide, and twenty-eight
feet high.” This handsome edifice was removed hither from
Buckingham Palace by His Majesty William the Fourth, in
the year 1836, and is heated by innumerable coils of small
pipes fixed by Mr. Perkins. For some years, it was occupied
by greenhouse, and chiefly fine specimens of New Holland,
plants; but, as the removal of the Orange Trees from the
Orangery gave us more greenhouse accommodation, this build-
ing was converted into a stove, and it is now filled with an
extensive collection of Palms, and other large Monocotyle-
donous plants, especially Bromeliacee, Aroideæ, Agaves, the
Sugar Cane, the Papyrus, tall plants of Dragon's Blood
(Dracena Draco), and a great variety of Dicotyledons in-
habiting tropical countries : noble Euphorbias, some large
Cacteæ, Zamias and other Cycadeæ, &c., &c. On the more
particular contents of this house it is needless to dwell, as the
greater number will be shortly removed to more suitable
houses.
It will thus be seen that the existing number of plant-houses
is fourteen, exclusive of pits and frames. We have much to
say yet on the garden ground generally, but the writer can-
not but feel that with the many changes which are at this
moment (June, 1845) in progress,-the formation of a new
entrance and new grand walk (the Victoria Walk, accom-
panied by a flower-garden) at the head of Kew Green, and
of a great Palm-stove, and of a more extended sheet of water
than the garden yet possesses, the description of this ground
and of these improvements will be better undertaken when
the works are more advanced, and when we trust to be able
to lay a plan of the entire grounds, and a correct view of the
great Palm-stove before the public.
In the mean time, we are not without matter of interest for
the subscribers to the 66 Companion to the Botanical Maga-
zine.” Our excellent friend and neighbour, Frederick
Scheer, Esq., a former historian of Kew Gardens,* has kindly
sent us a translation of the account published by Dr. von
Fischer of the Imperial Botanic Garden of St. Petersburg,
hitherto, we believe, the most extensive and one of the best
conducted of any in Europe. This we shall hasten to lay
before our readers.
“Kew and its Gardens : by Frederick Scheer, Esq., 1840 ;' in which
Mr. Scheer has shown himself to be a warm friend to the Gardens, and in-
timately acquainted with them and the adjoining village.

23
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE IMPERIAL BOTANIC GARDEN
AT ST. PETERSBURG.
BY THE DIRECTOR, DR. VON FISCHER.
(With a Plan. TAB. I.)
The Imperial Botanic Garden is one of the many striking
features of St. Petersburg, well worthy the attention of the
visitors of the northern Metropolis. Like everything to be
seen there, it is on a gigantic scale, the lines of houses ex-
tending to a length of nearly three-quarters of an English
mile. The translator of the following account, furnished by
Dr. Fischer to the Horticultural Journal at Berlin, has had
recently the advantage of seeing this garden, and can bear
testimony to the extraordinary beauty of the establishment
and the perfection to which botanical cultivation has been
carried under the direction of that able gentleman, whom he
is proud to call his friend, and who is, in fact, the friend of
every liberal man in Europe connected with botanical pur-
suits. It may not be amiss to remark, that though the severe
winters of St. Petersburg are the cause of many difficulties,
yet these find, in a great measure, compensation, in the im-
mense quantity of solar light and warmth, which the plants
enjoy during the prolonged days of the short summers, accel-
erating the growth and maturity of vegetation in a surprising
degree. A large sum of money has been lately granted (as
much as £20,000) by his Majesty the Emperor, to improve
and further extend this princely establishment.-F. S.
-
The IMPERIAL BOTANIC GARDEN is an important testimony
of Peter the Great's creative genius. His comprehensive
mind fostered not only those sciences to which he inclined
most, but attended to whatever was useful. By an Imperial
Ukase, dated the 11th February, 1714, he ordered the garden
to be established on one of the islands, formed by the Delta
of the Neva. It was, like most early Botanic Gardens,
originally intended to serve for the culture of medicinal
plants. On that account, and also because the government
depôt of drugs was situated in its immediate neighbourhood,
it obtained the name of the “ Apothecary's Garden,” as the
island, on which both establishments were situated, retains t

24
66
this day the name Apothecary's Island.” How long the
garden was exclusively limited to the growth of medical
plants, is not known; all early records having been lost in
a fire, on the 5th June 1837, which consumed the govern-
ment drug establishments, and the archives of the medical
department. It would appear, however, from an inventory of
the gardens, dated in 1743, that, in that year, there were
already two divisions, one being devoted to medical, the other
to botanical purposes. Documents of later dates, do not
enable us to trace a clear history of the garden down to the
year 1823, when it was entirely remodelled. Large sums of
money had certainly been granted for its maintenance and
improvement, but it had not reached the perfection of other
distinguished botanical establishments, though the few old
rare and fine plants remaining in 1823 proved, that, if not
rich in species, it yet contained much that was remarkable.
It is probable, that part of the plants collected by Pallas
found their way thither, although the majority fell to the
share of the Academy of Sciences, which had its own Botanic
Garden, subsequently ceded to the military school of Paul,
near the Obuchow Bridge. It is probable that during the
direction of Professor Stephan, our garden was very rich in
Siberian plants.
In the mean time, experience proved that medicinal plants
grown in latitude 60° North, in a richly manured soil, lost all
medical properties; this species of culture was, therefore,
gradually abandoned, government having recourse to its
large Medicinal Garden at Lubry, in the Ukraine, altogether
better suited for such purposes.
In 1822, Count Alexis Rasumowsky, the founder and
owner of a large Botanic Garden, at Gorenka, near Moscow,
died. Count Victor Kotshubey, Minister of the Interior,
wishing to retain the treasures of that collection (now likely
to be dispersed), in Russia, conceived the plan of bringing all
the plants to the Apothecary's Garden at St. Petersburg, and
of re-organizing that establishment altogether. His Imperial
Majesty the Emperor approved of the proposals of the Count,
and Dr. Fischer was accordingly instructed to draw up plans
for re-modelling the garden and for the construction of
additional houses, and to proceed to Moscow, with a view of
purchasing the plants which had been under his management
since 1804: that purchase, however, was not concluded, the
sum asked being too high. It also became apparent, that the
transport through Russia to St. Petersburg, whether by land

25
or canal, would be very expensive, as well as injurious to
many plants, and the idea of carrying the tenants of that old
and splendid garden to St. Petersburgh was abandoned. In
the interim, one of the old houses had been rebuilt, and
another had been put in order for the expected arrivals. On
the 22d March, 1823, Dr. Fischer was appointed Director of
the Imperial Botanic Garden (that was ordered to be its
future name), and the establishment was placed under the
immediate care of the Minister of the Interior; the foundations
of the new houses, the plans of which had been approved of
by the Emperor, were laid on the 26th June, 1823, and the
erections were carried on so vigorously, that by the fall of the
year 1824, every thing was ready for the reception of the
plants obtained in the intervening period. The requisite funds
were liberally furnished by the Home Department. At this
time the number of species, including annuals, amounted to
about fifteen hundred. It was necessary to obtain plants
for the new houses and borders; much, existing in St.
Petersburgh, was purchased, and in August, 1823, the gar-
dener, F. Falderman, recommended as head gardener by the
Horticultural Society of London, brought with him a large
collection, partly purchased, partly obtained as gifts from
Kew, Chiswick, Chelsea, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Liverpool.
The same autumn, Her Majesty, the late Empress-mother,
added a valuable collection from her gardens at Pawlowsk;
and thus our houses were soon filled with no less a number
than twenty-four thousand plants. It is delightful to record
the eager liberality which supported our endeavours in this
good cause.
During the subsequent winter, seeds, amounting, through
the contributions of many kind correspondents, to fourteen
thousand eight hundred and eighty-four sorts, were sown, and
prospered beyond expectation. Plants were, however, still
wanting to fill the most lofty houses. The money originally
granted for the projected Moscow purchase, say 100,000
Roubles (about £4,000 sterling) was therefore devoted to the
obtaining of what we had been disappointed in getting from
the Gorenka Gardens. Dr. Fischer proceeded in May, 1824,
on a journey to visit the most celebrated gardens of other
towns, and saw those of Dorpat, Konigsberg, Berlin, Hamburg,
Bonn, Dyck, Louvain, Brussels, and Enghien. What had been
bought at Paris, or bestowed by the liberality of the adminis-
trators of the Jardin des Plantes, was sent by way of Havre
to Cronstadt, under the care of a gardener brought out for that
H

26
purpose. In Great Britain every garden of note was visited,
and Dr. Fischer universally received proofs of good will from
the managers, to whom our new establishment became in-
debted for most valuable additions. The purchases in England
amounted to about 40,000 Rs., or £1,600, and the presents
received ought to be valued at even more than that sum.
Mr. Goldie, well known from his travels in North America,
was entrusted by Dr. Fischer with the care of these treasures
on the voyage from London to St. Petersburgh. In the mean
time, a choice selection had arrived from the Royal Gardens
at Berlin. The total increase of plants thus obtained was
fourteen thousand five hundred and ninety-eight, in eight
hundred and eighty-eight genera, and three thousand two
hundred and thirty species, of which about four hundred
perished on the way. The total number of species in the
garden was at this time about ten thousand.
This splendid collection, brought together at so much ex-
penditure of labor and money, ran, almost immediately, the
risk of being totally destroyed, in a few minutes time, by the
fearful inundation which visited St. Petersburgh on the 19th
November, 1824. The waters, cooled down to the freezing
point, rose to the height of fifty-two inches in our houses, upset
stands and pots, and flooded and damaged what did not perish
with cold. The extreme height of the flood fortunately lasted
but a few minutes; the waters subsided as rapidly as they had
advanced, and, with some inconvenience, we were able to set
foot the same evening into the houses. The fues had not
been much injured, and, after many vain attempts, we suc-
ceeded in lighting the fires. It took fully six weeks to get
the houses properly dried; and after a couple of months, when
order had been restored, we counted the extent of our loss, and
found it to amount to quite one-fifth of the collection.
Since 1824 we have increased our stock of plants by every
possible means. Collectors have been dispersed, whose labours
procured us many rare specimens. The expenses were de-
frayed by His Imperial Majesty. Turtschaninow visited
Eastern Siberia ; Szovits the North-west of Persia, Armenia,
Carabog, and Circassia; Hohenacker Circassia, Carabog, and
Talysh; Niever a part of Kamschatka; Wiedeman Natalia ;
Baron Wrangel caused the Russian colonies on the North-
west coast of America to be examined ; Tshernich was our
collector in California ; Riedel and Lushnath visited the pro-
vince of Rio Janeiro, where they had a temporary garden to
grow plants for the return of the Russian vessel from Kam-


Tab. I
Garden Street
IV.
D
Apothecary Street
d
B
E
18
19
It
4
River
Kalp.owka
Neva
River
Korus
PLAN
of the
TIMPERIAL BOTANIC GARDEN
- គឺ
Letersburg
80
100
3
LI 20 20
120_139 Sockenen
1 Sash 7 feet English
160
sto feet English
Bridge
Reeve. Brothers. Litho-Sculp.
N
1
OP
CH

27
rschatka, to carry them home; and, lastly, Schrenk, who, after
a voyage along the shores of the Arctic Sea, made four
excursions during four summers, in company with Mr. Mein-
shausen, in Songery as far as the frontiers of China and
Independent Tartary. For many living plants, the garden is
indebted to Messrs. Gebler, Kyber, Steven, Weinmann, and
others.
The garden continued till 1830 under the Minister for the
Interior ; but, as a proof of special favor, His Majesty caused it
to be transferred in that year to the Ministry of the Palace,
accompanied by a considerable increase of means for its annual
support, obtained from the Emperor through the influence of
the chief of that department, Prince Wolchonsky. Thus the
garden has been gradually advanced towards an equality with
similar establishments elsewhere.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLAN, TAB. I.,
sure.
C.
which shows the garden to be an irregular quadrangle of
somewhat beyond 20 Russian acres (dessatines) containing
48,350 square fathoms, each fathom being 7 feet English mea-
On the South and East it closely approaches branches
of the river Neva; on the West is the Apothecary's Street;
and on the North, with the northern front of the garden, the
Garden Street.
a. is the chief entrance from the Newka, or Little Neva.
b. New houses, described below.
Old houses, used for the growth of the necessary orna-
mental plants; on its northern side a large hall has been added,
containing part of the Herbarium and specimens appertaining
to the Botanical Museum.
d. Wooden dwelling houses for the official gardeners and
laborers.
d.* A large wooden house on stone foundation, the resi-
dence of the Director. A large hall, occupying the centre of
this structure, contains the Library and part of the Museum.
e. Ground for out-door perennials and biennials. This
ground is enclosed with a quick hedge of Siberian White
Thorn (Cratægus sanguinea, Pall.) well suited for northern
latitudes, where the ordinary White Thorn will not live.
f. Vacant space intended for the Russian flora.
About 54 English acres.

28
n.
n.
0.
g. Enclosed ground for the growth of such vegetables as
will succeed in the latitude of St. Petersburgh, 60° N.
h. Arboretum for trees and shrubs capable of enduring
our winter.
h.* A row of black Poplars (Populus nigra) reported to
have been planted by Peter the Great in person, and of the
same age as the garden itself.
i. Nursery of young trees.
m. Underground pipes, leading the water of the Neva
into
A canal, supplying the necessary water, and dividing
the garden into two nearly equal parts.
Small reservoirs of water.
Flower-borders.
p. Avenues of trees dating from the first establishment of
the gardens.
The same Plan at b. exhibits the new houses, built in three
parallel ranges, facing S. S. E., and connected at the ends, so
that the whole may be passed in winter without exposure to
the
open
air. The North range measures 686 feet English,
the other two 672 feet each. These buildings are of brick,
with iron roofs; and to the North side of each a wide gallery
is attached, partly as protection against the cutting winds,
partly to serve as storehouses, &c. In some of these passages,
plants dormant during winter find shelter. The North range
contains chiefly less tender plants; the middle tropical; and
the southern consists of two warm and three cold houses.
Plants of the same natural families have been placed together
as far as practicable, especially in the greenhouses; but strict
adherence to this system is impossible, because the size, differ-
ence of temperature, and other circumstances require frequent
removals and cause disturbances of such arrangement. In
many cases the plants have been put in the borders to promote
their development and grow them as nearly as possible in
their natural form.
The main entrance (A.) from the Garden Street leads into
the house No. 1, the North front of which is a portico or
peristyle ornamented with appropriate bas reliefs. This en-
trance is only opened on great occasions.-(B.) Ordinary
entrance through the gardens; the front is not finished. It is
a roomy hall, heated in winter, serving as place of meeting
for gardeners and laborers to agree on their daily arrange-
ments, for the watch and other conveniences. A book is kept
here, in which visitors are requested to enter their names.

29
a
This vast collection of houses consists of
No. 1. A conservatory 32 ft. high. Plants chiefly in borders.
Large species of Heteromorpha arborescens, Fuchsia arborea (cor-
ticata?), Ilex Perado, etc., are conspicuous. This house, like
several others, has a flat dark roof, it being apprehended at the
time of its construction, that with a glass roof so large a house
could not be kept sufficiently warm.
2. A house, 28 ft. high, intended for the lofty trees indigenous
or acclimatized in the south of Europe, it accommodates, however,
several species from other regions. Thus its centre is occupied
by a large Laurus Camphora, probably the oldest tenant of the
garden. In the east end of this house Magnolias are planted ;
in the west end a few New Holland Trees. A Parrotia Persica
may be mentioned as one of the more remarkable plants of the
house.
3. Large New Holland house, 30 ft. high. Besides the plants
its name indicates, others have found shelter in it, more particu-
larly some large specimens of Araucaria Braziliensis, and two
very old plants of Rhododendron arboreum, dating from the in-
troduction of the species into Europe. In the eastern borders
Cape plants of large size, namely Plectronia ventosa, Rhus glauca,
several Royena, Cunonia Capensis, etc., are growing. There are
double lights, to avoid the necessity of other coverings.
4. The eastern end of the north range, 14 ft. high, contains
Proteacea, Casuarinea, and large Ericaceæ ; amongst them are
some very large specimens of Banksia, Cunninghamia, Macros-
tachya grandis, and others.
5. This house, coinciding in height with the preceding, con-
tains young and low Conifera, Cape plants, except Proteaceæ,
Liliaceæ, Geraniacea, and Succulentæ. The garden is somewhat
poor in South African plants, and the Conifere leave much to
desire, because with our climate many will not grow in the open
air, and in pots and tubs they never succeed to perfection.
6. The centre of the middle range, entirely devoted to tropical
vegetation, is formed by this house, 32 ft. high ; everything it
contains is placed in the borders. Unfortunately the vigorous
growth of the plants outstrips the capacity of the house. Caryota
urens and a Maximiliana touch the ceiling, a Hernandia sonora,
Coccoloba pubescens, Livistonia Borbonica and others, soon will.
To prevent the loss of these and many other valuable plants this
house must be raised and a glass roof added. It was not expected
that tropical plants would grow so luxuriantly, and the height of
32 ft. was thought more than sufficient. Experience has proved
the contrary.
I

30
و
7. Contains Palms and Monocotyledones requiring much room.
The house is 30 ft. high. The entire stock of large Palms, Cyca-
dea, and Pandanee is about one hundred species.
8. Also 30 ft. high, with a double glass roof, as have also Nos.
9, 10, and 12, giving thus great warmth with abundance of light.
Here are large Bananas, several Palms, Carolinea, Pterospermum,
Brownlovia, etc.
9. Height 28 ft. The plants are in the borders. In the eastern
part are Succulenta and arborescent Liliacea from tropical Africa
and America, planted amongst rocks ; in the other half are specimen
plants of the Monocotydelones cultivated in the garden. Amongst
these are a large Elate sylvestris, several specimens of Sabal um-
braculifera and Blackburniana, old Pandani and Cerei, reaching
to the roof of the house.
10. Twenty-nine feet high. Tropical plants corresponding
with its height. Fine specimens of Gustavia, Genipa, Meliacea,
and Bignoniacea are conspicuous.
11. Twenty-nine feet high. This house forms the east end of
the middle range; it has a hot-water apparatus, and contains in
two borders chiefly Monocotyledones, such as large specimens of
Musa Cavendishii.
12. Height 26 ft. Tropical plants as in No. 10, too high for
the stoves of the south range.
13. The centre of the south range, 28 ft. high. Large Chinese
and Japan plants, as Camellia, Thea, Magnolia, Nandina, etc.,
planted in borders. The glass roof is supported by pillars and
slants towards the north, admitting light from both sides. The
top is double glass. Here is a large Magnolia fuscata, 12 ft. high,
and stem 7 inch. in circumference near the ground.
14. Greenhouse, 18 ft. high, containing plants from the south
of Europe, the Canaries, and Madeira, with Gerania and Pelar-
gonia.
15. Corresponding with the preceding, with hardy plants from
Chili and isothermal countries of America, and such Camellia and
Rhododendra as find no room elsewhere.
16 and 17. Both 14 ft. high. Intended for young tropical
plants. No. 17 contains hardly any but Brazilian plants, amongst
which many as yet unnamed. Of those named we may mention
Geonoma Schottiana and pauciflora, Bactris caryotifolia, Theobroma
Cacao, Gonyshia oliviformis, Metternichia principis, Metrodorea,
Raddisia, etc. In all these houses are shelves near the windows
for young plants requiring most light.
Four houses, all 14 ft. high, connect the north with the middle
range on the east side; they are divided by glass partitions into

31
و
compartments, of which the most northern contain southern tro-
pical Ferns, the next Succulenta (Aloe, Agave, Fourcroya, Dasy-
lyrion, and Bromeliacea); the last, which is not divided from
the Banksia-house (No. 4), contains similar plants from tempe-
rate climes, planted among rocks.
The eastern connection between the middle and south range,
12 ft. high, protects herbaceous perennials during winter; in
spring it is used for sowing seeds in pots.
A similar connecting gallery between the middle and southern
range on the west side serves for the protection during winter of
Liliacea and Oxalidea of temperate climes.
The western connection between the middle and north range,
,
14 ft. high, and heated by hot water, consists of three houses,
for Orchidacea, Aroidea, Dorstenia, Begonia, and Scitaminea.
Epiphytal Orchidacea and Bromeliacea are grown on oak blocks
and in cork baskets.
The gardens being as yet without a proper Aquarium, aquatic
plants cultivated here in boxes lined with lead and cement.
At (c) on our plan is a small conservatory for hardy plants of
the same height with the western division of the middle range,
furnished at both ends with glass doors leading to the enclosed
spaces between the houses, and allowing of easy communication
without exposing the plants, removed there in winter, to the cold.
All these houses are only suitable for plants of considerable
height, and it was found necessary to add a line of very low ones
for the culture of young and tender plants requiring much light
and the proximity of glass. This range of low houses has been
built in the southern court (E), and in connection with the eastern
range. They are span-houses numbered, with the light north
and south, and two of them are chiefly used for New Holland
and South American tender plants; in another is a very consider-
able collection of Cacteæ ; and the northern side of it serves, with
the assistance of a steam-apparatus, as a propagating house. —
Finally, there is at No. 18 a small separate house of high temper-
ature, serving partly as a hospital for diseased plants, and partly
as a reception-house for new arrivals.
D and E are the two courts surrounded by the above-mentioned
buildings. In north court (D), hardy plants are placed during
summer between live hedges, and a good many herbaceous Plants
and Cerealia are grown here. The southern court (divided the
line of low houses) contains frames and warm boxes, mould-
heaps, and other needful accessories ; along the whole of the
southern range the plants contained in the same, likely to bear
the open air in summer, are put out during the warm season.
a

32
Means for acquiring a thorough knowledge of the plants intro-
duced or cultivated have been abundantly provided. Besides the
Herbarium and Library there are considerable collections of
woods and fruits. Unfortunately, want of room has prevented
the proper arrangement for practical study of many of these
materials.
The collections of Langsdorff, during his travels at the cost of
the Imperial Government and under the auspices of the minister
for foreign affairs, in the Brazils, ceded by the kindness of
Count Nesselrode to the Gardens, constituted the foundation of
the Herbarium. It has since been greatly enlarged by the col-
lectors already mentioned, and also by presents and purchases.
Amongst purchases the Herbarium of Mertens of Bremen ranks
foremost, rich both in genera and species, forming in fact the
basis of our collection ; and it is admitted to be classic and of high
authority as regards the flora of Germany and the Alga. Other
collections from Schrader at Gottingen, Schumacher of Copen-
hagen (rich in plants of Vahl), Eschholz (who collected on the
voyage of circumnavigation in the Rurick), Poiteau (Guyana),
Stephan (Siberian plants), Wunderlich (Southern Volga), Riedel
(the flora of most parts of Brazils, which he visited before joining
Langsdorff), and others, have been obtained, as well as presents
from Bode, Lady Crichton, Gebler, Hartweg, Sir William Hooker,
Jenish, Kapherr, Koch, Kyber, Peters, Rieder, Siniavin and Ste-
ven, and further additions were made by parties who travelled on
behalf of the Garden, already enumerated, to which however,
Kolenati and Karwinski must be added.
Before 1833 the Garden had neither collections nor library.
The latter was begun by the purchase, ordered to be made by
His Majesty the Emperor, of the library of the late Councillor of
State, Stephan, in 1824, and soon afterwards the botanical por-
tion of the library of Count Alexis Rasumowsky, rich in presen-
tation copies (exemplaires de luxe) was added. Since that time
an annual grant of 6000 roubles, or about 2607. sterling has been
devoted to purchases, besides which many splendid additions
have been made by his Imperial Majesty. The library is con-
fined to botanical and other works of natural science, academical
transactions and periodicals, and voyages and travels connected
with Botany. The number of volumes is now 6000. There is
also a large number of coloured drawings of old and new plants
that have flowered in the Garden, drawn by the ingenious artists
Matthes, Stoll, and Satory. A portion of these drawings will
now be published.
Since 1835, a catalogue of seeds, matured in the garden, with

33
notices appended of remarkable plants enumerated in it, has an-
nually been printed and sent to all correspondents; and we may
hope that with our abundant means, due diligence on our part
and continued liberality on that of our friends, this Institution
will not fail to be worthy of the Russian Empire, where science
in all its branches is so much cherished and means for its pro-
motion always readily granted.
*
*
The preceding account of the Botanic Gardens at Petersburg,
and our enquiries into the origin and progress of our own, natu-
rally suggest the wish of knowing something of other similar
establishments, and we should be glad to receive communica-
tions of this kind from the gentlemen under whose care they may
be at present. We can hardly expect that accounts consuming
much time and labour should be furnished, and our purpose
would in fact be best served by enabling us to publish, in a short
form, brief sketches of the principal botanical gardens in and out
of Europe; a kind of synopsis of the history of botanical Horti-
culture. The details we should like to have furnished might
perhaps be-
1. Date of first establishment.
2. Extent of ground.
3. Number and kind of houses.
4. Annual expenditure, and source from whence de-
rived.
5. Names of eminent men connected at any time with
the establishment.
6. Remarkable plants first cultivated, introduced,
named, or now particularly conspicuous.
and any other notice of striking importance.
Such information we hope will be readily furnished, and we
would have pleasure in publishing it. It would mutually be a
labour of love, and in the permanency which we flatter ourselves
to give to it in our pages, it would have its own reward. We
also hope, that other publications, both here and abroad, will
give currency to our wish and promote its accomplishment. It
is satisfactory to state, that gentlemen connected with embassies
and consulates are everywhere willing to forward papers concern-
ing such matters, free of expense, which, as in days of yore, so
even now, fair Science can ill afford to defray.

34
NOTICE RESPECTING THE PRESENT STATE OF BOTANY AND
BOTANIC GARDENS IN PORTUGAL.
(In a Letter to Sir William Hooker, from DR. SCOULER, Professor of Natural
History in the Royal Dublin Institution.)
We consider that, even after the labours of Brotero, the com-
plaint of Linnæus may still be repeated respecting the botanic
riches of this kingdom, contrasted with our very imperfect infor-
mation respecting it. The history of Botanic Science in Portugal
is, unfortunately, a very brief one; especially as the country has
produced only two botanists of European reputation. The earliest
Portuguese work, in any way relating to the vegetable kingdom,
is by Garsia de Horto, a Professor of Medicine in the University
of Coimbra. He resigned his Chair in 1534, visited India and
China, and published at Goa his work on the Species of the East,
a work whose merit caused it to be translated into most of the
European languages. Thomé Oynes, an apothecary at Leyria,
also wrote on the same subject, about the beginning of the six-
teenth century; and another and still more valuable work appeared
about this time from the pens of Pero Magalhàes de Gondavo,
the friend of the poet Camõens, on the history of the Provinces
of Brazil, then called Santa Cruz. This rare but most judicious
book, contains notices of many of the most valuable vegetable
productions of Brazil, and discusses the capabilities of that fine
region, and the vast resources it would yet open to Portugal, in
a spirit of sound and enlightened judgment far in advance of his
age or countrymen.
The earliest catalogue of Portuguese plants was by Gabriel
Gaillez, who wrote about 1670, and dedicated it to the celebrated
Duke of Schornhurg, who afterwards fell in Ireland. It resem-
bles Threlkeld's on the plants of Ireland, compiled a few years
later ; only it is very inferior even to that very meagre book.
Gaillez’ work is merely a list of names, and often the same species
is indicated several times. To use the expression of Linnæus “it
would require another Edipus to divine the plants indicated by
Gaillez.” A second edition of this work was edited by Vandelli
in 1780.
We possess nothing else from the pen of a Portuguese Botanist
until the energetic administration of Pombal, which seems to have
a

35
infused a portion of its life into every kind of pursuit. Both Bro-
tero and Correa de Serra were educated during this period, and may
truly be pronounced the first and as yet the only eminent bota-
nists which Portugal has produced. Concerning Brotero we need
not say anything at present; but we may remark that, at least
in our opinion, Correa de Serra ranks higher as a philosopher.
His residences at London, Paris, and Washington have rendered
his name familiar to the naturalists of Europe and America. Be-
sides his botanical papers, with which the scientific public is
acquainted, he is known to his countrymen for other valuable
labours. He was an active coadjutor to the Duke of La Foez,
in founding the Academy of Sciences, and also published many
works on the literature of Portugal, and illustrating its history.
Although an Abbé and Ecclesiastic, yet such was the spirit of the
times, that he was obliged to reside chiefly in foreign countries.
It were easy to add to the list of Portuguese botanists the
names of Loureiro, Padre Leander, Vellozo, and even others less
known, but such statements would be of small interest to the
public. It is perhaps more necessary but less agreable to mention,
that while the eminent men of the last generation have passed
away they have left no successors, and probably, at the present
day, Portugal is as destitute of original talent in natural history
as she was before the reform of her literary institutions, about
the middle of the last century. The devastations of the French,
followed up by so many political changes and civil wars, may in
part account for this ; but we suspect the cause lies deeper, and
depends on the slender emoluments and very small number of
situations open to scientific men. Another circumstance is the
want of a reading public, or of anything like a general taste for
natural history ; thus rendering the task of scientific authorship
a ruinous undertaking: and as the educated classes understand
French, the necessity for native books is not felt. Connected
with and depending upon this, it is a curious fact that while many
individuals may be found, who have a theoretical knowledge of
natural history, derived from books, a practical acquaintance with
it is very rare. Few are at the pains to herborize or to study
the structure and productions of the earth, by excursions to
the mountains.
With respect to the present state of Botany we may also men-
tion the following circumstances. There are, or rather we may
say were, two Botanic Gardens in Portugal; one at Ajuda near
Lisbon, and the other at Coimbra. The situation of the garden
of Coimbra is highly beautiful, and indeed it would be difficult
to find any but delightful places on the Mondego. The ground
;
a
K

36
is laid out in the French taste, and the quantity of glass which
they possess is very small. This garden was commenced by
Brotero, while Professor at Coimbra, when it appears to have been
in a flourishing state, and it continued a respectable establish-
ment under Brotero's successor Dr. Neves; but since 1834 it has
obviously been quite neglected. At present, even including weeds
and the lichens and mosses growing on the trees and stones, we
do not think it contains a thousand species.
The Royal Garden, Menagerie, and Museum of Ajuda, were
placed under the superintendance of Brotero, when he was re-
moved from Coimbra. There is now no menagerie, and the gar-
den is also in a neglected condition, although not to the degree
of that of Coimbra. Under the care of Brotero it was said to
possess 4000 species ; now they cannot exceed 1200. The glass
is of no great extent; a matter of, however, less importance in
Portugal than England. The Aquarium is very large and well
adapted for aquatic productions. Many of the plants have their
names attached, which was done by Dr. Welwitsch when he had
charge of the garden.
On the other hand, indications are not wanting of some pro-
gress in the right direction, as exhibited in a taste for horticul-
ture. Horticultural societies are about to be formed, both in
Lisbon and Oporto, and there are some individuals who cultivate
different tribes, such as Cacteæ, &c. Indeed there is not a coun-
try in Europe more admirably adapted for the lover of flowers ;
for here many of the choicest productions of Africa and Brazil
may be raised in the open air. The Date-palm, Dragon-tree,
Bananas, and Cacti stand the winters of Portugal, and thus may
afford some idea of the multitude of useful and ornamental plants
which might be introduced into this fine country.
But the re-establishment, which will afford most hope to the
botanist, is the Garden at Lumiar, the property of the Marquis
of Fayal (son of the Duke of Palmella), and situated about five
miles from Lisbon. Lumiar has been recently purchased by the
Marquis and is still under process of repair, but bids fair to pos-
sess the richest collection of plants, whether native or introduced
to Portugal. Even at present a visit to the grounds is highly
interesting, and especially as there are some fine old plants from
tropical regions, which are completely naturalized. The mixture
of Clerodendron fragrans, Polygala myrtifolia, Bamboos, Bananas,
the Goa Cypress, Dracænas of gigantic size, Araucaria Brazili-
ensis (twenty feet high), Cereus Peruvianus (twenty-five feet high,
one and a half foot in circumference), with the trees and shrubs
of the north and south of Europe, afford to him, who has visited

37
India and Brazil, a strange and grotesque association, filled with
many recollections to the travelling botanist. The utility of such
undertakings is much greater in Portugal than with us, for there
public spirit and good example are more needed, and we trust
the Marquis of Fayal will fill in his country the post of the Dukes
of Bedford and Devonshire among ourselves.
This establishment is also fortunate in being under the care of
Dr. Welwitsch, the only person we met with in Portugal who is
equally familiar with the theory and the practice of Botany, and
as well acquainted with Algæ and Mosses as he is with flower-
ing plants. Dr. Welwitsch is also minutely versed in the Portu-
guese Flora, and an inspection of his herbarium shows how rich
that is, and how many species remain to be added to the work of
Brotero. Even in the class of Ferns we were indebted to Dr.
Welwitsch for the Cheilanthes pteroides and Pteres palustris,
which are not in Brotero's list* It is to be desired that Dr.
Welwitsch should furnish us with a new “ Flora Lusitanica,” for
which he is so well qualified by his knowledge of the country, his
literary acquirements, and knowledge of the science.
NOTICE OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF DR. FELIX AVELLAR
BROTERO, PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF
COIMBRA, AND AUTHOR OF THE FLORA LUSITANICA.'
(Communicated by DR. SCOULER, Professor of Natural History in the Royal
Dublin Institution.)
The Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Coimbra, although
it has not existed for more than sixty-three years, has been infe-
rior to no literary institution, with respect to the eminence of its
Professors and the reputation of its students.
There is much to admire in the zeal with which the different
branches of philosophy have been cultivated among us since the
reform of 1772 was carried out by Drs. Vandelli and Dalla Bella.
Emulation arose on the part both of teachers and pupils, which
was attended by a corresponding progress of knowledge. The
Government rewarded those who distinguished themselves and
* In the north of Portugal we found, in one day, the following plants unno-
ticed by Brotero; Saxifraga umbrosa and leucanthemifolia (La Perouse), Potentilla
nivea, and the Davallia Canariensis, supposed to be peculiar to Cintra, grows
abundantly at Oporto and even further north, at Braga.

38
a
afforded them liberal allowances that they might visit the most
enlightened nations of Europe*.
The character of the Faculty of Philosophy was well sustained
in the literary world, it maintained an active intercourse with the
most eminent foreign academies, so that the Portuguese name,
formerly so distinguished for bold nautical enterprises and pro-
found geographical science, (at a time when all Europe, except
Italy, was plunged into barbarism), again arose to notice, after so
many years of disgraceful indolence.
Among the eminent Professors may be named Dr. João An-
tonio Monteiro, whose profound knowledge of Mineralogy obtained
for him the praise of Haüy, and Dr. Sobral, a zealous chemist;
but he incurred the dislike of the French, who set his house on
fire and thus destroyed his unpublished manuscripts. Dr. Bar-
jona was another able chemist; he maintained, in his Thesis,'
the compound nature of water, several years before its analysis by
Lavoisier. This philosopher was also Professor of Mineralogy and
Zoology, and by his labours the objects in the Museum of the
University were classified and named, and a complete catalogue
of the whole collection was drawn up.
Among the Botanists we may mention Dr. Antonio Jose das
Neves, author of a small work entitled “ Circa Stipe, avenacee,
aristam, atque Cinchonam braziliensem et alias Observationes.”
He was expelled from the Chair of Botany and the care of the
Botanic Garden in 1834, and died in the following year. He
was highly esteemed by Brotero, and since his expulsion the Bo-
tanic Garden has fallen into complete neglect t.
6
a
* This notice of Brotero is translated and abridged from an account of his life
by Senhor Gusmao, and published in his « Revista Litterarea' of Oporto (No. 83,
1843). The reform alluded to was introduced by the celebrated Marquis of
Pombal, and carried into operation under his auspices by the Italian Naturalists
Vandelli and Dalla Bella. The Faculty of Philosophy includes what we under-
stand in England by the term Natural History, when taken in its most extensive
signification. That the reform was absolutely necessary is proved by the fact
that, down to the reform of Pombal, physical science was nearly unknown in the
University of Coimbra, and the Professors lectured on substantial forms and ab-
solute accidents.
+ In 1836 the University of Coimbra, in a Report presented to the Legislative
Chambers, informs us that "the Botanic Garden, which had been once flourishing,
has suffered great decay, which impeded the teaching of Botany, and that it was
almost ruined during the usurpation (of Don Miguel).” The truth is that Dr.
Neves and his able gardener, before their expulsion, delivered over to Dr. Ban-
deira and Marques, all the objects in the garden, and the inventory shows that a
great many plants had been added. After the dismissal of Leite, the intelligent
gardener, an inefficient person was substituted, who brought everything into con-
fusion. When the establishment was committed to Dr. Jose de Sa, he wished
to discharge the incapable man and recall his predecessor, but this could not

39
Felix Avellar Brotero was born in Lisbon in 1745. We are
ignorant of the history of his early youth, but have reason to be-
lieve that he received an excellent education. The accuracy and
elegance with which he wrote his Latin works, the correct diction
of his Portuguese, added to the copious historical notices with
which he enriched them, prove that he possessed high intellectual
powers, improved by well directed literary training.
Desirous of further instruction he visited France in the year
1778. When he settled in Paris he was thirty-three years
of
age,
and well qualified, in his literary attainments, to profit by the
advantages afforded in that celebrated school *.
The study of the natural sciences, especially of Botany, occupied
all his attention, and he soon gave evidence of the progress which
he had made in this department, by publishing at Paris, in 1788,
his “ Compendio de Botanica, ou Nocões Elementares desta Scien-
cia segundo os melhores Escriptores Modernos, expostos na lengua
Portugueza.” This well written work was the first, and is still the
only elementary botanical one, in the Portuguese language. The
preliminary discourse, on the origin, progress, and present state of
Botany, called forth the approbation of Link, a distinguished Ger-
man writer, always severe in his remarks on Portuguese affairs.
Besides the above-mentioned work, Brotero, while residing in
Paris, entered upon several other literary undertakings, and among
them a valuable English and Portuguese Dictionary. He was also
the writer of the learned corrections and all the nomenclature of
the Thesauro de Meninos, written in French for Blanchard and
translated into Portuguese and published in Lisbon in 18177.
a
be accomplished. Such is Senhor Guzmao's account of the matter, and either
the Professor or the University is much to blame, for when we visited the Garden
in March last, it was in a miserable condition and barely deserved the name of a
Botanic Garden.
* This is a most unfair statement on the part of the biographer. From this
and the preceding paragraph one would be apt to conclude that Brotero travelled
from choice, or perhaps even at the expense of the Government, while the reverse
is the fact. After the fall of Pombal, a party, hostile to all improvement, came
into power, that viewed men of science with jealousy and dislike, and let loose
,
the Inquisition upon them. The celebrated mathematician and poet, J. M. de
Nascimiento, fortunately escaping from the individual who was sent to apprehend
him, fled to France, where the two botanists, Brotero and Correa de Serra, were
also obliged to take refuge.
† We have again to complain of the unaccountable mystery in which Senhor
Gusmao envelopes the most interesting incidents in the life of Brotero. The
very circumstance of such a man, residing in France, during so important a period
of human life as that comprehended between thirty-three and forty-five years of
age, and spending his time in compiling dictionaries and such works as the
Child's Treasury (Thesauro de Meninos), plainly shows that he supported him-
self by his literary labour's during an exile of twelve years.
L

40
a
During his residence abroad he improved his time by travelling,
and explored the greater part of France and Belgium, and on
other occasions he visited the north of Italy and undertook a jour-
ney to England. The period of his residence in Paris was not
exclusively devoted to Botany, though this was his favourite pur-
suit; but he availed himself of the opportunity to profit by the
instructions of such able teachers as Vicq-d'Azyr and D’Aubenton.
After finishing his studies at Paris he took his degree of doctor
of medicine at Rheims.
In the year 1790 Brotero returned to Portugal, whither his
reputation as a botanist had preceded him, and attracted the no-
tice of the queen, Donna Maria the First, so that, after a short
time, he was appointed Professor of Botany and Agriculture to
the University of Coimbra, and Superintendant of the Botanic
Garden. On the 25th of February 1791, the Faculty of Philo-
sophy was incorporated, in the same manner as that of Mathema-
tics had been in the preceeding reign, and Brotero was, of course,
,
admitted a member of this body. He filled the situation of Pro-
fessor of Botany for twenty years, and in the discharge of his
duties was careful, not only to instruct his pupils in theoretical
knowledge, but by frequent excursions in the beautiful district
around Coimbra to infuse into them a taste for practical Botany.
The brief vacation which the statutes of the University allow
to the Professors* was employed by Brotero in botanical excur-
sions to different parts of the kingdom. At that time all Europe,
with the exception of Portugal, had been explored by botanists,
and with the same exception every country had its Flora, and the
deficiency here was the more to be regretted, as the reputation of
our botanical treasures had long excited the curiosity of Natu-
ralists, and drew forth from Linnæus such epithets as the “terra
felicissima,” and “ India Europæa.” Portugal, in the meanwhile,
possessed nothing better than the Viridarium Lusitanicum of G.
Grisley,which the great Swedish naturalist characterised most justly
as a miserrimum opus. It is true Tournefort had visited Portugal,
and in his Institutiones Rei Herbaria had given notices of some
of its plants, but without figures or descriptions. In 1788, Do-
mingos Vandelli published a Flora Lusitanica et Brasilia
Specimen, leaving all that regards Brazil to be executed by the
eminent botanist Vellozo. This, however, was a feeble attempt,
and far below the importance of the subject, and it was reserved for
Brotero to accomplish the wish of Linnæus and to fill this void
in the science, by publishing (in 1804) his · Flora Lusitanica.'
a
*
* The Professors are occupied in teaching during nine months of the year.

41
66
The impatience with which Linnæus looked for such a work may
be best expressed in his own words when writing to Vandelli :-
Anne ullus sit in toto Regno pulcherrimo, qui possit orbe lite-
“rato dare genuinam Floram Regionis ? Bone Deus ! quam pul-
chrum et desideratum opus præstaret illo, qui ejusmodi Floram
“ sisteret ? "*
The author of the Flora was not one of those men, who, after
giving proof of talents, are content to remain satisfied with the
reputation thus acquired. Twelve years after the publication of
his Flora, Brotero showed farther evidence of his activity, by pre-
senting his Phytographia Lusitanica’ to the lovers of Botany.
This is a splendid work, not only from the labour bestowed on
it by the author, but from the high finish of the plates and
beauty of the typography, which render it deserving in every re-
spect of the illustrious person to whom it is dedicated (Dom.
Joao VI.). The dedication and preface merit to be read for their
purity and elegance, and are worthy of the age of Augustus. The
composition of the Phytographia occupied much time, from the
numerous researches requisite to ensure accuracy and value. It
consists of two volumes folio, of engravings and descriptions of
many of the rarer and more interesting plants of Portugalt.
The learned author of the Phytographia' also promised the
public a ' Specimina Vegetabilium, which was never published.
It appears, however, that he translated several scientific works
into Portuguese, and also wrote many botanical memoirs, some of
,
which were transmitted to the Linnæan Society. In 1817 he
published a small volume on the Natural History of the Pines,
entitled “Historia Natural dos Pinheiros e Abetos,' 1 vol. 8vo;
also the zoological nomenclature of the Tableau Elementaire' of
Cuvier, which had been translated by the Surgeon Antonio d’Al-
meida. We possess no information respecting his other writings.
a
* Grisley, alluded to in this paragraph, wrote about the year 1680. His book
is a mere list of names, and the same plant is sometimes mentioned under two
names. It indicates, however, some new and interesting plants, such as Ophi-
oglossum Lusitanicum and Drosophyllum Lusitanicum. A second edition, with
the Linnaan names, was published in 1780 by Vandelli; “Miserrimum opus,
cujus plantas Edipus sit qui intelligat.” Linn.
Vellozo was a Franciscan Friar, and a native of Brazil; he died at Rio de Ja-
neiro in 1812, in the 69th year of his age. The composition of his Flora
Fluminensis occupied him for twenty-five years, and it was published at the ex-
pense of the Brazilian Government in 1827, the editor being Senhor Antonio
d'Arrabida, Bishop of Anemuria. The work consists of eleven volumes in folio
of engravings and a few pages of text.
† The · Phytographia' is no doubt an excellent work, but the colder tempera-
ment of the north will not express itself so strongly in its praise as the ardent
and patriotic Portuguese biographer.
a

42
The esteem in which Brotero was held by foreigners is ho-
nourable to his country; his works were sought after and even
solicited through the intervention of Portuguese ambassadors,
and they procured for him an extensive correspondence. In short,
the literary history of Portugal presents few characters of greater
distinction, and there was hardly any scientific society of which
he was not a member.
After fulfilling for twenty years the duties of Professor at Coim-
bra, he was removed to Lisbon, to superintend the Royal Garden
and Museum of Ajuda. He died there on the 5th of August 1828,
after acquiring the character of the Portuguese Linnæus, and ren-
dering his country many services, for which his only recompense
was the paltry decoration of the Order of S. Bento d'Avis.
a
ON THE MAKING OF CHINESE PAPER.
(Translated from the 23rd Vol. of the “Pun Tsavu Kang Muh.”)
In antient times, bamboos were connected together, and letters
burnt into them, to form books; and hence the several characters
employed to denote papers and documents are formed partly with
the letters for “bamboo." In the time of the Tsin and the
Han dynasties letters were written upon silk cloth; and hence
the names for silk and cloth are component parts of the character
used for paper. In the time of the Emperor Ho Te (A.D. 100),
Tsac Lun began to take the bark of trees, old silk of different
kinds, fishing-nets, and hemp, and boil them to rags and make
paper of them, which was employed throughout the whole of
the empire.
Another authority says, the people of Shuh, on the western side
of China, use hemp or linen to make paper ; the people on the
east, in Fokeen, use tender bamboos; the people of the north, the
bark of the mulberry; others use the rattan ; some, mosses or
lichens; some the straw of wheat or other grains; some the
* The biographer, although abundantly verbose, appears extremely embarrassed
and difficult to comprehend ; of this we have already had examples. While in
Portugal, we were informed by an intelligent gentleman, that, after the first revo-
lution, Brotero was a member of the Cortez. If this was the case, it may explain
the neglect complained of in the last paragraph. The Garden of Ajuda, near
Lisbon, is in a wretched condition, although not nearly so bad as that of Coim-
bra, which we believe is owing to the fact that only a brief period has elapsed
since Dr. Welwitsch resigned the superintendence of it.

43
ز
Coccoon of the silk worm ; and others the bark of the choo-tree
(syn. of kuh) the Broussonetia.
a
SHA CHE, OR CRAPE PAPER.
This paper is brought from among the mountains of Nanking,
in the province of Tkwang Se. In spring, during the first and
second moons, they take the bark of a tree called kuh muh (Brous-
sonetia papyrifera) and having pounded it, throw it into a stone
reservoir of pure water, where they leave it to steep till it is fit for
use. They then take it out with the sediment, and pouring it into
cow-skin glue boiled with water, they stir all together and taking up
this mixture with a mould of bamboo screen of the size required,
they put it out in the sun to dry, and it becomes crape paper.
The Chinese paper, called touch-paper (or paper fuel), is made at
the village called Peih Keang, a few miles from Canton, of the
variety of bamboo called lang.
At the beginning of summer, during the 4th and 5th moons,
the young sprouts of the bamboo are cut off just as the leaves are
beginning to grow, and having been beaten flat, are thrown into
a lime pit to steep for about a month. They are then taken out,
washed clean, and dried in the sun, after which they are pounded
small, passed through a sieve, and laid up. The kernel of the
longan fruit (Dimocarpus Longan) is also used, being pounded
small
, dried in the sun, and passed like flour through a sieve.
When making the paper, this powder is put into clean water,
stirred about, then taken up with a mould made of bamboo screen,
and the water left to run off. It is afterwards applied to a heated
wall to dry, and the paper is then complete. For coarser or finer
paper a coarser or finer mould is used.
The person, who made the drawings, says, the bamboo is cut into
lengths of about three feet, tied up in bundles of seventeen each,
and laid into running water, where it remains six months. It is then
put (in the same bundles) into pits made in the ground, mixed
with quicklime made from the shells of the Venus Sinensis, pressed
down with weights and left for six months longer. The bundles
will have been thus soaked for twelve months; they are then
taken out, cut into short lengths, put into one of the usual
Chinese pounding mills, and beaten down into a pulp, being
stirred occasionally, so as to present a new surface; about four
hours labour will break it down. The pits contain 2000 bundles
of seventeen pieces each, weighing about 24 catty or 32 pounds.
a
KANG YUCCA PAPER.
During the fourth moon, at the close of spring and commence-
M

44
a
ment of summer, the bamboo shoots are cut off when about six
or seven inches thick, and thrown into a lime pit to steep for
about a month. They are then taken out, washed clean, and
bleached every day till they are of the purest white; after which
they are dried in the sun, pounded small and passed through a
very fine sieve, and the finest and whitest part of the powder se-
lected for use. To this is added the best white cotton of Loo
Chow ten times bowed (or bolted), the very light cotton which
is uppermost being used.
Rice water made from the whitest rice being mixed with these
two ingredients, the whole is taken up with a mould made of
bamboo screen of the size required and then applied to the heated
wall to dry. This forms the whitest and finest Kang Yucca
paper.
THE IVORY-PALM NUT (PHYTELEPHAS MACROCARPA.)
A very beautiful vegetable substance, closely resembling ivory,
has for some years been employed in England by turners and
workers in wood and ivory, for the manufacture of heads of canes,
umbrellas, thimbles, &c., and toys of various kinds; and rounded
nuts about the size of a large medlar, with one end turned off to
show the albumen (that portion which so much resembles ivory),
are sold in shops and bazaars as the fruit which affords this very
singular material. Ruiz and Pavon, and Humboldt discovered the
plant which produces these nuts in several parts of Peru, and have
described its botanical characters, the two former correctly, as a
Palm (Phytelephas macrocarpa), the latter as of the family of the
Screw-Pines (Pandane@). From the banks of the Magdalena in
Columbia, the seeds or nuts have for some time constituted an im-
portant article of commerce into Europe, to be used as ivory. The
turner again, employs the chips and shavings for a very useful pur-
pose, for they are sold for making blanc-mange. The rarity of this
Palm, and a desire to possess it in the stoves of the Royal Botanic
Gardens of Kew, induced the Director to send a Botanical Col-
lector, Mr. Purdie, to the Magdalena, for the purpose of intro-
ducing the plant alive to Europe. Mr. Purdie has been successful.
The pages of the Supplement to the Botanical Magazine will
shortly contain several particulars of Mr. Purdie's mission to New
Grenada. At present we must content ourselves with giving
extracts from his last letter, giving the account of his visit to the
locality of this Palm, or Tagua," as it is called by the natives,
and we are happy to add that germinating seeds and living
plants safely reached the Royal Gardens in October, 1845.—ED.
a

45
a
Ocaña, July 1845.
Since writing to you last, from Santa Martha, I have travelled
hither, over a scorched, and, but for the palms which it presents,
most uninteresting plain, between five and six hundred miles in
length. Such a trying journey I never had. Two or three slight
attacks of fever excepted, I have however been pretty well. At
the village of Semaña, seventeen leagues from hence and near the
great River Magdalena, I entered the mountains by the Paroquia
del Carmen, and there saw the “ Tagua,” for the first time.
Rising gradually between two ranges of mountains, of no great
elevation, I reached Ocaña, situated in an undulated amphitheatre
of grassy hills, those in the distance are seen to be covered with
primitive forests. Some of these hills are 1500 feet higher than
the city, which is itself built at an elevation of 2500 feet, and
contains about 6000 inhabitants. The temperature is most de-
lightful, and I noticed here, for the first time in this part of the
world, small gardens attached to the irregularly placed dwellings.
Apples are cultivated with tolerable success, and on the sur-
rounding hills a sufficiency of wheat is grown to supply the town
with bread, of somewhat inferior quality. The weather was bad
when I first arrived, and prevented my herborizing for a while.
I have found it necessary to purchase mules for my journey to
Bogota. The hire of each such animal is forty-five dollars, to
go direct, and the purchase money is fifty dollars for a cargo
mule, and from a 100 to 150 for a saddle-mule, but as I was
already provided with the latter, I saved that expense; and
though the people are very difficult to deal with, I accomplished
the purchase of the necessary number, at about 200 dollars.
I spent about fifteen days on the mountains round Ocaña, and
from the peculiarly marshy nature of the soil I found a species of
Befaria, growing over at this elevation; I have sent plants of it
in the glass case. Two gigantic forest-trees belonging to the
genus Cinchona (Quina rosa and Quina clava) abound in the virgin
woods, and are showy and highly fragrant; but two kinds of
Siphocampylos are the most striking things I have found, one par-
ticularly fine. You will find growing specimens of them in the
also small individuals of a remarkable Balanophora *, often
* This is, indeed, a very remarkable Balanophorous plant, and different as
appearance of these fine and perfect specimens are from the Ombrophytum
Peruvianum, Poepp. in Nov. Gen. et Sp. Plant. Peruv., &c., vol. ii. t. 155, I
have yet satisfied myself that the two plants are the same or very closely allied
species; differing, if the description alone be attentively considered (irrespective
of the figure), only in our plant being diæcious; while Poeppig's is monæcious.
box;
the

46
a
attaining a foot in height and five or six inches in diameter, and
called Cardon de la Cordillera. Its colour is of an Indian red,
with the rigid bracteas completely covering and concealing the
flowers, even in their most perfect state; it is common on the
summit of the range in moist places. I also detected another
singular plant, allied to Balanophora, but a perfectly distinct
genus, of which I have only three specimens not yet dry.
A showy species of Salvia was found and a beautiful Begonia,
so much like a Fuchsia, both in habit and inflorescence, that I
at first took it for one, some of the best kinds of which it rivals
in splendour, and has the great advantage of being reported to bear
flower all the year round; plants, and a few seeds of it are sent,
with two species of Achimenes, new to me; one of them was in
flower, of dwarf habit with showy white flowers; you will receive
roots of both. Of Orchideæ I have but few, as may be expected
in so open a country as I have passed through. Nos. 1 and 2
are fine and highly fragrant.
Having received intelligence of the things I had sent up the
river (to save land-carriage), to the Puerto Maconal de Ocaña, three
days journey from this and on the banks of the Magdalena, I
proceeded, carrying what plants I had collected, in order to secure
growing specimens, seeds &c., of the celebrated Phytelephas, which
I ascertained to abound on the other side of the range facing the
Magdalena. On my road to that place, one day's journey from
hence, I reached La Lagunata, a small settlement, where in the
evening I beheld some plants of the Tagua. On enquiring of my
host I found that I was in a good locality for procuring this re-
markable plant and accodingly remained some days.
The Phytelephas is a diecious Palm, not robust, never forming
a Caudext, and has generally from fifteen to twenty pinnated
a
The genus is probably not really distinct from Lophophytum, Schott and Endlicher,
Meletr. t. 1. Of the Peruvian species the author remarks, that it is called “ Mays
del Monte” by the Indians, and that it is cooked and eaten as Fungi are; that,
after showers, it springs up at the roots of trees with wonderful rapidity; but
that it soon, by continued rains, becomes corrupted or is destroyed by innumerable
minute insects. A second and smaller species is also noticed, but not described,
by Poeppig.
+ This account is a little at variance with that of Ruiz and Pavon, who de-
scribe the Phytelephas macrocarpa as having a short caudex, which they make
the only distinguishing specific distinction between it and their Phyt. microcarpa.
But the size of fruits in our plant forbid the idea of its being the P. microcarpa.
In the Voyage de la Bonite, Botanique 'I am informed that some recent livrai-
sons contain figures of several supposed species of Phytelephas, chiefly determined
by the fruits or nuts; and it is possible that this may form one of the new
species; but I have not that portion of Freycinet's work at hand to compare
them.

47
leaves, from fifteen to twenty feet long, of a light green colour,
particularly graceful in their aspect. In old leaves the midrib is
Hattened ; in young, but fruit-bearing ones, it is round. The aspect
of both sexes is the same, except that the male plants produce a
distinct spatha, the female none; or, if it does, it is only perfect in
an early stage, afterwards torn into shreds. The male flowers
and the spatha are produced from the axils of the inner leaves,
and are recurved outwards. The extraordinary heads of fruits
are seen around the base of the plant (one plant frequently bear-
ing six at a time); the heads resting on the ground, or lodged
between the leaves, on a footstalk so short as to be buried among
the bases of the leaves, and of which the fibre is extremely tough.
Each is composed of three to five, but generally four, large nuts,
wedged in and firmly knit together, of a roundish, but more or
less angled, form, depressed at the top, and there covered with
conical or pyramidal woody-fibrous protuberances, from half an
inch to an inch or more long; the whole forming a compact mass
or dark-coloured head, whence the name given to it by the colo-
nists“ Cabesa del Negro," the form not only representing the
head of the negro, but the fibrous protuberances the coarser hair.
The styles, of the female flower, I find to be concentrated to a
point, terminated by a long stigma, four to five inches long, and
again divided in as many points (of about half an inch in length)
as there are seeds or cavities in the cluster. At a very early stage
these cavities contain a watery fluid of a sweetish taste, which
gradually diminishes in quantity as the fruit advances to maturity.
The leaves are employed to thatch houses, and the whole of the
village of the Paroquia del Carmina and the houses, generally, in
this district, are covered with it. This, however, arises from the
great number of this kind of Palm in the neighbourhood; for
there are many other species of Palm whose leaves are far supe-
ior for this purpose.
Enclosing the fresh mature seeds is a yel-
low, sweet, and oily pulp, which is collected in the proper season
(October) and is called “Pepa del Tagua,” which I am informed
is sold by the Indians in Ocaña at one rial per pound. A spoon-
ful of this, with a little sugar and water, makes the celebrated
Chiche de Tagua,” said to be the most delicious drink in the
country, but it is slightly drastic in its effect. The fluid, although
containing much oil, does not become rancid, but keeps for months,
in a crude state, without losing flavour or quality. The Palm
itself grows in the greatest abundance in dense shaded woods,
at an elevation of from one to three thousand feet, along the
mountains facing the Magdalena. I do not think it is to be
found in the hot plains. In the season of its ripe fruit it is said
66
a
N

48
a
to scent the whole country with a delicious odour. All kinds of
wild animals, such as wild hogs and turkeys are very fond of its
fruit. Fresh and good seeds of it are very easily detected by the
bright yellow colour and by the fresh tooth-marks of the animals
of the woods, which feed upon the sweet yellow pulp above
mentioned. Snakes of a very venomous kind are abundant among
these stemless palms, so much so, indeed, that the men I had with
me found it necessary to dislodge them with a long stick before
they dared approach them. We killed several, which were not
particularly formidable in their appearance, but deadly in their
nature. A cross, decorated with flowers, and a few loose stones,
near one of the Taguelis (Tagua woods) mark the grave of a
person who died in a few hours from the bite of one of them,
and, as may be supposed, the inhabitants of the district live in
great dread of them.
I leave this in four days for La Cruiz Bucaramanna. From
that place it is my intention to go to Pamplona, the highest town
of New Grenada, where snow frequently falls. I then return to
I
Bucaramanga, that being the direct road to Bogota ; and as the
whole of the journey is "Tierra fria” I expect it will afford me
many good plants.
I shall be glad to know how the consignment arrives. The
glass case is filled with Tagua plants and the bottom covered with
seeds. There is also a separate box of fresh seeds. Should they
not arrive safely, I can procure another collection on my return
down the river. I am therefore anxious to learn how they succeed
as soon as possible. The roots of the two species of Achimenes I
trust will reach you in a living state, if not, it is worth going out
of my way to collect more. Should I receive no instructions
from you on my arrival at Bogota, I shall make the best use of
my time in some direction till I do hear. I am still of opinion
that the Province of Antioquia would produce some good collec-
tions. You may expect the boxes of plants and glazed case by
the packet which takes this letter."
(Signed) WILLIAM PURDIE.”

ink ne 3
COMPANION
TO THE
BOTANICAL MAGAZINE.
vanhemman
ADDITION TO THE “ HORTUS KEWENSIS.”
p.
CLERODENDRON MACROPHYLLUM.
Elatum glabrum fruticosum, foliis amplis ellipticis coriaceis apice acumi-
natis basi obtusis in petiolum crassum semiteretem breviter decurrentibus
integerrimis costa nervisque subtus valde prominentibus, paniculis axillari-
bus terminalibusque bracteatis, bracteis longis spathulatis, pedunculis
ultimis trichotomis, pedicellis apice dilatatis, calycibus deltoideo-acuminatis
profunde 5-partitis, laciniis lanceolato-acuminatis conniventibus, corollæ
(albæ) tubo calycem duplo superante, limbo 5-lobo, lobis secundis lineari-
oblongis extimis angustioribus, staminibus flexuosis divaricatis styloque
longe exsertis.
Clerodendron macrophyllum, Bl. Beitr. (non Sims).
Clerodendron phyllomega, Steud. Nomencl. vol.i.p.382. Walpers, Repert.
Bot. vol. iv. 104.
HAB. Sandy places on Seribu Mountains of Java; and introduced from
thence by Mr. Veitch, in whose Nursery at Mount Radford, Exeter, three
plants have been in blossom for six weeks, and are now (December, 1846)
in high perfection.
One of the finest of all the species of Clerodendron ; with white
flowers indeed, but what is wanting in brilliancy of colour in
the corolla is amply compensated by the noble foliage (almost
resembling that of some East Indian Magnolia) and the vast
panicle of innumerable blossoms. It is of easy growth, and
continues many weeks uninterruptedly in flower. It is a soft-
wooded shrub, an inch in thickness at the base of the stem, erect,
three feet high. The leaves fourteen to sixteen inches long inde-
pendent of the petiole, thick and subcoriaceous, dark green, with
a very prominent midrib and nerves beneath. The panicles are
terminal and axillary; so copious, that the whole plant may be
said to be one vast pyramidal leafy panicle. The flowers are about
the size and of the same colour as those of Cler. nutans (Bot.
Mag. Tab. 3049). No figure could possibly do justice to this
fine plant in the small pages of our Magazine. It has, we under-
stand, been recently exhibited at a Meeting of the Horticultural
Society in Regent Street.
* The Cler. macrophyllum of Sims (Bot. Mag. t. 2536), is only a downy variety
of Cler. (Volkameria) serratum, L.
B

2
NOTICE OF A BOTANICAL MISSION TO THE WEST INDIES
AND NEW GRENADA;
BY WILLIAM PURDIE,
Collector for the Royal Gardens of Kew; in letters addressed to the Editor.
(Continued from vol. ii. p. 42.)
Santa Martha, June 4th, 1844.
Since my last letter, of the 5th of May, * I have made several
excursions to the mountains behind Santa Martha, but on no
occasion have I got any higher than 2,000 feet; further progress
being impossible from this side. I find there are only two direc-
tions in which the Nivada can be reached, one is by way of Rio
de la Hacha, the other by the Valle de Upari. The former is
the route by which Mr. Linden ascended, and the distance from
hence is 150 miles. The latter is the way I think of pursuing,
for it is untrodden by any botanist, and it also seems unadvisable
to follow Mr. Linden's footsteps: the distance by the Valle de
Upari is 250 miles.
Behind Santa Martha rises a succession of mountain ridges ;
terminated, so far as can be seen from this place, by a lofty
range, apparently about 6,000 feet high. Behind this range
lies the Valle de Upari, by which the Nivada may be gained.
I understand it is a very rich district. Hitherto I have found
Orchidea very scarce.
There has been great difficulty in obtaining mules ; owing to
the want of inland population, there is no demand for these
animals, except what are actually in use, and I find them both
scarce and dear. As yet, I have bought only two, for which
I paid 180 dollars. They are, however, good and valuable.
This beautiful country lies uncultivated for want of inhabitants;
forests stretch in every direction, hardly a rood of land is reclaimed.
There is no intercourse with the interior, and the hire of mules
costs 24 dollars each to go to the Valle and back again; with
the stipulation, too, that the journey must be performed in a
given number of days. Thus it is cheapest in the end to pur-
chase, and I have taken care to select such animals as will please
the eye, as well as prove serviceable; otherwise there would be
great difficulty in disposing of them again, when I go away.
These Columbians look very sharp to their own interests.
Hitherto my excursions have been made cheaply; for the gentle-
men, to whom I brought letters of introduction, kindly lent me
j
* No letter appears to have arrived of this date.

3
a
beasts for my journeys: but now I must have my own mules,
and I shall require no fewer than four ; one for my riding, one
to carry specimens and paper, and two others for various articles
of cargo, plants, &c. I hope to set off for the Valle on Monday
next.
I now send a box of Orchidee and a few seeds, together with
specimens of a highly curious tuberous-rooted plant, which I have
never seen in flower. The Indians use a decoction of the root,
not the tuber, for an eye-wash, and consider it a most valuable
application for removing inflammation and healing injuries in
that organ. The tuber should be kept almost entirely above the
soil.
The Aristolochia is singular, and its roots contain a valuable
astringent, which has the reputation of proving an antidote to
the wounds of the most venomous serpents. The Indians aver
that long keeping improves the virtue of these roots : some pieces,
together with seeds and specimens, and a perfect capsule, are in
the parcel. I also send specimens, not in bloom, of a remarkable
tree, with a habit resembling a Punica ; it is marked Granadilla,
and was discovered, I am told, by M. Funck during his brief
visit to Santa Martha : he saw it in flower, and considered it to
be a new and splendid species of Punica ; but to me it seems
essentially distinct from that genus. The calyx is inferior, the
capsule dry, and the seeds winged. Though I have never seen
the inflorescence, the above peculiarities convince me that M. Funck
examined the tree no farther than its general habit, which
certainly bears a strong resemblance to Punica, to which it owes
its local appellation. Lest the seeds should not germinate, I
shall procure living plants on my return from the Nivada. I
intend sending home a glass case, as soon as I can find withal to
a
*
fill one.
The roads in this country are dreadfully bad ; and communica-
tion is mostly carried on by water. Yesterday, returning to Santa
Martha, I was obliged to swim two rivers; sometimes they are
quite unfordable: in fact, I never passed such a trying fortnight
as the last, it being impossible to keep myself dry. The paths
are generally conducted by the river-sides, and often the mules
capsize and hurl rider and load into the water : add to which,
rain falls daily of the most terrific kind. I shall set off for the
Valle on Monday, and be absent about three months. To-day
the weather is hot and moist, the thermometer indicating 88° in
the shade at noon.
I will thank you to decide on the route you wish me to take,
* It proves to be the rare and beautiful Lafoensia punicefolia of De Candolle. ---ED.

4
after leaving Santa Martha. I could go by Maracaybo to Bogotà,
through the plains of Maraceto, and obtain the Palm which pro-
duces the Vegetable Ivory, which I am informed grows there.
It strikes me this would be the most eligible course to pursue ;
;
and then proceed down the Magdalena to Chagres, thus avoiding
the navigation up the river (the Magdalena) which is very long
and tedious, occupying as much time as it would take to reach
Bogotà by way of Maracaybo.
a
Pueblo Nuevo, Valle de Upari,
July 25th.
Two days ago I returned from La Nivada, bringing a collection
of plants, seeds and specimens. The Post from Santa Martha
has just put me in possession of your esteemed letter of April
16th; and though I have only two hours in which to answer it,
I send a few lines, and can do no more this time, being engaged
in preparing a box of seeds, which I shall send by the same con-
veyance, to meet the August Packet.
I am glad to hear that the articles I despatched formerly have
reached England in good order. The Orchideous plant, marked
Broughtonia, is very handsome. The present parcel of seeds
will probably arrive about Oct.; not sooner, because the packet
goes to Cartagena and Chagres and returns to the former place,
before crossing to meet the Jamaica Packet. I must convey the
seeds and specimens to La Fundacion, one hundred miles
distant, whence they will go to Santa Martha, one hundred and
ten miles more; I shall send them by a canoe, and it is very
probable I may arrive myself at Santa Martha, about the same
period; for I shall proceed by way of Rio de la Hacha. After
conveying these things to La Fundacion, I return hither and
ascend the mountains at all the accessible points, viz., the
Indian village of Artankes, Rosario and Maracassa. From the
latter, I trust it will be found practicable to reach the Nivada;
if not, I shall attempt it from the side of Rio de la Hacha, after
despatching my collection to Santa Martha. I find M. Funck
has preceded me in this direction, having attempted to climb
the Nivada from the village of St. Sebastian, but failed in conse-
quence
of the excessive cold. I certainly never felt such a piercing
air. I, however, reached the snow line and gathered a few plants
peculiar to that region. The only combustible article that could
be procured to make a fire withal, is a singular composite
plant, which was too wet to burn readily. No shelter was there,
but rocks. The suffering which the Indians seemed to endure
a

5
a
a
from the cold was extreme, although the village where they reside
is at an elevation of 6,000 feet; on the second day, one of these
poor creatures was unable to proceed, from lightness in the head*,
and he lay down among the rocks, till I returned; his companion
was also very unwell, but I experienced no farther inconvenience,
than a slight throbbing in the temples.
This journey has not been quite so productive as I had hoped ;
for although I have some good plants of Orchidea, all new to
me, the number of species does not exceed ten. One is very
remarkable; it is a climber, with pseudo-bulbs upwards of a foot
long It grows fifteen to twenty feet high and bears a
long twining spike of handsome Oncidium-like blossoms, but
denoting a different genus; it is a showy and remarkable plant.
The best thing I procured is a terrestrial Cymbidium, allied to
C. utriculatum, but without the conspicuous sheath; it is the
handsomest terrestrial Orchidea I have ever seen. As I collected
abundance of strong tubers, I hope it will succeed in England;
the plant is very rare, I have seen it only twice.
Herewith I forward a box of one hundred kinds of seeds
from the Nivada, some are of handsome Ericoid shrubs. The
vegetation, near the snow line, consists mainly of types of
European genera ; I noticed three Gerania and four Carices (one
of which resembles C. pendula), two Ranunculi, a showy Alyssum
&c.
The seeds include a Botrychium and an Osmunda, an
Umbellifera and a Senecio, two Vaccinia, one Cerastium, two
species of Hieracium, several of Gnaphalium, and many fine shrubs,
allied to Erica ; also a Lupine and Gentian and three singular
tetrandrous plants; I have plenty of seeds of the latter. Near
the snow line grew two pretty species, quite unknown to me,
and on the margin of the snow, a Primula (?) of which I regretted
not to obtain plants or seed.
I think of proceeding to Santa Martha in about six weeks,
whence I shall make two excursions to the mountains in different
directions, to an elevation of 3,000 feet, the greatest elevation
that can be attained in that direction. The weather is now
pretty good, but rain falls daily on the mountains, towards
evening. The lowest temperature I have yet seen is 38°. Fahr.,
when the cold was extremely piercing.
* One of the symptoms of the malady, called “La Puna", which affects
persons who ascend lofty mountains. See Mr. Cruikshank's description of it, on
an ascent of the Andes. Botanical Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 191-3.

6
mens.
Valle Dupar, August 20th. 1844.
I have just returned from La Fundacion, having forwarded
three boxes of plants, chiefly Orchidee, and one of dried speci-
The former will, I hope be sent on without the least
delay, but the dried plants can remain at Santa Martha till I
return, as it is probable they may imbibe damp on the way and
will require fresh papers, previous to their being despatched to
England.
Among the contents of the boxes are some very good Orchidea,
a pretty Achimenes, which seems new, a handsome terrestrial
Cymbidium, several tufts of a Sobralia, an Oncidium, with dis-
tant pseudo-bulbs, and twining flower-stems, eight feet in
length; I have only one indifferent specimen of it. The plants
are all packed in sheaths of maize, to absorb any superabundant
moisture, and are now in excellent order. I expect to reach,
shortly, a good country for Orchidea, which is not the character
of any district I have yet visited. This immense cluster of
mountains can only be gained by two routes, that of San Sebas-
tian, and of the Rio de la Hacha ; in every other direction, they
,
are absolutely inaccessible. The distance, in a direct line, from
Santa Martha to La Nivada, is forty-six miles, and by the
route I pursued two hundred and seventy miles, two hundred
and twenty of which led through an uninteresting plain, a ramifi-
cation of the great plain of the Magdalena, affording few plants.
I am now on my road for three Indian villages, situated at the
slight elevation of 2,000 feet, whence I hope to make my way
to a higher latitute; 4,000 feet is probably the height most
favourable to the production of Orchidea. After reaching Rio
Hacha, I shall ascend the Nivada from that side, and I do not
expect to return to Santa Martha before the beginning of October.
From thence I plan to undertake two excursions to the interior,
which is all that can be effected, because of the uninhabited nature
of the country. Owing to the entire want of facilities of access,
the fine soil and desirable climate of these mountains are lost
to the human race; and the thinly scattered population, chiefly
of Spanish descent, is located in hot savannahs, of which the
people's looks plainly testify the unhealthy influence. The few
villages on the mountains belong exclusively to the aboriginal
Indians; the remote situation having preserved them from the
ravages of Spanish conquest. A route leads to Bogotà by Ocaña,
which no botanist has visited, and it passes over some lofty moun-
tains.
You will find a charming and fragrant orchideous plant in the
box; it is numbered '9'. I gathered it to day in flower.

7
I expected to have arrived at Rio Hacha ere this time, but
have been detained some days by the illness of one of my mules,
which is now better. Among the seeds from the Nivada, you
will find some of a curious Columnea ; it grows upright and pro-
duces its flowers in large whorls, six inches across; the calyx,
is scarlet, very large and showy, and the whole habit of the
plant is striking. The flowers protrude but slightly beyond the
calyx.
The weather is exceedingly unsettled: the plains are warm :
the thermometer varying from 90°. to 96º. in the shade; a heat
which is the more oppressive, from the absence, thus far inland,
of the sea breeze.
I find it is impracticable to reach Maracaybo by land. The
Indians and some other tribes being now hostile to the Colum-
bian Spaniards, it is said they will allow no one to traverse their
territory. I am sorry to hear that the man bringing the post,
was murdered the other day between Rio de la Hacha and Santa
Martha, after being robbed of three hundred dollars.
Rio de la Hacha, Oct. 19th, 1844.
I arrived here yesterday from the interior, bringing my collec-
tions with me. During this last excursion I have explored the
south side of the Nivada de Sta. Martha in all its accessible parts.
I sent hither before me, three mules' loads of plants, chiefly
Orchidea, from the Sierras de Maracaybo; my visit to which
occupied a month beyond the time on which I had calculated;
but finding myself, when I reached the village of Molina, in the
Valle Dupar, close to the above named Sierras, I judged it right
to investigate the first great range. Though the wet weather
was unfriendly to travelling, I gathered more Orchideous plants
on these beautiful mountains, than have fallen to my lot during
all my journeys in the Nivada. This Nivada is one solitary
stupendous cluster, severed from the Sierras de Maracaybo, by
the Valle Dupar, which is from ten to twenty-five miles in width
and stretches its broad savannahs to the great plain of the Mag-
dalena river on the west, and the extensive savannah of the
Guajira to the east; while a few hills, scattered on the flat land,
seem to form an imperfect connexion between these two vast
ridges.
Among other Orchidee, I have found a splendid Limodorum
(no. 22) resembling L. Tankervillie, but of much finer growth :
its scapes are simple, three feet high, sepals pure white, and
labellum dark purple: the blossoms are rather smaller than those
of L. Tankervilliæ. It is rare and confined to one mountain
a
D

8
a
forest, where it grows in the earth among rotten trees and wood.
Also a charming Peristeria and a Stanhopea. I was surprised
.
to find the forest, at the summit of the range, consisting of the
same kind of Podocarpus which I had seen in Jamaica; it is of
gigantic stature, vyeing with the loftiest trees. I am satisfied
that these mountains, if traversed to Maracaybo, would produce
many valuable plants, especially Orchidea; but the journey
would be a task of no small difficulty ; for all communication was
cut off, two years ago, with the view to prevent the escape of
General Paz, and the way has never been re-opened. The savage
tribes of wandering Indians, the bad state of the roads, and the
abundance of tigers, bears, and other wild beasts, would offer
formidable obstructions.
It was a disappointment, on reaching Rio de la Hacha, to
find no letters; though I had requested Mr. Marks, the Vice-
Consul at Sta. Martha; to forward what might arrive for me.
Your last bears date April 16th.
I fear this is but a bad season for sending home my plants,
for though I have used all possible expedition, with the view of
forwarding them ere winter, I have been unable to accomplish
my design. The Packet has also changed its time of sailing, so
that the middle of November is now the earliest period when
the boxes can be sent, and they and my letter will go by the
same opportunity. I am now busy packing four boxes, and I
enclose a list of their contents.
In two or three days, I shall set off for the Nivada, to ascend
it by this side; an excursion which will occupy about a month,
when, on my return, I shall ship my plants from Sta. Martha,
and there dispose of my mules; that place affording the best
market for them. The Nivada is four or five days from hence;
it has been the wet season ever since I came here, and my jour-
ney has proved, of course, all the more slow and tedious and
difficult.
I send a few seeds, to fill up the spaces of the box ; among
them are some good things : a species of Justicia, much resem-
bling a Fuchsia in habit and inflorescence; the seeds were scarce,
but I procured a small quantity. No. 181 is an interesting
Ipomea, of an upright heath-like habit, and large showy flowers;
there are three species of Aristolochia, two of Manettia, some of
Pentstemon, with a greenish yellow inflorescence. No. 164, a
Tetrandrous plant, is very showy, and has the habit of a Mimulus,
and flowers like a Petunia, large and white. I have also some
species of Orchideous plants, that I consider new.
Shortly after Mr. Linden visited the Nivada, an epidemic broke
a
a

9
out among the Indians, which carried off about fifty persons ;
and the poor ignorant beings attribute the malady to his pre-
sumption in exploring that range, and consider him to be in
concert with some evil spirit, and give him the name of 'El
Diablo'. The governor assures me that this delusion is deeply
rooted: he has vainly endeavoured to combat it, and even appre-
hends it may interfere with my movements and hinder my success.
Rio de la Hacha, Dec. 14th, 1844.
Possibly you are surprised that my collections have not
arrived before winter, and my own calculations are equally put
out by it; but the nature of the country through which I have
travelled, the wet season and the great distance, have conspired
to cause this delay. As far as the performance of my duty
allowed (in executing which I have ascended the mountains,
wherever it was practicable,) my movements have been made
with expedition ; for my health was admirable, till the second
ascent of the Nivada, from whence I am just returned; I was
there sharply attacked with fever and ague, and was laid up for
a fortnight in San Miguel, an Indian village, the highest on this
side of the Nivada, its elevation being about 5,000 feet. I believe
that frequent wettings induced this illness; but I am now happily
recovered. It was my intention to reach Santa Martha, on
the coast side, fifty miles from the road by which I have come;
and only ninety remained from a village called Dibulla, but I
find it utterly impracticable to pursue that route, for I should
be compelled, by keeping along the coast, to cross all the
rivers at their mouths; and some of them are truly so many arms
of the sea.
The whole flat country, lying between the sea and
the mountains, several leagues wide, is inundated completely,
which prevented bringing my mules from Dibulla. We have
just had a few dry days; and the general opinion is, that the wet
season is over. I have therefore sent for the beasts, and shall
travel by land, through the Valle Dupar, now the only practicable
course; for if I shipped my mules, the expense of it would be
greater than that of going by land. It is also somewhat uncer-
tain how long I might be detained here.
Rio Hacha is prettily situated on the dry sandy beach, without
any harbour : it is a cool and pleasant spot.
If possible, I shall set off on the 17th. I have two objects in
view, one is to sell my mules at Santa Martha ; for I should dis-
pose of them here at a great loss, because the Indians breed
these creatures in great numbers at Guagira; and the other,
E

10
because I fear that the four boxes of Orchidee and one of seeds,
which were to leave Santa Martha by the November or Decem-
ber packet, may have arrived in England, at a time of frost; so
that I am very anxious to secure more of the same plants ; which
I shall get in the Interior. Among the very fine species are a
Schomburghkia, a splendid Limodorum and a very singular and un-
common Maxillaria. I have never seen the latter in full bloom,
but judging from its strong habit and still stronger flower-stems,
I expect it will prove a remarkable thing; these I hope to pro-
cure in a day or two, from the Sierras of Maracaybo; the re-
mainder of the road, three hundred miles, lies through a savan-
nah country, and will afford the seeds of some fine Palms. I
expect the distance will occupy about eighteen days. I shall
pack up here the plants collected on this side of the Nivada, to
be shipped by the first conveyance to Santa Martha ; whence they
will be despatched, so as to reach England early in April, when
there will be no risk of frost. Among other plants, gathered on
this side of the Nivada, is a magnificent Oncidium ranking among
the most conspicuous of that noble tribe : its bright yellow flowers
are slightly striped in the centre with scarlet, and as large (which
you will see by the specimens) as those of 0. Papilio: the habit
of the species is strictly trailing, like a Manettia. I have some
fears about getting this plant to England alive, its pseudo-bulbs
being so delicate. I found it climbing over mossy trees, to their
topmost branches, on the river San Antonio, at an elevation of
about 3,000 feet. There is also a showy and fragrant plant, like
Catasetum, but a distinct genus.
The ascent of this slope of the Nivada has afforded me many
more plants than did the other side, by way of San Sebastian.
The vegetation is generally stronger and finer. After ascending
2,000 feet, I came to a gigantic forest of Laurus Persea (Avocado
I
Pear) strewing the ground with its delicious fruits, and the
luxuriant foliage affording an impenetrable shade: there were
also a few scattered Palms; the slender and graceful Chamadorea
gracilis was particularly abundant; producing pendent clusters
of golden fruit
, which imparted a lively aspect to the otherwise
sombre wilderness. This mixture of trees continued till about
4,000 feet of elevation ; where Palms become more predominant,
blending with the less noble but more delicate and beautiful
Tree-Ferns. There was nothing, however, new to me in this
vegetation. Higher still, at 5,000 feet, comes the Podocarpus,
with some Myrtaceous trees, Melastoma and the stately Wax-
Palm, the only Palm that is found at such an elevation. Hence,
till shrubs cease (at about 11,000 feet) the beautiful Befarias

11
a
(the Rhododendrons of South America) and other ericoid shrubs,
with some suffruticose Syngenesia and a few conspicuous Melas-
tomacea, compose the principal vegetation. The last plant of
any size seen near the snow, is a robust Syngenesia, which is
esteemed highly medicinal ; here and there grew also patches of
a showy Lupine, some kinds of Geranium, and, in swampy
spots, an Osmunda, several Carices, and a striking Pinguicula,
reminding me of our P. grandiflora, with foliage of the same
glistening and icy-cold nature. The plants that vegetated highest
up were a conspicuous species of Alypium, and, along the margin
of perpetual snow, a Primula ; which I should have much liked
to gather in bloom. Many other plants were seen upon the
Sierra, but not in sufficient abundance to form any feature in the
landscape. I found in rocky spots a striking Echeveria ; a neat,
but not conspicuous Daphne; one species of Fuchsia, and two
of Berberis, with a strong and rather rare Passion-flower, a
Tropæolum, several Ardisia, an Ilea, and a Cratægus, &c.
On my return hither two days ago, I received your and Mr.
I
Smith's letters, announcing the arrival of my first box of plants
from Sta. Martha : sorry I am that some of the contents had
perished. I am now convinced that it is a faulty plan to pack
Orchidea (finally) shortly after they are gathered'; which I did
with all my Jamaica plants, and with the box in question from
Sta. Martha. I have observed that after carrying plants in open
airy baskets for a week or two, the oldest bulbs of the Orchidea
commonly perish : thus it must be advisable to ascertain their
state before sending them away. When I arrived at Rio de la
Hacha, I found, in the four boxes just despatched, that there
was a full bushel of dead and broken rubbish: if this had been
allowed to remain in consequence of the packages having been
closed, it must have destroyed many more plants; and to a
similar process of unexamined decay, I attribute my previous
failures.
I am anxious to hear how the roots of Achimenes have borne
the journey ; in order that I may yet secure more if desirable, for
I know of a station where three species grow, on the mountains
above Sta. Martha; one of which I believe is not in cultivation.
Every inquiry has been made, since I came into Columbia, with
a view to obtaining intelligenee of the Palo de Vacca (Cow-tree),
but I can hear nothing of it. The Phytelephas (Vegetable Ivory
Palm) is procurable at Sta. Martha, the nuts being brought
from the province of Maraquita ; but I am not so sure of their
freshness: therefore, in the absence of further directions from
you about my movements, I think of ascending the Magdalena,

12
and myself collecting growing plants and seeds of the Ivory
Palm. If time allows, I shall make an excursion to the moun-
tains in that district, and return to Santa Martha about the
middle or end of March. I have much to do there and mean to
make the best possible use of my opportunities and to bring
with me all the plants I can.
If there is anything you particularly desire to receive from
Jamaica, have the goodness to specify it: my acquaintance
with the stations in that island will probably enable me to
procure it without difficulty, and it is probable I must come
home via Jamaica.
a
Santa Martha, February 21st, 1845.
I returned to this place a month ago and was laid up imme-
diately for a fortnight, with fever and ague : though weak, I
am now recovered. There is much fever in the country, carrying
off great numbers of people. My first business has been to
prepare my plants, which are despatched by this day's Packet
(the list is enclosed). They have been gathered some time and
are packed in the way recommended by Mr. Smith in his last
letter ; so that I trust they will arrive in the same excellent
order they are in now. I particularly wish that the bulbs of the
trailing Oncidium may succeed: they are delicate. They should
be twisted round a mossy branch and placed in a cool part of
the stove, their native habitat being river-courses, 4,000 feet
above the level of the sea.
I take the liberty of mentioning that the thermometers arrived
safely; but they are of no use to me; because I want them to
ascertain heights, which can be estimated sufficiently accurately
by a thermometer for all botanical purposes,
For instance,
my
thermometer
gave
the altitude, which I reached on the Sierra
Nivada, as 14,500 feet; and I calculated the snowy peaks above
to be 2,000 feet higher than where I stood; and as this amounts
to the same measurement as Humboldt, and I tested the eleva-
tion again when I descended, I feel satisfied with the general
correctness of my reckoning. But the thermometers now sent
are unfit even for the common temperature of the tropics, their
range being only 130° Fahr.; so that riding in the sun would burst
them in my pocket. Unfortunately I am now without one ; for a
thermometer which I purchased in Jamaica was broken at the
time of my illness.
The boxes contain many fine plants. No. 3 is perhaps among
the noblest of Orchidea ; its pseudo-bulbs resemble those of a

13
Gongora, but are longer, and the peduncles, two feet long, are
pendent, and bear at the extremity three or four very large fra-
grant flowers, with a scent equalling that of Stanhopea grandi-
flora, but more succulent, and thus very difficult to dry; orange
,
and scarlet are the prevailing colours of these charming blossoms.
This plant is very rare, and comes from the Sierras of Maracaybo.
I also send a box of seeds and one containing Cacti : there is
a pretty Mammillaria and a few plants of a species of Melocactus,
probably distinct from M. communis. Among the seeds are
some of a splendid Passion-flower, which I gathered near the
snow : it was in bloom on my first ascent, but I could not secure
fruit, till the last time. I found this fruit very delicious, the
Indians give it the name of Cummincalla. In a few days I
expect to secure growing plants of Lafoensia punicifolia, for
my Ward's case.
I lately sold my four cargo mules for eight doubloons : less
than they cost by a good deal ; but I have had eight months
work of them, and they are, of course, somewhat out of condition,
and grass being scarce, their keep is very dear here. I still
retain my own riding mule, which I bought for one hundred
dollars, and expect to realize the same sum for it.
The most remarkable Palm I have seen is a scandent, or
climbing one, called “ Malamba,” and with more the aspect of a
briar than a palm : I send seeds of it.
After I shall have made a few excursions to the mountains,
behind Santa Martha, it is my present design to ascend the Mag-
dalena, to three days journey above Mompax (eleven days' ascent
in all). There, at a place called Taguaje, from the native name
of the Ivory-Nut Palm (Phytelephas), this tree, the Tagua,
abounds; and I shall also be in the vicinity of Ocaña, the
mountains of which may be worth a visit
. But as this plan is
formed in the absence of precise instructions from you, it is pro-
bable the letters I look for by the next packet may alter
my
movements.
I have collected many Palm-seeds of different kinds, which
should have been sent home with the other things; but I am
unable to pack them properly without moss, which is not to be
had till I go to Mancha.
to Mancha. A plant of the singular Aristolochia is
thriving beautifully in one of my glass cases.
My dried specimens are also waiting till the next packet. I
have been too ill to arrange and despatch them yet.
Several gentlemen have given me descriptions of Phytelephas,
(Ivory-Nut Palm) which they all profess to know well; but the
details which they communicate vary strangely. One says the
a
a

14
tree is dwarfish, not a yard high, and produces its nuts at the
bottom; while others assure me that it is a lofty Palm, and that
the fruits are procured from the summit. Of course, I am the
I
more desirous to see the tree myself. A few days since, thirty
tons of the nuts arrived from the Magdalena, commissioned for
America and Germany: I applied for and received some, and
found, on cutting open two or three, that they were quite fresh,
and the germ in a state of perfect vitality. Accordingly I planted
some fifty, and I hope they may succeed.
You speak of my collecting sea-weeds, but I have only visited
the coast in two places, near Rio de la Hacha, which is low and
sandy, and affords none. I hope to be more successful at Santa
Martha. It will be necessary for me to return thither, that I
may plant the nuts or growing specimens of Phytelephas, which
I expect to procure up the Magdalena River. In the absence of
instructions from you, I shall probably visit Antioquia, said to be
famous for its rich mountain vegetation.
Santa Martha, March 23rd, 1845.
At the time when I wrote last, rather more than a month ago,
I was very weak, from an attack of fever and ague. During my
tardy recovery, I have been engaged in packing my dried speci-
mens, which I forward in two boxes, by the same packet as
carries this letter. Owing to the carelessness of the persons who
brought my luggage from Rio de la Hacha, some of the bundles
were immersed in salt water, to the injury of the specimens and
destruction of the seeds.
To-morrow I start for Mancha and other places in the vicinity,
where I hope to procure plants to fill one glass case, reserving
the other for the Ivory-Nut Palms. My present intended route
is by way of Ocaña, and thence to cross the mountains to Bogotà,
a beautiful and fertile district, according to the reports I hear,
and which has never been hitherto travelled by any botanist. I
.
have no doubt that I shall find many interesting plants at Bogotà :
have the kindness to address me, care of the British Minister.
There are some good Ferns among the plants now sent, but
this tribe is less numerous here than in the West India Islands.
Among the dried specimens I have lost, were fine ones of Lafo-
ensia punicifolia : two or three still remain, and some good
Orchidee. I sent growing plants of a very fine Stanhopea,
from the Sierra de Maracaybo, which is part of the same chain
of the Andes which I shall meet with again at Ocaña. The
vegetation is said to be far richer around Bogotà than at Santa

15
Martha, and there are snowy mountains between Ocaña and
Bogotà.
I am glad to hear that the Lace Barks thrive so well. I shall
do my best to keep a journal of my travels, and to make notes
of everything worthy of observation ; but this is no easy task,
where all the arrangements devolve upon one individual : my
eye has to be upon all minutiæ, and often at night I am too
weary to sit down to write.
I am not yet quite decided whether to proceed to Bogotà, by
the Valle Dupar, or by the river Magdalena, ascending it to
Ocaña. The latter is the most direct course, but I shall of
.
course get no plants that way.
Tidings have just arrived from Bogotà of a dreadful visitation
that has befallen the Valle of Ambolema, famous for its tobacco.
An avalanche descended from the snowy range of Tolima, and
covered four leagues, engulphing a thousand persons, all its
population. For many miles down the Magdalena river the
effect of this catastrophe was seen, in the destruction of the fish
killed by the sudden rush of cold water. Government has esti-
mated the damage at 60,000 dollars worth of tobacco.
a
a
Santa Martha, April 20th, 1845.
Since the sailing of the last packet, I have made excursions to
all accessible points of the mountain range lying behind this
town, and have collected as many Orchidea, some very handsome
species, as fill a large box. I have also many seeds: one is a
species of Lisianthus which I had not before seen, an abundant
flowerer though not very conspicuous; the plant grows to about
eighteen inches high, and is much branched. There are also
fine ripe fruits of the Granadilla ; and I see in an old work called
Florestà de Santa Martha,' and written by a Spanish military
officer, about a hundred years ago, that the wood of this tree was
then exported, being very highly prized for its beauty in orna-
mental furniture. Now, nothing seems known of the Granadilla
timber ; and, indeed, the taste for any decorative articles in a
house is at the lowest ebb. I have not been able to fill the glass
case with growing plants, as I hoped, and have therefore put
Palm-seeds into the vacant spaces that they may germinate on
the passage. I shall leave the case under the charge of Mr. Fer-
guson, an English merchant, who is also appointed Vice Consul
here, during the approaching temporary absence of Mr. Marks,
who is about to proceed to Bogotà, by way of the river.
I trust to start myself the day after to-morrow, and mean to

16
diminish the expence of land-carriage by sending before me to
the port of Ocaña, all such things as I can dispense with till I
arrive there. The mule I mentioned before, is in good condition,
and quite fit for the journey.
Enclosed are some flowers of a splendid Orchidea : several
growing plants of it are forwarded; but I have been unable to
dry good specimens.
I shall write from Ocaña, which is probably the first good
botanizing ground I shall reach, six hundred miles distant, the
country between is said to be all savanna. The weather con-
tinues very warm, 90° in the shade, and 87° during night :
happily there is no rain, which is a most favourable circumstance
for my journey; several rivers, difficult to be forded, occurring
within a few days' travelling from hence. My health continues
good.
a
Ocana, July 20th, 1845.
Since writing from Santa Martha, I have reached this place,
traversing a burning plain from five to six hundred miles wide,
and destitute of all vegetable interest, except as regards its
numerous Palms. So very trying a journey I never made ; but
my health was good, though I had one or two slight touches of
fever. At the village of Semaña, seventeen leagues from hence,
and near the great river Magdalena, I entered the mountains by
the Paroquia del Carmen, and saw,
for the first time, the Tagua,
or Ivory-Nut Palm (Phytelephas). Rising gradually between two
ranges of mountains of great elevation, I reached Ocaña, which
is situated on an undulated amphitheatre of bare grassy hills,
those in the distance only being clad with primitive forest. The
elevation of the city is 2500 feet, the surrounding hills about
1500 feet more : there are 6,000 inhabitants. Nothing can be
more delicious than the climate, the temperature varying from
65° to 75º Fahr. At Ocaña, for the first time in South America,
I have seen little gardens attached to the houses. Apples are
grown with some success, and wheat is raised on the hills suffi-
cient for the consumption of the town. I cannot praise the
quality of the bread.
Bad weather prevented my doing much for some days after
my arrival. I have been obliged to purchase mules for the
journey to Bogotà; the hire of each animal to go thither being
charged forty-five dollars, while the price to buy them is only
five dollars more ;-viz., fifty dollars for cargo mules, and from
one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars for those which are

17.
a
used to the saddle. I am fortunately provided with a riding-
beast, and have procured four others, at about 200 dollars : but
the bargain was attended with much difficulty, for the people
here are very hard to deal with.
I spent about a fortnight in the mountains of Ocaña. From
the peculiarly marly nature of the soil, a Befaria is common,
even at this elevation : there are plants of it in the glass-case.
Two gigantic forest-trees, species of Cinchona, abound in
the virgin woods, they are conspicuous and highly fragrant.
The most remarkable things I have found are two kinds of
Siphocampylus, one particularly handsome and rare; I send
growing plants of them. Also, some small specimens of a most
remarkable Balanophora, which I have often seen, five or six
inches in diameter. The natives call it Cardon de la Cordillera'.
Its colour is Indian-red and its rigid bracteas completely enclose
the flower when in its most perfect state. Moist places, near the
summit of the range, produce it abundantly. Also, another
singular plant, allied to Balanophora, but quite a distinct genus :
I have only three specimens and they are not yet dry. A showy
Salvia, and a most beautiful Begonia, * so closely resembling a
Fuchsia, that I took it for one : in habit, and inflorescence, it
rivals our finest cultivated Fuchsias, and excels them by being
in bloom all the year : I send growing plants and a few seeds
of it, and a quantity of roots of two species of Achimenes, new
to me; one, which I gathered in flower, grows dwarfish, its flowers
are showy and white Of Orchidea I found few: Nos. 1 and 2
are handsome and highly fragrant.
Having received information, that my baggage, which, to save
land-carriage, I sent by the river, had arrived at Puerta Mac-
connal de Ocaña, three days' journey from this place, I proceeded
thither. I ascertained that the celebrated Phytelephas grew in
that direction, and accordingly, one day after leaving Ocaña, and
on my way to the Port, I found it at La Laguneta, a small
settlement, and being told that I should no where else have such
good opportunity of collecting it, I spent some days there.
The Phytelephas, or Ivory-nut Palm, is dioecious, very graceful
in aspect and producing 15-20 pinnate leaves, which, when
full-grown, measure nearly twenty feet in length, and are of a
delicate pale green colour. The nature of this Palm is to have
little or no stem, its habit is not robust. In old specimens, the
mid-rib of the leaves is flattened, but in young and fruit-bearing
ones, it is round. The aspect of both sexes is the same. The
male plant is distinguished by its spatha : the female plant
* Begonia fuchsioides ; lately published, with a figure, in the pages of our
Botanical Magazine
a

18
a
produces none, or it bursts and disappears at a very early stage
of growth. The male flowers and spatha are produced from the
axils of the inner leaves and they incline outwards. The singular
heads of fertile inflorescence grow round the base of the plant,
often six clusters at one time and the heads rest on the ground,
or are wedged between the leaves, and borne on a buried footstalk,
of which the fibre is exceedingly tough. These clusters are of
an imperfectly rounded form, covered with strong protuberan-
ces, about an inch and a half long, resembling styles, but which
have generally no connexion with the fructification of the seeds.
On dissecting one of these compact heads, I found it to consist
of many clusters, with three to five, commonly four seeds, com-
pactly knitted together. Hence the name of this Palm,“ Cabeza
del Nigro," by no means an inapt comparison, for the style-
like projections resemble a black man's rigid hair. The styles
contract to a point, tipped by a stigma, four or five inches
long and again divided into as many points as there are
seeds or cavities in the clusters. At a very early stage, these
hollows are filled with a watery fluid, of a sweetish taste, which
lessens in quantity with the advancing state of the fruit. The
foliage of this Palm is used for thatching, and the whole of the
houses in the Paroquia del Carmea are thus covered, the Ivory-
nut Palm abounding in that neighbourhood. The leaves of other
Palms are, however, better adapted to the purpose. Enclosing
the seeds is a yellow, sweet, oily pulp, which is collected at the
present season (October), and sold, under the name of Pepe del
Tagua, for one real a pound, at Ocaña. A spoonfull of it, with
a little sugar and water, makes the celebrated Chiche de Tagua,
said to be the most delicious beverage of this country. It has,
however, a slightly drastic property. Although this substance
contains much oil, it never becomes rancid by keeping, but at
the end of nine months it preserves, in a crude state, all its
flavour and quality
The Phytelephas principally inhabits dense shady woods, facing
the Magdalena, at an elevation of 1,000 to 3,000 feet on the
mountains. I do not believe it is ever seen in the hot plains or
level country. At the season when the fruit is ripe, the country
is scented with its fragrance and all wild animals, hogs and
turkeys, are extremely fond of it.
I shall leave this place in four days, for La Cruz Bucaramanga,
proceeding thence to Pamplona, the highest town in New Grenada :
snow frequently falls there. I shall return to Bucaramanga, that
being the direct road to Bogotà. The whole journey is in Tierra
fria and I hope will afford some valuable plants.
I am anxious to know how this consignment of plants &c.

19
a
arrives. The glass-case contains growing specimens of Tagua; and
the soil is full of fresh seeds. I also send a box of the newly
gathered nuts, packed in moss. If these should unfortunately
suffer by the voyage, I can procure more on my way down the
river and am therefore peculiarly desirous to know their fate,
without delay
There are two singular kinds of Achimenes, which I hope may
reach you alive; if not, they are worth looking for, on my return
route.
When I reach Bogotà, if I find no instructions from you as to
my further course, I shall endeavour to employ my time to the
, I
best advantage ; botanizing in different directions, till I do receive
orders. I am still of opinion that the Province of Antioquia
offers a promising field.
The plants in boxes and the glass-case will be forwarded by
the Packet, which conveys this letter. My health is now, happily
restored.
Bogota, Nov. 13th, 1845.
I reached this place four days, in good health ; but I find no
letters, though a Packet has very recently arrived.
The country I have traversed from Ocaña hither is moun-
tainous and beautiful, but unfortunately deficient in virgin
forests; owing to the practice which the inhabitants pursue of
burning considerable tracts every year, their object being to obtain
,
with little trouble, fresh grass for their cattle. Rich as is the
,
soil, a very small amount of labour bestowed on cultivation would
procure
all the necessaries of life; but such is the rooted idleness
of the people that they prefer depending on their cattle.
I found the cold very severe in the Paramos; not from its
absolute intensity, for the thermometer rarely falls below 40°,
but because, in these elevated regions, the atmosphere is so rare.
Animals and birds perish in great numbers with the cold: I
noticed large tracts strewed with their bones. Still these places
were highly interesting to me in a botanical point of view, and
produced noble Gentians and Syngenesious plants. I am sending
home a fine collection of seeds, chiefly of Ericea, Berberidea, a
striking Tovaria &c.
Four days' journey from Bogotà, I found the most beautiful
plant that has yet rewarded my researches, a Lisianthus, forming
a dense shrub, about three feet high, and covered with lax racemes
of scarlet flowers. As the seeds were not ripe, I must go again to
collect them ; a considerable détour, which it is, however, advisable
a
a
a
3
a

20
a
to make, for the living plants which I took up, will not, I fear bear
,
the journey to Antioquia: the route to reach which is by the
Peak of Tolema.
I arrived here with only a real and a half (nine-pence English)
in my possession, in debt with my servants and my clothes almost
reduced to rags. A few days, however, will enable me to set
these little matters to rights.
The situation of Bogotà is delightful, though rather cold, the
thermometer varying from 58° to 63º. The city stands at the
sloping base of a rock, which rises almost perpendicularly 1500
feet above it. A beautiful plain, several leagues in extent,
stretches in front; while westward there is a fine view of the snowy
peak of Tolema, which I shall pass on my way to Antioquia.
You will be glad to hear that I detected the famous Zow-Tree
of this country (Arbol de Leche); indeed, two kinds of what is
so called. I have sent seeds of one sort; the other, of inferior
quality and value, was not in fruit, but in flower. Both are of
gigantic stature, and it is singular that they are quite distinct,
though probably alike belonging to the family of Sapotea. The
most esteemed of these Cow-Trees was laden with its golden
fruit, the size of a pigeon's egg, which strewed the ground beneath.
Every part of the tree, including the delicious fruit, abounds with
milk, which is agreeable, and tastes like sugаred cream ; having,
however, a clammy consistency, which does not please all palates.
I found no injurious effects to follow my partaking freely of this
vegetable milk.
Bogota, Feb. 11th, 1846.
On my return from a tour, through Muzo and Tunja, I have
the pleasure to receive your letter of the 19th, of October.
A few days since I dispatched a box of seeds, two of growing
plants, and two of dried specimens. Every precaution has been
used in the packing and I think that no injury can occur, except
mischief be done in going from the river to Santa Martha. The
navigation, though only thirty miles from the mouth of the river
to the latter place, is carried on in such wretched, ill-constructed,
and worse managed craft, that I am ready to tremble for the fate
of my boxes. All was in the best condition when despatched.
Bogota, February 9th, 1846.
The purport of your last letter has somewhat changed my
proposed route. I shall still, however, go to Antioquia, and
return, either by way of the Rio Conca, or by the Magdalena, to

21
Santa Martha. The post is expected to arrive on the 11th; and
I am occupying the interval in excursions around Bogotà.
I return you my grateful thanks for recommending me to the
office of Curator of the Botanic Gardens at Trinidad. If I
obtain the appointment, I trust to do good service to Botany.
I have just despatched a box of seeds, two of dried specimens,
and one of living plants. They are all carefully packed; and if
they sustain no injury between this place and Santa Martha, where
the navigation as before stated is very ill conducted, there is
little fear of damage on the longer voyage to Europe. Among
the dried plants, you will find two specimens of a Balanophorous
species. It is small and rare: the form is globular and it
inhabits moist temperate woods, growing parasitically on decayed
vegetable substance. There are also duplicates of one which I had
sent previously and of which I hope soon to transmit an interesting
detailed account: the genus is certainly distinct from Bala-
nophora. The plant is edible and has curious yellowish rigid
calyces, which might almost be considered bracteas.
You will be pleased, I think, with the various species of Gesne-
riacea : there are seeds of them all. One, which is equally rare
and handsome, has terminal drooping spikes : another, a Lisi-
anthus, is fine and scarlet-flowered. I procured the seeds of it,
by retracing my steps 100 miles on purpose, but I considered
these pains well rewarded, by the beauty and abundance of seeds
which I was thus enabled to gather. I have also, at last, suc-
ceeded in getting abundance of seeds of a Mutisia, a Drimys &c.
During an excursion of five days to the East of Bogotà, I
gathered an Achimenes and a Lisianthus ; neither of which I had
seen before. The latter grows very strong and is peculiar to this
district. I was also much struck with the beauty of a Loasa,
with noble tulip-shaped flowers, and an upright habit. Its
stings are very formidable, but, happily, the pain they inflict is of
short duration. This remarkable species is singularly local,
affecting only one spot, so far as I can ascertain, namely the
bottom of a deep ravine, called El Vañon, fifteen miles east of
Bogotà, where it grows in immense quantity. Dr. Cespedès
informs me that it is undescribed; and he is acquainted with no
other habitat for it. The scenery and vegetation of this ravine
are most beautiful ; its elevation is 2,000 feet above the sea, and
as Mr. Marks, who accompanied me, justly observed, you would
sooner take it for a flower-garden, than as forming part of a
primeval forest. I also send seeds of two species of Passiflora,
one of which inhabits the mountains to the east of Bogotà, at an
altitude of 13,000 feet.
a

22
Immediately after the Post comes I shall start for Tolema
and Quindiu, returning through Antioquia. I am concerned to
tell you that Dr. Cespedès, from whom I have received great
kindness, is now suffering from an accident. He was passing
on horse-back beneath some trees, when his progress was
impeded by a large branch, which struck him so severely as to
break several ribs. This has brought his botanical excursion to a
close, and threatens to be of dangerous consequence. Dr. Cespedès
gave me much valuable information respecting the rare plants of
the neighbourhood and their localities. He knows six species of
Theobroma. On the Plains of San Martin a species grows which
is in universal esteem among the inhabitants, who call it “ Cacao
verde ": two kinds are particularly handsome : so I consider
one of those forwarded in the last case. Among my specimens
are two Theobromas distinct from T. Cacos. From the same
gentleman I hear of a Phytelephas, which has a twisted prostrate
trunk; it is so rare, that he only met with one instance of it
during a year's residence amid a large forest of these trees.
a
Santa Anna, near Honda, April 18th, 1846.
Since writing from Bogotà, I have visited the Paramo of
Ruiz, which forms the northern extremity of the snowy range of
Tolema, and is about eighty miles distant. Two reasons led me
to choose this route: the vegetation promised to be like that of
the Paramo of Quindiu; and Mr. Linden had already visited the
Peak of Tolema. The journey has not proved quite so productive
as I hoped; though I have gathered some few very good plants.
I
It was necessary to return here in order to ship my collections
and, besides ensuring a quicker despatch, thus to save the expense
and trouble of carrying them over Quindiu. The rainy season
has just begun, to the great joy of every one but myself. The
protracted drought had been the cause of pressing scarcity,
especially at Bogotà.
On my way to the Paramo of Ruiz, I was enchanted with the
rich luxuriance of the lower mountains : no where have I seen
more beautiful vegetation. Several kinds of Palm are conspicuous :
I forward seeds of two species, along with the Phytelephas, which
also grows there in great abundance. I am happy to inform
you that I have had, at last, the good fortune to detect the male
flowers of the Ivory-Nut Palm, for which I long sought in vain.
The singularity of this inflorescence is only equalled by its beauty.
It differs from most other Palms by having a double spatha ;
3

23
the central column is thickly set with clusters of male blossoms,
and forms, when taken all together, a mass three feet long, and
four inches thick. Half is concealed within the spatha, from
which the other portion projects in a gracefully recurved form.
The fragrance is most powerful and delicious, beyond that of any
other plant, and so diffusive, that the air, for many yards around,
was alive with myriads of annoying insects, which first attracted
my notice : the closeness of the forest not permitting me to discern
the blossoms at any distance. I had, afterwards, to carry it in
my hands for twelve miles, and though I killed a number of
insects that followed me, the next day, a great many still hovered
about it, which had come from the wood where it grew.
Ꮃ
Some of the Mosses of the Paramo, now sent, are peculiarly
interesting: also a box of the Orchidea, which I gathered at a
height of 10,000 feet, containing many new and beautiful species.
The cold, at that height is intense, particularly in the morning
and evening; the absolute degree of cold is not great, but it is
extremely penetrating, and sets the teeth chattering violently.
However reluctant to give way, I found myself constrained to
own its trying effects.
You will be gratified, I think, with some bottles of Balanopho-
rous plants : the spirits sold here are so weak and inferior, that
it will perhaps be well to fill them again in England. The tall
slender specimen is what Dr. Mutis proposed calling Helosis
aquatica. Dr. Cespedes showed me a very bad figure of it, as
described by Mutis, before I saw the growing plant. It is so
abundant in some spots, that I could have loaded a waggon with
it; none of its allies are found in nearly equal profusion. One
of the species resembles what I gathered in Ocaña, but is very
distinct, having a separate envelope which, in an early stage,
covers the expanding flower stem.
I had hoped to give, in this letter, an account of the fearful
avalanche, which caused such loss of life and property last year,
but my time and paper forbid any details. I passed over the
place, on my way to the Paramo : it stretches twelve miles, and
from being a rich fertile district, is now reduced to desolate
waste, where not a particle of vegetation remains. The fall of
the then freezing mass overthrew whole forests, and buried the
houses, strewing the country with stones and fragments of up-
rooted trees, and engulphing, it is said, upwards of six hundred
human beings.
(To be continued)

24
BAMBOO CANE.
The Bamboo, is one of those surprising Tropical Grasses, of
which we have no parallel in Temperate Climes. An idea of the
grandeur and beauty which these magnificent arborescent Grasses
impose upon the face of their native country, may, perhaps, be
best collected from the account of Capt. Basil Hall, who, after
travelling during the night in a palanquin, from the bare Table
land of Mysore, towards the hilly and thickly-wooded regions
overhanging the Malabar country, awoke in the morning, when,
says he, “I found myself in the midst of one of the most curious
and magnificent scenes which my eyes had ever beheld. It
appeared as if I were travelling among the clustered columns of
some enormous and enchanted Gothic Cathedral, compared to
which the Minster of York, or the Cathedral at Winchester,
would have seemed mere baby houses : the ground extended on
all sides as smooth, and flat, and clear of underwood, as if the
whole had been paved with grave stones.
From this level
surface rose on every hand, and as far as the eye could penetrate
into the forest, immense symmetrical clusters of Bamboo, varying
in diameter at their base, from six feet, to twenty or thirty, and
even to twice that width, as I ascertained by actual measurement.
For above eight or ten feet from the ground, each indivi-
dual of these clusters, preserved a form nearly cylindrical, after
which, it began gradually to swell outwards, assuming for
itself a graceful curve and rising to the height, some of sixty,
some of eighty, and some even of one hundred, feet in the
air: the extreme end being at lines horizontal, or even drooping
gently over, like the tips of the feathers in the Prince of Wales
plume. The gorgeous clusters stood at the distance of from
fifteen to twenty yards from one another, and being totally free
from the interruption of brushwood, could be distinguished at a
great distance, more than a mile, certainly, in every direction,
forming, under the influence of an active imagination, naves and
transeps, aisles and choirs, such as none but a Gothic architect
ever dared to conceive. Overhead, the interlacing curves of the
Bamboos constituted as complete a groined roof as that of Win-
chester or Westminster, on a scale of grandeur far beyond the
bold conception even of those wonderful artists, who devised that
glorious school of architecture.
On counting the separate Bamboos, in some of the smallest,
and also in some of the largest clusters, I found the numbers to
vary from twenty or thirty, to upwards of two hundred; and the
a
60

25
a
height, generally, from sixty to one hundred feet from the ground
at the point of intersection of the curves overhead. Most of the
Bamboos were somewhat thicker than a man's thigh at the
ground, where, as I have before said, they are clustered so close
as to be almost in contact. They then taper off very gradually
to the extreme end, where the point is not thicker than a quill
.
“ There occurs a joint at about every foot and a half; distin-
guished not only by a flat ring, or fillet, but by a set of small
branches, eight or ten feet long, striking out at right angles to
the main Bamboo. These minor shoots are again divided into
joints; from which, other series of shoots, still more minute,
are thrown out, and so on for many successions, the last always
terminating in a sharp-pointed narrow leaf, two or three inches
long, and half an inch wide in the middle, not unlike a large
Tea leaf, when spread out. As each Bamboo, of the hundred or
more forming the cluster, sends out shoots from every joint, and
as all the joints of these subordinate plants do the same, a com-
pact mass is formed by these innumerable little branches, which
cross one another at every possible angle. If a person were to
fill a hat full of pins and needles, and shake them about for some
minutes, it might give a notion of the inextricable confusion
which is presented to the eye in looking into one of these clustered
columns of Bamboos. It is only at the top, where the bend
takes place, that the foliage has full room to play, or where the
tapering arms of this magnificent plant form, by their meeting
and crossing, a complete system of pointed arches.
What surprised me at first, very much, and greatly puzzled
me, too, was to observe that, notwithstanding the multitude of
lateral shoots from each of the main Bamboos, and from all the
subordinate branches, not a single trace of displacement, or the
slightest obstruction to the growth of any branch, could be
detected. Every person must have heard of the astonishing
rapidity of growth in the Bamboo: it is said, indeed, that in one
season it starts up to its whole length, I do not know if this be
true, but am quite certain that if one of the main Bamboos were
to spring from the ground in the centre, or even near the sides
of the cluster, and that from its points there were, at the same
time, to sprout the lateral branches I have described, it would be
impossible for the main stem to force its way through the ob.
structions presented by the network, formed by the little branches
growing from the joints of the other Bamboos in the cluster.”
Captain Hall then goes on to state how he thinks we can
perceive “the way in which Nature manages this difficult affair.
When the Bamboo first springs out of the ground, it is about as

26
0
66
thick as a man's wrist, always highly polished, with an extremely
hard point ; and, as no lateral shoots are put out until it has
attained its full height, it readily makes its way through the
thickest ramified masses, while the subordinate branches, growing
in the same manner, find no difficulty in piercing this complicated
mass of vegetable life.
I saw
continues this Author ; “ Bamboos in every different
stage of this process, and particularly I noticed several of the
main stems rising to the height of seventy feet and upwards, of
a clear yellow colour, and evidently of recent growth, but without
a single lateral branch growing from their joints, from top to
bottom; and this led me to infer that their extreme height had
not been reached, or was but just attained."
Bamboos are applied to many useful purposes, both in India,
China, and Japan. The tender tops are used to form a pickle ;
an excellent paper is manufactured from the tissue of the stem,
and the stems themselves are employed in a great variety of
ways, such as the making of furniture for their houses, cups,
tubs, and boxes : also, in the construction of dwellings, which
are sometimes covered with the gigantic leaves of the Banana :
in making water-pipes, and in the construction of fences. The
substance called, in India, Tabashur, is procured from the joints ;
it was ascertained, by Dr. Turner, to consist of silica, with a
minute proportion of lime and vegetable matter.
EXTREMES OF TEMPERATURES AT VARIOUS TIMES
AND PLACES.
(I am indebted to the kindness of Captain Sir Everard Home, Bart., R.N.,
for the following interesting table, made during an extended voyage in H.M.S.
North-Star', which may be of use to many persons who cultivate plants from
any of the regions there mentioned, and for regulating the temperature of
houses, &c.—ED.)
TEMPERATURE.
PLACE.
MONTH.
LIMIT
HEAT COLD.
Singapore.
Hong-Kong
3
May.
February
January
June.
January
October
November
December
January
10th to 15th 889 800 Malay Peninsula,
South extremity.
4 - 12 89 78
16 24 66 53 China.
1 5 84 78
24 - 26 68 56
21 31 76 60
1 - 30 75 46
1-31 76 43
9 62 44
Macao.
Chusan.

27
TEMPERATURE.
PLACE.
MONTH.
LIMIT.
HEAT. COLD.
89
وز
-
75
WA
22
92
Woosung
June.
16th to 30th 83° 72 China.
July.
1-31 91 69
August.
1-31
75
September. 1-30 88 69
October.
1 19 78 61
Copang:
April, May. 29 - 2 89 79 Island Timor.
New Holland, North
Port Essington.
March.
6 -31 94 78
Coast.
April
1-23 93 77
King George's Island March. 23 31
59
Do.
May, June.
26 - 2 72 53 South Coast.
Port Phillip. June, July 20 -
1 64 49
Do.
Sydney.
February 10 - 24 92 68 Ditto, East Coast.
March.
12-31 79 61
3-11 84 70
April.
1-30 81 57
May.
1 12 73 56
June.
12-30 70 54
June, July 19 6 67 53
July.
1-16 70 54
July, Aug 16- 1 68 51
Nov. Dec. 27 - 9 80 63
Hobart-Town.
May, June.
127 8 61 47 Van Diemen's Land.
Port Arthur. June.
9-13 60 50 South Extremity.
November 23 30 70 52
Do.
December 1-31
73
48
January 1-31 83 47
February 1 --- 23 78 48
New Zealand.
Bay of Islands
January 1-18 76 60
North End of
March, April. 30 – 5
66
April
, May 26 - 12 71 60
May.
20
25 70 60
August. 1-31 68 50
September 1 30 68 49
October
1-31 69 58
November 1 - 30 73 59
December 1 - 31 73 61
100 miles South of
Auckland.
January 20 - 26 73 64
Bay of Islands.
March.
23-29 73 67
April.
7 - 23
60
May
14 - 18 66 60
August. 10 14 66 54
October 13.24 68 54
November 10 16 66 56
Dec. Jan. 23 - 18 76 60
Port Nicholson, Jan. Feb. 26 - 3
60 Cook's Strait.
February 16 - 24 71 58
31.1to31
Aug. Sept. Oct.
65 48
and 1 to 5
2
3
22
-

28
TEMPERATURE.
PLACE.
MONTH.
LIMIT.
HEAT. COLD.
-
-
-
وز
2
כל
-
Nelson.
February 3rd to 10th 72° 60° In Blind Bay.
October. 10 - 14 65
Banks's Peninsula,
A-Karoa.
November. 1 - 10 68 53
New Zealand, Middle.
Norfolk Island. July
16 -19 71 60
Tonga-taboo Island. July, August. 29 — 6 83
68 Friendly Islands.
Vavan Island. August. 14 - 20 84 72
Do.
Upolu Navigator'sI. Aug. and Sept. 24 — 1 88 80 Navigator's Group.
Latitude 13° 20' S.,
Wallis's Island. September 5 - 14 87 80
Long. 176° 20' W.
Cape of Good Hope. February.
24 - 27 76 64
May.
25 — 31 65 57
St. Helena.
June.
22 - 28 77 70
Ascension.
July
3 5 80 76
Fayal, Azores. August.
8 - 11 81 74
Halifax, Nova Scotia. May.
25 — 28 52 45
June.
3 -10 63 50
Bermuda.
Jan. Feb. 22 - 10 72 56
March, April. 14 4 73 59
June.
10 - 27 83 75
Port Royal, Jamaica. January. 3—11 83 75
February 13-15 82 76
Feb. March. 27 — 1 80 76
July
11 - 31 86 78
August.
1-28 85 78
Sept. Oct. 28 - 10 84 79
Oct. Nov. 26 - 6 84 76
Nov. Dec. 17 — 4 82 75
December 8-17 83
75
Port Antonio. Dec. Jan.
24
2 80 67 North side of
Barbadoes.
Dec. Jan. 20 - 5 81
70 Carlisle Bay.
January 9 — 16 84 74
February 21 - 26 84 74
March, April 8 — 8 82 74
April.
13 — 17 84 77
1-14 82 77
June.
4—15 84 78
Antigua
April
1-30 81 76 Carib. Islands
St. Thomas's. May
16-19 83
St. Vincent's. April, May 22 - 11 84 76 Carib. Sea.
Trinidad.
January 7 — 12 82
وز
-
وو
May.
رو
79
76
St.Juan's, Nicaragua January. 18 — 24 83
76 Musquito Coast.
September. 10 - 12 83 79
Chagres.
Jan. Feb. 30 — 1 82 79 Isth. Panama.
September. 17 — 20 84 78
Carthagena. Jan. Feb. 128 9 83 74
November 9 13 86 81
La Guayra.
April.
11-14 81 75
Demerara.
May, June.
29 — 1 82 78
Parà
June.
1-30 84 76 Brazil.
July
1-31 84 77
>

29
TEMPERATURE.
PLACE.
MONTH.
LIMIT.
HEAT. COLD
Parà.
39
32
August.
1st to 31 st 86° 77° Brazil.
1 - 13 84 76
September
1-30 84 77
October.
1-31 85 76
Nov. and Dec. 24 — 11 84 77
December 1-31 84 77
September. 23-30 84 78
October.
1-31 83 76
November 1-21 82 78
8 -25 83 78
Maranham.
99
The same intelligent friend (Capt. Sir Everard Home, Bart.,)
in reply to some queries put to him, has given the following in-
teresting notices : -
“There is no fear of the Pines (Araucaria excelsa) being ex-
hausted upon Norfolk Island. The island is very nearly covered
with them; their outline having, at a distance, the appearance of
Cathedral ruins, &c., as the light or shade may be; and the
convicts do no more work than they are obliged.
“I forget whether I mentioned to you that the island was
formerly covered with orange-trees. The Commandant, in 1827,
Colonel Morrison, believing that the fruit furnished means of
sustenance to the runaway convicts, caused them to be destroyed,
with a very few exceptions, which trees have since gone off'; and
although every means have been taken to re-establish them, they
will not succeed. In 1844 there was but one tree upon the
island, and that was in an unhealthy state.
“In the Island of Ascension, the vegetables cultivated in the
garden will not re-produce their seed: the seed being supplied
by contract, it is often old and bad. When I was there, this time
last year, they had not vegetables to give the sick in the hospital,
the consequence of which was that the men did not recover; and
those sent to the island from the Coast of Africa, instead of re-
turning thence to their duty, were invalided, and sent to England.
I think the gardens of those islands might be supplied regularly
with good seed, from some Government establishment in England
that could be depended upon. In New Zealand, beans, peas, ,
&c., do not bear a crop until the second year.
“ In Van Diemen's Land it is believed that neither fruit nor
flowers have the same flavour or perfume as here, although
they are very fine. Nor have bees the same degree of venom in
their stings.
“ The largest known tree there is twenty-four and a half feet
a

30
in diameter, the tallest is 180 feet: they are White Gum trees.
Hops, &c., in the Southern Hemisphere turn in the same direction
as they do in Europe.”
At Port Nicholson (Cook's Strait), French Beans and Scarlet
Runners are not good until the second year. Broad, or Windsor,
Beans produce the best crop in the second year. Scarlet Kale is
never good, for want of frost to sweeten it: it is bitter.”'
An excellent correspondent, Assistant-Surgeon J. E. Stocks,
Esq., of Scinde, writes as follows, from that country, so little
known in a botanical point of view.--
* Perhaps a brief statement of what I have seen of the Scinde
vegetation may be acceptable, though almost valueless from its
incompleteness. However, I trust one day to do better, and
this may illustrate the few plants I have now sent.
“The Beloochistan Hills (Brahooie range), which form the W.
boundary of Scinde and run parallel with the river, sending
spurs towards it, are confined to the right bank; except at two
places, viz., Sukkur and Hyderabad, where the river passes
through a Limestone range, which does not, however, extend far
from the river on its left bank. The hills and their spurs vary
in their distance from the river, (reaching down to it sometimes,
as at Jerruk and Sehwan,) and the tract of land between them
and the river is well cultivated, more especially the oval island
formed by the divergence and re-entrance of the Arun branch
(of which Lake Munchur is a mere expansion). On the left bank,
the land is less and less cultivated as you recede from the river,
till it shades off into the great desert to the E., and the little
desert, to the S.E.
During the inundation, numerous canals carry fertility over
a large extent of country; and under the admirable management
of Major Scott, will, in a few years, make the revenue swell out
wonderfully. But it requires two years yet, at an expense of
20,0001. a year, to bring the canals back to the state in which
they were when we conquered the country. For the Scindians
neglected tillage, and allowed the canals to choke up, for two
successive years, not knowing what would happen, whether the
Ameers would be restored, or whether we should hold the
country; and the staple commodity of Scinde, viz., sand, being a
bad material for canal-works, they get blocked up if neglected a
single year. The Marrum grasses would be of great use in
و

31
There grow
Scinde, or the Spinifex squarrosus, of the Concan, which binds
the ribbed sea-sand. To return to Scinde: there is the Delta
also, ending in the line of Sea-coast, forming the S.W. boundary.
The Delta I do not know, except that it produces gigantic grasses
and sedges in abundance; and I have only seen the coast at the
extreme west angle, where, at Kurrachee, the Beloochistan hills
come down to the sea.
the Convolvulus Pes-Capra, Salsolas, Salicornias,
Ægiceras majus (mentioned by Arrian as having sweet flowers
like a violet, laurel leaves, and growing below high-water mark,
which can apply to nothing so well as to this), a Scavola, and, no
doubt, Avicennia and Rhizophoras, though I have not seen these
last.
“A Statice and a Lycium seem also to confine themselves (as
much as they can) to the neighbourhood of the sea; and many
plants, when growing within reach of the salt breezes, get fat
and hypertrophied, with thickened leaves. What is it that
causes the change above referred to?
“In the sandy deserts of Scinde grow Calotropis Hamiltonii,
and its parasite Phelipea Calotropidis, Capparis aphylla, Zizyphi,
Acacias, Mimosas, Cassias, Indigoferas, Neurada, Cucumis ama-
rus, Colocynthis vulgaris, Fagonia Mysorensis, Equisetum debile,
Tribulus lanuginosus, Alhagi Maurorum, Prosopis spinigera, Va-
chellia Farnesiana, Corchorus humilis (Munro,—Wight's 'Icones.'
1073, Corchorus humifusus, Law in 'Bombay Catalogue,' p. 254.)
which regularly opens its flowers at 3, P.M..
“Round villages, or where the soil is better, or has been
cultivated, grow also Sidas (humilis, alba, &c.), Lebretonia,
Pavonia, Abelmoschi, Abutilons, Cardiospermum Halicacubum,
Aristolochia bracteata, Phyllanthus Niruri, Polygalas (Rothiana,
rosmarinifolia, &c.), Gynandropsis pentaphylla, Cadaba Indica,
Commelinas, Lactuca sarmentosa, Sonchi, Zapania nodiflora, Gi-
sekia molluginoides, Aerva lanata, Celosia argentea, Achyranthes
lappacea and alterniflora, Gnaphaliums, Solanums, Argemone
Mexicana ; several Corchori, Trianthemas, Portulaceas, Poly-
carpaa spadicea, Glinus dictamnoides, Boerhaavia procumbens,
and one, if not two, shrubby species. Justicia bicaliculata,
.
paniculata, echioides, repens, and other Acanthacea. Xanthium
Indicum, Ipomea Pes-Tigridis, pilosa, and dasysperma, Pharbitis
Nil, Batatas pentaphylla, Calonyction muricatum, Convolvulus mi-
crophyllus, and two Jacquemontias.
“On the spurs of the Beloochistan hills (limestone formation)
grow Euphorbia antiquorum, two Barlerias (both, I think, new),
Monsonia Lawiana, Melhania abutiloides, Linaria ramosissima,
-

32
two Cleomes, Seddera, Balsamodendron Roxburghii and pubescens,
Cometes Suratensis, Serraa purpurea, Heliotropes, Arnebia,
Xygophyllum simplex and another species, Didesmus, Taverniera,
Campylanthus salsoloides, a shrubby Convolvulus, Gossypium obtusi-
folium, Antirrhinum buxifolium (mihi), &c. Again, Salvadora
Persica, Ochradenus dioicus, Leptadenia Jacquemontiana, with
Bryonia epigaa, Rhynchosia nuda, Coccinia Indica, Luffas, Momor-
dica Balsamina and Pilogyne cerasiformis (mihi), these, though
not rock-plants, yet will grow where in the crevices there is any
earth, or round the stems of the Euphorbia. On the river bank
grow Zapania nodiflora, Ranunculus Indicus, a Potentilla, Grangea
Ægyptiaca, a Rumex, and young germinating plants of Tama-
rix and a Populus * (the Ban tree of Scinde), cover the mud
banks for miles. The Tamarisk is a great feature in Scinde, on
the river banks, and in choked up canals and ravines. There
are two species, one a large tree, whose flowers I have not as yet
seen : its timber is useful; as are the woods of Dalbergia Sissoo
(the Talee), Capparis aphylla (the Kureel), Acacia vera (the Ba-
bool or Keekur). The Shikargues of the Ameers were formed
almost exclusively of the Babool, which attains an enormous size,
and is a most magnificent tree. These forests are quite a feature
in the country about Hyderabad; as are the palm-groves (Phoenix)
about Sukkur.
“I forward you a few plants gathered round Kurrachee, from
which, collected at intervals, and under disadvantages, the fore-
shadowings of the Scinde vegetation may be traced. Among
the interesting genera are Neurada, Cometes, Serræa (Senra, DC.),
Ochradenus, Didesmus, Seddera, all Egyptain and Arabian genera.
.
Besides which, two Balsamodendrons (one new),—two (new ?)
Cleomes, two Jacquemontias, a shrubby Convolvulus, two Zygo-
phylla (one new), a Statice, a Chascanum, a Lycium, abundance
of Boraginea (Arnebia, Heliotropes, Heliophytum, &c.), show
a vegetation much akin to South Persia, Arabia and Egypt; in
short, the nearest approach in India (geographically and botani-
cally) to the
Syrian” vegetation, Schouw's Acacia and
Mimosa region ”—which extends to the Punjaub, and even to
Agra and Delhi, as Royle long ago observed.”
a
(6
* A very remarkable species of Poplar, very nearly allied to, if not identical
with, Populus Euphratica, Dne.--ED.

33
ADDITIONS TO THE “HORTUS KEWENSIS.”
1. CEROPEGIA CUMINGIANA.
-
Volubilis glabra, foliis ovatis basi cordatis apice longe attenuatis acutis
tenuibus, pedunculis folium medium æquantibus plurifloris, sepalis acutis,
corolla tubo clavato, limbi laciniis oblongis glabris apice cohærentibus,
corona stam. ampla, fol. externe acuminatis approximatis glabris, interior.
subulatis exterior. vix duplo superantibus.—Decaisne in De Cand. Prodr.
vol. viii. p. 643.
HAB. Philippine Islands, Cuming, n. 447. Island of Balla, in the
Java Sound, Thos. Lobb. Cult. in Hort. Veitch, 1847.
A very pretty climber and free flowerer, from the collection
of Messrs. Veitch and Sons, in whose stove, at Exeter, it bloomed
in August, 1847. The flowers are among the largest of the
genus, and variegated with dull green and reddish brown.
2. CALCEOLARIA (APOSECOS) CHELIDONIOIDES,
Var.? SUBINTEGRIFOLIA.
-
Annua (?) ramosa, pilis sparsis hispidula, foliis pinnatisectis, seg-
mentis paucis, terminali maximo ovato lateralibus oblongis, lanceolatisve
dentatis subincisisve, petiolis vix connatis, laciniis calycinis ovatis acutis,
corollæ labio superiore calyce dimidio breviore, inferiore maximo
porrecto
obovato orbiculato basi abrupte et longiuscule contracto breviter aperto,
antherarum connnectivo postice incrassato loculo adnato sub-sessili pollini-
fero, antice elongato clavato sterili.—Benth.
Calceolaria chelidonioides, H. B.K., Nov. Gen. et sp. Am. vol. i. p. 378.
C. pinnata, Ruiz, et Pav. Fl. Per. et Chil. vol. i. p. 14. t. 19. f. a. (non
Linn.) Benth. in De Cand. Prodr. vol. x. p. 204.
.
Var. Leedsii ; foliis fere omnibus integris.
Hab. Peru, Columbia, Mexico. Var. Leedsii, Bolivia, Bridges. Cult.
in Hort. D. Leeds, 1847.
A hardy, creeping, herbaceous, but apparently perennial species,
raised by Mr. Leeds, of Manchester, from seeds collected in
Bolivia by Bridges. It may, perhaps, prove a distinct species,
for the leaves can be scarcely said to be pinnatifid in every part
of the plant, but resemble those of the upper portion of most of
my native specimens of the true C. chelidonioides. It clearly be-
longs to Mr. Bentham's Aposecos section ; of which C. pinnata
is the type. If it proves new, as is more than probable, I should
wish it to be called C. Leedsii, in compliment to a gentleman
of Manchester, E. Leeds, Esq., who reared it from seed, and who
indefatigable in introducing new plants into our gardens.

34
3. ASTER CAUBULICUS.
Herbaceus erectus ramosus, ramis obtuse angulatis fusco-pubescentibus
foliis subsessilibus lanceolatis (supremis sublinearibus) acuminatis basi
subattenuatis subundulatis inferioribus obscure dentatis supra impresso-
reticulatim venosis glabris subtus pallidis nervis prominentibus subpubes-
centibus, corymbis multifloris, pedicellis sparse foliosis pubescenti-subviscosis,
involucri ovati squamis imbricatis 3-4-serialibus lineari-subulatis viridibus
pubescentibus apice sphacelatis inferioribus 1–2 remotis bracteiformibus,
acheniis compressis pilosis radii sterilibus.
HAB. Caubul. Cult. in Hort. Kew, 1846. Received from Mr. Cameron
of the Birmingham Garden.
A pretty shrubby Aster, flowering in the Autumn in the open
border, for it seems quite hardy, as late as October and probably
till the frosts cut it off. Two to three feet high, erect, branched,
copiously leafy ; leaves, with axillary shoots, four inches long in
the lower parts of the plant, two and three in the upper, where
they become narrower and almost linear. Corymbs ample, many-
flowered; the flowers small but closely placed, ray pale and
bright purple, disc deep yellow; pappus in a single series almost
white; setæ scabrous.
و
Notice of the Pines introduced of late years into England, and
especially of the Pinus AUSTRIACA ; by the Rev. J. ROGERS.
The Pinus Austriaca appears to have been introduced into
England in the year 1835: the English name is the Austrian
or Black Pine, and it is also called the nigricans or nigrescens.
Having been recommended to me as a hardy Pine, likely to do
well in Cornwall, I began to plant it there in 1839, and reared
489 trees that year, and was encouraged, by the satisfactory
appearance of this Pine, to plant double the number in the
following year : so that by the end of 1846 I had planted 28,739.
It seems peculiarly adapted to bear the violent and blighting
winds to which Cornwall is subject, and which render care and
skill on the part of the cultivator, both in the selection of the
trees best adapted to the climate, and in choosing the proper
time and mode of planting, essentially necessary. Neither the
Larch, the Scotch Fir, nor the Spruce, will stand the south-west
and north-west winds; the Pinaster has been hitherto considered
the only Pine which endures our blighting winds without
injury, and I believe that a larger proportion of this is planted

35
in Cornwall than in any other county. But the Pinus Austriaca
is in many respects superior. The Pinaster, indeed, grows more
rapidly, presents a fuller mass of foliage to our prevailing
winds, and consequently is an excellent nurse in an exposed
situation ; but it is more difficult to rear than the Pinus Aus-
triaca, and suffers much in the nursery in a very dry, or
very wet season. An unfavourable season has sometimes killed
from one third to half of my young Pinasters; whilst at the
same time, and in the same nursery, I have not lost more than
five per cent. of my Austriacas. The Pinaster is also less firmly
rooted, and generally requires to be banked up after a storm for
the first three years. The wood of the Pinaster is brittle, and
subject to the worm : the Austriaca, as far as I can judge from
cutting down small trees, appears tough, and is said to be
durable, and, from the comparative straightness of its stem, is
much better calculated for planking. It does not thrive like
the Pinaster in a dry stony soil, but it promises to bear expo-
sure to the sea air equally well. The largest of my Austriacas,
planted probably in 1839, is eleven feet high and two inches
and an eighth in diameter, three feet above the ground. A few
are beginning to produce cones which are about the size of those
of the Scotch Fir; still this Pine does not bear cones either
so early or so freely as the Pinaster. A shelter having been
formed by the Pinaster and the Austriaca, other and less
hardy pines may be planted, even in exposed situations; the
Scotch Fir, the Larch, the Spruce, and the Silver ; though the
latter endures exposure better than the other Pines. I have
mentioned that the Pines of India succeed in Cornwall : of
these the Cedrus Deodara is the most graceful and vigorous :
the Abies Morinda promises well, and will grow in moderately
exposed situations: the Pinus excelsa likes shelter, yet grows
feebly without it, the wood is soft, like the kindred Pine,
the Weymouth. The Picea Webbiana is a very slowly growing
Pine, though highly ornamental, where, as at Dropmore, it
exhibits its purple cones. I have not yet succeeded in raising
the Pinus longifolia, and my plants of the Pinus Gerardiana are
hardly sufficiently advanced to exhibit their character. There is
one Pine, the produce of California, which stands our climate,
and promises to be a great ornament to our plantations, the
Pinus insignis : it has a rich full foliage of various shades of
green, grows as freely as the Pinaster, and, like that Pine,
requires to be occasionally banked up if planted in an exposed
situation. I have not yet tried it in situations fully exposed to
the winds; but it has all the appearance of being very hardy,
3

36
and bids fair to endure the blighting winds of Cornwall. My
two largest Pines of this species measure, respectively, ten
feet eight and thirteen feet five in height, and were planted
about the year 1841. I conclude with one remark on the
management of Fir plantations, the result of some years' expe-
rience. Thinning ought to be commenced at a very early period,
before the thinnings are of any value. It tends greatly to the
thriving of the trees to admit the sun and air freely, as soon as
a shelter has been formed against the prevailing winds. Weeds
and underwood should be cut and laid round the trees, which
will keep the trees from the too powerful effect of the sun, and
will also check the growth of the weeds. One thinning prepares
the way for an early repetition, and as soon as the branches
meet, the intermediate trees should be cut down. I never cut
the side limbs of a Fir, except preparatory to felling it the
succeeding winter; and the flourishing state of my plantations
fully confirms the propriety of this mode of treatment. Planters
generally begin to thin their plantations when injury has been
already sustained by the trees growing too near, and by the
want of the free access of the air and the sun.
Penrose.
August 25th, 1847.
The Ceylon Botanic Garden.
(Extract of a despatch to the Colonial Secretary from Sir J. EMERSON TENNENT, on the
condition of the Ceylon Botanic Garden.)
In connexion with the agriculture of the island, I feel it my
duty to call your Lordship's attention to the very satisfactory
progress of this institution, and the services which it is rendering
to the development of the natural resources of the island.
The attention of its superintendent, Dr. Gardner, has been
directed not merely to scientific investigation, but to the intro-
duction from other countries and the acclimatized cultivation of
such exotic plants as are likely to add to the agricultural wealth
of the island.
Previously to the arrival of the present superintendent, who was
selected by Sir W.J. Hooker, the garden had been so neglected
as to be almost valueless to the colony. By Dr. Gardner's
attention and exertions, it is now one of the most flourishing
and useful institutions in India : large nurseries have been
established for the propagation and distribution of useful plants,

37
which are sold at a trifling price to the public, and numbers of
foreign trees and vegetables have been successfully introduced.
The result is that hundreds of thousands of trees and plants
of all descriptions have been dispersed throughout the island,
at a very moderate cost to the Government. Dr. Gardner is
likewise engaged in the preparation of a Flora Ceylanica, a work
which will contain descriptions of all the plants indigenous to the
island, so far as he can obtain them, and thus make known to
the scientific world, the history and uses of the vegetable pro-
ductions of a region, with which the botanists of Europe are less
acquainted than any other portion of India of equal extent.
On the NATIVE CLOTH and on the KAVA of the South Sea
Islanders.
(In a letter from CAPT. SIR EVERARD HOME, Bart.. R.N.)
The Plantations in the Island of Tongataboo, the largest of
the Friendly group, consist principally of Yams, Taro, and the
Paper Mulberry. From the bark of the latter, taken when the
stem is about two inches in diameter, the cloth is prepared with
which both sexes of the inhabitants are clothed; and it is thus
made. After being soaked in water it is laid upon a log of wood,
which is about as large as the axle-tree of a large cart, small
at each end, both extremities supported on the ground by three
small pieces of wood, two being laid parallel to each other and
to the main log, the third is laid across; the ends of the log
thus rest upon the cross pieces, which raise it three or four
inches from the ground, according to the thickness of the
pieces of wood which support it. The bark, when placed upon
the log, is beaten out by the women with an instrument made
of heavy wood, something like a rolling-pin, except that it is
square from the handle, which is round. The beating commences
at daylight in the morning and continues, without ceasing,
until three in the afternoon, unless the women are working
against time, some great event, such as a marriage, causing
increased exertion, when they go on until dark. The noise caused
by the beaters is loud and musical ; they keep time in the opera-
tion ; two or four beaters are usually at work in every house,
or under a shed formed for the purpose in the enclosed court-
yard which surrounds each dwelling, so that the women of
Tonga make more noise than those of any place I ever visited.
a

38
or Taro.
When the bark is beaten out it is called“ Tapa”, and the breadths
are pasted together with paste made of the flour of Arrow-root
When dried, it is printed, after which it is called
“Gnato”. The pattern is devised by the King's family, the
type or pattern is raised upon the leaf of the Pandanus, and,
contrary to other prints, the side which receives the stamp is the
wrong side, the reverse being the right side. King Josiah Tubo,
to show what could be produced in this way, had a piece of
cloth made, which was, as I am informed, two miles in length
and 120 feet wide. When finished, it was necessary to spread
it, and the ground had to be cleared to display it upon. When
the first piece was cut off there was a great feast of pigs and
yams; it was all distributed, and the specimen sent to the
Garden is a part of it* It is worn round the waist in a large
.
fold, covering the body from above the hips to the knees, and is
secured round the middle by a girdle of mat or tapa. The only
distinction in dress of the King or his sons, consists in the
girdle, which is of Tapa, in the raw state, and of a dull white
colour. By loosing the girdle the cloth can be drawn over the
whole body, and is so worn in rainy weather.
In some islands, as at the Navigators, it is made, not by
beating, but by scraping or pressing out with cockle shells upon
a flat board, held between the knees; this operation is performed
by the water side, and the cloth is kept constantly wet; but
it is of inferior quality.
Καυα.
When on a visit to the Tue Tonga, at Tonga-ta-boo, this
Chief asked me if I would have some Kava, saying he knew we
did not drink it, but, if I pleased, he would have some made ;
which offer I accepted. This great man, whose person is held
sacred by the natives, sat upon the mat which covered the floor
of the house, his back resting against one of the pillars which
support the roof. The centre of the room was a clear space; the
opposite side was filled with natives, who sat in silence, forming a
semi-circle before him. They sit cross-legged like the Turks. A
man being called from amongst them, crouched down in a most
humble manner as he received his orders from the Tue Tonga,
and having with his right hand touched both his (the Tue Tonga's)
* Among many valuable contributions made by Sir Everard Home, to our
Botanical Museum at Kew, are specimens of this cloth and the apparatus for
preparing it.--ED.

39
*
feet, which were tucked up under his hams, started on his errand.
He shortly returned carrying a large plant of the Kava (a species
of Pepper, Piper methysticum, L.), under his arm. It appeared
just as it had been taken from the ground, the leaves, only,
having been removed from the stems, they were about three
feet long and ten or twelve in number, an inch in diameter
at the base, and tapering toward the end. He brought the
plant in a stooping posture, holding it in both his hands, the
root towards me, and, having thrown it gently down upon the
mat before me, withdrew. After it had lain upon the ground a
few seconds, it was removed by the man who brought it, to the
opposite end of the hall. A large bowl* of wood, having four
short thick legs of the same, was taken down from a pillar
of the house, against which it hung, and was placed before a
young man, I believe the son of the Tue Tonga, the handsomest
and the chief person in the assembly, who sat in the centre of
the front row of those who filled the space opposite to us. А.
long bone (?) which I took to be the tooth of a narwhal, was
then brought in, with which the root was broken and divided
into separate pieces, the man holding the bone in a vertical posi-
tion and pounding the root, also held upright, with the broad
end of it, which done, the bone was taken out again, and
the portions of root and stems, about six inches long, were
distributed to the persons who sat on each side of the bowl,
who, after scraping off the earth which adhered to the roots,
and cleaning it well with the fibres of the cocoa-nut husk,
broke off portions with their teeth and commenced chewing
it. Whilst this part of the operation was performing, I was
engaged in conversation with the Chief, and answering his
questions. Presently after two men arrived, bearing upon a
pole between them two baskets, one of which contained a baked
pig and yams, the other, parcels of a kind of jelly made of
arrow-root mixed with the juice of sugar-cane: these parcels
were tied up in portions of the leaves of Banana, and were about
as large as a good-sized pudding; they were about eight or
ten in number. The appearance of the dish was not inviting,
but upon experiment, being hungry, it was by no means to be
despised. The pig was sent to the boat. There was enough,
in all
, for at least twenty people.
The Kava root being masticated, the young man who presided
over the bowl first threw his mouthfull into it: those who were
* The bowl, and specimens of the Pepper, or Kava plant, are deposited in the
Museum of the Royal Gardens.--Ed.

40
near enough flung in what they had chewed, and those who sat
farther off put their morsels into small dishes made of Banana
leaves, which were handed round to receive them, and their con-
tents being all collected in the bowl, water was brought in cala-
bashes, about six in number, containing together about two
gallons, or perhaps more. The water being poured into the bowl,
the young man with his hands commenced mixing the masticated
mash with the water; when this was thoroughly done, he took
a large bunch of fibres of the bark of a tree called Fow (a
Hibiscus ?), resembling coarse tow: this he spread with both
his hands along the margin of the bowl opposite to him, and
drew it through the liquor, which had the effect of straining it,
bringing away all broken fibres and pieces of the root, these
being retained in the Fow, which was well wrung over the bowl,
and the process was repeated until the liquor was free from frag-
ments, which were all retained in the centre of the Fow. All this
was done slowly, and with an air of ceremony. Small square
cups, which would contain ahout half a pint or less, made of the
leaf of the Banana, were then produced, and the Fow being filled
with Kava from the bowl, over which the cup is held, the liquor
ran from it into the vessel. The first dish was brought to me.
Etiquette, of which I was ignorant, requires that it should be
drunk off, and the cup thrown into the centre of the room. I
tasted it, and handed the cup to Tue Tonga, who immediately
sent it to be filled up, as if that which I had taken had dimi-
nished the quantity: he then drank it off, and threw the cup
towards the bowl. Others were served, a person calling out
to whom it was to be carried; otherwise, the whole was
performed in silence. Each, as he drank off his cup, threw it
into the middle of the floor, towards the bowl; they were all
served sitting. There is, I believe, in all things respecting
Kava, as much etiquette as in any ceremonies in the stiffest
court in Europe ; and we, who do not know and follow
them, are by these people considered as deficient in politeness
and refinement as they would be at London or Paris in the
best societies. This, however, is to be said, that in decency
and propriety of manners, if not to say elegance, some of
these natives would set an example which might be followed
with advantage by many at the above-named places. When
the Kava was finished, the bowl was wiped with Fow, which was
frequently wrung. With it the young man wiped his hands and
arms, and then, having shaken it well, hung it up to dry, and
the bowl resumed its station against the pillar of the house.
There is a property in this vegetable, which, after frequent
3

41
use stains the bowl to a colour resembling bronze, so much so
that the first I saw I believed to be made of that metal. The
taste is pungent and unpleasant, leaving an uncomfortable huski-
ness in the throat.
The Romish priests who are upon the island, drink Kava with
the natives with whom they reside. The Tue Tonga is a pagan;
but King Josiah and those who have been converted to Christianity
have left it off, at the desire of the Protestant Missionaries. In
Wallis's Island the French pilot, who is a respectable person,
drinks Kava from choice, which he makes by stamping the root
in a mortar. At the Feejee Group it is so scarce, that a man
about to sail from Tonga for those islands, provided himself
with as much as would fill a moderate-sized cart, which was to
answer all purposes of barter, &c. The yams of the Feejees are
the best in the South Seas.
At Wallis's Island I met the King, walking from his house
in which he had slept to that in which he was to pass the day.
A root of Kava, without the stems, was carried slung upon a
pole before him : it was broken up and brewed as soon as he
arrived, exactly in the same manner as at Tonga, except that
those who had to chew the root washed their mouths before
commencing their office; there also the principal person present,
next to himself, prepared the mixture.
Under the shade of a tree upon the Island of Vavou I saw a
Kava party of the poorest sort : it consisted of an old man and
five or six others; they had but a very small piece of dry root,
yet they used as much solemnity in making the beverage as at
the house of the Tue Tonga, so that it was a ridiculous spectacle.


int he Tr
Sugilinan
COMPANION
TO THE
BOTANICAL MAGAZINE.
no. 4, 1848
Notice of Mr. DRUMMOND's discovery of three remarkable plants
in South-West Australia.
We have much interesting matter to lay before our readers from
the correspondence of Mr. Drummond, but at this time we must
content ourselves with a brief extract from one of his letters
written from Cape Riche, Jan. 10, 1847, while on an extensive
botanical journey from Swan River to King George's Sound.
"I determined,” he says, “ to enjoy another view from the top
of Mongerup. I hid our supply of flour and pork as well as I
could, in case of a visit from the natives : I had now to bring
water from the native well. Starting at five o'clock, I reached
the highest summit of the hill by eleven. I ascended by the N.E.
angle, and at about the height of 2,000 feet I found, first making
its appearance, a splendid Banksia, with leaves more than nine
inches long, and about five wide, irregularly jagged and sinuated
like those of an English Oak. To this noble shrub I have given the
specific name of Hookeri. From the remains of the flowers, they
appear to have been scarlet. I had scarcely time to make myself
acquainted with this fine Banksia, when I found another ex-
ceedingly interesting and beautiful plant, a species of Genithyllis,
growing to the size of, and having a considerable resemblance in
habit and foliage to Beaufortia decussata, but with the inflorescence
inclosed by beautiful bracts, white, and variegated with crimson
veins; these bracts are as elegantly formed as the petals of the
finest tulip, and are almost as large, hanging in a bell-shaped
form from the ends of the slender branches. I thought I could
never gather enough of this charming plant; and I procured
abundance of perfect seeds. As one is obliged to employ the
hands as well, and almost as often, as the feet, in ascending
or descending these very steep hills, I had gone very lightly
equipped: I was therefore compelled to use my shirt and
neck-handkerchief (making the shirt into a bag), to bring down
a supply of Banksia cones. Securing the load so as not to im-

2
>
pede the use of my hands, I reached our sleeping place at three
o'clock, much fatigued with my load, but highly gratified; having
this day found at least two plants, which will continue to be
admired while a taste for the beauties of nature remains to the
human race.
In another part of this letter he writes : “ West Mount Barren
was distant about ten miles. Just before I reached this sleeping
place, and afterwards in greater abundance between it and Mount
Barren, I found a most extraordinary plant, a species of Hakea,
growing twelve or fourteen feet high: the true leaves of the
plant are seven or eight inches long, jagged and sinuated as in
Hakea undulata, but by far the most conspicuous part of the
foliage of this superb plant are its bracts, which make their ap-
pearance with the flower-buds. When the plant is three or
four years old, they are borne in regular whorls, each circle or
whorl being from seven to nine inches in height, formed of five
rows, which have each five bracts; the lowest bracts of the whorl
are the broadest, and vary from four to five inches, the whole
breadth across, in full-grown, middle-sized specimens, being
about ten inches ; and they regularly decrease in size to the upper-
most bracts, which are only about four inches across from outside
to outside ; each whorl is a year's growth of the plant after it
bears the first flowers. The variegation of these bracts is so ex-
traordinary, that I almost fear to attempt a description. The
first year they are yellowish-white in all the centre of the bracts,
and the same colour appears in the veins and in the teeth, which
grow on the margin; the second year, what was white the
first year has changed to a rich golden-yellow; the third year,
what was yellow becomes a rich orange ; and the fourth year,
the colour of the centre of the same bracts, their veins and
marginal teeth, are turned to a blood-red. The green, which has
a remarkably light and luminous appearance the first year, varies
annually to deeper and darker shades; and the fourth year, when
,
the centre of the bracts has acquired a blood-red colour, the green
of the same series is of the richest hue, while the whorls below
change to darker and duller shades, until they ultimately fade
into the dull and withered leaves of other climes. The flowers
I have not seen : the stem and buds of the upper series, which
are the only ones unopened, are white and velvety; the other
series contain seed-vessels, mostly with perfect seeds. To this, the
most splendid vegetable production which I have ever beheld, in
a wild or cultivated state, I have given the name of our gracious
Queen, Hakea Victoria. It will soon be cultivated in every garden
of note in Europe, and in many other countries. I thought it
و
a
a
;

3
any direction.
incumbent on me to send Hakea Victoria * in some form to my
subscribers, and, for this plant, pressure is altogether out of the
question, as the bracts break before they will bend in
I tied up sixteen of the bract-bearing tops in two bundles, fastening
them together with the creeping shoots of the Black creeper,
Kennedya nigricans, and slung them one at each side of my old
grey poney, Cabbine. The load, although not very heavy, was a
most awkward one to get through the bushes, and he never bore
anything so unwillingly. One specimen, fourteen feet high, I
carried in my hand all the way to Cape Riche; but notwith-
standing all the care I took, the brilliant colours in the bracts of
this extraordinary plant were much faded before I could get
it to King George's Sound.”
NELUMBIUM JAMAICENSE; re-discovered in Jamaica.
a
NEARLY, if not quite, a century has rolled away since Dr. Patrick
Browne, a Naturalist and Physician resident in Jamaica, detected,
and soon after described in his Natural History of Jamaica, a
species of Nelumbium bearing yellow flowers, different from that
of the East Indies, growing in certain lagoons of the island in
question : and presenting an equally stately appearance with the
splendid and well-known species of the Old World. Strange
to say, notwithstanding the researches of succeeding botanists,
neither lacking in knowledge nor zeal, the Nelumbium Jamaicense
has been sought in vain : so that all hitherto known of it has
been through the brief account of it by Patrick Browne above
quoted. No specimen exists, we believe we are correct in
saying, in any Herbarium ; and, as the Nelumbium speciosum
had disappeared from the Nile, where it was formerly known
as a sacred emblem, so it has been by many supposed that our
plant had been lost to Jamaica ; or others believed that Patrick
Browne had ignorantly taken some other well-known Nymphe-
aceous plant for a new Nelumbium.
We can well conceive, then, with what pleasure our excellent
friend, Dr. M'Fadyen of Kingston, Jamaica, must have received
the agreeable tidings, in August last, of the re-discovery of this
* Noble specimens of the three plants here noticed have reached our hands,
and bear testimony to the correctness of Mr. Drummond's remarks. The
Banksia is probably the little-known B. Solandri, Br.: the others are quite new.

4
plant by James Dundas, Esq. Dr. M'Fadyen was not long in
sending to us roots, and seeds, and beautifully dried specimens
of this rarity, and in printing, for private distribution, a full
description with an accurate, coloured figure (on a large folio
size, as the subject truly deserved), and a second plate of
analysis. It must be acknowledged, indeed, judging from a
comparison of dried specimens in our Herbarium, that it is very
closely allied to the Nelumbium luteum of the United States :
and if, on further investigation, the two should prove to be
identical, we must observe that Patrick Browne's name has the
right of priority, although not quite unobjectionable, seeing that
it is more frequent in North America than in Jamaica. The
specific identity of the two, however, we are not now discussing ;
nor do we think it necessary here to give the full and excellent
description of the plant from Dr. M'Fadyen’s Memoir : but his
remarks are well worthy of being introduced into the supple-
mentary pages of this Magazine.
“I have followed Dr. Lindley,” Dr. M'Fadyen remarks, " in
describing as a horizontal submersed stem, what others have
regarded as the root. Although it grows under the surface of
the water, it is free from the mud or soft earth, in which the
proper roots or fibrillæ are immersed. It may be remarked
that the internal structure of the stem more resembles that of
the flower-stalk than that of the petiole : the former supporting
more important and complicated organs than the latter. It
nay
also be noticed that these several parts resemble in their internal
structure, composed of cellular tissue connecting a number of
large air tubes, that of the stem of the CABOMBACEA or Water
shields. In plants of this order the number of air tubes amounts
to 15 or 16. On the other hand, in the CABOMBACEÆ there
are no spiral vessels, whereas they are remarkably distinct in the
NELUMBACEÆ.
“I have no doubt the broad rufescent band which I have de-
scribed as traversing the under-surface of the leaf, corresponds
to that portion which is exposed, when the leaf, in the early
period of its growth, is folded up previous to its expansion.
"The peculiarities of the nervation in the leaf are not so dis-
tinctly delineated, as they might have been. The broad rufescent
band above alluded to, is also indistinctly indicated. It is very
obvious, however, in the recent specimen.
“The prolonged portion of the filament is in this species linear
and incrassated. In N. speciosum it is linear; and in N. luteum
club-shaped.
“The abortive cell of the carpel, has not as yet been described

5
a
as existing in any other of the species. It is very distinct in
this, and I have no doubt will be found to be equally so in the
other species.
In the description of the embryo, it is said to be composed
of the rudiments of the future leaf, flower, and stem. Here I
differ from Gärtner, who regards what I have described as the
rudiments of the flower and flower-stalk, as belonging to a second
undeveloped leaf. To this I object, that it would be a very
unusual circumstance, where there are the rudiments of two cor-
responding organs, that there should be so much dissimilarity
and disproportion between them. On the contrary, as a leaf
and a flower invariably arise from each joint of the stem, it is
most probable that I am correct in the description I have given.
This interesting plant was first made known to botanists by
Dr. Patrick Browne, an Irish physician, who resided for some
time in this island, and, as it would appear from his writings,
left it in 1754. During his residence, he devoted his attention
to the natural history of the Island. He published the result of
his observations in a folio volume, entitled “The Civil and Natural
History of Jamaica, by Patrick Browne, M.D., illustrated with
forty-nine Copper-plates, by Ehret, London, 1789.” He informs
us, in page 343, that the NELUMBIUM, (or as he styles it
NYMPHÆA) the Egyptian Bean, or Great Water-lily, was, in his
time, pretty common in the lagoons beyond the Ferry.
grows,” he informs us, “in loose boggy ground, where the leaves
may stand in open air, while the roots and lower part of the
stems are plentifully supplied with moisture."
Dr. Browne
appears to have been under the impression that our plant was
identical with the sacred Water-bean of the Egyptians. Since
his time, the plant appears from some cause to have become
more scarce, and to have escaped the notice of the different
botanists who have visited this Island. It seems very unlikely that
Swartz, Bertero, as well as many others, should have met with
it and passed it over without some notice.
Since my arrival in the Island, I took every opportunity of
searching for the plant. Dr. M’Nab, also, and Mr. Purdie, the
collector for the Kew Gardens, now of Trinidad, frequently visited
the locality on a similar errand, passing through the canals of the
lagoon in a boat, without any success. Early in August, James
Dundas, Esq., (the manager of Taylor's Caymanas Estate,) while
carrying out some improvements connected with the draining of
the land of that property in the vicinity of the lagoon, unex-
pectedly came upon this beautiful plant, and, as he had on
former occasions, assisted in the kindest manner, our searches
66 It

6
for it, he immediately concluded that he had at length lighted
on what we had been so long in search of. He collected
specimens of the flowers and other parts of the plant, and brought
them to my residence in Kingston. I doubt not every cultivator
of our “fair science” must sympathise in the pleasure with which
I regarded this beautiful Water-Lily. How much more delightful
would be the surprise to encounter it in its native solitudes,
where the hand of Nature has planted and reared it, amid the
mangroves and the tall reeds, overshadowing with its magni-
ficent leaves and flowers the still waters of the lagoon, recalling
the description of Una in the Fairy Queen :
Her angel-face
As the great eye of heaven shined bright
And made a sunshine in the shady place.”
Some general remarks on the FLORA OF CEYLON;
BY
GEORGE GARDNER, Esq., F.L.S.
Director of the Royal Botanic Garden, Paradenia, Ceylon.
ALTHOUGH Ceylon is celebrated for the luxuriant vegetation by
which it is covered, the plants which compose it are less known
to botanists than those, perhaps, of any other portion of India of
equal extent. While the history and uses of the vegetable pro-
ductions of the possessions of the East India Company, and most
of the islands of the Indian Archipelago, have been given to the
world by modern botanists, those of Ceylon are at the present
day nearly as little understood in Europe as they were one
hundred years ago, when Linnæus published his “ Flora Zey-
lanica,” founded on collections which had been made in the
Island by Hermann, a Dutch botanist, about seventy years be-
fore. It is true that during the last few years the descriptions
of several Ceylon plants have been published in different scien-
tific periodical publications, both by Indian and European bo-
tanists; but although a botanical institution has been maintained
in the colony, at the expense of Government, for upwards of
the last thirty years, those who have superintended it have done
almost nothing either for their own credit or the honour of the
establishment. Since the publication of the little book of Lin-
næus, the only work which has been produced on Ceylon botany
is the “ Catalogue of Plants growing in Ceylon," published in
a

q
a
1824, by Mr. Moon, who was the Superintendent of the Bo-
tanical Gardens, a work which never was of much use, and
which is now quite obsolete, for being merely a catalogue, there
are no characters by which to recognise the species he has
enumerated. As connected with these observations, I may re-
mark that I am at present engaged in preparing a book which
will contain descriptions of all the vegetable productions indige-
nous to Ceylon, at least so far as I can obtain them, illustrated
with coloured figures of some of the more rare, beautiful, or
useful species. This, however, will be a labour of several years
to come, as I have still to explore different parts of the Island,
the productions of which are totally unknown.
The vegetation of all countries has its general character de-
termined by two great principal causes —physical aspect and
climate. The former having already been detailed in the pre-
ceding geological sketch of the Island, I shall here offer a few
remarks on the latter. The two monsoons which occupy the
.
greater part of the year, materially influence the climate. That
from the south-west lasts generally from April to September,
while the north-east prevails from November to February, the
intervening periods being subject to variable winds and calms.
The western side of the Island, which is exposed to the south-
west monsoon, enjoys a humid and temperate climate, similar to
that of the Malabar coast; while the eastern, which is open to the
north-east monsoon, has a hot and dry climate, similar to that
of the Coromandel coast. The seasons and climates of the south-
west and north-east portions of the Island are therefore very dif-
ferent. While on one side of the Island the rains are falling in
torrents, the other is suffering from drought ; and it not un-
frequently happens that the opposite sides of a single mountain
exhibit at the same time these opposite states of climate.
The great variety of surface and of climate, then, which the
Island possesses, is favourable not only to a varied, but to a
luxuriant vegetation, especially in the central and southern dis-
tricts. From the study of plants, taken in connexion with
these circumstances and their various other physical conditions,
has originated the science of Botanical Geography, one of
the most interesting branches of botany, and which will no
doubt throw much light on the laws which have regulated the
production and dispersion of species. It is only of late years
that attention has been given to this subject; for, till the
natural productions of different parts of the surface of the
globe came to be investigated with the attention and accuracy
peculiar to the present age, naturalists rested satisfied with the
;

S
vague idea that all animals and vegetables had originally ra-
diated from a common centre; and that in the same parallels of
latitude the same species would be found. This we now know
not to be the case: it may be as safely asserted that every
large tract of country has had its own peculiar creation of both
plants and animals, as that two and two make four, the excep-
tions to this general rule being accounted for by disseminating
causes now in operation. In no other way can we account
for Europe having a totally different class of plants from that
part of North America which lies immediately opposite to it ;
or for the botany of Southern Africa bearing little or no resem-
blance to that of the same parallels in South America, or to
that of Australia ; or for many small Islands, such as that of
St. Helena, possessing a vegetation totally different even from
that of the nearest continent. Islands, however, in general,
approach nearest in the nature of their productions to the
countries to which they most nearly range in a geographical point
of view, and this we shall find to be the case with Ceylon.
Both the climate and the soil of the maritime parts of
the western side of Ceylon being very similar to that of the
Malabar coast, we find that a large proportion of the plants
of both places are identical ; and the same holds good with
reference to the northern and north-east coasts of Ceylon and
the opposite Coromandel coast; although each district in
both countries possesses species peculiar to each. A vegeta-
tion, more or less similar to that of the coast, extends inland
to the foot of the great mountain chain; but from thence
upwards, a very great change takes place, and almost every
thousand feet of elevation shows a vegetation which, though
merging into those immediately above and beneath it, offers
species which do not range beyond it. It is at an elevation
of from 2,000 to 8,000 feet that the greater part of the
species of plants peculiar to Ceylon are to be found; but most
of these belong to forms, that is, to natural orders or genera,
which form part of the vegetation of neighbouring countries,
such as the Neelgherry mountains in the peninsula of India,
the Himalaya mountains, the high lands of Malacca, and of the
Eastern Islands, but more particularly Java ; and I have lately
even met with a few species indicating an affinity with the
continent of Africa.
I shall now offer some remarks on the nature of the vegeta-
tion which characterizes the different botanical regions of the
Island. The truly littoral plants of all countries present a greater
number of identical species in widely separated localities of the

9
same parallels, than those of any other. This, indeed, is to be
expected, from the fact that the ocean forms a ready medium for
their transmission from one country to another, by means of tides,
winds, and currents, while at the same time their seeds, unlike
those of most other plants, are not injured by immersion in salt
water. Most of the shrubs which inhabit the muddy shores of
the sea, and of the salt lagoons which are so numerous towards
the north of the Island, and which are known by the name of
Mangroves, belong to that natural order of plants which botanists
call Rhizophoree, a strictly intertropical tribe. My researches
have already yielded about half-a-dozen species, all of which
I find are common to Ceylon, the shores of the continent of
India, and of those of the Eastern Islands; and the same
is the case with a few other shrubs belonging to other tribes,
such as Ægiceras fragrans, which extends even to the shores
of Australia, Epithinia Malayana, Pemphis acidula, Dilivaria
ilicifolia, Lumnitzera racemosa, Thespesia populnea (the Tulip-
tree of Ceylon), and Paritium tiliaceum, the last having a
far more extensive geographical range than any of the others,
for I possess specimens in my Herbarium from the shores of
the West Indies, Brazil, and the Sandwich Islands, besides
from various parts of India. The Cocoa-nut tree, which
gives so marked a feature to the west coast of Ceylon, and is
now so generally cultivated along the shores of all intertropical
countries, is essentially a sea-side plant, and has as good claims
to be considered indigenous to Ceylon as to any other part of
the world. The same observations that apply to the shrubs of
our shores, apply also to the herbaceous vegetation.
The great flat tract extending between the sea-shore and the
central mountain range, is possessed of a very extensive Flora ;
but as its general character is stamped by a few species which
are very numerous in individuals, it is to them chiefly that
my remarks apply. In this tract a very great proportion of
the species are identical with those of similar ones on the coasts
of Coromandel and Malabar. The generally acid nature of its
soil, together with its much drier climate than that of the in-
terior, is well shown, especially in the Northern Province, by the
more wiry and stunted nature of the trees and bushes, their
prickly stems and branches, and the smaller size of their leaves,
together with a much greater proportion of fleshy shrubs, such
as Euphorbias, &c. The species which preponderate in indi-
viduals in the Northern Province, are different kinds of Acacia,
mostly very thorny, the Wood Apple (Feronia Elephantum), Li-
monia alata, Salvadora Persica (the true Mustard-tree of Scrip-

10
ture, a tree which extends northward and westward to the Holy
Land, and which I was the first to point out as a native of
Ceylon), Carissa spinarum, Gmelina Asiatica, Pleurostylia
Wightii
, Eugenia bracteata, Elæodendron Roxburghii, Ochna
squarrosa, Cassia Fistula, Cassia Roxburghii, and Memecylon
tinctoria These are chiefly shrubs and small trees. The
large trees, mostly of no great size, are two or three species
of Terminalia, Bassia longifolia, the Margosa (Azadirachta
Indica), the Satin-wood (Chloroxylon Swietenia), the Ceylon Oak
(Schleicheria trijuga), the Tamarind (Tamarindus Indica), and the
Palmyra (Borassus flabelliformis), which is particularly abundant
on the peninsula of Jaffna.* The mass of the herbaceous vege-
tation belongs to the natural orders Scrophularinea, Leguminosa,
Rubiacea, and Composite.
Proceeding southwards through this flat country, a consi-
derable difference in the general appearance of the vegetation*is
observed, arising, no doubt, from the greater amount of rain
which falls during the course of the year. The trees are not
only larger, but their foliage is heavier and of a darker hue ; and
the numerous Acacias, which give so striking a feature to the
north, almost disappear. Between Colombo and Galle, shrubs
belonging to the natural order Euphorbiacea are very numerous,
both in species and individuals, as well as a variety of Rabiacea,
of which the beautiful Ixora coccinea is not the least common.
It is only in this range that the Pitcher-plant (Nepenthes distilla-
toria), which is not, however, peculiar to Ceylon, is met with,
growing in moist places and supporting itself among the bushes,
About Galle, and from thence inland, to the base of Adam's Peak,
one of the most common shrubs is that which has been named,
in honour of the great Humboldt-Humboldtia laurifolia ; and
on the low hills near Galle, a few trees are met with, which,
farther north, do not exist under one thousand feet of elevation,
but this is easily accounted for by the greater atmospheric
moisture of that district. One of these trees is a new and re-
markable species of Durian (Durio Ceylanicus, Mihi.) It is in
this district that the greater number of the Sugar plantations of
Ceylon exist.
* Since the above was written, I have made a most important addition
to the trees of this region, and, indeed, to the Flora of the Island, in the
far-famed Upas tree of Java and the Moluccas (Antiaris toxicaria), having dis-
covered some fine large trees of it a few miles to the eastward of Kornegalle,
early in August of the present year (1847). This discovery proves how little
the investigation of the vegetable productions of Ceylon had been attended
to.-(G.G.)

11
a
a
The east side of the Island being much drier than the west,
its vegetation has more the character of that of the Northern
province than of the opposite coast. It must, however, be re-
marked that, with the exception of the immediate neighbourhood
of Trincomalee and of Batticaloa, the eastern side of the Island
is a terra incognita to the Botanist.
Generally speaking, the first two thousand feet of the moun-
tain range are covered with a dense forest of large trees, cha-
racterized by foliage of a much larger size than the low-country
forests, and nearly of a uniform dark green colour ; except,
indeed, when the large Iron-wood tree (Mesua Ceylanica) is
putting forth its young leaves, which are blood red, and at that
season give a remarkable aspect to the scene.
To the general
observer the trees of the next two thousand feet appear little
different from those of the first ; but the eye of the Botanist
can at once detect many species peculiar to each.
The mass
of the herbaceous vegetation of both is made up of Ferns,
Scitaminea, Urticacea, Cyrtandrea and Composite. One of
the most marked features of the second two thousand feet is
the existence of large open grassy tracts on the sides of the
hills, to which the natives give the name of Pattanas. Such
tracts extend to the highest parts of the island, differing more
or less at different elevations in the nature of their vegetation.
Scattered through the lower ones, and giving them an orchard-
like appearance, are two trees almost peculiar to them. They
are the Careya arborea, and Emblica officinalis. The herba-
ceous vegetation consists chiefly of numerous tall coarse grasses,
growing chiefly in tufts; the most common is the Lemon-Grass
(Andropogon schoenanthus), intermingled with several Composita,
principally consisting of several species of Blumea, Knoxia corym-
bosa, the representative of the old and accurate historian of
Ceylon, the broom-like Atylosia Candollii, and Impatiens Bal-
samina, the origin of the common garden balsam. On the
forest land of this tract the principal Coffee estates have been
established.
The next two thousand feet, which bring us to an elevation
of 6,000 feet above the level of the sea, and into a region which
has a much lower temperature than any of the preceding, is still
covered with forest having occasional patches of Pattana, but
both give support to a very different vegetation. The trees are
much smaller, closer together, and have their stems and branches
covered with pendulous masses of lichens and mosses, and many
kinds of small Orchidea. Their leaves are mostly small; and
their varied tints remind one of the autumnal forests of more

12
temperate climes. The under vegetation consists of numerous
beautiful herbaceous and suffruticose Balsams (Impatiens), a
great variety of suffruticose Acanthacea (Nilu), lovely and deli-
cate Ferns of all sizes, from those scarcely a few inches in
height to tree ones which throw up their stems surmounted
by large masses of verdant fronds to an elevation often of twenty
feet, and rivalling in gracefulness the Palms of the low country.
In this range the lovely Tree-Rhododendron, so common in
more elevated tracts, first makes its appearance. The Pattanas
at this elevation are more spongy in their nature than those
below : the grasses peculiar to them grow closer together, and
are smaller and more wiry in their texture; while the scattered
shrubs are principally species of Hedyotis, and Osbeckia, the
latter producing beautiful large rose-coloured flowers.
The two thousand feet which succeed to these include the most
elevated portions of the island, and embrace chiefly the mountain-
tops, and the vallies or plains which divide them. The vegetation
of this region has a still more alpine aspect, and is that which
is possessed of the greatest interest to the Botanist, from the
great number of European forms mixed up with those whose
range does not extend beyond the tropics. The tree that first
claims our attention in this range is the Rhododendron, not
only from its great beauty, but from its vast abundance; espe-
cially in the open plains, which during the months of June and
July are clouded with red from the great profusion of its
blossoms. I have met with two well-marked varieties, if they
are not, indeed, distinct species, of this tree. One is principally
seen in the plains, or in their wooded margins, and is easily
recognized by the rusty-coloured under-side of its leaves. It
is the variety common on the open plains of the Neilgherry
range of mountains, in the peninsula of India. The other
variety, so far as I am aware, is peculiar to Ceylon, and always
found in the forest, and at a greater elevation than the other.
It is distinguished by its greater size, and the silvery under-
side of its leaves, which are besides narrow and rounded at
the base, not broad and cordate. Several fine trees of this
variety occur on the ascent of Pedrotalagalla from Nuwera-Ellia,
and close to the temple on the summit of Adam's Peak; but the
finest I have met with in my excursions among the mountains of
the interior, were in crossing over Totapella, where there is a large
forest of them, many being from 50 to 70 feet in height, and with
stems more than three feet in diameter. In these forests are
also to be met with some four or five species of Michelia, the
representatives of the Magnolias of North America, several arbo-

13.
3
reous Myrtacea, and not a few Ternströmiacea; the most common
of which is the Camellia-like Gordonia Ceylanica.
There is much here to remind the European of his native
country. Different species of Rubus and a Barberry abound
along the wooded margins of the plains, as well as two species
of Viburnum or Guelder-Rose, and a shrubby St. John's Wort
(Hypericum Mysorense), bearing large yellow flowers. The dry
open banks are covered with violets and Lysimachia, while in
the open plains are to be found two species of Potentilla, an
Anemone, a Geranium, two kinds of Ranunculus or Butter-cup, a
Lady's Mantle, not unlike the Alchemilla vulgaris of England, a
little blue star-blossomed Gentian, two species of Sun-dew or
Drosera, a Campanula, a Valeriana, and in the bogs several kinds
of Juncus and Carex.
At the health-station on the plain of Newera-Ellia, which is
about 6,200 feet above the level of the sea, there are several
gardens where most of the vegetables of Europe grow freely.
European fruit-trees have also been tried; but no success has
attended the experiment, nor was such to be expected; for
although during the cold season the thermometer falls occasion-
ally in the morning to nearly freezing point—the annual range
being from 35żº to 80°, with a mean daily variation of 11°, —
the cold is not sufficiently intense or of long enough continua-
tion to give those trees the period of rest which they require. In
place of losing their leaves for nearly six months of the year,
the
Peach and the Cherry are here evergreens, and are hence kept
in such a continued state of excitement as to prevent their
bearing. The Peach does, indeed, give a poor crop of very
inferior quality; but although the Cherry blossoms annually, its
fruit never comes to perfection.
Although the Neelgherry range, from its near geographical
position, has more species in common with the tracts of a
similar elevation in Ceylon than any other part of India, yet
these, from their small numbers, are evidently only stragglers
northward : the very great number of species peculiar to the
mountains of Ceylon, and to them alone, proves that these
mountains form a distinct centre of creation. This I shall illus-
trate by a few examples from some of the better known natural
orders and genera of plants. Beginning with Ranunculacea, we
find three species of Ranunculus, belonging to the Flora of the
Neelgherries, and two to that of the mountains of Ceylon, one
species only being common to both countries. Of Magnoliacea,
Ceylon possesses four or five species of Michelia ; all of which
are different from the solitary one found on the Neelgherries.
;
a
و

14
Each country has a Violet peculiar to itself, with another that is
found in them both. Both places possess about half a dozen
species of Elæocarpeæ each, but only one is held in common ;
and the same is the case with the Order to which the Tea
belongs—Ternströmiacea. The genus Impatiens, that to which
the garden Balsam is referable, affords one of the strongest
arguments in favour of the fact I am now illustrating; for while
each country contains upwards of twenty species, certainly not
more than three are common to both, and none of the other
Ceylon species are known to exist elsewhere. Of Rosaceæ we
find that the Neelgherry range has only three species of Rubus,
while there are no less than eight found on the mountains of
Ceylon, three of which are peculiar to them. Both countries have
an Alchemilla in common; while the Agrimony of Ceylon does
not exist on the Neelgherries, but is found abundantly on the
Himalaya range; and I have lately described a new species of
Poterium from Adam's Peak, the only one which has hitherto
been met with in India. Two species of Potentilla grow in
Ceylon, and three on the Neelgherries, one only being seen in
both countries. A comparison of this kind might be extended
to a great length; but enough has already been shown to prove
that while the Flora of the central part of the Island has more
affinity with that of the Neelgherries than with any other part of
the world, yet it must have had a creation of its own, nearly
allied, indeed, to the other in forms, but very distinct in indi-
viduals.
Although many of the genera found in the upland regions of
Ceylon are common in Europe, none of the Ceylon species are
identical with European ones. Indeed, there is not to be found
growing really wild in the Island, a single species exactly the
same as any European one. A few, however, have become
more or less naturalized, having been introduced along with
garden and other seeds. They are the common Sow-thistle
(Sonchus oleraceus), the common Chick-weed (Stellaria media),
the Mouse-ear Chick-weed (Cerastium vulgatum), the Corn Spurrey
(Spergula arvensis), and the annual Meadow-grass (Poa annua).
All these, with the exception of the first, which is much more
general, are nearly confined to the plain of Newera-Ellia. In
all countries, introduced plants, which find a congenial soil and
climate, and which produce their seeds in profusion, of a nature
to be easily blown or carried about from place to place, are
sure to naturalize themselves; and often in the course of a few
years they cannot be distinguished from the really original
denizens of the clime. Besides those from Europe, just enume-
a

15
rated, there are many others, natives of distant tropical countries,
which are now rapidly spreading themselves on the Island; and
as it is of importance to distinguish them from such as are truly
natives, I shall here enumerate all those species of which I
possess sufficient evidence to establish their exotic origin, and
mention the countries from which they have been brought.
The two species of Prickly Pear (Opuntia), now so common
in dry sandy localities in the low country, are natives of the
tropical parts of the Continent of America, as is, indeed, the
whole of the Cactus tribe. The beautiful rose-coloured Peri-
winkle (Vinca rosea), which has so completely overrun the Cin-
namon gardens at Colombo and other similar localities, is a
native of the island of Madagascar, though it has now perfectly
established itself in nearly all tropical countries. The climbing
Allamanda cathartica, with its dark green leaves and golden
bell-shaped blossoms, is a native of the Guianas, and was no
doubt introduced by the Dutch. The Lantanas, which are to be
met with almost everywhere in bushy places and in hedges, are
natives of the West Indies; and so is the yellow-flowered Turnera
ulmifolia, common by road-sides about Colombo.
The Cape
Gooseberry (Physalis Peruviana), now so plentiful about Ram-
bodde and Newera-Ellia, is from the mountains of Peru. The
Four-o'clock plant (Mirabilis Jalapa), common about Kandy, is
a native of Mexico and the West Indies; and the Ipecacuanha
plant, as it is erroneously called, (Asclepias Curassavica,) with
its orange blossoms, and seeds with long silky tails, is a South
American. Most of these must have been long established before
the English took possession of the country; but the following
are well known to have escaped from the Botanical Gardens
at Colombo or Peradenia during the last five-and-twenty years.
The small white-flowered Passiflora fetida, a perfect weed every-
where, is a native of the West Indies and Brazil, and only
introduced to the Island by Mr. Moon, so short a time ago as
1824. Two species of Crotalaria—C. Brownei, a native of
Jamaica, and C. incana, a native of the Cape of Good Hope;
the Mexican Coreopsis-like Cosmos caudata ; the Peruvian blue-
flowered Nicandra physaloides; and the South American Sensitive-
plant (Mimosa pudica), are not only common weeds about
Peradenia and Kandy, but are fast extending themselves in all
directions, the first mentioned species having now nearly reached
as far as Rambodde on the Newera-Ellia road. Brucea Sumatrana,
a shrubby native of the Eastern islands, and an escape from the
Peradenia gardens, now forms part of the low jungle on the
neighbouring Hantane range: and Buddleia Madagascariensis,
a

16
a native of Madagascar, and two small kinds of Passion-flower
(P. suberosa and glauca), both natives of the West Indies,
are fast following. Ageratum conyzoides, everywhere prevalent
and one of the great pests of the Coffee Planter, is of American
origin, though now thoroughly naturalized in all tropical countries.
The above, though only a rapid sketch of the more prominent
features of the vegetation of the Island of Ceylon, is sufficient to
shew the great interest and variety of the materials of which it
is composed, and the relation which it holds to that of other
parts of the globe. Much, however, still remains to be done,
before a detailed exposition can be offered to the world.
a
Botanical extracts from Mr. Low's HISTORY of BORNEO.
The climate of Borneo is distinguished by constant moisture
and moderate warmth, which keep up a perennial vegetation.
The refreshing showers and continual but gentle heat cause the
plants and trees to grow during the whole year, the forests being
,
decked with that perpetual verdure, which confers on the
Bornean Islands, when viewed from the sea, an aspect of un-
exampled beauty. Shrubs of Hibiscus and flowering-trees,
belonging to the genus Barringtonia, overhang the margin of
the ocean ; while the far inland mountains are clothed to their
summits with dense and rich vegetation.
Europeans never find the climate oppressively hot. The ther-
mometer averages 70-72° Fahr., in the mornings and evenings,
82–85° at the hottest part of the day; 92° and 93° is the
°
maximum, and the mercury very rarely attains it.
Though no part of the world boasts such luxuriance of vege-
table life as these Isles of the East, their soil is by no means so
invariably fertile as the appearance of the forests would lead a
cultivator to expect. This remark principally applies to Suma-
tra, where moisture seems to supply the main impulse to vege-
tation. Java is highly fertile, and what I have seen of Borneo
appears so too. The soil of Sarãwak is a rich yellow loam,
covered with a surface of six to twelve inches of very productive
mould, formed by the decay of the forests. It is admirably
suited to the growth of the Sugar-cane, which attains greater
perfection at Borneo without the slightest culture, than it exhibits
in Ceylon under the fostering care of Europeans. I have often
seen Sugar-canes at Sarãwak eighteen feet long, abounding in the

17
richest saccharine juice. The natives grow several kinds, some of
which they assert to be the wild produce of the country; but
the Golden-yellow Cane, imported by the Chinese, is most
esteemed. It is not used for making sugar; but, the outer skin
being removed, the inner part is chewed, and the fibrous portion
is thrown away after the sweet juice has been thus extracted.
Some Nutmegs, planted for an experiment by Mr. Brooke,
grew admirably without manuring or any attention, being wholly
left to nature and not even the weeds removed. The result
proved that this valuable spice, which requires much care and
cost for its production at Sincapore and Penang, may here be
raised, as cheaply as Cocoa-nuts, viz., merely by clearing away
the weeds.
Some plants of Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Clove, are growing
now in a garden at Sarãwak, and attesting the suitableness of
its soil and climate to the production of the finer spices.
As may be supposed, the heat and moisture of Borneo are
too great for European fruits and vegetables in general. Some
kinds, as French Beans, Cucumbers, Endive, Tomatos, and Aspa-
ragus, have succeeded tolerably; and it may be hoped that, on
the mountains, others will do well, and that the Settlement of
Labuhan will never be so destitute of culinary vegetables as is
Sincapore, where the few cabbages which are produced are
cultivated in flower-pots and require the greatest attention.
The Chinese in Sarãwak have several gardens of native escu-
lents near the town. The Egg-plant there yields an excellent
fruit; and a large Radish is much prized, which, when boiled,
tastes like a Turnep. Sweet Potatos, Yams, Earth-nuts (Arachis
hypogæa), and various kinds of Pulse, Cucumbers, and pot-herbs
are grown for the use of Europeans; also Sugar-Cane and Pine-
Apples for the Malays, who are averse to the trouble of culti-
vating these esculents for themselves. Some kinds of Fern
afford an excellent vegetable in their unopened fronds, which
are boiled and preferred by foreigners to most of the productions
of the island, except the cabbage of various Palms. Though
several sorts of Fern are eaten, the Marattia, which grows plen-
tifully on river-sides, is preferred.
Of all the esculent vegetables, the heart or cabbage of the
Palm called Nibong, is the most esteemed. It consists of the
whole unexpanded foliage, and is delicately white, with a very
sweet nutty flavour. It excels the cabbage of the Cocoa-nut
Palm, but is inferior to that of the Pinang or Areca, which,
however, on account of the value of the tree, is very seldom
used, the extraction of this edible part causing, invariably, the
a

18
destruction of the entire tree. The Nibong Palms are very
plentiful near the mouths of all the rivers, and are prized also
for house-building, &c. Their stems being quite round, un-
branched, and generally measuring half a foot in diameter, little
trouble is necessary, beyond felling the tree and cutting it into
lengths. The outside rind is hard and an inch thick: the inner
portion being, as in all Monocotyledonous stems, the most
recently formed, is soft, and readily decays, which causes the
Nibong to be more used by the poor than the rich inhabitants.
Posts, formed of this tree, last only three or four years, and then
require either support or renewal. Rafters and flooring are
made of the hardest part. The laths for floors are bound
together, when laid at distances of two feet asunder, by rattans ;
a plan adopted in order that the dirt and rubbish of the house
may fall through the interstices of the floor, and be washed
away by the next high tide of the river.
The Bamboo, of which the shoots are cooked by the natives
and which the Europeans eat pickled, is as useful to the Dyaks
as the Nibong to the Malays, and grows as abundantly in the
interior as the other does on the coasts. There are many kinds;
but the most esteemed is the Large or Water Bamboo, which
attains a height of sixty feet, and appears to thrive best in the
rich soil of mountain-sides. Six other sorts, all much smaller,
are still very valuable ; for they grow in more accessible places
and have harder stems than the Large Bamboo. They are
useful, as in India, for an infinity of purposes ; and the poor
people, who cannot afford cooking-pots of earth or brass, even
contrive to apply them to that use, in the following manner.
The Malays and Dyaks cut the green Bamboo in lengths of two
or three feet, and fill the interior with rice or meat, chopped
into little pieces, and mixed with water. To cook the food
properly, the fire must come exactly in contact with the Bamboo
joint, which rests on the ground beyond; while the
hard part of the cane, touched by the flame, resists it so long,
that the provisions are sufficiently prepared before this singular
pot ignites. A bundle of leaves, placed in the mouth, serves for
a lid.* These Bamboos are so valuable, that like, the fruit-trees
planted near a village, they become individual property.
Next in the rank of useful vegetable productions is the Cocoa-
nut Palm; too well known to require description here. Unfor-
tunately, the wars, which prevailed on the western coasts of
green and
.
* The rice, called Pulut, hereafter to be described, is most relished when
thus cooked in a pot of
green
Bamboo.

19
Borneo, have nearly exterminated this noble tree; but it still
abounds to the northward, and is said to cover the Natunas and
Sooloo Islands. From the former group the people of Sarãwak
derive their supply, giving in return the rice which the natives
of the Natunas require, for they do not raise rice on those islands.
About fifty boats, carrying from six to twenty tons each, bring
annually to Sarăwak, nuts, oil, and sugar, the productions of
this tree. The sugar is coarse, resembling molasses, and is made
by boiling the sap of the flower-stem.
The Sago-Palm (Metroxylon) attains great perfection, and
large quantities of the rough sago are sent from the west
coast to Sincapore. The Sago of commerce is the heart of the
plant. In the parts where it abounds it forms the chief food of
the inhabitants, who always, however, prefer rice when they can
procure it. The tree grows in marshy spots and rarely exceeds
thirty feet in height. The time for collecting the sago is just
before the tree begins to show its large, spreading, terminal
flower-spike, which it generally does at seven or eight years old.
While young, the stem is admirably protected by its long and
stout spines from the wild hogs, which would otherwise destroy
it. As it grows and the trunk hardens, the spines drop off, and
the central farina is enclosed in the outer wood. When the
flower and fruit are allowed to perfect themselves, which is in
two years from the first appearance of inflorescence, the pith of
the centre is found dried up, the leaves have fallen, and the
plant perishes. The Sago-Palm is seldom propagated from the
seed, which is generally unproductive; but it may be raised
in any quantity by offsets, which are freely produced. Among
the Dyaks who grow rice, Sago is little used for food, except in
times of scarcity. The whole of the Sago exported from Borneo
is in a crude state, and manufactories are established at Sinca-
pore and Batavia for its preparation and refinement; where
the rough article, an uninviting substance both to eye and smell,
undergoes a wonderful change, and emerges in the form of the
Pearl Sago of commerce.
The Arenga saccharifera, which most resembles the Sago-
Palm in general aspect, affords the best Toddy in Borneo. It
is extracted by cutting off the large lateral branches of fruit.
When these are about half-grown, they are severed close to the
division of the peduncle, and Bamboos being suspended below,
a gallon of juice will flow daily for two months from a good tree
with two incisions ; if care be taken to expose a fresh surface on
the severed part, by taking off a fresh slice every morning.
The Toddy is emptied from the bamboo twice a day: when

20
fresh, it forms a very agreeable beverage, though not improved
by the Dyak custom of steeping a piece of bitter bark in it,
which communicates its own taste to the fluid. An excellent
and durable cordage is made from the hairy filaments which
interweave the stem and axils of the leaves; and the same
substance is plaited by the natives into ornaments for the arms,
legs, and neck, which are more pleasing in their deep black hue
and neat appearance (at least to the eyes of Europeans), than
the beads and brass with which these people are fond of adorning
their persons.
The graceful Betel-nut, or Areca-nut Palm (Areca Catechu),
does not grow in such abundance as to form an article of
exportation : on the contrary, large quantities are imported ;
for these trees, like the Cocoa-nuts, were destroyed during
the wars, which, previous to Mr. Brooke's arrival, desolated
the country. The nut is only used for chewing with the
Siri leaves (Piper), Lime, and Gambier, a practice universal in
the Indian Archipelago. The flowers of the Areca are deliciously
fragrant: they are in request for all festive occasions, and are
also considered a necessary ingredient in the medicines and
charms employed for healing the sick : their delightful perfume,
together with the graceful feathery foliage, borne on a slender
and elegantly tapered stem, render this tree the universal favourite
among the Palm tribe.
Rattans and Canes, the produce of many species of Calamus,
are valuable to the natives, both for home use and exportation.
They abound in old and damp jungles, and prove very annoying
to the pedestrian, whose clothes are caught by their strong
curved prickles, and who can only extricate himself by stepping
backward and carefully unhooking them. The various kinds
differ much in size and appearance : some are so slender as
scarcely to be observable, others are stout and rough: some are
smooth, and others have their stems and leaves garnished with
numerous prickles. Those called, in commerce, Malacca Canes,
are of the larger sort. The Rattans of Borneo excel all the
others, and are brought from the south and eastern parts of the
islands in vast quantities, and exported to Sincapore and Batavia,
and thence to India and China. The natives employ them for
baskets, mats, and cordage, and where nails are unknown they
serve the purpose of binding the frame of a house together.
The drug called Dragon's Blood is procured from one of the
larger rattans ; but its manufacture is exclusively confined to
the southern and little visited parts of the island, and is therefore
not known to Europeans. It is annually sent in large quantities

21
to Sincapore and Batavia, and thence to China, where it is much
prized. The Nipa fruticans, though of humble growth among
the Palms, is as valuable to the people of Borneo as any of its
congeners. It is found on river-banks wherever the salt water
reaches, and it overspreads the salt marshes for thousands of acres.
Its chief value is for covering houses, and the roofs made of its
leaves last for two years. Salt is procured from the ashes of the
burnt foliage, and syrup and sugar from its flower-stalk. The
fruit is also eaten. The plant has no stem ; but its leaves, twenty
feet long, spring from the centre.
The Mangrove, which inhabits the same spots as the Nipa,
affords the best fire-wood, and a coarse bitter salt is extracted
from its aerial roots.
The above enumeration includes those vegetable productions
of Borneo which are used for home consumption. A separate
notice will be taken of such as are collected for exportation.
(To be continued.)
The Bath Botanic Garden, Jamaica.
It will gratify our readers, we are sure, to know that the
Botanic Garden of Bath, Jamaica, once a flourishing spot under
the Directorship of Dr. McFadyen, then abandoned, or nearly
so, for want of funds, has again revived under the charge of
Mr. Nathaniel Wilson, aided by the active exertions of the Rev.
Mr. Wharton and Mark J. McKen Esq., to all of whom the
Royal Gardens of Kew are under great obligations for most
valuable contributions to the stoves, to the Museum, and to the
Herbarium. We make the following extracts from the last
report drawn up by the able and intelligent Curator :
“During the past year I have dispersed upwards of 4000
plants, nearly double the number that were called for the year
before. As those plants that have been originally introduced,
and for many years grown in the Island, are by this time fully
dispersed and established, it is my intention gradually to abandon
their cultivation, which I must, from the limited extent of the
garden, of necessity do, to make space for the reception and full
development of the more rare sorts recently introduced. As a
grand repository of exotic plants, it will be necessary that a
specimen of every introduced plant be kept in the garden, but
beyond this, as far as the old plants are concerned, it is my

22
intention to proceed, and I trust that this determination will
meet with your approbation and concurrence.
It is exceedingly desirable for the purpose of exchanging with
other Botanic Gardens to mutual benefit, that our native plants,
whether timbers, dye-woods, drugs, fruits, or ornamental, should
be cultivated. To this end my attention is now directed, and
my views have been greatly facilitated by the addition of the
new piece of ground, so kindly granted to me by this hon. Board.
It is now cleared and fenced, and I find it, both in soil and
situation, adapted for the purpose I have in view.
“I continue with success to propagate that useful spice, the
Nutmeg, which I have no doubt will ultimately become one of
the staple products of the Island.
“I am proud to say that it has fallen to my lot to introduce,
within the last year, some of the most rare and valuable plants
that ever were brought into Jamaica, including nearly all those
I mentioned in my last report. Those of which I may truly
boast are the Mangostan (Garcinia Mangostana), the Cinnamon
(Cinnamonum verum), the Black Pepper (Piper nigrum), the
vegetable Ivory, or Ivory-nut Palm (Phytelephas macrocarpa),
the Longan (Euphoria longana), the Durion (Durio zebethinus),
the Tonquin Bean (Dipterix odorata), the Gamboge Tree (Xan-
thochymus pictorius), the Camwood of Commerce (Baphia nitida),
the Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqua), the Wax Palm (Ceroxylon
andicola), three new fruits of the Grenadilla kind (Passiflora
edulis, P. incarnata, P. Buonapartea), the Maltese and Manderin
Orange, and many other noble and beautiful plants, to the
number of eighty-six, which have themselves been only recently
introduced into England, chiefly from the Tropics, and I need
hardly say are calculated to thrive here.
For the cultivation of the Mangostan, which is reputed to be
the very finest of Tropical fruits, and which will thrive best
within the influence of sea air, Jamaica, from its insular nature,
will doubtless be well fitted. The Durion, a fruit as large as a
man's head, is considered of first-rate excellence; the Longan,
too, is much esteemed for the dessert; the Black Pepper is a
spice admirably adapted for (and of easy) cultivation ; the Cam-
wood is a dye-wood of considerable value, averaging in the
London market £16 to £18 per ton, while the Logwood obtains
only £5 or £6. The others are better known, and need not be
particularly mentioned here.
“While on this part of my subject it will be proper for me,
Gentlemen, to call your attention, and that of the community at
large, to plants hitherto much neglected, or at best partially
a

23
attended to; and I would particularly mention the Sarsaparilla
(Smilax Sarsaparilla) a plant, so indifferent as to soil
, so easy of
cultivation, and so valuable as a remittance home, that too much
care can scarcely be bestowed upon it: much waste land might
be profitably cultivated with it, especially where labour is scarce,
and the economy of it an object.
Another plant that deserves to be noticed is the Cotton : any
rupture of the amicable relations now existing between the
United States and Great Britain, would at once cause a great
demand for it in the British Colonies. The attention of many
individuals has already been deservedly turned towards its culti-
vation ; and there is no reason why a plant that flourishes so
luxuriantly should not be one of general and profitable pro-
duction. That variety, from the undyed wool of which the
article commonly known as Nankeen is manufactured, has been
introduced into Jamaica ; and it will afford me much pleasure
to distribute seeds to any person desirous of rearing it. The
wild Cinnamon (Canella alba) and the St. Lucia Bark Exostemma
Caribaum), articles in demand at home, and exported from other
parts of the West Indies, are unheeded and but little known here,
though frequently found growing about our doors, and com-
manding a remunerating price.
“Trusting that I shall not trespass too much on your time, I beg
to direct your attention to one other subject,--our quick Fences.
These must always be matter of interest to the agricultural popu-
lation of this island; but though of vast importance they have
been generally subject to much ill management in several
ways, principally from the mode of treatment they are subjected
to in training and pruning, and not unfrequently from the inap-
plicability of the species of plant to a peculiar locality. Hedges
when young should be cut back to within a little of the root,
and the plants left at regular distances from each other, a process
which is sure to produce a growth of strong, healthy, upright, and
lateral shoots; instead of which a young fence is cut to the height
it is intended to remain, and lopped once a-year afterwards (instead
of pruning), thereby causing a flow of sap to the extremities,
which results in a growth of weak wood at the top, and bare and
naked stems at the bottom. The logwood, orange, and lime have
usually been the materials for fences here. In the East, the
Gmelina Asiatica,” the “ Casalpinia sepiaria," and the “ Ses-
bania Ægyptiaca” are chiefly employed for that purpose, and as
these are all introduced, it would be well to have their respective
merits tested by comparisons with the logwood, &c. The formei
I have no doubt, is superior to any thing that has been yet tried.
a
a
66

24
There now only remains to me the agreeable duty of recording
my obligations to those who have in any way contributed to the
welfare of the Garden under my care; and I can scarcely be too
earnest in the expression of my feelings towards Sir Wm. Jackson
Hooker, who, while directing the first Botanic Garden in the
world, has not been unmindful of other establishments, of vastly
inferior importance. To this gentleman I am indebted for the
introduction of the Mangostan, a plant which money could
not procure, and for other productions both useful and beau-
tiful, calculated to add greatly to the comfort and pleasure of
the inhabitants of this island.
“My thanks are likewise due to the Rev. Mr. Wharton, of
whose choice collection I have freely shared; and also to Mr.
Purdie, the Curator of the Botanic Garden at Trinidad, from
whom I have received seeds of many valuable plants, hitherto
unknown in Jamaica. That old and well-regulated establishment
promises to be of the utmost importance, by contributing many
plants altogether unknown here, and re-establishing others which
had been lost through the system of change in management
to which this Garden had unfortunately been subject, whereby
its utility was in a great measure lessened to the country.”
NATHANIEL WILSON.
Botanical extracts from Mr. Low's HISTORY OF BORNEO.
(Continued from p. 21.)
Botanical Articles of Export from Borneo.
Having already described the vegetable products of Borneo
which are chiefly used in the country, we proceed to notice such
as are principally collected for exportation. First comes the
Camphor, called by the natives, and in commerce, Kapur Barus,
or Barus Camphor, and so termed to distinguish it from the
produce of the Laurus Camphora or Japan Camphor. The name
is derived from the place, Barus in Sumatra, where it is princi-
pally obtained and whence it was perhaps first exported. The
true Dryobalanops Camphora, which affords the valuable drug,
has hitherto been only found in Borneo and Sumatra : and even
on these islands it is confined to the northern parts. Mr. Marsden
says the tree is very common in Sumatra, in the country of the
Battas, but does not grow south of the Line. I once detected
some trees of Dryobalanops in Sarãwak, where they were, perhaps,

25
common, but have been destroyed in extracting the camphor ; a
conjecture strengthened by the fact that one of these trees on
being felled displayed a notch in the trunk; and it is customary
thus to examine whether they contain camphor. On Labuhan,
the Camphor-tree grows abundantly and is one of the noblest
ornaments of the jungle: it has a fine straight stem, from which
the bark separates in large flakes; the foliage is very dense,
forming a well-shaped head, and the trunk is often ninety feet
high, before giving off a single branch. It is alleged that the
younger and smaller trees produce as much camphor as the old
and larger individuals. This substance is found in a concrete
state in the crevices of the wood, and it can unfortunately only
be extracted by felling the tree, which is afterwards cut into
blocks and split with the wedges, when the camphor, which is
white and transparent, can be easily removed. An essential oil
,
also resides in the hollows of the wood and the natives crystallize
it artificially, but the drug so obtained is not equally prized with
that which is found naturally crystallized. The Borneans, though
they occasionally use camphor medicinally, do not esteem it so
much as the Chinese. The price obtained in China for the
produce of the Dryobalanops Camphora, or Kapur Barus, exceeds
that of Japan by twenty to one: but it is alleged that super-
stition has much to do with this disproportion and that though
the trees are dissimilar, the chemical properties of the Bornean
and Japan Camphor are nearly the same.
Several species of Dipterocarpus produce a nut from which a
fatty oil is expressed ; and the substance in question has been
extensively vended in England under the name of Vegetable
Tallow and Vegetable Wax. The tree most valued for yielding
it, grows on the banks of the Sarăwak river : it is about forty
feet high, with large foliage, and branches drooping towards the
water ; its appearance is beautiful and it bears fruit in great
profusion and as large as a Wallnut, with two long wings to the
seed. The natives collect and press the nuts, which yield a
large quantity of oil, which assumes the appearance and con-
sistency of sperm. It is at present only used for cooking ; but
when the demand for it in Europe becomes better known in
Borneo, the people will manufacture it more extensively. It is
considered in England to surpass even Olive oil for lubricating
machinery, and it has been made into excellent candles at
Manilla. The quick growth of the tree and the profusion of
fruit which it bears, are strong recommendations, and will
render its culture a profitable speculation. The same species of
Dryobalanops has been found in Java and Sumatra.

26
;
The Pangium edule affords an oil which is eaten by the Dyaks,
who cultivate the tree, which does not grow wild in Borneo.
Its large fruit contains many seeds, imbedded in deleterious
pulp.
Wood oil is obtained from a tree of the order Myrtacea. To
procure it, a large hole is cut in the trunk, and fire is put in,
when the oil is attracted by the heat. The natives mix it with
Dammar, for paying the seams of their boats, and substitute it
for linseed oil in mingling paints; it is considered very effectual
in preserving wood from the effects of the weather.
Many other esculent oils of fine quality are obtained from the
seeds of different forest-trees, as the Niato, or Gutta Percha, of
the Malay Peninsula ; but the people, having an extensive
choice, take little trouble to procure them, though it cannot be
doubted they would repay the merchant or traveller who should
institute researches on the subject of their respective properties.
The Gutta Percha tree is said to be found in all the forests of
Malacca, Borneo, and Singapore, and the adjacent islands : fortu-
nate it is that such is the case, for the quantity is already much
diminished. The natives have no other mode of procuring the gum
than by felling the trees and ringing the bark at distances of
12 to 18 inches, when a cocoa-nut shell receives the flowing sap
from each incision. It is customary to inspissate the sap by
boiling it, but this process is not necessary : in a short time it
consolidates and assumes the same appearance of itself.
The quantity of Gutta obtained from each tree is from five to
twenty catties: the catty being equivalent to a pound and three
quarters English weight. Its great and most valuable property
is that of becoming soft and plastic when immersed in water
above the temperature 150° Fahr. It may then be moulded
into any required form, which it retains on cooling. The Malays
manufacture it into whips, baskets, basins and jugs, shoes, traces,
and vessels of various kinds.
Another substance, resembling caoutchouc in its properties,
may be obtained in large quantities in Borneo and many other
islands, and on the Peninsula : it is the produce of a climbing
Urceola, whose trunk grows to the size of a man's body. The
bark, which is soft and thick with a very rough appearance,
emits on being cut an immense flow of sap, and the tree is
uninjured by the process. There are three kinds of it in Borneo
and all of them are known by the name of Jintarvan; the caout-
chouc which they yield has been proved, by analysis, equal to
and like that procured from the Ficus elastica. The fruit, which is
large and of a fine apricot colour, contains twelve or more seeds,

27
a
a
enveloped in a rich reddish pulp, which is very grateful to the
palate of a European.
Many other Bornean trees afford a sap, which probably possesses
similar properties to the Gutta Percha. But till a less wasteful
mode of procuring these substances is devised than the felling of
the trees, it were no boon to the island to create a demand for
them.
The celebrated Upas, Antiaris Toxicaria, is found near Sarăwak,
but it is not common. One fine specimen, which Mr. Low ex-
amined, grew to about sixty feet high. Its bark is white, and
the stem is propped, as it were, below, with those processes
resembling buttresses, which are common in the trees of tropical
jungles. The poisonous juice exudes freely, when the bark is
tapped; and the natives hold the Upas in much superstitious
terror, though no authentic particulars exist of its injurious
properties, unless when introduced into the circulation of the
blood, when it seems undeniably among the most active of vege-
table poisons. The tree is called Bina by the Borneans: Upas
being a name they give to the sap itself, and to all vegetable
poisons.
Dammar is a resinous gum, afforded by many trees, differing
from one another and from the Dammara orientalis of “ Marsden's
Sumatra.' This substance is applied to various purposes,
caulking the seams of boats, and (when contained in Bamboos)
for making torches : it gives a flaring and smoky light, and is
chiefly used by the lowest classes.
A wild kind of Cinnamon grows in Borneo, which considerably
resembles the true Cinnamon of Ceylon. It is not collected by
the natives.
Cotton is raised by the Dyaks for making their cloths, and a
sample of it, sent home to Liverpool, was pronounced of excellent
quality. It is likely that, in process of time, its culture will be
advantageously pursued, from the facility of exportation to China.
Pepper has long been exported in large quantities from several
Bornean ports, especially Bruni; but, during the disturbances
at the latter place, the trade has dwindled away, owing to the
expulsion of the Chinese, who to the number, it is said, of
30,000, employed themselves exclusively in rearing the spice.
It is a curious fact, observed by all writers on the productions
of the East, that Pepper is universally esteemed, except by the
people of the countries where it is grown. This remark holds
good in Borneo, where its use in cookery is reprobated, and the
Malays prefer a small kind of capsicum. In the beginning of
this century, the district of Banjumasin alone, on the south
a

28
to recover.
coast of Borneo, was capable of producing 1,500 tons of this
spice.
Coffee has been tried in the gardens of Europeans with great
success: the berry is fine and well flavoured. The hills on the
mainland, opposite Labuhan, are well adapted for its culture;
for there, as in Ceylon, the grower would be spared the trouble
and cost of raising trees among the plantations, to shade the
Coffee bushes from the sun, a precaution which is found requisite
in Java. In Ceylon, an altitude of between 3,000 and 4,000
feet is the best locality for the Coffee estates; the fruit produced
at that height is particularly well tasted and abundant.
Gambier (Uncaria) is not cultivated in Borneo, though it is
occasionally seen wild: that used by the Malays for chewing
with their Siri, is imported from Singapore, where its growth
is said to exhaust the soil to a degree which it takes many years
Tobacco is reared in small quantities; but the people are un-
skilful in preparing it. If a good sort were procured, and the
proper mode of manufacturing it were known," the Virginian
weed” might become as profitable to the Borneans as it is to
their neighbours of the Philippines and Java ; and the Dyaks
would be found very willing to rear a plant with whose use they
are acquainted.
Besides the above imperfectly enumerated vegetable produc-
tions, many others promise to be valuable. Spices of several
kinds would probably thrive; Vanilla, for instance, which fetches
a high price and is of easy culture. The Cocoa Tree of Manilla
(Theobroma Cacao) has been tested and found to yield fruit of
admirable quality. We have already spoken of Cotton. The
Musa textilis, which affords the fine Manilla cordage (a kind of
Plantain), would also thrive. Ginger grows well in all the
native gardens, and Turmeric abounds in a wild state.
Many kinds of oil might be produced in perfection : in short,
there is every reason to believe that most of the precious Indian
and Tropical products would well repay the Bornean grower.
And now that the British settlers in this island will be acknow-
ledged and protected by our Government at home, the spirit of
national enterprise will shortly bring to light the immense vege-
table resources of this privileged country.
Many and valuable kinds of timber are produced by the
magnificent forests of Borneo. Their botanical characters are
little known, and it would therefore be useless to enumerate the
native names, such as Balean, Bintangur, Mungris, &c., by
which they are designated, and which would convey no single

29
idea to a scientific mind. Some are useful for ship-building :
others have a wonderful faculty of resisting the influence of
water, the atmosphere, and even the destructive White Ants;
while others again produce large quantities of Vegetable Tallow.
Charcoal, pot-ash, and pearl-ashes are yielded by burning the
timber of others. Ebony grows in many places, and the rungas
is a handsome red wood, capable of receiving a fine polish, and
much prized at Singapore for the purpose of making ornamental
furniture. Generally speaking, however, there are not many
sorts of ornamental wood in the island. Several scented kinds
are known, though few of them are collected; and those which
the inhabitants do procure, they have not yet learned to turn to
profit by exporting them. The Sandal-wood, though it grows
on Timor, has not, at present, been observed in Borneo.
Lignum Aloes, called Garu by the aborigines, is sent to Arabia
and China, where it is purchased for making incense: it seems
to be caused by the disease of particular trees; for this scented
and resinous part of the trunk is only procurable after the tree
has been cut down and is decayed.
Dye-stuffs and Tannin are the produce of many barks and
fruits in these Isles of the Indian Ocean. They are,
however,
only used for home-consumption.
The Flowers of Borneo.
It has been said, and with much truth, that no country in the
world produces such ravishing perfumes as the Isles of the
Malayan Archipelago. The flowers of Borneo, in particular, are
as lovely aud sweet-scented as her forests are extensive and
stately. The odours of Melur (a species of Jasmine), Champaka
(a Michelia), and Kananga (Uvaria) are everywhere known and
prized. The woods also abound in shrubs and flowers, which
delight the eye and attract the botanist's curiosity by their rich
hues and peculiar structure. As in most tropical countries, the
Orchideous Tribes are numerous and lovely; and, especially on
the open banks, where they enjoy their chief requisites of sun
and moisture, these charming parasites may be seen entwining
with their short-lived beauty the otherwise unsightly and naked
trunks of the decaying trees.
The genus Calogyne has the advantage of great fragrance
besides the delicacy of its white and orange flowers; and several
species of Vanda abound, equalling those of the continent of

30
India in beauty. One kind, which produces remarkably large
blossoms, and which has been successfully introduced into
England, has been named by Dr. Lindley, V. Lowei, after its
fortunate discoverer.
Again, one kind of Cypripedium, or Lady's Slipper, which
grows in Borneo, excels all those previously known; and while
the genus Dendrobium, which is the pride of India, presents only
small-flowered species in Borneo, the genus Æria is rich in
varied and eminently beautiful kinds. Cirrhopetalon, Bolbo-
phyllum, and others of the more minute Orchidea abound, and
are highly curious, delicate, and beautiful, compensating, by
their interesting forms, for the want of gaudy colours and large
size.
To pass from Orchideous plants, of which the culture is now
so much favoured in England, we find the same localities, namely,
river-banks and the dense underwood of the jungles, exhibiting
many beautiful species of Ixora and Pavetta. The former bears
large bunches of flowers, which vary into all the intermediate
shades, from pale orange to crimson ; while the latter presents
tufts of delicate snow-white blossoms. Other Rubiacea abound,
and are among the most fragrant and beautiful of the wild
plants of Borneo
Perhaps no plants are more gorgeous than the different
kinds of Rhododendron, one in particular, which Mr. Lowe has
named after Rajah Brooke. Its large heads of flowers are
produced in abundance all the year round, and excel in size
those of any known species: they frequently consist of eighteen
flowers, which are of all possible hues, from a pale and rich
yellow to reddish salmon-colour; when the sun shines upon
them, these blossoms sparkle with the brilliancy of gold dust.
Three other sorts have a fine inflorescence, one crimson,
another red, and the third of a rich tint between these colours.
Four species of Clerodendron adorn the banks of the Sarãwak
river: two of them, which are fragrant, bear white flowers, another
is scarlet, and another crimson. The latter is the handsomest :
it forms a shrub, ten feet high, each branch tipped with a large
loose spike of rich crimson blossoms; the head of flowers is
often three feet from the foliage, forming, with the equally
crimson bracts and stems, a magnificent pyramid of bloom, each
blossom relieved by its white centre and protruding stamens ;
and the foliage is likewise ornamental, being large, dense, and
heart-shaped. This Clerodendron, which now grows well in
England, has been named after Captain Béthune, R.N., who
brought it and several other fine plants from Borneo, where its
a

31
a
flowering season is past, the C. Bethunianum does not lose all its
charms: the crimson bracts and calyces persist, and the latter
contain each a four-seeded berry of the richest blue colour.
The Scitaminee, an Order of plants not much cultivated in Eng-
land, produces some beautiful species in Borneo, especially Alpinie.
A fine white-flowered Bignonia is lovely and fragrant; and
an Echites, also found on river-banks, is handsome and endowed
with a rich perfume.
Melastomas grow everywhere, and supply the many-hued
pigeons with abundant food in the soft and pulpy fruit.
There are several charming kinds of climbers in Borneo :
among the most conspicuous is an undescribed Banhinia,
which, in December, invests the trees with large bunches of
gaudy crimson blossoms. Hoya imperialis is very striking : its
large rich purple flowers are relieved by an ivory-white centre.
Various beautiful species of Combretum abound. The Order
Cyrtandraceæ is rich in the genera Lysinotus and Æschynan-
thus: the L. Aucklandia surpassing all the others in the size and
gorgeous hue of its clustered blossoms, while its growth and
woody stems raise it to the dignity of a shrub.
The vegetable productions of the mountains in Borneo, are
quite different from those above enumerated. There, the genus
Dacrydium, and other Taxacea, recall the Fir and Cypress of
our northern clime. Herbaceous plants, some of which are
beautiful, grow on the exposed and damp rocks; while in mossy
places, the charming golden-leaved Anectocheilus and a new and
still finer species of the same genus abound.
No fewer than eight species of the wonderful Pitcher-plants
have been discovered in the western part of Borneo. In some
instances, the pitcher would contain more than a pint of water.
Those of Nepenthes Rafflesiana are generally crimson. This species
chiefly inhabits rocky islands near Singapore, and is easily known
by its white and pulverulent stems and bushy habit, not exceeding
four or five feet high. The largest kind found in Borneo, and which
Mr. Low calls N. Hookeriana, inhabits deep and shaded jungles,
where it climbs to the very tops of the trees. Its pitchers are
nine inches long, and the lid is furnished with two broad and
beautifully fringed wings: like N. Rafflesiana it produces two
kinds of pitchers, one broad and crimson, the other long,
trumpet-shaped, and of a green colour spotted with crimson
while the leaves are dark green above and of a fine peach-
coloured red beneath.
N. ampullacea also climbs and is an inhabitant of the jungles,
matting the ground with its shoots and only producing pitchers
;

32
on those stems which do not ascend trees. Another kind,
approaching N. Boschiana, bears beautiful purple flowers, elegant
foliage, and small tubular pitchers. It grows about eight feet
high and is confined to rocky places near the sea : it is the
handsomest of the genus.
The Fruits of Borneo.
a
The fruits of the Indian Islands have long been prized, and
though the neighbouring countries have imported and cultivated
them, they still attain their greatest perfection in their native
land.
“ Malaya's nectared Mangustin," and the rich Durian, with
the Lansat (Lancium), are among the best. The first is the
produce of the Garcinia Mangostana, which is a tree three feet
high, bearing large and handsome leaves, and a fruit, about the
size of an apple : its bright crimson skin and snowy pulp have
an inviting appearance: the flavour is highly grateful, and the
tree bears two crops in the year. The Durian is produced by
the tree called Durio zibethinus, which often attains more than
sixty feet in height and yields fruit four times a year. To Euro-
peans, the peculiar and strong odour of the fruit is often repulsive
and prevents their relishing its rich flavour. The Dyaks are
passionately fond of the Durian. Offensive as its garlic-like
odour becomes when gathered for three or four days and sold in
the bazaars, this fruit, when fresh, is equally agreeable to the
taste and smell. To eat it in perfection, it must be plucked from
the tree. Its large seeds are roasted and resemble chestnuts: the
Dyaks preserve them carefully, to be used when the fresh Durian
can no longer be procured. The Lansat is, perhaps, the most
universally palatable; the fruit is pulpy, aromatic and delicate,
and is produced in bunches from the stem and branches of the
tree.
The Bread-fruit and the Jack, both species of Artocarpus,
grow in Borneo. A single fruit of the latter often weighs
sixty pounds.
A small tree of the order Sapotacea produces a sweet subacid
fruit, called Tampui; from which an intoxicating drink is prepared
by the Dyaks. A species of Nephilium is plentiful in the woods :
it bears a very pleasant small fruit. The varieties of Mango
a

33
(Mangifera), Jamba (Eugenia), and Averrhoa are all more or less
prized, and the Barangan, a kind of Chestnut, and the Pomegra-
nate are cultivated.
Generally speaking, the natives of Borneo pay little attention
to the fruit-trees: they grow in the jungle, no pains are taken
to cultivate them. In Penang and Malacca, where they are
more valued, they yield fruit regularly twice a year, and the
produce is in greater quantity and of superior quality.
A few remarks may be made upon the system of Agriculture
pursued by the Dyaks. It would naturally be supposed that
where the main subsistence of the population is derived from
grain, considerable care and labour would be bestowed upon
rearing it.
Such is far from being the case. The soil
is so productive, that it yields heavy crops with hardly any more
trouble than that of sowing the seed. It is, however, necessary
to clear the ground first from the dense forests, and in this work
the Dyak is assisted by all his family, the females clearing the
brushwood, the slaves and boys felling the large trees. A few
dry days suffice to parch the prostrate trunks, and then they are
set on fire, and continue to blaze till all is consumed; and the
frequent rains which visit Borneo, soon quench the flames and
cool the soil. The charred portions of wood are used for
making the Pagar or fence, which is always needful to protect
the future crop from the attacks of deer and wild hogs; while
the ashes of the wood are highly valuable in fertilizing the soil.
It is customary to select the Padi which is to be sown, from the
very finest and largest grains of the preceeding season. Three
or four seeds are dropped into each hole by the women and
children ; who dig the holes with a blunt stick, at distances of
fifteen to eighteen inches apart every way, and who then cover
the grain by scraping over a little earth or ashes with their feet.
Indian Corn (or maize) is often sown sparingly at the same time,
and in the same ground, with the rice; and as it shoots and
ripens and is harvested in three months, it causes no injury to
the main crop. So, likewise, Gourds, Melons, and Cucumbers
are often grown with the Padi.
After the field is planted, a hut is always built close by;
where the owners may live while the crop requires weeding and
during the period of harvest,
Six or seven months from sowing, the Padi is fit to be
gathered; but as all the ears do not ripen together, as in a
European corn-field, so they are severally cut off, day by day,
till the whole are gathered, and the process of rubbing out the
grain proceeds continually, till all is secured. In small fields,
:
j

34
a
the rice is separated from the stalks by the hand; but in larger
farms, the Padi is shaken about in a sieve and thus cleared in a
more summary manner. The custom of afterwards removing
the husk, by pounding the rice in a mortar, prevents its ever
keeping long; for the grains being thus broken and their
protecting enamel destroyed, they are quickly attacked and
spoiled by the weevil. If kept in the husk, (in which state the
rice is always called Padi,) the grain remains uninjured for
many years. It is not uncommon for the soil to produce such
enormous crops, that much is lost for want of hands to gather it.
When this is the case, the land seems for a while exhausted, and
the Dyaks forsake it for a period of seven years, and returning,
begin anew the process of felling, clearing, and burning. They
assign the custom of their ancestors for giving the ground this
certain time of rest.
Tobacco, Millet, a species of Mustard, the egg plant, and a
few other vegetables are cultivated, but to a very limited extent,
by the Dyaks and Malays.
Among the Dyaks, two plants are held in special reverence,
the Dracæna and the Yellow Bamboo; and these being natives
of India may probably have been introduced from thence at the
same time as the Brahminical worship. The former, the Dra-
cæna terminalis, is planted round the houses together with the
Ivory Bamboo. Beneath their shade, generally stands a little
altar, sometimes roofed to protect it from rain, but oftener
uncovered. The tree itself is not worshipped; but the place
where it grows is held sacred, and no village is ever without it.
Perhaps the graceful stems and lovely foliage first attracted
attention, and induced the simple natives to suppose that
objects endowed with such beauty must be special favourites of
their gods.
Among the Dyaks of the Sarawăk river, the Pancratium
Amboynense, which they call Si-kudip, is highly esteemed. It
nowhere grows wild in Borneo, and being a native of the
Moluccas and other Islands to the eastward, it seems to argue
that the Dyaks brought it with them when they first immigrated
into Borneo. Its roots are preserved with jealous care, from
the idea that the Padi crop will fail
, unless one Si-kudip be
grown in the same field. When the grain is ripe, this bulb is
accordingly secured and preserved in the graneries, to be planted
again the following year. The Pancratium bears a beautiful
crown of white and fragrant flowers, on a stalk about a foot high.
Mr. Low mentions that he saw a single specimen in one place,
which the owner had honoured by erecting an altar of bamboo
a

35
over it whereon were laid offerings of food and water. No
persuasion could induce the proprietor to part with it.
The order Amaryllidee, to which the Pancratium belongs, is
almost entirely absent in Borneo. If future observations con-
firm the belief, that the venerated Si-kudip was brought to
Borneo when that island was peopled, and that its native country
is to the eastward, it will follow that thence came the Dyaks also.
Sketch of the BOTANY of Dr. A. WISLIZENUS'S EXPEDITION
from Missouri to Santa Fe, Chihuahua, Parras, Saltillo,
Monterey, and Matamoras ;
BY
DR. G. ENGELMANN.
[At p. 391 of the London Journal of Botany for the present year, we noticed
p
the Travels of Dr. Wislizenus in the countries above mentioned. We have here
the pleasure to give Dr. Engelmann's sketch of the Botany of that Journey,
omitting, however, the descriptions of the new plants, which will soon find a
place in our European systematic works.]
done so,
a
Dr. Wislizenus has intrusted to me his very interesting
botanical collections, with the desire that I should describe the
numerous novelties included in them.
Gladly would I have
had not leisure been wanting, and were I not here (in
St. Louis) cut off from large collections and libraries. As it is,
I can only give a general view of the Flora of the regions tra-
versed, and describe a few of the most interesting new plants
collected; with the apprehension, however, that some of them
may have been published already from other sources, without
my being aware of it.
In examining the collections of Dr. Wislizenus, I have been
materially aided by having it in my power to compare the plants
which Dr. Josiah Gregg, the author of that interesting work
“The Commerce of the Prairies," has gathered between Chi-
huahua and the mouth of the Rio Grande, but particularly
about Monterey and Saltillo, and a share of which, with great
liberality, he has communicated to me. His and Dr. W.'s
collections together, form a very fine herbarium for those regions.
The tour of Dr. Wislizenus encompassed, as it were, the
valley of the Rio Grande and the whole of Texas, as a glance at
a

36
the map will show. His plants partake, therefore, of the cha-
racter of the Floras of the widely different countries which are
separated by this valley. Indeed, the Flora of the valley of the
Rio Grande connects the United States, the Californian, the
Mexican, and the Texan Floras, including species or genera, or
families, peculiar to each of these countries.
The north-eastern portion of the route traverses the large
western prairies, rising gradually from about 1,000 feet above
the gulf of Mexico, near Independence, Missouri, to 4,000 feet
west of the Cimarron river. The plants collected on the first
part of this section, as far west as the crossings of the Arkansas
river, are those well known as the inhabitants of our western
plains. I mention among others, as peculiarly interesting to
the botanist, or distinguished by giving a character to the lands-
cape, in the order in which they were collected, Tradescantia virgi-
nica, Phlox aristata, Enothera missouriensis, serrulata, speciosa,
&c., Pentstemon Cobæa, Astragalus caryocarpus, (common as far
west as Santa Fe,) Delphinium azureum, Baptisia australis,
Malva Papaver, Schrankia uncinata and angustata, Echinacea
angustifolia, Aplopappus spinulosus, Gaura coccinea, Sida coccinea,
Sophora sericea, Sesleria dactyloides, Hordeum pusillum, Engel-
mannia pinnatifida, Pyrrhopappus grandiflorus, Gaillardia pul-
chella,* Argemone Mexicana (with very hispid stem and large
flowers).
The plants collected between the Arkansas and Cimarron
rivers are rarer, some of them known to us only through Dr.
James, who accompanied Long's expedition to those regions in
1820. We find here Cosmidium gracile, Torr. and Gr., which
has also been collected about Santa Fe and farther down the
Rio Grande; Cucumis ? perennis, James, found also near Santa
Fe and about Chihuahua, and by Mr. Lindheimer in Texas;
the petals being united about two-thirds of their length, it
cannot be retained under the genus Cucumis ; Hoffmannseggia
Jamesii, T. and G., was also gathered on this part of the journey;
several species of Psoralea, Petalostemon and Astragalus ; also
Torry's Gaura villosa, and Krameria lanceolata ; Erysimum
asperum, which before was not known to grow so far south;
Polygala alba, Lygodesmia juncea. Here we also, for the first
time, meet with Rhus trilobata, Nutt., which, farther west, becomes
a very common plant.† A new Talinum, which I have named
* Abundant in the sands about the Arkansas river, with beautiful flowers,
but only about six inches high ; certainly annual.
† Like many other plants mentioned here, it has been collected in abundant
and beautiful specimens by Mr. A. Fendler, a young German collector, who has

37
T. calycinum, was found in sandy soil on the Cimarron. This
plant has, like the nearly allied T. teretifolium of the United
States, a remarkable tenacity of life, so much so that specimens
collected, pressed, and “ dried,” in June, 1846, when they
reached me in August, 1847, fourteen months later, grew
vigorously after being planted.
Psoralea hypogea, Nutt., was collected near Cold Spring, and
Yucca angustifolia from here to Santa Fe.
From Cedar creek the mountainous region commences with
an elevation of near 5,000 feet above the Gulf, and extends to
Santa Fe to about 7,000 feet. With the mountains we get also
to the region of the pines and of the Cacti. Dr. Wislizenus has
here collected two species of Pinus, both of which appear to be
undescribed, so that I venture to give now a short account of
them. The most interesting one, on account of its useful fruit,
as well as its botanical associations, is the nut pine of New
Mexico, (Piñon,) Pinus edulis, nearly related to the nut pine of
north-eastern Mexico, Pinus osteosperma, (specimens of which
were sent to me by Dr. Gregg, as collected on the battlefield of
Buena Vista,) and to the nut pine of California, P. monophylla,
Torr. and Frem.—these three species being the western repre-
sentatives of Pinus Pinea and Cembra of the eastern continent.
The second species, Pinus brachyptera, is the most common
pine of New Mexico, and the most useful for timber. A third
species, Pinus flexilis, James, was overlooked by Dr. Wislizenus,
but has been collected in fine specimens, by Mr. Fendler, about
Santa Fe. Its leaves in fives and pendulous cylindrical squarrose
cones assimilate it to Pinus Strobus ; but the seed is large and
edible, as Dr. James has already remarked, and the leaves are
not serrulate and much stouter. The Piñones, so much eaten
in Santa Fe, appear principally to be the product of Pinus edulis.
I shall have occasion to speak of three other pines when I come
to the Flora of the mountains of Chihuahua.
Linum perenne makes its first appearance here, and continues
to Santa Fe, as well as the justly so called Lathyrus ornatus.
Several species of Potentilla, Enothera, Artemisia, and Pentste-
mon were collected in this district.
Among the most remarkable plants met with were the Cac-
tacea. After having observed on the Arkansas, and northeast
of it, nothing but an Opuntia, which probably is not different
investigated the regions about Santa Fe during last season, (1847,) and has
made most valuable and well preserved collections, some sets of which he offers
for sale. I shall repeatedly be obliged to refer to him when speaking of the
Flora of Santa Fe.

38
from 0. vulgaris, Dr. W. came at once, as soon as the mountain
region and the pine woods commenced, on several beautiful and
interesting members of this curious family, an evidence that he
approached the favourite home of the Cactus tribe, Mexico.
On Waggon-mound the (flowerless) specimens of a strange
Opuntia were found, with an erect, ligneous stem, and cylindrical,
horridly spinous, horizontal branches. The plant was here only
five feet high, but grows about Santa Fe to the height of eight
or ten feet, and continues to be found as far as Chihuahua and
Parras. In the latter more favourable climate it grows to be a
tree of twenty or thirty, and perhaps forty feet high, as Dr. W.
informs me, and offers a beautiful aspect when covered with its
large red flowers. It is evidently the plant which Torrey and
James doubtfully, though incorrectly, refer to Cactus Bleo, H.B.K.
It is nearly allied to Opuntia furiosa, Willd., but well distin-
guished from it; and as it appears to be undescribed, I can give
it no more appropriate name than 0. arborescens, the tree Cactus,
or Foconoztle, as called by the Mexicans, according to Dr. Gregg.
The stems of the dead plant present a most singular appearance ;
the soft parts having rotted away, a net work of woody fibres
remains, forming a hollow tube, with very regular rhombic
meshes, which correspond with the tubercles of the living plant.
The first Mammillaria was also met with on Waggon-mound,
a species nearly related to M. vivipara of the Missouri, and also
to the Texan M. radiosa, (Engelm. in Plant. Lindh. inedit.,) but
probably distinct from either. Mr. Fendler has collected the
same species near Santa Fe.
On Wolf creek the curious and beautiful Fallugia paradoxa,
Endl., looking like a shrubby Geum, was found in flower and
fruit; also a (new ?) species of Streptanthus, and an interesting
Geranium, which I named G.pentagynum, because of its having
its five styles only slightly united at base, while most other
Gerania have them united for about two-thirds or more of their
length.
In the prairies about Wolf creek, in an elevation of about
6,000 and 7,000 feet, the smallest of a tribe of Cactacea was
detected, numerous species of which were discovered in the
course of the journey south and south-east : several others have
also been found in Texas. I mean those dwarfish Cerei,
some of which have been described with the South American
genus Echinopsis, or have been referred alternately to Cereus or
Echinocactus, and which I propose to distinguish from all these
under the name of Echinocereus, indicating their intermediate
position between Cereus and Echinocactus : they approach more

39
closely to Cereus, in which genus they, as well as the Echi-
nopsis, should perhaps be included as subgenera.
The species mentioned above is distinguished from all others
known to me by its yellowish-green flowers, the others having
crimson or purple flowers. I have named it, therefore, Echino-
cereus viridiflorus.
A careful examination of the seeds of numerous Cactacea, has
indicated to me two principal divisions in that family: 1. Coty-
ledons, more or less distinct, directed with their edges to the
edge, (or towards the umbilicus,) and with their faces to the
flattened side of the seed; when curved, accumbent. 2. Coty-
ledons, mostly very distinct, foliaceous, directed with their edges
to the faces, and with their faces to the edges of the seed (or
towards the umbilicus); when curved, incumbent, and often
circular or spiral.
The first class comprises Mammillaria, with a straight embryo;
and doubtless, also, Melocactus, seeds of which, however, have
not been examined by me; and Echinocactus, mostly with
curved embryo. The second class includes Echinocereus with
nearly straight embryo, and very short cotyledons; Cereus, with
a curved embryo, and foliaceous incumbent cotyledons, (probably
also Echinopsis and Pilocereus, and perhaps Phyllocactus and
Epiphyllum ;) Opuntia, with a circular or spiral embryo, (circular
and with a larger albumen in all Opuntia cylindracea ; spiral
and with a much smaller albumen in all Opuntia elliptica,
examined by me,) and very large cotyledons. Rhipsalis and
Pereskia may also belong here, but were out of my reach.
The flowers of all species belonging to the first class, with the
doubtful exception of some Mammillaria, make their appearance
on the growth of the same year. Those of the second class
produce the flowers always upon the growth of the next preceding
or former years. The first class may, therefore, be distinguished
by the name of Cactacea parallelæ (from the direction of the
cotyledons), or apiciflora (from the position of the flowers).
The second class can be named, in a corresponding manner,
Cactacea contraria, or lateriflora.
Echinocereus is principally distinguished from Cereus proper
by its low growth ; its short, more or less oval stems, which are
frequently branching at base, and thereby cæspitose ; by the
diurnal flowers, with short tubes; by the nearly straight embryo,
with short cotyledons. From Echinopsis, to which some species
have been referred, it differs also by the short-tubed diurnal
flowers, and by the numerous filaments being adnate to the
lower part of the tube. The species Echinocereus inhabit Texas

40
and the northern parts of Mexico, where Cerei proper are very
rare. They extend even farther north than the Echinocacti,
but appear to be excluded from the old limits of the United
States, where the Cactus family is represented only by some
Opuntia and Mammillaria. The southern limits of the Echi-
nocerei are unknown to me, but I doubt whether they extend
far in that direction; the nearly-related Echinopsides, on the
contrary, appear to be exclusively inhabitants of South America,
especially the La Plata countries.
As I am speaking of the geographical distribution of the
Cactacea, I may as well add here that Mammillaria were found
throughout the whole extent of Dr. Wislizenus's tour, and that
at least four species occur in Texas. Echinocacti were observed
only south of Santa Fé, and from there to Matamoros, but none
on the highest mountains, which were occupied by Opuntia,
Mammillaria, and Echinocerei ; two Echinocacti have been
found in Texas. Only two species of true Cerei were seen; one
of a peculiar type about Chihuahua, and another near the mouth
of the Rio Grande, which does not appear to differ from the
wide-spread C. variabilis, Pfeiff
. Opuntia elliptice, as well as
cylindracee, were observed from New Mexico to Matamoros,
and species of both are also found in Texas. Melocacti, Phyl-
locacti, and other genera of Cactacea, not mentioned above,
were not met with.
The notes and collections of Dr. Wislizenus confirm the
opinion of that acute observer and succesful cultivator of Cactacea,
Prince Salm-Dyck, viz: that most species of this family have a
very limited geographical range, the most striking exception
being those belonging to the genus Opuntia.
On the same day two other species of Echinocereus were found
in pine timber, both with beautiful deep red flowers.
We shall have occasion to speak of others hereafter.
After leaving Santa Fé, Dr. Wislizenus directed his course
southward along the Rio Grande. The country was partly
mountainous and rocky; partly, and principally along the river,
sandy; on an average between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above the
. Here we find again some of the plants of the plains and
of Texas, as Polanisia trachysperma, T. and G.; Hoffmanseggia
Jamesii, T. and G. An interesting Prosopis with screw-shaped
legumes nearly allied to P. odorata, Torr. and Frem., of Cali-
fornia, was the first shrubby mimoseous plant observed during
the journey, a tribe which hereafter becomes more and more
abundant; Mentzelia sp. Cosmidium gracile, Eustoma, Helio-
tropium currasavicum, Maurandia antirrhiniflora, a beautiful
ocean.

41
large flowered Datura, Abronia, Hendecandra Texensis, and many
others. Near Olla the first specimens appeared of a new species
of Larrea, the first and most northern form of the shrubby
Zygophyllacea, more abundant farther south. In the same
neighbourhood the Mezquite tree or shrub was first met with,
probably Algarobia glandulosa, T. and G. From this place the
Mezquite was abundantly found down to Matamoros, but the
specimens collected appear to indicate that there are at least two
different species.
On the next day," near Sabino, an interesting Bignoniaceous
shrub was collected for the first time, undoubtedly the Chilopsis
of Don, which farther south appears more abundantly. Its
slightly twining branches, willow-like slender glutinous leaves,
and large paler or darker red flowers, render it a very remarkable
shrub. Dr. Gregg mentions it under the name Mimbre," as
one of the most beautiful shrubs of northern Mexico. The cha-
racter given by Don, and that of De Candolle, appear defective,
though I cannot doubt that both had our plant in view. From
the very complete specimens obtained both by Dr. Wislizenus
and Dr. Gregg, I am enabled to correct those errors.
Near Albuquerque a curious Opuntia was observed; it evi-
dently belongs to the Opuntia cylindracea, but has short clavate
joints, which make the name of 0. clavata most appropriate. A
singular plant, with the habit of a Ranunculus, but nearly related
to Saururus, was also found in this neighbourhood among grass
on the banks of the Rio Grande. The genus has been described
by Nuttall from specimens collected by him in California, but
whether his Anemopsis Californica is specifically identical with
the new Mexican plant, remains to be seen, as this last has
regularly six-leaved involucres, about six stamens, and is per-
fectly glabrous.
While the last mentioned plants indicate that we approach
another botanical region, we are surprised to meet here with
Polygonum amphibium, common in the old and in the new
world, and Cephalanthus occidentalis, so widely diffused in the
United States.
The famous desert, the Jornada del Muerto, furnished, as was
to be expected, its quota of interesting plants. A Crucifera
near Biscutella of Europe, but with very short styles and white
flowers, was here met with abundantly. I had considered it as
the type of a new genus, when I found in Hooker's London
Journal of Botany, of February, 1845, Harvey's description of
his new Californian genus Dithyrea, which probably must be
made to embrace our plant as a second species.
a

42
a
A new species of Talinum, with single axillary flowers, was
found for the first time in the Jornada, but was again collected
further south, towards Chihuahua. Dalea lanata, Centaurea
Americana, Sapindus marginata, and a Bolivia, probably iden-
tical with a new Texan species, brought to mind the Flora of
Arkansas and Texas, while the gigantic Echinocactus Wislizeni
reminds us again that we are approaching the Mexican plateau.
This enormous Cactus attains generally a height of one and a half to
two feet; specimens three feet high were rare, but one specimen
was found which measured four feet in height, and near seven feet
in circumference; its top was covered with buds, flowers, and
fruits, in all stages of development. In size it ranges next to
Echinocactus ingens, Zucc., specimens of which five to six feet
high, were collected near Zimapan, in Mexico. Another Mexican
Cactus, E.platyceras, Lem., is said to grow six, and even ten
feet high, and proportionately thick. E. Wislizeni is therefore
the third in size in this genus.
From the same neighbourhood a beautiful Mammillaria was
sent in dried, as well as living specimens. It appears to be one
of the few Mammillaria longimamme, though it differs in having
purple, not yellow flowers, and stiffer spines. By the name I
have given it, M. macromeris, I intended to indicate the unusually
large size of different parts of the plant, the tubercles, the spines.
and the flowers.
In the same region a strange plant was obtained for the first
time, but then without flowers or fruit, and which, to the casual
observer, appeared as curious as it is puzzling to the scientific
botanist ; single spiny sticks or stems having a soft and brittle
wood, and a great deal of pith in the centre, one or more from
the same root, but always without branches, eight to ten feet
high, not more than half an inch thick, frequently overtopping
the brush among which they were found, only towards the top
with a few bunches of already yellow leaves. In the following
spring the splendid crimson flowers of this plant were found by
Dr. W. between Chihuahua and Parras, and to Dr. Gregg I am
indebted for mature fruit, collected near Saltillo and Monterey.
The plant proved to be a Fouquiera, two species of which have
been found in Mexico by Humboldt; one of them, the F. formosa,
a branching shrub, was only known in the flowering state; the
other, F. spinosa, a spinous tree, only in fruit. The structure of
the
ovary of the first appeared to differ so much from that of the
capsule of the second, that it was afterwards deemed necessary
to distinguish both generically, and the second constituted then
the genus Bronnia. Having both flowers and fruit of a third

43
and prove
a
a
Fouquiera, I am enabled to solve the difficulty to some extent,
the necessity of re-uniting Bronnia with Fouquiera.
The flower of Fouquiera splendens, as I have named the northern
plant, is that of a true Fouquiera, while the fruit is nearly that
of Bronnia!
Towards El Paso a curious Capparidaceous plant was collected,
which appears to be nearly allied to the Californian Oxystylis
of Torrey and Frémont, and forms with it a distinct group in
that Family, approaching very closely to Crucifera, as has been
remarked by Professor Torrey.
I have named this new genus Wislizenia, in honour of its
discoverer, who has, though unaided and often embarrassed
in different ways, done so much towards the advancement of our
knowledge of those northern provinces of Mexico—the first na-
turalist, it is believed, who explored the regions between Santa Fé,
Chihuahua, and Saltillo. From Oxystylis it is principally dis-
tinguished by its long stipitate ovary and capsule, which latter
is reflexed, and by the elongated racemes; it may, however,
have to be united with that genus.
On the mountains about El Paso, another of those cylindra-
ceous Opuntia was found, but much thinner and more slender
than both species, mentioned previously. To judge from an
imperfect description it must be nearly related to the Mexican
0. virgata, Hort. Berol. I have given it the name of 0. vaginata,
as the straw-coloured loose sheaths of the long spines are very
remarkable. A new Echinocereus was also collected here, which,
on account of its dense covering with small spines, I have named
E. dasyacanthus. I have in cultivation one of the largest speci-
mens seen by Dr. Wislizenus, which is one foot high. In this
neighbourhood, Opuntia Tuna, Mill., was seen for the first time,
and this is perhaps the most northern limit of that extensively
diffused species, as well as of Agave Americana, another common
Mexican plant. Both were found in greater perfection near
Chihuahua, and from there constantly down to Monterey and
the mouth of the Rio Grande; the Opuntia appears to extend
also high up in Texas.
Together with these a Dasylirion, perhaps the same as the
Texan species, was found here, and afterwards again near Saltillo.
From El Paso to Chihuahua, the road lies in part through a
dreadfully arid sandhill district, where a peculiar Martynia
was
observed, and further on, through a lovely country, which, at
that season, (August,) after the annual rains, was covered with a
luxuriant vegetation. The elevation of the country is here
between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above the gulf.

44
a
a
The rare Cevallia sinuata, which Dr. Gregg has also sent from
Monterey, was found in this part of the journey. Here also
occurred a perennial species of Linum, with yellow petals, so far,
in America, the only perennial yellow flowering Linum ; it is
distinguished by its long aristate sepals, whence the name.
Several Oenothera, not seen before, now made their appearance ;
different species of Gilia, a number of Nyctaginea, several Ascle-
piadacea, Malvacea, Cucurbitacea, Composite, and others, were
here collected ; including a number of new species, which only
want of time and references have for the present prevented me
from describing. Near Lake Encinillas another Martynia was
found, which, in its foliage, comes nearer to M. proboscidea, but
is readily distinguished by its purple flowers. A beautiful
yellow-flowering Bignoniaceous shrub, probably Tecoma stans,
Juss., seen more frequently further south, was observed for the
first time near Gallejo spring. Shrubby Algarobia were seen
more plentifully, as also some other Mimoseæ.
Here would be the proper place to introduce a notice of the
several species of Yucca found by Dr. Wislizenus. But, unfor-
tunately, the labels of the specimens were partly lost, so that it
is impossible at this time to arrange leaves, flowers, and fruits
properly. Certain it is that several species besides Yucca angus-
tifolia, mentioned above, were seen; that the leaves of all of
them have filamentose edges, some with very fine, others with
very coarse fibres on their margin ; that the majority bear juice-
less capsules with very thin, paper-like seeds, but that one
species produces an edible succulent fruit with very thick seeds.
Fortunately the seeds collected by Dr. W. arrived here in the
best condition, and some have already germinated, so that we
may hope to raise some of these species. Yucca aloifolia, of the
southern United States and Mexico, is said also to bear an edible
fruit, but has serrulate leaves; we have, therefore, different
species of Yucca with edible fruits, which may constitute a pecu-
liar section in this genus.
The soil appeared to be too fertile here for the production of
Cacti; and with the exception of some Opuntia, the only species
collected between Paso and Chihuahua, about 100 miles south
of the former place, was Cereus Greggii, which was peculiarly
interesting, as it is probably the most northern form of Cereus
proper. The specimens sent for cultivation by Dr. W. were
unfortunately dead when they arrived here, and neither flower nor
fruit had been obtained; but Dr. Gregg has collected the same
species near Cadena, south of Chihuahua, in flower, from which
I completed the description. I could not have given it a more

45
a
appropiate name than that of the zealous and intelligent explorer
of those far off regions. I learn from Prince Salm-Dyck that a
Cereus, probably the same species, was sent to England by
Mr. Potts, of Chihuahua, but his specimens also did not live;
they were very remarkable for having a thick turnip-shaped root.
Neither Dr. W. nor Dr. G. having paid attention to the root, I
am unable to say whether their specimens agree with those of
Mr. Potts in this particular.
Dr. Wislizenus was forced to go from Chihuahua westward to
Cosihuiriachi. However prejudicial this involutary interruption
of his journey may have been to the primary objects of his expe-
dition, it appears that he could not have selected a more favourable
field for botanical researches. Amongst the porphyry mountains
of Cosihuiriachi and Llanos, which vary from 6,000 to 8,000
feet in height, and their deep chasm-like valleys, a great many
undescribed species of plants were found; in fact almost every-
thing collected there appears to be new!
Amongst the trees, I mention three species of pines, entirely
different from those found farther north, but perhaps identical
with some species from the Pacific coast. The most magnificent
of these three is a species nearly related to Pinus strobus and
Pinus flexilis, which I name P. strobiformis. Its size and growth,
its foliage, as well as the shape of the cones, resemble the common
white pine of the north, but the cones are two or three times as
large, not to speak of the other differences. It only grows on the
highest mountains of this region, of about 8,000 feet elevation,
and attains the height of 100 to 130 feet.
Pinus macrophylla, another inhabitant of the higher mountains
of Chihuahua, is more common than the last ; like it, it closely
resembles a well-known species of the United States, P. australis,
from which it differs by its short cones, which have on each scale
a mammillary recurved tubercle, and by having the leaves not
only in threes, but also in fours and even in fives. It may be near
P. occidentalis of the interior of Mexico, but that has regularly
five leaves in each sheath.
P. Chihuahuana is the common pine of Cosihuiriachi and the
mountains of Chihuahua, in general at an elevation of about
7,000 feet. It grows only thirty to fifty feet high, and resembles
somewhat P. variabilis, though sufficiently distinct. Dr. Wisli-
zenus was unable to obtain specimens of a fourth pine, which is
said to grow on the still higher mountains to the west, near
Jesus-Maria, bearing cones fifteen or eighteen inches in length.
On the highest peaks in this region a species of Arbutus was
found, which the inhabitants call Matronia; it is a small tree
a

46
a
j
with a smooth, red bark, bearing in November and December
red edible berries. If it is at all distinct from A. Menziesii,
Pursh, of the northwest coast, which it closely resembles, it ought,
from the colour of its bark, to bear the name of A. sanguinea.
These, together with a low scrubby oak tree, with small peren-
nial leaves, were the only trees collected about Cosihuiriachi.
A species of Juniperus with red berries, a Thuja, and a small-
leaved Cowania (?), all of them in fruit, were also brought from
there.
Between Chihuahua and Cosihuiriachi, but especially about
the latter place, the porphyritic soil produced a number of Cac-
tacea, some strange Echinocacti, several Mammillaria, a few
Opuntia, and principally a great variety of Echinocerei. One
of the latter is completely covered with stout and long spines;
another has short radiating spines, closely adpressed to the
plant; a third has short radiating spines with single, stout black
central ones, which project from the plant in all directions; a
fourth is distinguished by its longer and curved reddish radiating
spines, with a stouter one projecting from their centre. I have
all of these in cultivation, but have not as yet seen flowers or
fruit from any one of them ; still they cannot but belong to
my genus Echinocereus, to judge from analogy.
Some Mammillaria of Cosihuiriachi are distinguished by their
compact shape; the tubercles are very short, globose, or even
hemispherical, the spines strong, numerous, radiating, and ad-
pressed, the fruits central from a woolly vertex : Mammillaria
compacta. Another, M. gummifera, belongs together with two
species from Texas, and from the mouth of the Rio Grande to
the section Angulares, with pyramidal 4-angled tubercles, and
milky juice, which hardening forms a gum. A third species
belongs to Crinita, and is a most elegant little plant with
numerous hair-like radiating and one stout, hooked, central spine ;
I have named it M. barbata. The specimen communicated by
Dr. Wislizenus, the only one found, was dead when it arrived
here, but many fruits were adhering to the plant, and I was
thus fortunate enough to cultivate it from the seeds.
Other remarkable Cactacea from the State of Chihuahua,
which have been communicated to Dr. Wislizenus by Mr. Potts,
of Chihuahua, are not described here, as it is believed that
Mr. P. has sent them already to England, where, no doubt long
before this, they have been published.
Amongst the other distinguished plants of Cosihuiriachi and
Llanos, I cannot omit to mention a beautiful Delphinium, which
grew abundantly here; a Silene, which is perhaps new, but
a

47
a
comes near to S. multicaulis, Nutt., of the Rocky mountains,
and S. Moçiniana, DC. of Mexico; a new Bouvardia, which is
remarkably distinct from all the other Mexican species of this
genus by its smoothness; an Echiveria perhaps identical with
the Californian E. cæspitosa, DC. ; several Gerania, which ap-
pear to be undescribed, one of them with white flowers; an
Eryngium, with the lowest leaves most elegantly pectinated, and
the upper ones palmately divided; a Zinnia, intermediate
between Zinnia multiflora and Z. elegans, and which last season
grew finely near St. Louis from seeds picked from these speci-
mens. Many other Composite have not yet been examined ; a
Centaurea may be found to be distinct from C. Americana, so
far the only American species of that genus, which is so exten-
sively diffused in the old world.
Leaving aside several Dalea, Lupini, Gilia, a Gentiana, Buch-
nera, Castilleja a number of Labiata, Graminea, and many
others, I will only mention a few more, which I had time to
study more closely. First of all, the beautiful and delicate
Heuchera sanguinea, probably the most southern, and certainly
the most ornamental, species of that genus. Next in beauty
comes the bright-flowered Pentstemon coccineus; Lobelia mucro-
nata, with fine red, and L. pectinata, with blue flowers.
Amongst the most curious plants collected here is also to be
mentioned an Eriogonum with inflated clavate internodia and
dark red flowers. Phaseolus bilobatus is another interesting
plant.
In the following spring Dr. Wislizenus accompanied the
Missouri volunteers, under Colonel Doniphan, from Chihuahua
to Parras, Saltillo, Monterey, and Matamoras.
Zealous as ever, he again made large collections on his tour,
but his duties as a military surgeon occupied his time rather
more than the naturalist should have desired. Nevertheless his
collections are very full. Fortunately Dr. Gregg accompanied
the same expedition, and also made rich collections in that
almost unknown region, which we may consider as the south-
western limits of the valley of the Rio Grande.
Before going into the detail I will only remark here, what a
reference to the map and sections will more fully present, that
the country between Chihuahua and Parras has a general eleva-
tion of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet; between Parras and Saltillo
it rises from 5,000 to 6,000 feet, and thence it rapidly descends
towards the lower Rio Grande.
South of Chihuahua, a curious leafless Euphorbia was collec-
ted, with tuberous roots and leafless stem, nevertheless apparently

48
a near relative of E. cyathophora. Here, for the first time, Berberis
trifoliata, Moric., was met with, which appears to inhabit the
whole middle and lower valley of the Rio Grande, as we find it
again in this collection from Monterey, and Mr. Lindheimer has
sent beautiful specimens from the Guadaloupe, in Texas.
Echinocerei and Echinocacti appear in greater abundance.
The re-discovery of the beautiful Echinocereus pectinatus (Echi-
nocactus pectinatus, Schiede., E. pectiniferus, Lem., Echinopsis
pectinata, Salm, in part) is peculiarly interesting, as it furnishes
the means of proving a Texan species, which has been con-
founded with it, to be entirely distinct. The description of the
plants (which died without producing flowers), found in several
works, as well as in the latest publication on Cactacea, before
me, of Foerster, Leipzig, 1846, was made, as Prince Salm in-
formed me, from specimens sent from Chihuahua by Mr. Potts ;
it entirely agrees
with my specimen from the same region. But
the description in Foerster's work of the flower of a specimen in
Cassel, flowering in 1843, (not known from where obtained,) shows
that to be identical with a Texan species, common between the
Brazos and Nueces rivers, which I have described in Engelmann
and Gray's Plantæ Lindheimerianæ, Boston Journal of Natural
History, vol. v. p. 247, under the name of Cereus cespitosus,
and which should now be named Echinocereus cæspitosus.
Echinopsis pectinata, B. lavior, Monv., and y. Reichenbachiana,
ß
Salm, are perhaps forms of this Texan plant, which varies consi-
derably in its native country. Dr. Wislizenus has sent me a
living specimen and dried flowers of E. pectinatus ; unfortunately
the plant met with a similar fate to those sent to England by
Mr. Potts, and there is none now in cultivation, if I am correctly
informed; but I preserve the dried specimens in my herbarium,
and have been enabled to draw up from it the description.
Near San Pablo another Echinocereus was found, and dried
flowers, as well as living specimens, have safely arrived here. A
large Echinocactus was collected near Pelayo; unfortunately no
flowers were seen ; but the specimen brought to St. Louis is so
far in fine condition. Of another smaller, but most elegant
species of the same genus, Dr. Wislizenus collected the living
plant and flowers, and Dr. Gregg the ripe fruit. It is distinct
from the other Echinocacti found in those regions by the mem-
branaceous very thin sepaloid scales on the tube of the flower,
and the juicy glabrous fruit, in which respect it resembles my
E. setispinus from Texas; E. Texensis, Hpfr., has a juicy fruit,
covered with woolly and spiny scales; E. Wislizeni and others
have a dry fruit, covered with hard scales.

49
My Opuntia frutescens (Plant. Lindh. 1. c. p. 245.) which had
been collected by Mr. Lindheimer along the Colorado and
Guadaloupe rivers, in Texas, was also found south of Chihuahua
by Dr. Wislizenus, and again along the route near Parras, and
below Monterey. The suggestion made in the Plant. Lindh.,
that it may be a southern variety of 0. fragilis of the Upper
Missouri, has proved to be erroneous, as they belong to quite
distinct sections of the genus Opuntia ; 0. frutescens, together
with 0. vaginata, is one of the Opuntia cylindracea graciliores,
and is apparently nearly related to 0. leptocaulis DC., but is
easily distinguished by its strong, white, single spines, while
the latter has three short blackish bristles.
Agave Americana, with several relatives, was found in abun-
dance on this part of the route ; Argemone Mexicana, white, yellow,
or rose-coloured, was frequently met with; Samolus ebracteatus
occurred in moist places thus far inland, and on these elevations,
while before it was only known as a littoral plant; Malvacea,
Oenothera, Asclepiadacea, Gilia, Solanea, Justicia, shrubby
Labiate, were collected of many different species; but the great
characteristic of the country were the shrubs forming the often
impenetrable thickets
, called " chaparráls.” They are mostly
spinous, very much branched, often with remarkably small leaves,
and not rarely with edible fruits. Amongst them many rham-
naceous and celastraceous shrubs, and some Euphorbiacea, were
particularly conspicuous, as well as some Mimosea, one of which
I must not forget to mention, because it is perhaps the smallest
shrub in this family; not more than one or two inches high,
with diminutive leaflets, but large purple flowers; it was col-
lected near Chihuahua.
One of the most offensive of these chaparral-shrubs was the
Kæberlinia, Zucc., called Junco, (Gregg.); a small tree rather
than a shrub, about ten feet high, stem four to six inches in
diameter; wood hard, dark brown with white alburnum ; ter-
minal branches green, with a dark brown spinous point,
one to two inches long, and one and a half to two lines in dia-
meter ; very small subulate leaves soon deciduous; small white
flowers in short lateral racemes; fruit not seen ; in flower in
May. It was frequently seen from south of Chihuahua to Mon-
terey, (and Matamoros. Gregg.)
We find here again the interesting Chilopsis mentioned above,
also Larrea glutinosa, and another zygophyllaceous shrub, a
true Guajacum, which appears to be an undescribed species ;
it belongs to those plants that connect the Mexican with the
Texan flora, as we find it extending from Parras to Monterey,

50
and from thence to the Upper Colorado, in Texas. Tecoma Stans
re-appeared here with smaller pubescent leaves and more alate
petiole, through probably not distinct from the larger and
smoother plant found below Paso.
The beautiful Fouquiera splendens, with its panicles of long
tubular crimson flowers, rose here above all other shrubs ; in
some instances it reached a height of from twenty to thirty feet,
and perhaps more, always in single stems.
A few species of Yucca, together with Opuntia arborescens,
formed almost the only trees on the arid plains. But in the
valley of the Nazas occur stately trees of a species of Algarobia,
distinct from the A. glandulosa of the north, with broader
legumes, larger seeds, and few or no glands on the leaves.
About Saltillo Echinocactus Texensis, Hpfr., (E. Lindheimeri,
Engelm., in Plant. Lindh. I. c.,) was found, which extends from
here to Matamoros, and to the Guadaloupe and Colorado, in
Texas. The pretty Mammillaria strobiliformis grows on rocks
near Rinconada. Hunnemannia fumariæfolia, Sweet, was col-
lected near Saltillo, with smaller flowers, (an inch and a half in
diameter,) and near Rinconada, with larger ones, (three inches
in diameter); an interesting plant, the eastern representative of
the Californian Eschscholtzia, but perennial, with a small torus,
a different stigma, &c.
I cannot omit introducing here a beautiful shrub discovered
on the rocks about Agua Nueva and Buena Vista by Dr. Gregg.
Depending upon Don's characters of Cowania as correct, I must
consider this plant as the type of a new genus, which I have
great pleasure to dedicate to its indefatigable discoverer, my
friend Dr. Josiah Gregg, whose name has already been frequently
mentioned in these pages. Greggia rupestris is a lovely, sweet-
scented shrub, with flowers resembling roses in shape and colour,
so that Dr. Gregg was induced to name it the “ Cliff rose."
North and north-east of Monterey we reach the lower country,
and with it a different vegetation; here is the home of the
shrubby Cassiea (Parkinsonia, Casparea, &c.,) aud Mimosee ;
Sophora, Diospyros, some species of Rhus and Rhamnus are
common here, as well as a climbing yellow-flowered Hiræa,
while another erect, red-flowered species grows on the table-
lands near Parras. One of the most beautiful shrubs of that
district is Leucophyllum Texanum, Benth., with its whitish, to-
mentose leaves, and sweet-scented blue flowers. It is common
from San Antonio, in Texas, to Monclova, and from Cerralbo to
Camargo, but it is not seen on the table-lands.
Vitis bipinnata and V. incisa, well known in the south-western
وز

51
parts of the United States and Texas, were also found here.
Remarkable herbaceous plants were a Nicotiana, an Orobanche
(on the sea-coast,) a Eustoma, several Asclepiadacee, Malvacea,
Cucurbitacea, Labiata, and others. Lobelia phyllostachya has
already been mentioned above.
Hasty and imperfect as this notice of the collections of Dr.
Wislizenus is, it cannot but impress the botanist with the rich-
ness and novelty of the Flora of these countries, and invite the
arduous explorer to further exertions.
GEORGE ENGELMANN, M.D.
ST. LOUIS, December, 1847.


2.
COMPANION
TO THE
BOTANICAL MAGAZINE.
Bo2, 1846
ADDITIONS TO THE “ HORTUS KEWENSIS.”
a
a
When the collection of plants in the Royal Botanic Gardens
of Kew, for a long time perhaps the richest in species of any in
Europe, was comparatively stationary, the publication of the
“ Hortus Kewensis” of Mr. Aiton proved a great boon to culti-
vators in general. The first edition appeared in 1789, and the
whole impression was sold off in two years; and we well remem-
ber this first edition being so much in demand that a sum of six
pounds was offered, and not accepted, for a copy a little pre-
vious to the appearance of the second edition. This, again,
although the augmentation of species was very considerable, and
very valuable aid was given by Mr. Brown, has not yet, in thirty
years time, experienced such a sale as to call for a new impres-
sion; and the Synopsis of the work met with a still less favourable
reception. This arose from no want of merit in the book, but
from the vast accession, during late years, of species to our
gardens ; so that the impression is scarcely in circulation when
it is found inadequate to the expectations and wants of the pub-
lic, who look more for descriptions and remarks upon recently
introduced species than those already known in our gardens. The
increasing desire also to possess figures of the plants in cultiva-
tion, and the number of them that have now appeared, tend in
no small degree to lessen the value of such a work as a Garden
Flora ; so that it is more than probable a new edition will never
be called for. It is quite evident, however, that works of plates,
laborious and expensive as they are, can never keep pace with the
multitudes of plants that are almost of daily introduction, not
even with the aid of the valuable monthly chronicle of miscella-
neous matter published by Dr. Lindley in the “Botanical Register.”
Our miscellaneous pages give us an excellent opportunity for
noticing, from time to time, many plants, more or less deserving
of general cultivation, which have, since the publication of the
last edition of the 'Hortus Kewensis,' been received into the
a
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2
Royal Gardens. We shall thus, we trust, render some service to
our readers, and also have the pleasure of recording the names of
mumerous contributors to the valuable collection possessed in this
splendid establishment, together with the date of introduction
of new plants, so far as can be ascertained.
1. PLATYCERIUM BIFORME, BI.
Epiphytum, frondibus amplis sterilibus sessilibus distiche patentibus sub-
orbicularibus superne lobatis subtus radicantibus basi incrassatis, fertilibus
petiolatis liberis longissime dichotomis pendulis basin versus in laminam
latissimam reniformem fructificantibus.
Platycerium biforme, Bl. Fl. Jav. Fil. p. 44. tab. 18. Hook. Gen. Fil.
t. 9. B. Platycerium grande, J. Sm. Gen. Fil. Acrostichum grande, All.
Cunn. MSS. A. fuciforme, Wall. Cat. n. 20. A. biforme, Sw.
HAB. Malay Islands and tropical parts of the East Indies and New
Holland. Introduced 1842, by J. Bidwill, Esq.
The first subject we here record, among the many additions to
the 'Hortus Kewensis,' is not the least remarkable, being the
noblest of all epiphytal Ferns, and at the same time one of the most
curious. Blume says of it, “ Filix omnium facile maxima mon-
struosa, fronde vasta, dispari. Frons primordialis sessilis, alte-
ram circumvallans, ad nidi ingentis instar caudici vetusto Arenga
saccharifere, ubi versus coronam squamis densis reticulatis vesti-
tur, affixa, frondibus pluribus, tanquam in orbem dispositis, con-
formata, inferne e centro radicans.” Blume's own figure is taken
from a small and apparently a dried specimen. That of Capt.
Wilks, in the 'Voyage of the United States Exploring Expedition,
vol.ii. p. 181, represents it as cultivated on the branch of a tree
in the garden of our venerable friend, Alexander McLeay, Esq.,
Elizabeth Bay, Sidney, and is very characteristic.
characteristic. Two very fine
specimens (but yet inferior to the size which they attain in
their native country), were brought by Mr. Bidwill from Moreton
Bay, with many other rarities, in 1842. One of them is flourish-
ing in the noble palm-stove at Syon House; the other was libe-
rally presented to the Royal Gardens; where, placed on the per-
pendicular surface of a broad deal board, and held in that position
for some time by means of pack-thread, it soon adhered to the
board by the numerous fibrous roots sent out from the lower
surface of the primordial fronds, and has grown vigourously in
the Orchideous House, though it has not yet produced its fertile
fronds, while that at Syon has already exhibited its singular
patches of fructification. The sterile fronds may be likened to the
two spread flaps of a saddle, (other dead and withered ones lying
beneath these); from the sinus between these two, a new frond
2

3
a
a
breaks out, and with a very rapid growth (six weeks or two
months) it extends and reaches beyond one of the above-mentioned
flaps: when that has attained its full size, another breaks out
from the same point and covers the other flap, and so on. From
the same point the fertile fronds, more or less petiolated, burst
forth and project forward three to four feet and more in length,
cut into a number of deep segments or lobes, and bearing near
the base, between the segments, a great cordate or reniform spot
of fructification, six to eight inches in diameter. There is some-
thing peculiarly delicate in the texture and colour of the fronds,
which are beautifully veined and so well adapted in form for an
ornamental bracket, that artists have been occupied in making
drawings of the plant at the Royal Gardens with such an object
in view.
Although the New Holland plant has generally borne the name
of Platycerium or Acrostichum grande, yet there cannot, I think,
exist a doubt of its being the same with the other supposed species
adduced in the above synonymes, and I have consequently here,
and in the 'Genera Filicum,' retained the oldest name. Both the
sterile and fertile fronds are very variable, so that no two are ex-
actly alike ; especially variable is the base of the fertile frond, more
or less cuneate where it unites with the petiole, sometimes quite
abrupt, and variable in the absence or presence of sterile lobes to
the margins of the reniform soriferous portion. Blume speaks of
it as growing in Java always on a peculiar Palm. Dr. Wallich
describes it as an epiphyte in Singapore. At Moreton Bay, Mr.
Allan Cunningham observed it on various timber trees; and at
Brisbane river in the forests of Araucaria Cunninghami.
a
2. PLATYCERIUM STEMMARIA, Pal. de Beauv.
Epiphytum, frondibus sterilibus sessilibus imbricatis distichis suborbi-
culari-reniformibus membranaceis integerrimis rarissime lobatis pubescenti-
bus demum glabris nitidis, fertilibus liberis 2 (rarius 3 vel 4) cuneato-ligu-
latis nervosis basi in petiolum attenuatis bis dichotomis supra viridibus
subtus albido-stellatim tomentosis, laciniis ultimis acuminatis divaricatis,
macula fructificante (albido-stellatim tomentosa) bifida in axillam furcaturæ.
Acrostichum Stemmaria, Pal. Beauv. Fl. D'Ow. et de Benin, p. 2. t. 2.
HAB. Tropical Western Africa, on trees. Introduced from Sierra Leone
about 1839, and presented by Mr. Loddiges to Kew.
This has, by many botanists, been considered identical with the
Platycerium alcicorne ; but no one can see them growing without
feeling satisfied of their distinctive characters. It is cultivated with
us on a piece of board in a moist stove, but is far more difficult
to preserve than either of the other species.
a

4
3. MANETTIA UNIFLORA, H. B. K.
Hispido-pilosa, caule volubili, ramis teretibus, foliis ovatis acuminatis
breviuscule petiolatis, pedunculis diphyllis unifloris, calyce 8-lobo lobis ob-
longo-ovatis reflexis, corollæ hirsutæ (intense roseæ) tubo subcylindraceo
supra basin paululum contracto, limbo 4-lobo patente, fauce villosa, stami-
num filamentis supra basin insertis villosis, inclusis, stylo exserto glabro.-
H. B. K. Nov. Gen. Am. vol. ii. p. 387.
mi.
HAB. New Andalusia ; Humboldt. Santa Martha ; introduced, in 1844,
by Mr. W. Purdie.
This pretty climber was received at the Royal Gardens of Kew
from our collector, Mr. Purdie. It is extremely different from
any species of Manettia hitherto in cultivation, and appears to be
identical with the M. uniflora of H.B.K. The whole plant is
hirsute, almost hispid, even the corolla, on the outside. It flowers
copiously from September to Christmas, at which season it seems
to be in perfection and will probably continue so for some time;
the corollas, of rather a deep red rose-colour at first, become very
pale before falling off.
e
p. 136.
4. PASSIFLORA DIFFORMIS, H. B. K.
Volubilis, foliis peltatis bilobis (vel trilobis lobo medio brevissimo obso-
leto) lobis divaricatissimis ovato-acuminatis glabris integerrimis binerviis
subtus remote parce ocellatis, petiolo infra medium biglanduloso peduncu-
lis 1-3-floris, flore parvo ebracteato, calyce (viridi) 5-lobo, corona duplici,
int. e filamentis pluri-serialibus brevibus erectis atro-fuscis, ext. e filamentis
simplici serie patentibus subclavatis, parte inferiori fusco-brunnea reliqua
viridi.-H. B. K. Nov. Gen. Am. vol. iii.
HAB. New Grenada, Quindiu; Humboldt. Santa Martha ; introduced,
in 1844, by Mr. W. Purdie.
A very distinctly marked and singular species of Passion-flower,
with small, green and black flowers, and leaves of two (scarcely
three) horizontally divergent acuminated lobes ; very near, as
Humboldt and Kunth remark, to P. coriacea (Juss. in Ann. Mus.
t6
t. 6. p. 108. t. 34. f. 2.), and probably only a variety. It is easily
.
cultivated in the stove, trained to a balloon-trellice, and flowers
during the autumn and winter months. From the shape of the
leaves this might not unaptly be called the Bat's-wing Passion-
flower.
5. PISTIA STRATIOTES, L.
Pistia occidentalis, Bl. Kunth.
HAB. Tropical and subtropical countries, throughout the world appa-
rently. Introduced from Jamaica to Kew, by Mr. W. Purdie, in 1843.
We have spoken of the Platycerium biforme as among the most
remarkable of epiphytal plants, and with equal justice the present

5
a
may be reckoned among the most remarkable of aquatic plants.
As is well known to botanists, it belongs to a group of Aroidea,
among which its nearest affinity is with the Lemna, or Duckweeds
of our ponds and ditches, and like them it lives in floating masses
upon the surface of water, and without any attachment to soil,
in tropical countries; but, instead of being, as our species of
Lemna, almost microscopic objects, each plant is a span or more
across, and Roxburgh likens the general appearance to a Lettuce ;
the leaves, however, are of a handsome form and far more
beautiful texture, strongly marked with nearly parallel nerves,
prominent on the under side. Kunth (following other authors),
has enumerated no less than seven species of Stratiotes; but, I
fear, without sufficient grounds of distinction, further than what
may be afforded by difference of country. Assuredly our plant
from the West Indies (P. occidentalis, Bl. and Kunth), affords
no distinguishing marks from the East Indian species (P. Strati-
otes, L.), figured by Dr. Roxburgh ; but on this subject we shall
have an opportunity of enlarging when we come to figure our
plant; for it has already produced its curious flowers and a
drawing of it is taken. We shall merely further observe here
that no stove aquarium ought to be without this plant. It is
indeed in a dormant state, small and shrivelled in the winter ;
but, as spring advances, it grows rapidly and soon occupies a
great space of surface with its elegant floating masses of foliage.
6. ARTEMISIA LACTIFLORA, Wall.
Caule erecto herbaceo angulato-sulcato, foliis stipulatis inferioribus am-
plis (spithamæis et ultra) pinnatis, lobis rhombeo-ovatis remotis incisis, ter-
minali magno 3-5-lobo lobis obovato-cuneatis inæqualiter inciso-lobatis,
superioribus 3-5-lobatis (vix pinnatis), capitulis in ramos elongatos gra-
ciles basi foliosos interrupte spicatis, involucris scariosis nitidis.—Wall. Cat.
Compos. n. 414. De Cand. Prodr. vol. vi.
p.
115.
HAB. China; whence it was introduced by Mr. Reeves to the Botanic
Garden, Calcutta ; and by Dr. Wallich to the Kew Gardens in 1828.
A very distinct species of Wormwood; with little beauty to
recommend its general cultivation. It
It proves hardy in an open
border in front of a stove, sending up its herbaceous and purple
stems, about two feet in height during summer, flowering in the
autumn, and dying down in the winter. The stem-leaves, below
the flowering branches, are truly pinnated (though not so described
by Dr. Wallich), the lobes broad, and very
distant.
7. POLYGONUM (HELXINE, Br.) COMPLEXUM.
Caule flexuoso anguloso fruticoso siccitate subangulato, ramis divarica-
VOL. II.
с

6.
tis intricatis, foliis suborbiculari-reniformibus subcarnosis marginatis inte-
gerrimis petiolo subæquilongis, ochreis parvis cylindraceis truncatis, ra-
cemis axillaribus ochreato-bracteatis, floribus polygamis, perianthiis urceolatis
pedicellisque pellucidis, tubo carne pulposo farcto, laciniis ellipticis demum
submembranaceis basi intus tuberculosis.-All. Cun. Fl. Nov. Zel. in Ann.
Nat. Hist. vol. i.
p.
455. FI. Dec.
Hab. Northern Island of New Zealand, forming dense bushes about the
Bay of Islands; All. Cunningham. Introduced, in 1842, by the Rev. W.
Colenso.
This species is well named P. complexum by Mr. Cunningham.
That zealous botanist, however, does not notice the singularly
fleshy, waxy and pellucid nature of the pedicel and perianth; of
the latter, the lower half or the tubular portion is filled with wa-
tery pulp, which forms the receptacle upon which the stamens and
pistil are, as it were, raised and brought to the mouth of the flower.
,
In the few blossoms that have yet appeared, the stamens, six in
number, appear to be imperfect : the ovary or nearly ripe fruit is
narrow-ovate, triangular, crowned with three small club-shaped
styles. This, with some other allied species from various countries,
constitutes the genus Muhlenbeckia of Meisner (Thysanella of Asa
Gray): but as far as my observations have gone, the character
scarcely holds good; and if separated from Polygonum, surely
Mr. Brown's name of 'Heläine' given to the section ought to be
preserved. It seems almost to unite Coccoloba with Polygonum.
8. TETRANTHERA JAPONICA, Spr.
Laciniis perianthii petaloideis ovato-lanceolatis, foliis oblongis marginatis
supra glabris subtus incano-tomentosis crasse venosis, umbellulis axillaribus
aggregatis brevipedunculatis. Nees von Esenb. Syst. Laurin. p. 524.
Litsæa Japonica, Juss. Tomex Japonica, Thunb. Fl. Jap. p. 190.
Hab. Japan, Thunberg, Siebold. Introduced, we believe, by Sieber, into
Holland, and thence (through Mr. Makoy of Liège) to the Royal Gardens of
Kew, in 1843.-FI. Dec.
A very desirable low greenhouse shrub, having copious, hand-
some, coriaceous foliage, bright deep glossy green above, very
downy and ferrugineous beneath, with prominent veins. The in-
volucres and flowers are clothed with shining silky hairs, those
of the outer scales rusty-coloured.

7
AN ENUMERATION OF FERNS CULTIVATED IN THE ROYAL
GARDENS AT KEW, IN DECEMBER 1845; WITH CHARAC-
TERS AND OBSERVATIONS ON SOME OF THE GENERA AND
SPECIES; BY W. J. SMITH, CURATOR.
Division I. POLYPODIACEÆ, R. Br.
Tribe I. POLYPODIEÆ, J. Sm.*
Section I. ORTHOPHLEBIEÆ, J. Sm.
1. GRAMMITIS, Linn.; J. Sm.
1. G. australis, R. Br.
Hab. New Holland. Introduced 1833, by R. Cunningham.
2. POLYPODIUM, Linn.; J. Sm.
* Fronds in vernation lateral, articulated on the creeping rhizoma.
1. P. aspleniifolium, Linn. ; Hort. Kew.
2. P. pectinatum, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
3. P. Paradiseæ, Lang. et Fisch. Ic. Fil. t. 11.
HAB. Brazil. Received in 1841, from the Royal Botanic Garden of
Berlin.
4. P. vulgare, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
B, Cambricum, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
5. P. subpetiolatum, Hook. Ic. Plant. tab. 391.
Hab. Mexico. Received in 1845, from Mr. D. Cameron.
** Fronds in vernation lateral, adherent to the creeping rhizoma.
6. P. Phegopteris, Linn. ; Hort. Kew.
7. P. Dryopteris, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
8. P. calcareum, Sm.; Hort. Kew.
*** Fronds in vernation terminal, adherent, forming a cospitose or short
creeping rhizoma.
9. P. divergens, Willd. P. multifidum, Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 643.
HAB. West Indies and warm parts of South America. Received in 1841
from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin.
* J. Smith on the Genera of Ferns, in Hook. Journ. Bot. vol. 4. p. 38.

8
10. P. effusum, Sm.; Hort. Kew.
11. P. alpestre, Spreng. Aspidium? alpestre, Hoppe. Schk. Crypt. t. 60.
p. 58. (excluding syn. Linn. and Sm.)
HAB. Switzerland. Cultivated at Kew since 1823.
Obs. Polypodium Rhæticum of Linnæus is cited by Schkuhr
as synonymous with this species, but this is an error, for, on ex-
amining the Linnæan specimen, I find it to be, as already stated
by Sir James Smith, only a fragment of an imperfect or young
state of Asplenium filix-femina; consequently Polypodium Rhe-
ticum can no longer be retained as a species.
**** Fronds in vernation terminal, adherent, forming an erect,
caudiciform rhizoma.
12. P. lachnopodium, nov. spec.; fronds deltoid bi-tripinnatifid, rachis
and midrib paleaceous, pinnules lanceolato-acuminate, segments ob-
long-linear obtuse villous, the lower ones distant and pinnatifid, the
superior ones dentate and becoming entire towards the apex, veins
,
pinnately forked, sori medial uniserial.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. William Purdie, in 1843. Stipes
densely furnished at the base with long, criniform, brown paleæ. Fronds,
including the stipes, three feet or more in length, pinnæ one foot; pinnules
two to four inches, petiolate, the upper ones sessile.
3. HYPOLEPIS, Bernh.; J. Sm.
1. H. rugulosa, J. Sm. Polypodium rugulosum, Labill. Nov. Holl. vol. ij.
t. 241.
HAB. Van Diemen's Land. Introduced in 1844, by R. Gunn, Esq.
2. H. repens, Presl. Lonchites repens, Linn.; Plum. Fil. t. 12. Cheil-
anthes repens, Kaulf.
HAB. West Indies. Raised in 1828.
3. H. aculeata, J. Sm. Cheilanthes aculeata, Kaulf.
HAB. Jamaica and other West India Islands. Received in 1841 from
the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin.
OBS. This genus has hitherto been placed in the tribe Pteri-
dea, but the habit of the species on which the genus is founded,
so much at variance with the whole of Pteridea, has induced me
to reconsider the affinities. I have already (Gen. Fil.) noticed
the similarity in habit to some large, decompound-fronded spe-
cies of Polypodium, differing from them only in the soriferous
crenules being altered and reflexed, forming a lateral indusium
with the sporangia in its axis. It now appears to me that the
reflexed crenule cannot be considered otherwise than analo-
gous to the reflexed and changed margin of Struthiopteris and

9
Allosorus; and, as I possess specimens, which I have hitherto kept
as species of Polypodium, but which I find difficult to characterize
as different from Hypolepis repens, except in the sori not being
quite at the margin, and therefore the crenules not so evidently
indusiiform, I do not hesitate in removing Hypolepis from Pte-
ridea, and placing it in Polypodiea, the species differing from
Polypodium chiefly by the peculiar elongated rhizoma and (in
most cases) by the evident reflexed crenules.
4.
STRUTHIOPTERIS, Willd.
1. S. Germanica, Willd. Onoclea Struthiopteris, Hort. Kew.
2. S. Pennsylvanica, Willd.
HAB. North America. Cultivated in 1823.
5. ALLOSORUS, Bernh.
1. A. crispus, Bernh. Pteris crispa, L.; Hort. Kew. Cryptogramma, R. Br.
6. NOTHOLÆNA, R. Br.
1. N. tenera, Gill.; Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3055.
HAB. Chili. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1842.
2. N. nivea, Desv. Pteris nivea, Sw. Syn. fil. t. 1. f. 2. N. incana, Presl,
Reliq. Haenck. t. 1. f. 2.
Hab. Chili, Mexico, and Peru. Received in 1844 from J. Riley, Esq.
3. N. trichomanoides, R.Br. Pteris trichomanoides, Linn.; Schk. Crypt. t.99.
Hab. Jamaica. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1844.
4. N. rufa, Presl.
HAB. Mexico, and other parts of South America. Received in 1841
from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin.
5. N. lanuginosa, Desv. Acrostichum velleum, Hort. Kew.
6. N. vestita, J. Sm. Cheilanthes vestita, Sm.; Schk. Crypt. t. 124.
HAB. North America. Received in 1841 from the Royal Botanic Garden
of Berlin.
7. N. tomentosa, Desv.
Hab. Mexico. Received in 1841 from the Royal Botanic Garden of
Berlin.
8. N. sinuata, Kaulf. Acrostichum sinuatum, Sm.
HAB. Mexico. Received in 1841 from the Messrs. Loddiges.
9. N. Marantæ, R. Br. Acrostichum Marantæ, Schk. Crypt. t. 4.
Hab. South of Europe and Madeira. Received in 1843 from Dr. Welwitsch.
10. N. Eckloniana, Kunze in Linnæa, vol. x. p. 501. Link. En. Fil. Hort.
Berol.
p.
146.
Hab. Cape of Good Hope. Received in 1843 from Mr. D. Cameron.
VOL. II.
D

10
11. N. distans, R. Br.
HAB. New Holland. Raised in 1836.
12. N. lendigera, J. Sm. Cheilanthes lendigera, Sm.
Hab. Mexico and other parts of S. America. Cultivated in 1823.
7. GYMNOGRAMMA, Desv.
1. G. rufa, Desv. Hemionitis rufa, Sm.; Hort. Kew.
2. G. tomentosa, Desv. Hemionitis tomentosa, Radd. Fil. Bras. t. 19.
HAB. West Indies, Brazil. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1841.
3. G. calomelanos, Kaulf. Acrostichum calomelanos, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
4. G. tartarea, Desv.
Hab. Warm parts of America. Raised in 1828.
5. G. Peruviana, Desv.
HAB. Peru. Raised in 1830.
6. G. chrysophylla, Kaulf. ; Plum. fil. t. 44.
HAB. West Indies and South America. Raised in 1836.
7. G. sulphurea, Desv.; Schk. Crypt. t. 4.
Hab. Jamaica. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1841.
8. G. leptophylla, Desv.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 25.
Hab. South of Europe, Madeira. Raised in 1838.
9. G. chærophylla, Desv.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 45.
HAB. West Indies and warm parts of South America. Raised in 1836.
OBS. The various forms presented by the Ceropteris group
of Gymnogramma, render it very difficult to determine them as
distinct species. They are very generally distributed over the
warm parts of America, and almost every locality presents forms
somewhat different, such as the pinnules being more or less
entire or divided, and in the teeth or serratures being more or
less obtuse or acute, so also the farina, which characterizes this
group, has different shades of colour even in forms that may be
considered as belonging to one species. It has been stated that
in cultivation hybrids have been raised, but of this I have no
proof, and as I possess native specimens of forms said to be
hybrids, I cannot be persuaded that such have been produced
in gardens.
8. LEPTOGRAMMA, J. Sm.
1. L. villosa, J. Sm. Gymnogramma villosa, Link.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.

11
Section II. SYMPLOPHLEBIEÆ, J. Sm
9. MENISCIUM, Schreb.
1. M. reticulatum, Willd.; Hort. Kew.
2. M. palustre, Radd. Fil. Bras. t. 20.
HAB. Brazil. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1837.
10. GONIOPTERIS, Presl.; J. Sm.
1. G. fraxinifolia, Presl.; Jacqu. Polypodium proliferum, Kaulf. P. vivipa-
rum, Radd, Fil. Bras. t. 32.
HAB. Brazil. Received in 1841 from Mr. D. Cameron.
2. G. asplenioides, Presl.; Sw.; Sloan. Jam. Hist. vol. i. t. 43. f. 2.
Hab. Jamaica. Received from the Messi's. Loddiges in 1841.
3. G. crenata, Presl.; Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 111.
HAB. West Indies. Raised in 1835.
4. G. megalodes, J. Sm.; Schk. Crypt. t. 19.6.
Hab. West Indies. Introduced in 1843 by Mr. W. Purdie.
5. G. tetragona, Presl.; Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 18.b.
HAB. West Indies. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin
in 1841.
6. G. pennigera, Presl.; Forst.
HAB. New Zealand. Raised in 1835.
11. GONIOPHLEBIUM, Presl.; J. Sm.
(Polypodii sp. Auct.)
1. G. vacciniifolium, J. Sm.; Lang. et Fisch. Ic. Fil. t. 7.
HAB. Brazil. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1841.
2. G. piloselloides, J. Sm.; Linn.; Sw.; Hort. Kew.; Hook. et Bauer, Gen.
,
Fil. t. 51.
3. G. incanum, J. Sm.; Schk. Crypt. t. 11. b.
HAB. West Indies and many parts of America. Received from Messrs.
Loddiges in 1841.
4. G. sepultum, J. Sm.; Kaulf. Polypodium hirsutissimum, Radd. Fil.
Bras. t. 26. Acrostichum lepidopteris, Lang. et Fisch. Ic. Fil. t. 2.
HAB. Brazil and other parts of America. Introduced by Mr. Gardner,
in 1841.
5. G. argutum, J. Sm.; Wall.
HAB. Nepaul. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1845.
6. G. Catharina, J. Sm.; Lang. et Fisch. Ic. Fil. t. 9.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
7. G. harpeodes, J. Sm.; Link. En. Fil. Hort. Berol.
HAB. Brazil. Received in 1841 from the Royal Botanic Garden of
Berlin.

12
8. G. latipes, J. Sm.; Lang. et Fisch. Ic. Fil. t. 10.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1841.
9. G. menisciifolium, J. Sm.; Lang. et Fisch. Ic. Fil. t. 15. P. longifolium,
Presl.
Hab. Brazil. Received in 1841 from Mr. H. Shepherd.
10. G. albopunctatum, J. Sm.; Radd. Fil. Bras. t. 30.
HaB. Brazil. Received in 1842 from Mr. Henderson.
12. NIPHOBOLUS, Kaulf.
(Polypodii sp. Sm.)
1. N. rupestris, Spreng.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 93.
Hab. New Holland. Introduced by Mr. A. Cunningham in 1823.
2. N. pertusus, Spreng.; Hook. Ex. Fl. t. 162.
HAB. East Indies. Cultivated in 1823.
3. N. Lingua, Spreng.; Sm.; Thunb. Fl. Jap. t. 33. N. Chinensis, Link.
N. albicans, Blume?
Hab. Japan and China. Received in 1830 from Messrs. Loddiges.
4. N. varius, Kaulf.
Hab. Malayan Íslands. Received from Mr. H. Lowe in 1845.
5. N. costatus, Presl.; Wall.
Hab. Ceylon and other parts of the East Indies. Introduced by Mr.
Moon in 1824.
13. CYRTOPHLEBIUM, R. Br.
(Polypodii sp. Auct. Campyloneurum, Presl.)
1. C. angustifolium, J. Sm.; Sw. Polypodium dimorphum, Link.
HAB. Jamaica. Received in 1841 from the Royal Botanic Garden of
Berlin.
2. C. Phyllitidis, J. Sm.; Hort. Kew.
3. C. repens, J.Sm.; Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 134.
Hab. Jamaica. Received in 1841 from the Royal Botanic Garden of
Berlin.
4. C. nitidum, J. Sm.; Kaulf.
Hab. West Indies. Introduced by Mr. W. Morrison in 1828.
5. C. decurrens, J. Sm.; Radd. Fil. Bras. t. 33.
HAB. Brazil. Received in 1841 from the Royal Botanic Garden of
Berlin.
14. PHLEBODIUM, R. Br.; J. Sm.
(Polypodii sp. Auct. Pleopeltis, Presl.)
Anapeltis, J. Sm.
1. P. lycopodioides, J. Sm.; Linn. ex fig. Plum. t. 119; Hort. Kew. ex fig.
Schk. Crypt. Polypodium glabellum, Hew. in Mag. Nat. Hist.
HAB, Jamaica. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1821.

13
2. P. squamulosum, J. Sm.; Kaulf.
HAB. Brazil. Received from J. Riley, Esq., in 1843.
3. P. nitidum, n. sp.; fronds (sterile 3-4 inches long) oblong-elliptical,
the
apex
obtuse and rounded, acute at the base, forming a short stipes
which is articulated to the creeping paleaceous rhizoma, venation
obscure, sori —
Hab. Honduras. Introduced in 1844 by Mrs. Col. Macdonald.
Obs. This is apparently an undescribed species, closely allied
to P. squamulosum, Kaulf., but differing in the larger size, obscure
venation, and absence of scales on the mid-rib. I have not seen
the sori and possess no native specimen in my herbarium.
** Pleopeltis, J. Sm.
4. P. percussum, J. Sm. ; Cav. Pleopeltis percussa, Presl.; Hook. et Grev.
Ic. Fil. t. 67.
Hab. Brazil, Peru, and other parts of America. Received in 1842 from
Mr. Henderson.
5. P. elongatum, J. Sm. Grammitis elongata, Sw. Grammitis lanceolata,
Schk. Crypt. t. 7.
Hab. Jamaica and other West India islands. Introduced by Mr. Nath.
Wilson in 1843.
*** Phlebodia vera.
6. P. aureum, R. Br.; Linn.; Hort. Kew.
7. P. pulvinatum, J. Sm.; Link.
HAB. Brazil. Received in 1841 from the Royal Botanic Garden of
of Berlin.
8. P. sporodocarpum, J. Sm.; Willd.; Link. Polypodium glaucum, Hort.
HAB. Mexico. Received in 1843 from Mr. D. Cameron.
Obs. Although under cultivation these three preceding species
maintain pretty distinct appearances, yet I have doubts whether
they, and Polypodium areolatum, Willd., should not be considered
rather varieties of P. aureum, differing chiefly in the fronds being
more or less glaucous : a character depending greatly on the
place of growth.
9. P. decumanum, J. Sm.; Willd.
HAB. Brazil, Jamaica, and other places of South America. Received in
1841 from Mr. D. Cameron.
15. DRYNARIA, Bory ; R. Br.; J. Sm.
(Polypodii sp. Auct. Phymatodes, Presl.)
* Lepisorus, J. Sm.
Fronds simple, smooth ; venation immersed ; sori round, transversely
uniserial, each furnished with numerous special peltate scales.
1. D. sesquipedalis, J. Sm.; Wall. Pleopeltis nuda, Hook. Ex. Flora, t. 63.
Hook. et Bauer, Gen. Fil. t. 18.
HAB. Nepal. Introduced by Dr. Wallich in 1828.
VOL. II.
E

14
** Phymatodes, J. Sm.
Fronds simple, pinnatifid or pinnate ; venation immersed. Sori round,
sometimes oblong, or (by confluence) linear, often immersed and forming
tubercles on the superior side of the frond, transversely uniserial or
rarely irregularly biserial, destitute of scales.
2. D. iteophylla, J. Sm.; Link.
HAB. Brazil. Received in 1841 from the Royal Botanic Garden of
Berlin.
3. D. vulgaris, J. Sm. Polypodium phymatodes, Linn.; Sw.; Schk. Crypt.
t. 8 d. t. 9. Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 637.
HAB. Mauritius, East Indian and Malayan Islands. Received from the
Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in 1835.
4. D. longipes, J.Sm.; Link.
Hab. East Indies. Cultivated in 1823.
OBs. The lengthened stipes and large sori distinguish this
species from the preceding, and although it maintains its character
under cultivation, still it may be considered as one of the many
forms assumed by D. vulgaris.
5. D. Billardieri, J. Sm.; R. Br. Polypodium scandens, Labill. Nov. Holl.
t. 240.
HAB. New Holland, Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand. Introduced
in 1824 by Mr. A. Cunningham.
OBS. Difficult to be described by words as distinct from D.
vulgare, but in cultivation having its own peculiar aspect.
6. D. pustulata, J. Sm.; Forst.; Schk. Crypt. t. 10. Polypodium scandens,
Forst.; Schk. Crypt. t. 8. Polypodium cæspitosum, Link. ex Hort.
Loddiges.
HAB. New Zealand. Introduced by Mr. A. Cunningham in 1826.
Obs. In cultivation this species has hitherto been observed to
produce a dense, cæspitose mass of simple, slightly undulated,
sterile fronds only, and it was not till lately that I observed it
producing pinnatifid fronds, which, on viewing both forms, I
at once recognized to be the same as my specimen of Polypo-
dium pustulatum from New Zealand.
7. D. leiorhiza, J. Sm.; Wall. P. cuspidatum, D. Don, Fl. Nep.
HAB. Nepal. Received in 1844 from John Christie, Esq.
8. D. capitellata, J. Sm.; Wall. P. juglandifolium, D. Don, Fl. Nep.
Hab. East Indies. Introduced in 1843 by Dr. Wallich.
*** Phyllitidis, J. Sm.
Fronds simple, entire, linear-lanceolate or rarely sinuate or cordate, vena-
tion elevated, rarely immersed. Sori round, oblong, or (by confluence)
,
linear, superficial, obliquely uniserial or biserial, rarely numerous and
irregular.
a

15
9. D. crassifolia, J. Sm.; Linn.; Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 123. Anaxetum crassi-
folium, Schott. Gen. Fil. t. 1.
HAB. West Indies, Brazil, and Peru. Cultivated in 1823.
10. D. hemionitidea, J. Sm.; Wall. P. membranaceum, D. Don, Fl. Nep.
Hemionitis plantaginea, D. Don, Fl. Nep.
Hab. East Indies. Received in 1844 from Mrs. Lawrence of Ealing
Park.
11. D. irioides, J. Sm.; R. Br.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 125. P. polyce-
phalum, Wall. Microsorum irregulare, Link.
HAB. Mauritius, East Indies, and New Holland. Introduced by Mr.
A. Cunningham in 1824.
**** Drynariæ veræ, Bory.
Fronds rigid, of two forms, the sterile oblong-cordate, sinuose or laciniated,
sessile, the vascular structure rigid and permanent, fertile fronds
2-3 feet or more in length, sessile or stipitate, pinnatifid or pinnate,
the segments articulated with the rachis. Sori round, obliquely uni-
serial or biserial, or transversely uniserial.
12. D. quercifolia, Bory; Linn.; Schk. Crypt. t. 13.
HAB. Tropics of the eastern hemisphere. Introduced in 1840 by Dr.
Wallich.
Obs. Like D. vulgare, the different localities of this species
have their own peculiar forms, such as difference in texture, more
or less deeply laciniated fronds, some being sessile, others with a
long stipes, the margin being entire or in some slightly dentate;
but, although some are strikingly different, still I hesitate in
pronouncing them distinct species.
Notwithstanding the species comprehended under this last sec-
tion of Drynaria are all characterized under one head, in having
compound anastomose venation with compital sori, yet I am of
opinion that if the various forms of the venation, together with
some other peculiarities of structure, could be distinctly expressed
in words, it would be desirable to consider each section as a
separate genus. I am led to this conclusion by observing the
well-marked differences in habit and general appearance of the
species of each section, and, in a general revision of the characters
of the genera of Ferns, I would be induced to pay more attention
to the differences in the general habits than I have hitherto
done; for instance, the formation of the rhizoma and manner of
attachment or venation of the fronds, present some important
characters which would much assist in determining the limits
and affinities of groups.

16
16. DICTYMIA. J. Sm.
(Polypodii sp., R. Br. Dictyopteridis sp., Presl.; J. Sm.)
Venation uniform, internal, reticulated. Sporangia compital. Receptacle
immersed. Sori oblong, large, transversely uniserial.-Rhizoma creep-
ing. Vernation of the fronds lateral, articulated. Fronds linear-
lanceolate, smooth, coriaceous.
1. D. attenuata, J. Sm.; R. Br.
HAB. New Holland. Introduced in 1828 by Mr. A. Cunningham.
Obs. The very great differenee in habit of this and another
species (from New Zealand) from the other species of Dictyopteris
of Presl., has induced me to separate them; the three known
species which I retain under Dictyopteris differ from Dictymia in
having large compound bipinnate or tripinnatifid fronds, with
the sori numerous and irregularly disposed, and although I have
not had the opportunity of examining their rhizoma, yet, judging
from analogy and the structure of the stipes, I have every reason
to believe that the vernation of the fronds is not articulated with
the rhizoma as in Dictymia.
17. DRYMOGLOSSUM, Presl.; J. Sm.
(Pteridis sp., Linn.; Sw.)
1. D. piloselloides, Presl.; Sw. Syn. Fil. t. 2. f. 2.
HAB. East Indies and Malayan Islands. Introduced in 1828 by Dr.
Wallich.
2. D. lanceolatum, J. Sm.; Linn.; Plum. Fil. t. 132.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced in 1843 by Mr. Wm. Purdie.
18. TÆNIOPSIS, J. Sm.
(Vittariæ sp., Auth.)
1. T. lineata, J. Sm.; Sw. ; Hort. Kew.
19. ANTROPHYUM, Kaulf.
1. A. lanceolatum, Kaulf. Hemionitis, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
20. CERATOPTERIS, Brong.
(Pteridis sp., Sw.)
1. C. thalictroides, Brong.; Hook. et Bauer, Gen. Fil. t. 12. Ellobocarpus
oleraceus, Kaulf.
Hab. Tropics of both hemispheres. Raised in 1834.

17
2. C. Parkeri, J. Sm. Parkeria pterioides, Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 97.
Hook. et Bauer, Gen. Fil. t. 50.
Hab. Demerara. Received from Mr. H. Shepherd.
Tribe II. ACROSTICHEÆ, J. Sm.
Section II. ORTHOPHLEBIEÆ, J. Sm.
21. ELAPHOGLOSSUM, Schott.
(Acrostichi sp., Auct.)
1. E. simplex, Schott; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
2. E. conforme, Schott; Sw.; Blume Fl. Jav. t. 5.
HAB. Cape of Good Hope. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1841.
3. E. callæfolium, J. Sm.; Blume Fl. Jav. t. 4.
Hab. Java. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
4. E. longifolium, J. Sm.; Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 134.
HAB. West Indies. Received in 1841 from Mr. D. Cameron.
5. E. scolopendrifolium, J. Sm.; Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 16.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1841.
6. E. villosum, J. Sm.; Sw.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 95.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced in 1843 by Mr. Nath. Wilson.
22. STENOCHLAENA, J. Sm.
(Acrostichi sp., Linn.; Sw.)
1. S. scandens, J. Sm.; Linn.; Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 106, 107.
HAB. East Indian and Malayan Islands. Received in 1841 from the
Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin.
23. POLYBOTRYA, Humb.
1. P. cylindrica, Kaulf.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced in 1843 by Mr. Nath. Wilson.
Section II. SYMPLOPHLEBIEÆ, J. Sm.
24. OLFERSIA, Radd.
1. 0. cervina, Presl. Polybotrya cervina, Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 81.
HAB. West Indies. Received in 1841 from the Messrs. Loddiges.
VOL. II.
F

15
25. ARETIUM, Splitgerber.
(Acrostichi § Aretium, Kunze.)
-
Venation uniform, reticulated, areoles elongated, trapezoid or hexagonal.
Sporangia few, irregularly disposed over the under side of the frond,
often collected in small groups or lines.-Rhizoma creeping, elongated,
fibrose, and furnished with lanceolate reticulated shining scales.
Fronds in vernation lateral, articulated with the rhizoma, distant,
uniform, oblong-elliptical, 6-10 inches long, smooth.
1. A. citrifolium, Splitgerber, Enum. Fil. Surinam, p. 7. Acrostichum
citrifolium, Linn.; J. Sm. Gen. Fil.
HAB. West Indies, Introduced by Mr. W. Purdie.
Obs. In my remarks on the genus Acrostichum, in the 4th
volume of the Journal of Botany', I have noticed the pecu-
liarity of this fern. At that time I hesitated as to the propriety
of separating it from the species with which I associated it';
since then I have had an opportunity of examining it in a living
state and I have also become possessed of more perfect specimens,
the examination of which has led me to follow Splitgerber in
abopting Kunze’s sectional name “ Aretium” for a separate
genus. Having so done, I am further induced to consider
Acrostichum crinitum as the type of another genus, leaving Acros-
tichum aureum as the representative of the true Acrosticha. The
most obvious distinction between the two latter is the habit,
and this is also the case with Aretium, which is further distin-
guished by its few and scattered sporangia, a character not com-
mon to any other of the Acrostichee that I am acquainted with.
In aspect and venation Aretium approaches Antrophyum, but is
readily distinguished by its creeping elongated rhizoma ; that of
Antrophyum being cæspitose.
26. DICTYOGLOSSUM, J. Sm.
(Acrostichi sp., Sw.; J. Sm. Gen. Fiz.)
.
Venation uniform, reticulated, internal, areoles large, elongated, trapezoid
hexagonal. Sporangia densely occupying the whole under side of the
fertile frond, which is contracted.-Rhizoma cespitose, decumbent,
densely furnished with criniform palea. Fronds in vernation ter-
minal, adherent, oval-elliptical, one foot or more in length, criniferous,
fertile fronds shorter than the sterile, and somewhat contracted.
1. D. crinitum, J. Sm. Acrostichum crinitum, Sw.; Hort. Kew.; Hook.
et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. l.

19
27. ACROSTICHUM, L. (in part.)
Venation uniform, reticulated, areoles small, elongated, usually tetragonal
and parallel. Sporangia densely occupying the terminal segments of
the frond. Rhizoma erect, caudiciform. Fronds pinnate, 3–8 feet high :
pinnæ entire, linear-lanceolate, smooth, the terminal ones fertile.
1. A. aureum, Linn.; Plum. Fil. t. 104.
HAB. West Indies, Tropical America, East Indian and Polynesian
Islands. Raised in 1838.
28. PLATYCERIUM,, Desv.
(Acrostichi sp., Sw.)
1. P. alcicorne, Desv.; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
2. P. Stemaria, Desv.; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
3. P. grande, J. Sm. Acrostichum grande, A. Cunn.
HAB. New Holland and Malayan Islands. Introduced by — Bidwill,
Esq., 1842.
-
29. CYRTOGONIUM, J. Sm.
(Acrostichi sp., Auct.)
1. C. flagelliferum, J. Sm.; Wall.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 23.
HAB. East Indies. Introduced in 1828 by Dr. Wallich.
30. GYMNOPTERIS, Bernh.; J. Sm.
(Acrostichi sp., Auct.)
1. G. nicotianæfolia, Presl; Sw. Acrostichum acuminatum, Willd.?
Plum. Fil. t. 115.
Hab. West Indies. Introduced by Mr. Nath. Wilson in 1843.
Tribe III. PTERIDEÆ, J. Sm.
Section I. CHILOSOREÆ, J. Sm.
31. CHEILANTHES, Sw.; J. Sm.
* Micromeræ. Fronds pinnate or bi-tripinnate, segments small, usually
concave.
1. C. micropteris, Sw.; Syn. Fil. p. 126 and 324. t. 3. f. 5.
HAB. Quito. Received from M. H. Lowe in 1843.

20
2. C. viscosa, Link.
Hab. Mexico. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
3. C. fragrans, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
4. C. spectabilis, Kaulf. C. Brasiliensis, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 75.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
5. C. micromera, Link.
Hal. Mexico. Received from Mr. Henderson in 1844.
6. C. microphylla, Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 58.
Hab. West Indies. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin
in 1841.
7. C. tenuifolia, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 125.
HAB. East Indies. New Holland. Raised in 1824.
8. C. profusa, Link.
Hab. Cape of Good Hope. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1841.
** Actinopteris. Fronds digitately radiate, rays pinnate.
8. C. radiata, J. Sm. Adiantum radiatum, L.; Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 100.
Hab. West Indies and tropical America. Cultivated in 1827.
Obs. The aspect of this species is that of Adiantum, but the
fructification agrees
agrees with Cheilanthes.
CASSEBEERA, Kaulf; J. Sm.
1. C. farinosa, J. Sm. Pteris farinosa, Sw. Cheilanthes farinosa, Hook.
et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 134.
HAB. East Indies. Received from J. Riley, Esq. in 1840.
2. C. pedata, J. Sm. Pteris pedata, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 100. Bot. Mag.
t. 3247.
HAB. East and West Indies, and Islands of the Pacific Ocean. Raised
in 1838.
3. C. auriculata, J. Sm.; Pteris auriculata, Sw.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil.
t. 116.
HAB. Cape of Good Hope. Raised in 1838.
4. C. pterioides, Presl. Cheilanthes pterioides, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
5. C. hastata, J. Sm. Pteris hastata, Linn.
Hab. Cape of Good Hope. Cultivated before 1822.
6. C. inframarginalis, J. Sm. Pteris inframarginalis, Kaulf.
HAB. Mexico. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
7. C. cuneata, J. Sm. Cheilanthes cuneata, Link.
Hab. Mexico. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1845.

21
33.
PLATYLOMA, J. Sm.
(Pteridis sp., Auct.)
1. P. falcata, J. Sm.; R. Br.
HAB. New Holland. Introduced in 1823 by A. Cunningham, Esq.
2. P. rotundifolia, J. Sm.; Forst.; Schk. Crypt. t. 99.
HAB. New Zealand. Introduced by Mr. John Edgerley in 1841.
3. P. atropurpurea, J. Sm.; Linn.; Hort. Kew.
4. P. calomelanos, J. Sm.; Sw.
Hab. Cape of Good Hope. Received from Mr. Henderson in 1843.
5. P. cordata, J. Sm.; Cav.; Sw.
HAB. Mexico. Raised in 1842.
6. P. flexuosa, J. Sm.; Kaulf.; Hook. Ic. Plant. vol. ii. t. 119.
Hab. Peru and Columbia. Raised in 1838.
7. P. ternifolia, J. Sm.; Cav.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 126.
Hab. Mexico. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1841.
34. ADIANTUM, Linn.
1. A. reniforme, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
2. A. macrophyllum, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
3. A. lucidum, Sw. A. obliquum,
A. obliquum, Willd.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 190.
.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. Wm. Purdie in 1844.
4. A. villosum, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
5. A. falcatum, Sw.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. W. Purdie in 1844.
6. A. fovearum, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 77. A.
HAB. Brazil. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1840.
7. A. Brasiliense, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 76.
HAB. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1844.
8. A. pulverulentum, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
9. A. trapeziforme, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
10. A. cristatum, Linn.; Plum. Fil. t. 54.
Hab. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. N. Wilson in 1844.
11. A. tenerum, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
12. A. formosum, R. Br.
Hab. New Holland. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq. in 1823.
13. A. hispidulum, R. Br.?
HAB. New Zealand ; New Holland. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq.
in 1824.
14. A. pubescens, Schk. Crypt. t. 116. Adiantum pedatum, Forst.
HAB. New Zealand. Raised in 1834.
VOL. II.
G

22.
15. A. setulosum, n. sp. Fronds bipinnate, the lower pinnæ bipartite, pin-
nules dimidiate, curved, oblong, obtuse, setiferous on the upper side,
the superior margin obtusely crenate and seriferous; sori punctiform ;
indusium reniform.
HAB. Norfolk Island. Introduced in 1845 by Dr. M. William. Fronds
one foot or more in height. Stipes next the base paleaceous, rachis
glabrous.
Obs. This species has much the appearance of A. pubescens,
but it differs in being smooth, and in the curved form of the
pinnules, as also in being furnished with twelve or more black
bristle-like hairs, which are produced between the veins on the
upper surface, towards the lower margin and apex of the pinnules,
with a few on the under side.
16. A. pedatum, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
17. A. curvatum, Kaulf.
HAB. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
18. A. capillus-Veneris, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
19. A. assimile, Sw. Syn. Fil. t. 3. f. 4.
Hab. New South Wales. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq., in 1823.
20. A. cuneatum, Lang. et Fisch. Ic. Fil. t. 26. Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil.
t. 30.
HAB. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin, in
1841.
21. A. concinnum, Willd.
HAB. Venezuela. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin
in 1841.
35. DORYOPTERIS, J. Sm.
(Pteridis sp. Auct.)
1. D. sagittifolia, J. Sm.; Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 63. f. 1 and 2.
HAB. Brazil. Introduced by George Gardner, Esq., in 1841.
2. D. palmata, J.Sm.; Willd.; Radd. Bras. Fil.t.65.f.2 and 3. t. 66, 66 bis.
HAB. Brazil. Received from the Messi's. Loddiges in 1840.
36. LITOBROCHIA, Presl.; J. Sm.
(Pteridis sp. Auct.)
1. L. grandifolia, J. Sm.; Linn.; Hort. Kew.
2. L. denticulata, Presl.; Sw.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 28. Pteris Bra-
siliensis, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 86 bis.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
184).
3. L. leptophylla, J. Sm.; Sw. Pteris spinulosa, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 70.
HAB. Brazil. Raised in 1834.

23
4. L. polita, J. Sm.; Link.
HAB. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
5. L. aculeata, Presl.; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
6. L. podophylla, J. Sm.; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
7. L. vespertilionis, J. Sm.; Labill. Nov. Holl. vol. ii. t. 245.
HAB. New Holland; New Zealand. Raised in 1838.
Obs. Representatives of this species are found very generally
throughout the tropics and extra-tropical regions of both hemi-
spheres ; and, as they present some peculiarities both in habit and
venation different from the genuine species of Litobrochia, I
think they may, with some degree of propriety, be constituted
into a separate group, under the title of Agardh’s sectional name
Histiopteris
37. CAMPTERIA, Presl.
(Pteridis sp. Auct.)
1. C. biaurita, J. Sm. Pteris biaurita, Linn. (fide specim. in herb. Linn.
Soc.). Plum. Fil. t. 15. (?)
Hab. West Indies. Introduced from Jamaica by Mr. W. Purdie in
1842.
Obs. There appears to me to be an interminable confusion of
synonymes as regards this species, which I find impossible to quote
with any degree of satisfaction; it is sufficient to know that the
specimens now before me are identical with the specimens in the
Linnæan Herbarium. Plumier, fig. Tab. 15, is quoted for this
species, but in my opinion that figure as correctly represents
another West Indian species which is only known from the
present by the difference in venation, the present having (agree-
able to the generic character) the lower pairs of venules anasto-
mosing, whereas, in the other species alluded to, the veins are all
free, and, as Plumier's figure does not represent the venation
satisfactorily, it is difficult to say to which it ought to be referred.
2. C. nemoralis, J. Sm. Pteris nemoralis, Willd.
HAB. East Indies. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin
in 1841.
Obs. In my 'Enumeration and Characters of the Genera of
Ferns’, I did not consider Campteria of Presl, to be sufficiently
distinct to merit a separate genus, but I now admit it solely on
the grounds that it may be considered to form the transition
from the free venation of true Pteris, to the reticulated form that
characterizes Litobrochia.

24
38. PTERIS, Linn. (in part.)
1. P. longifolia, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
2. P. Cretica, Linn; Schk. Crypt. t. 90.
HAB. South of Europe; East and West Indies. Cultivated in 1820.
3. P. umbrosa, R. Br.
HAB. New Holland. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq., in 1824.
4. P. serrulata, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
5. P crenata, Sw.; Burm. Zeyl. t. 87. Pteris Chinensis, Hort. Angl.
HAB. East Indies. Cultivated in 1822.
6. P. heterophylla, Linn.; Plum. Fil. t. 37.
Hab. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. W. Purdie in 1844.
7. P. felosma, nov. spec. Fronds pinnate, pinna sessile, lanceolate, deeply
pinnatifid, the
apex caudate and entire, the lower pair bipartite, costæ
spinulose on the upper side, laciniæ linear-lanceolate, obtuse, entire,
slightly falcate; veins forked close to the costula, free, the lower pair
terminating in the sinus of the lacinia.
Hab. Jamaica. Cultivated in 1822. Fronds two to three feet high,
rising from an erect rhizoma. Pinnæ six to eight inches long, terminated by
an entire, lanceolate cauda. The whole plant, on bruising it when fresh,
emits a peculiar smell.
Obs. This is an old inhabitant of our hot-house, propagating
itself freely by its sporules. It has been long known by the
names of P. Plumierii and P. nemoralis, but the latter is given
under Campteria, and as Plumier's figure, t. 15, is also quoted
for Campteria biaurita, which can only be known as distinct
from the present species by the anastomosing of the lower veins,
and which characterizes Campteria from true Pteris, I therefore
view this as an undescribed species ; and as my attention has
often been called to it by its peculiar smell, I have chosen to
designate it by the above name. I possess native specimens
of the same from Jamaica.
same source.
8. P. sulcata, Hort. Berol.
Obs. My first knowledge of this species was on receiving, in
1836, from Mr. Otto of Berlin, a dried specimen bearing the
above name, and in 1841 we received a living plant from the
I do not find it noticed in Link's 'Enumeration
of the Ferns of the Berlin Garden'. It is so much like the
pre-
ceding that I hesitated whether it was truly distinct; its chief
difference is in the smaller size, and in being quite destitute of
the smell that so readily distinguishes P. felosma, and as the
differences are constant under cultivation, I am, induced to look
upon them as two distinct species.

25
9. P. arguta, Vahl; Willd. ; Hort. Kew. P. palustris, Poir. ; Willd. Mon-
gonia palustris, Presl, Pterid.
Hab. Madeira (Hort. Kew, 1778). Portugal, Dr. Welwitch, 1845.
10. P. Kingiana, Endlich. Fl. Norfolk Island.
HAB. Norfolk Island. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq., in 1831.
11. P. lata, Link.
HAB. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
12. P. tremula, R. Br.; Pteris chrysocarpa, Link. (non Hook. et Grev.)
Hab. New Holland and New Zealand. Introduced by A. Cunningham,
Esq., in 1827.
13. P. caudata, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
14. P. aquilina, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
39. ONYCHIUM, Kaulf.
1. O. lucidum, Spreng. Leptostegia lucida, D. Don, Fl. Nep.
Hab. East Indies. Nepal, Wallich. Received from Mr. H. Lowe in
1844.
40. LOMARIA, Willd.
Stegania, R. Br.
1. L. Patersoni, Spreng.; R. Br.
HAB. Van Diemen's Land. Raised in 1830.
2. L. lanceolata, Spreng.; R. Br.; Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 429.
HaB. Van Diemen's Land. New Zealand. Raised in 1833.
3. L. alpina, Spreng.; R. Br. L. Antarctica, Carm.
HAB. Van Diemen's Land. New Zealand. Cape Horn. Falkland
Islands. Introduced by Dr. Jos. Hooker., in 1843.
4. L. Spicant, Desv. Blechnum boreale, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
5. L. nuda, Willd. Onoclea nuda, Labill. Nov. Holl. t. 246.
Hab. Van Diemen's Land: Introduced by R. Gunn, Esq., in 1845.
6. L. onocleoides, Spreng.
Hab. West Indies. Introduced from Jamaica by Mr.W. Purdie. in 1843.
7. L. attenuata, Willd.
Hab. Mauritius. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
8. L. procera, Spreng.; R. Br.; Hook. Ic. Fil. t. 427.
HAB. New Holland. Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand. Raised
in 1833.
9. L. Gilliesii, Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 207.
HAB. Chili. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
10. L. Magellanica, Desv. L. robusta, Carm. L. setigera, Gaud. L.
zamioides, Gard. MSS. (specimen n. 5936). L. obtusifolia, Presi.
VOL. II.
Н.

26
Hab. Tierra del Fuego, Falklands and other Islands of the Southern
Ocean. Introduced by Dr. Jos. Hooker in 1843.
Obs. On comparing specimens of this fern from different
localities, we find that it is a native of Chili and the island of
Juan Fernandez, also of Rio Grande and the Organ Mountains
in Brazil ; and that it grows even as far north as British Guiana,
and at the small island of Tristan d'Acunha, to the east. On the
Organ Mountains it produces a thick caudex, four feet high,
which with the fronds on the top have much resemblance to
some species of Zamia.
11. L. Fraseri, A. Cunn.; Hook. Ic. Fil. t. 185.
Hab. New Zealand. Introduced by W. Colenso, Esq., in 1843.
41. BLECHNUM, Linn.
1. B. glandulosum, Kaulf; Kunze in Schk. Crypt. t. 58. f. 2.
HAB. Brazil. Raised in 1833.
2. B. Brasiliense, Desv.; Kaulf. En. Fil.
HAB. Brazil. Raised in 1834.
3. B. Corcovadense, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 60.
HAB. Brazil. Raised in 1834.
Obs. This, and another form raised by J. Riley, Esq., are
probably not distinct as species from B. Brasiliense.
4. B. triangulare, Link.
HAB. Mexico. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin
in 1841.
5. B. australe, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
6. B. hastatum, Kaulf. B. trilobum, Presl; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil.
t. 192.
HAB. Chili. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
7. B. gracile, Kaulf.
HAB. Brazil. Raised in 1834.
8. B. Lanceola, Sw.; Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 60. f. 3. Hook. in Bot. Mag.
t. 3240. Kunze in Schk. Crypt. t. 57. f. 1.
HAB. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
9. B. trifoliatum, Kaulf.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
10. B. intermedium, Link.; Kunze in Schk. Crypt. t. 57. f. 2.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
Obs. Although I have enumerated the three above as dis-

27
tinct species, still I am inclined to think that they are only
different forms of one. B. Lanceola is the only one of which I
possess native specimens, which are quite simple; but, cultivated,
it often assumes the trifoliate character.
11. B. longifolium. Humb.; Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 2818.
HAB. Trinidad. Raised in 1833.
Hab
12. B. occidentale, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
13. B. striatum, R. Br.
Hab. New Holland. Raised in 1833.
14. B. serrulatum, Rich.; Schk. Crypt. t. 108 (non Willd.). B. angusti-
folium, Willd. B. stagninum, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 64. B. calophyllum,
Langs. et Fisch. Ic. Fil. t. 23.
Hab. Brazil. Guiana. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1841.
42. DOODIA, R. Br.
1. D. aspera, R. Br.; Hort. Kew.
2. D. caudata, R. Br. D. rupestris, Kaulf.; Link.
HAB. New Holland. Raised in 1830.
3. D. lunulata, R. Br.
Hab. New Zealand. Raised in 1834.
4. D. blechnoides, A. Cunn. D. maxima, J. Sm. in Loud. Hort. Brit. and
Gen. Fil.
HAB. New Holland. Raised in 1835.
43. WOODWARDIA, Sm.
1. W. onocleoides, Willd. W. floridana, Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 111.
Hab. North America. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1830.
2. W. radicans, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
3. W. Virginica, Sw.
Has. North America. Cultivated in 1834.
Obs. The venation of this species is more of the character of
Doodia, but in habit it agrees best with Woodwardia.
Tribe IV. ASPLENIEÆ,
Section 1. ORTHOPHLEBIEÆ.
44. SCOLOPENDRIUM, Sm.
1. S. officinarum, Sm.; Hort. Kew.
Var. 1, crispa. Var. 2, multifida. Var. 3, undulata. Var. 4, ramosa.

28
45. DIPLAZIUM, Sw.; J. Sm.
1. D. plantagineum, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 85.
HAB. Brazil. West Indies. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden
of Berlin in 1841.
2. D. grandifolium, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
3. D. Shepherdi, Presl; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 76, fig. only.
HAB. Jamaica, and other of the West Indian Islands; also Brazil.
Cultivated in 1822.
4. D. coarctatum, Link.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
5. D. decussatum, J. Sm. Asplenium decussatum, Wall.
HAB. Nepal. Raised in 1840.
6. D. striatum, Presl. Asplenium striatum, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
7. D. arborescens, Sw.
Hab. St. Helena. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1838.
8. D. thelypteroides, Presl. Asplenium thelypteroides, Mich.
HAB. North America.
46. ASPLENIUM, Linn.
* Asplenia vera.
1. A. serratum, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
2. A. crenulatum, Presl. Asplenium Nidus, Radd. Bras. Fil. t.53. A. Bra-
siliense, Hort. (non Sw.)
HAB. Brazil and other parts of South America. Received from the
Messrs. Loddiges in 1836.
Obs. It is a question with me whether this is really distinct
from A. serratum. In a state of cultivation I have not observed
I
it to have the sharp serratures which are characteristic of native
specimens of A. serratum, but which I find are not always constant.
3 A. palmatum, Lam.; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 66.; Hort. Kew (sub. Asple-
nium Hemionitis).
4. A. oligophyllum, Kaulf.
Hab. Brazil. Introduced by G. Gardner, Esq., in 1841.
5. A. angustifolium, Mich.; Hort. Kew.
6. A. lucidum, Forst.; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 72.
HAB. New Zealand. Introduced by Mr. John Edgerley in 1843.
7. A. compressum, Sw.
HAB. St. Helena. Introduced by Mr. Thos. Fraser in 1825.
8. A. obtusatum, Forst.; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 68.
HAB. Van Diemen's Land. Received from the Messrs. Osborn in 1843.

29
9. A. obtusifolium, Linn.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 239. Plum. Fil. t. 67.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. Nath. Wilson in 1844.
10. A. salicifolium, Linn.; Plum. Fil. t. 60.
HAB. Jamaica. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1841.
11. A. Otites, Link.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
12. A lætum, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 70.
Hab. West Indies.
13. A. marinum, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
14. A. flabellifolium, R. Br.
Hab. New Holland. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq., in 1823.
** Trichomaneæ.
15. A. Trichomanes, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
16. A. ebenum, Ait.; Hort. Kew.
17. A. monanthemum, Linn.; Willd.; Hort. Kew.
18. A. formosum, Willd.
HAB. Caraccas. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
19. A. viride, Huds.; Hort. Kew.
20. A. Pretrarchæ, Dec.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil, t. 152.
Hab. South of France. Received from Mr. J. Henderson.
*** Dareæ.
21. A. flaccidum, Forst.; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 82.
Hab. New Zealand. Introduced by Mr. John Edgerley in 1843.
22. A. bulbiferum, Forst.
Hab. New Zealand. Introduced by Mr. John Edgerley in 1843.
23. A. diversifolium, A. Cunn.
HAB. Norfolk Island. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq., in 1831.
24. A. rhizophorum, Willd.; Hort. Kew.
25. A. Cicutaria, Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 48.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. W. Purdie in 1843.
26. A. viviparum, Presl. Darea, Willd. Cænopteris vivipara, Berg.
HAB. Mauritius. Received from the Messrs. Rollinsons in 1844.
**** Acropterea
27. A. septentrionale, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
28. A. alternifolium, Sw. A. germanicum, Willd.; Hort. Kew.
29. A. præmorsum, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
30. A. Canariense, Willd.
HAB. Tenerifle. Cultivated in 1822.
VOL. II.
I

30
31. A. falcatum, Sw.
Hab. East and West Indies; St. Helena; New Holland, &c. Intro-
duced by Mr. W. Purdie in 1843.
32. A. polyodon, Forst.
HAB. New Zealand. Introduced by Mr. John Edgerley in 1843.
33. A. Serra, Lang. et Fisch. Ic. Fil. t. 19.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1844.
***** Ruta-murariæ.
34. A. Ruta-muraria, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
35. A. lanceolatum, Huds.; Hort. Kew.
36. A. Adiantum-nigrum, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
37. A. fragrans, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
38. A. acutum, Willd.
HAB. Teneriffe. Cultivated in 1822.
39. A. planicaule, Wall.
HAB. East Indies. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1841.
****** Athyrieæ.
40. A. fontanum, Sm.; Hook. Aspidium fontanum, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
Athyrium fontanum, Roth.; Prest. Pterid.
41. A. Felix-femina, Bernh.; Hook. Aspidium, Hort. Kew.
42. A. umbrosum, J. Sm. Allantodia umbrosa, R. Br. Aspidium, Hort.
Kew.
43. A. axillare, J. Sm. Aspidium axillare, Hort. Kew.
44. A. Brownii, J. Sm. Gen. Fil. Allantodia australis, R. Br.
Hab. New Holland. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq., in 1824.
Section II. SYMPLOPHLEBIEÆ.
47. CETERACH, Willd.; J. Sm.
1. C. officinarum, Willd. Grammitis Ceterach, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
48. NEOTTOPTERIS, J. Sm.
1. N. vulgaris, J. Sm. Gen. Fil. Asplenium Nidus, Linn.; Hook. Bot.
Mag. t. 3101.
Hab. Many parts of the eastern hemisphere and New Holland. Intro-
duced by A. Cunningham, Esq., in 1825.
49. ANTIGRAMMA, Presl.; J. Sm.
1. A. rhizophylla, J. Sm. Asplenium rhizophyllum, Linn.; Hort. Kew.

31
50. CALLIPTERIS, Bory; J. Sm.
1. C. Malabarica, J. Sm. Diplazium malabaricum, Spreng. Diplazium
Seramporense, Spreng. Diplazium pubescens, Link. Asplenium ambi-
guum, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 75 6. (non 75. a). Anisogonium
Seramporense, Presl. Digrammaria ambigua, Presl. .
HAB. Many parts of the East Indies. Cultivated in 1822.
Tribe V. ASPIDIEÆ, J. Sm.
Section I. SYMPLOPHLEBIEÆ, J. Sm.
51. ASPIDIUM, Sw.; Schott.; J. Sm.
1. A. trifoliatum, Sw.; Hort. Kew. Polypodium trifoliatum, Linn. Sp.
Plant. and Herb. in Linn. Soc. Lond. (exclusive t. 148. Plumier's Fil.).
Aspidium heracleifolium, Willd.; Plum. Fil. t. 147.
2. A. macrophyllum, Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 145.
HAB. West Indies and tropical parts of South America. Received from
the Messrs. Loddiges in 1836.
52. SAGENIA, Presl.
.
1. S. coadunata, J. Sm. Gen. Fil. Aspidium coadunatum, Wall.; Hook. et
Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 202.
Hab. East Indies; Ceylon. Introduced by G. Gardner, Esq., in 1845.
53. ONOCLEA, Linn.
1. 0. sensibilis, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
54. CYRTOMIUM, Presl.
1. C. falcatum, Presl. Aspidium falcatum, Sw.; Thunb. Fl. Jap. t. 35.
Hab. Japan. Raised in 1838.
55. FADYENIA, Hook.
1. F. prolifera, Hook. et Bauer, Gen. Fil. t. 53 B. Aspidium proliferum,
Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 96.
Hab. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. W. Purdie in 1843.
56. NEPHRODIUM, Schott.
1. N. molle, R. Br.; Schott. Gen. Fil. t. 22; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 34 6.
Hab. Tropics of both hemispheres. Cultivated in 1820.

32
2. N. unitum, R. Br. Aspidium, Hort. Kew.
3. N. terminans, J. Sm. Aspidium terminans, Wall. N. Cumingii, J. Sm.
En. Fil. Philipp. n. 186.
Hab. East Indies; Philippine Islands; Ceylon. Introduced by G.
Gardner, Esq.
4. N. augescens, J. Sm. Aspedium augescens, Link.
HAB. Cuba. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
Section II. ORTHOPHLEBIEÆ, J. Sm.
57. WOODSIA, R. Br.
1. W. Ilvensis, R. Br. Polypodium Ilvensis, Hort. Kew.
2. W. hyperborea, R. Br. Polypodium hyperboreum, Hort. Kew.
3. W. obtusa, Hook. Polypodium obtusum, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t. 21.
Woodsia Perriniana, Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 68.
Has. North America. Cultivated in 1836.
4. W. mollis, J. Sm. Physematium molle, Kaulf.; Kunze, Analect.
Pterid. t. 27.
Hab. Mexico. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin in
1841.
58. CYSTOPTERIS, Bernh.
1. C. tenuis, Schott. Aspidium, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. Fil. t.53 b. Aspidium
atomaria, Willd.
Hab. North America. Cultivated in 1822.
2. C. bulbifera, Bernh. Aspidium bulbiferum, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
3. C. fragilis, Bernh. Aspidium fragile, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
4. C. regia, Presl. Aspidium regium, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
5. C. dentata, Hook. Aspidium dentatum, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
Obs. I have enumerated the above as species merely because
they are given as such by the authors of the “Hortus Kewensis”;
for, from the examination of numerous specimens from many
different countries, we find it quite impossible to point out any
character whereby to distinguish them. Exclusive of C. bulbifera,
the whole appear to be merely different forms of C. fragilis.
59. LASTREA, Presl.; J. Sm.
(Aspidii sp. Sw.; Nephrodii sp. Auth.
1. L. decurrens, J. Sm.; spec. nov. Fronds lanceolate, pinnate, pinnæ alter-
nate, sessile, pinnatifid, decurrent and lobed, forming a sinuose winged
rachis; laciniæ obtuse; veins pinnate; sori medial; indusium small,
becoming soon obsolete; sporangia aculeate; rhizoma cæspitose-

33
decumbent. Fronds 1 to 1 feet high, rachis strigose, paleaceous, the
lower pinnæ small, entire. It is Polypodium decursive-pinnatum, Hort. Ang.
HAB. China. Received from Mr. D. Cameron in 1841.
Obs. My first knowledge of this fern was from a specimen
presented to me in 1834, by the late A. B. Lambert, Esq., who
had received it amongst a collection of dried plants from China.
In 1841 I observed it in a living state in the Birmingham
Botanic Garden, but have not learned by whom it was introduced
into this country.
On referring to my observations under the tribe Aspidiea,
and also under the genera Lastrea and Nephrodium, in the 4th
vol. of the Journal of Botany', it will be seen that I have
noticed the difficulty that sometimes occurs in determining
whether certain species belong to Aspidieæ or to Polypodiea,
the presence or absence of an indusium being the technical
distinction ; but, on account of the small size and fugacious
nature of that organ, its absence is not always a proper test to
rely upon. This is peculiarly the case with the present species;
for, on examining specimens in herbaria, it will, without hesi-
tation, be referred to the tribe Polypodiee ; yet, on carefully
viewing it in its nascent state, a small ciliate indusium is
observable, which is soon concealed by the enlargement of the
sporangia.
2. L. Thelypteris, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
3. L. noviboracensis, Presl ; Sw.; Hort. Kew.;
4. L. Oreopteris, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
5. L. chrysoloba, Presl. Aspidium chrysolobum, Link.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1841.
6. L. vestita, J. Sm. Polypodium vestitum, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 36.
Hab. Brazil. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1845.
7. L. contermina, Presl. Aspidium conterminum, Willd.
HAB. West Indies and many parts of tropical America. Raised in 1835.
8. L. invisa, Presl; Sw.
HAB. Jamaica. Cultivated in 1830.
9. L. patens, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
10. L. Filix-mas, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
11. L. marginalis, Presl? Sw.; Hort. Kew.
12. L. elongata, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
13. L. cristata, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
14. L. intermedia, Presl; Willd.
HAB. North America. Cultivated in 1838.
15. L. spinulosa, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
16. L. dilatata, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
K

34
17. L. recurva, Newm.
HAB. Britain.
OBs. By some botanists this is considered only as a variety of
L. dilatata.* In cultivation it appears to maintain a more dwarf
and rigid habit than the usual form of L. dilatata.
18. L. eburnea, J. Sm. Aspidium eburneum, Wall. Polypodium oxyphyllum,
Wall.
HAB. Nepal. Received from J. Riley, Esq., in 1842.
Obs. In some states this may be taken for a Polypodium, but
I have observed a slight indusium when examined in a young
state.
19. L. villosa, Presl; Sw.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. Nath. Wilson in 1844.
20. L. decomposita, J. Sm. Nephrodium decompositum, R. Br.
HAB. New Holland. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq., in 1825.
21. L. pubescens, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 162.
Obs. The genus Lastrea, as at present constituted, contains a
considerable number of species, varying much in size and cir-
cumscription of their fronds, the position of the sori and nature
of the rhizoma, which on a revision of the genus may afford
sufficient characters for grouping the species. Although there
are very distinct and well-marked characters, between what may
be considered the genuine species of Lastrea and Polystichum ;
yet of other species it is difficult to say to which of these two
genera they really belong, and the last enumerated species may
be cited as an instance.
60. POLYSTICHUM, Roth (in part); J. Sm.
(Aspidium sp. Sw.)
1. P. rhizophyllum, Presl ; Sw.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 59.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. W. Purdie in 1843.
2. P. acrostichoides, Schott; Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 30.
HAB. North America. Cultivated in 1820.
3. P. falcinellum, Presl; Sw.
Hab. Madeira. Cultivated in 1820.
4. P. mucronatum, Presl; Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 296.
HAB. Jamaica. Cultivated in 1838.
* There can be no doubt of this being the same with Nephrodium Fenesecii,
of the Rev. Mr. Lowe's 'Flora of Madeira,' published in 1834.—ED.

35
5. P. Lonchitis, Roth; Schott. Gen. Fil. t. 9; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
6. P. auriculatum, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
7. P. aculeatum, Roth; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
8. P. lobatum, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
OBs. Writers on British ferns differ much in opinion as to the
specific distinctions between what is called Polystichum aculeatum
and P. lobatum ; but a much wider field is open for this kind of
controversy if they would but take a general view of the whole
series of ferns constituting this group of Aspidiea, representatives
of which are found widely dispersed over the earth, being found
in elevated regions within the tropics, and extending into the
higher latitudes of both hemispheres. As might be expected,
these different localities produce forms more or less differing
from each other, the extremes presenting characters sufficiently
well marked, to be considered as of specific value ; but on
taking a comprehensive view of the whole group, a transition of
form is readily traced, beginning with the least compound
(P. Lonchitis) and passing through P. lobatum and P. aculeatum
into forms more highly compound, constituting such a series
that it becomes most difficult to say what is a species, and
what may be only a variety dependent on the nature of the
locality; and, although in many instances, we see something
in the habit and aspect sensibly different from another form, yet
words fail to convey to our minds the distinction.
9. P. pungens, Presl; J. Sm.; Kaulf.
Hab. Cape of Good Hope. Introduced by Mr. James Bowie in 1823.
10. P. proliferum, J. Sm.; R. Br.
HAB. Van Diemen's Land. Received from the Messi's. Osborne in
1843.
11. P. vestitum, Presl; Schk. Crypt. t. 43.
HAB. New Zealand. Introduced by J. Edgerley in 1842.
12. P. Capense, J. Sm.; Willd.
HAB. Cape of Good Hope. Introduced by Mr. J. Bowie in 1823.
13. P. drepanum, Presl; Schk. Crypt. t. 43 b.
HAB. Madeira. Cultivated in 1822.
14. P. æmulum, Presl; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
15. P. hispidum, J. Sm.; Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 42.
HAB. New Zealand. Introduced by W. Colenso, Esq., in 1845.
16. P. aristatum, Presl; Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 42.
HAB. Norfolk Island. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq.
17. P. coniifolium, Presl; Wall.
HAB. East Indies; Ceylon ; Philippine Islands. Introduced by G.
Gardner, Esq:

36
62. DIDYMOCHLAENA, Desv.
1. D. truncatula, J. Sm. Aspidium truncatulum, Sw. Didymochlaena
sinuosa, Desv.
Hab. Tropics of South America, and Malayan Islands. Received from
the Messrs. Loddiges in 1838.
63. CYCLOPELTIS, J. Sm.
(Aspidii sp. Sw. Lastreæ sp. Presl.)
Veins thrice dichotomously branched. Venules free direct, the lower ante-
rior and exterior ones fertile. Sporangia medial or terminal. Sori
round, furnished with an orbicular peltate indusium and disposed in
two transverse rows. Rhizoma cespitose. Fronds pinnate, from one
to three feet high, pinnæ falcate-lanceolate, smooth, four to five inches
long, sessile, irregularly cordate or auriculated at the base and arti-
culate with the rachis.
1. C. semicordata, J. Sm. Aspidium semicordatum, Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 113.
HAB. Jamaica and other of the West Indian Islands. Introduced by
Mr. N. Wilson in 1844.
Obs. It has often occurred to me, that the Aspidium semicor-
datum of Swartz, did not well associate with any of the numerous
species of Lastræa, under which genus it has been placed by
Presl, as well as by myself in my Genera Filicum '; and it was
not till recently that I had the opportunity of examining a living
plant, which led me to separate it from Ľastræa. I find that it
I
belongs to that peculiar group of ferns which have the pinnæ
distinctly articulated with the rachis; and, on viewing its whole
character, I have no hesitation in placing it in affinity with
Nephrolepis, differing from that genus in the cæspitose character
of its rhizoma, and in having a double series of sori on both sides
of the mid-rib. It also, in habit and venation, forms another
affinity with Poloma and Leptopleura in the tribe Dicksonia.
Besides the above cited species, there is another from the
island of Luzon, which is so similar in appearance that Pres)
considered it the same as Swartz's species from the West Indies ;
but, on comparing the two, it will be seen that they differ in the
position of the sori: the Luzon plant having terminal fructifi-
cations, and the West Indian plant lateral. In my · Enumeration
of the Philippine Island Ferns', in the 3rd vol. of the “Journal
of Botany ’, I named the Luzon plant Lastræa Presliana; but,
by some inadvertency in wording the passage relating to the
position of the sori, it is made to appear the reverse of what is

35
now given: and although the position of the sori constitutes a
very distinguishing character, yet, on account of the similarity in
every other point, I cannot view the difference in position other-
wise than of specific value.
64. NEPHROLEPIS, Schott; J. Sm.
1. N. pectinata, J. Sm.; Willd. Aspidium trapeziforme, Schk. Crypt. t. 29
(non Sw.).
Hab. West Indies. Received from the Royal Botanic Gardens of Berlin
in 1841.
2. N. undulata, J. Sm.; Sw.
Hab. Sierre Leone. Introduced by the Right Hon. The Earl of Derby,
in 1844.
3. N. tuberosa, Presl.
HAB. East Indies. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin
in 1841.
4. N. exaltata, Schott; Sw.; Hort. Kew.
Tribe VI. DICKSONIEÆ.
Section I. LINDSÆÆ.
65. LINDSÆA, Dry.; J. Sm.
1. L. Guianensis, Dry.
HAB. Guiana. Introduced by H. Cadogan Rothery, Esq., in 1845.
Section II. DAVALLIEÆ, J. Sm.
66. DAVALLIA, Sw.; J. Sm.
1. D. pyxidata, R. Br.; Hort. Kew.
2. D. Canariensis, Willd.; Hort. Kew.
3. D. solida, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 126.
Hab. East Indies and islands of the Pacific Ocean. Received from Mr.
,
H. Lowe in 1844.
4. D. gibberosa, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 188.
Hab. Islands of the Pacific Ocean.
5. D. elegans, Sw. D. bidentata, Schk. Crypt. t. 127.
Hab. East Indies and Philippine Islands. Received in 1844 from
Mr. D. Cameron.
L

36
Section III. TRICHOMANEÆ, J. Sm.
67. TRICHOMANES, Linn.
1. T. radicans, Sw. T. brevisetum, R. Br.; Hort. Kew.
2. T. quercifolia, Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 115.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. W. Purdie in 1844.
3. T. spicatum, R. Hedw. T. elegans, Rudge (in part) Hook. Ex. Fl. t. 52.
HAB. Jamaica and other West India Islands. Introduced by Mr. W.
Purdie in 1844.
68. HYMENOPHYLLUM, Sm.
1. H. Tonbridgense, Sm.; Hort. Kew.
2. H. Wilsoni, Hook. Engl. Bot. Supp. t. 2686.
HAB. Britain and many other parts of the world.
Section IV. DICKSONIÆ, J. Sm.
69. SITOLOBIUM, Desv.; J. Sm.
Dicksoniæ sp. Sw.; Hook.
1. S. punctilobum, J. Sm. Nephrodium punctilobum, Mich. Dicksonia
pubescens, Schk. Crypt. t. 131.
HAB. North America. Cultivated in 1822.
2. S. adiantoides, J. Sm.; Plum. Fil. t. 30.
HAB. West Indies. Brazil and other parts of South America. Raised
in 1834.
3. S. davallioides, J. Sm.; R. Br.
HAB. New Holland. Raised in 1833.
4. S. rubiginosum, J. Sm.; Kaulf.
HAB. Brazil. Raised in 1841.
70. BALANTIUM, Kaulf; J. Sm.
1. B. Culcita, Kaulf ; J. Sm.; Hort. Kew.
71. DICKSONIA, L'Herit.
1. D. arborescens, L'Herit.; Hort. Kew.
2. D. Antarctica, Labill. Fl. Nov. Holl. t. 249.
Hab. New Holland. Introduced by A. Cunningham, Esq., in 1824.
3. D. squarrosa, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 130.
Hab. New Zealand. Introduced by Mr. J. Edgerly, in 1842.
4. D. dissecta, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
72. CIBOTIUM, Kaulf.; J. Sm.
1. C. Barometz, J. Sm. Aspidium Barometz, Hort. Angl. Cibotium glau-
cescens, Kunze in Schk. Crypt. Suppl. t. 31.

37
Hab. China. Introduced by J. Reeves, Esq. Received from the Messrs.
Loddiges in 1834.
2. C. Schiedei, Schlecht. in Linnæa; Hook. Sp. Fil. t. 30. A.
HAB. Mexico. Introduced by Mr. Hartweg in 1846. Received from
the Horticultural Society.
Tribe VII. CYATHEÆ, J. Sm.
73. HEMITELIA, R. Br.; J. Sm.
1. H. horrida, R. Br.; Hook. Sp. Fil. t. 15.
HAB. Jamaica and others of the West Indian Islands. Introduced by
Messrs. Wilson and Purdie in 1843.
74. CYATHEA, Sw.; J. Sm.
1. C. arborea, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
HAB. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. N. Wilson in 1843.
2. C. elegans, Hew.
Hab. Jamaica. Introduced by Mr. N. Wilson in 1843.
75. ALSOPHILA, R. Br.; J. Sm.
1. A. Capensis, J. Sm. Hemitelia Capensis, R. Br.
Hab. Cape of Good Hope. Introduced by Mr. Zeyher in 1845.
2. A. Hostmanni, J. Sm.; Hemitelia Hostmanni, Hook. Sp. Fil. Ic. Plant.
t. 646.
Hab. Guiana. Introduced by H. Cadogan Rothery, Esq., in 1845.
3. A. aspera, R. Br.; Hook. et Bauer Gen. Fil. t. 22.
Hab. Jamaica. Raised in 1834.
4. A. ferox, Presl.
Hab. Guiana. Introduced by H. Cadogan Rothery, Esq., in 1845.
5. A. pruinata, Kaulf. Polypodium pruinatum, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
Division II. GLEICHENIACEÆ, R. Br.
76. GLEICHENIA, Sw.
1. G. microphylla, R. Br.
Hab. New Holland and Van Diemen's Land. Introduced by R. Gunn,
Esq., in 1845.
77. MERTENSIA, Willd.
1. M. flabellata, J. Sm. Gleichenia flabellata, R. Br.
HAB. New Holland and Van Diemen's Land. Introduced by R. Gunn,
Esq., in 1845.

38
Division III. SCHIZÆACEÆ, Mart.
78. LYGODIUM, Sw.
1. L. palmatum, Sw.
Hab. North America. Introduced by Dr. Asa Grey in 1845.
2. L. scandens, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
3. L. flexuosum, Sw. L. dichotomum, Sw.; Hook. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 55,
HAB. East Indies. Cultivated in 1834.
4. L. venustum, Sw. Hydroglossum hirsutum, Willd.
Hab. Tropics of South America. Introduced in 1845 by H. Cadogan
Rothery, Esq.
5. L. Japonicum, Sw.
HAB. Japan. Cultivated in 1830.
6. L. articulatum, A. Cunn.
HAB. New Zealand. Introduced by W. Colenso, Esq., in 1844.
79. ANEMIA, Sw.
1. A. hirsuta, Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 162. Hort. Kew.
2. A. hirta, Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 157. A. collina, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 12.
HAB. Brazil and other tropical parts of South America. Raised in 1840.
3. A. Raddiana, Link. A. flexuosa, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 13 (non Sw.?)
Hab. Brazil. Raised in 1844.
4. A. tenella, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 141.
Hab. West Indies and Tropics of South America. Introduced by Mr.
W. Purdie in 1843.
5. A. adiantifolia, Sw.; Hort. Kew.
Obs. This species is peculiarly distinct from the rest of the
genus, by its having a true creeping rhizoma.
80. ANEMIDICTYON, J. Sm.
(Anemiæ sp., Sw.)
1. A. phyllitidis, J. Sm.; Sw.; Plum. Fil. t. 156.
B. longifolia. A. longifolia, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 8.
fraxinifolia. A. fraxinifolia, Radd. Bras. Fil. t. 8 bis.
HAB. West Indies and tropics of South America. Raised in 1829.
y
81. MOHRIA, Sw.
1. M. thurifraga, Sw.; Schk. Crypt. t. 143.
Hab. Cape of Good Hope. Received from the Royal Botanic Garden
of Berlin in 1841.

39
Division IV. OSMUNDACEÆ, Mart.
82. OSMUNDA, Linn.
1. 0. cinnamomea, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
2. O. Claytoniana, Linn.; Hort. Kev.
3. 0. regalis, Linn.; Hort. Kew.
4, 0. spectabilis, Willd.
HAB. North America. Introduced before 1920.
83. TODEA, Willd.
1. T. Africana, Willd.; Hort. Kew.
2. T. rivularis, Sieb. T. australasica, A. Cunn.
Hab. New Holland. Introduced by A. Cunningham in 1825.
3. T. pellucida, Carm. in Hook. Ic. Fil. 1. t. 8.
HAB. New Zealand. Introduced by Mr. J. Edgerley in 1842.
Division V. MARATTIACEÆ,
Kaulf.
82. MARATHA, Sm.
1. M. alata, Sm., Hort. Kew.
2. M. cicutæfolia, Kaulf.
HAB. Brazil. Received from the Messrs. Loddiges in 1843.
3. M. elegans, Endlich.
HAB. Norfolk Island and New Zealand. A. Cunningham. Received from
the Messrs. Loddiges in 1843.
ERRATA.
Page 15, line 3 from the bottom, for "venation” read "vernation".
Page 18, first line, for " Aretium” read “ Anetium” and the same three times following.
Page 36, at llth line from the bottom, for “ Poloma” read “ Isoloma”.
>
M

40
JOURNAL OF A BOTANICAL MISSION TO THE
WEST INDIES AND NEW GRENADA;
BY WILLIAM PURDIE,
Collector for the Royal Gardens of Kew; in letters addressed to the Editor.
(Continued from London Journal of Botany,' vol.iv. p. 27.)
The mission of Mr. Purdie being mainly connected with Horticulture and
the introduction of new and rare plants to our Gardens, it has been thought
advisable to insert the information concerning it, in the Companion to the
Botanical Magazine', rather than continue it in the 'London Journal of
Botany.' The Mission has now terminated by Mr. Purdie having been ap-
pointed, by the Secretary to the Colonies, to the Curatorship of the Botanic
Garden of Trinidad, vacant through the death of Mr. Lockhart. I here gladly
record my testimony to the excellent conduct of Mr. Purdie during the whole
of his arduous undertaking of more than three years duration, to the number of
new and rare and beautiful plants he has been the means of introducing into
our Gardens, and I offer my warmest thanks to the many individuals, whose
names will be here recorded, who have rendered him important services, in
furthering the object of his journey.
Royal Gardens, Kew, Nov. 1st, 1846.
Kingston, Jamaica, April 22nd. 1844.
Since I last wrote, I have visited the Lace Bark District, in
order to procure perfect specimens of the tree, accompanied by
your friend Dr. Bromfield, F.L.S., but am sorry to say my success
has been very small; for, to my surprise, I found the trees in
precisely the same state as they were five months previously.
There was no appearance of recent growth; but several gentle-
men, residing in different parts of the island, have promised to
procure flowering specimens and to send them to Dr. Macfadyen,
so that I hope the season will not pass without their being ob-
tained. The season of inflorescence is the end of May, and it
continues not later than June. The first time I saw these trees
was in September, when I discovered a dry raceme, but neither
blossom nor fruit, beyond a few capsules, which I detected by
searching among the fallen leaves on the ground, and which I
now send home. A single capsule, still growing on the tree,
,
enabled me to indentify those which I picked up; else, in the
dense woods of Jamaica, I might easily have made a mistake
among the numerous seeds, of various kinds, which strew the
soil, under, perhaps, one and the same tree.
In my journey through St. Ann's, I gathered some seeds and
plants which were new to me, and which are ready to go home by
next Packet. Two small boxes are now despatched, their contents
a

41
a
as follows: no. 1, Seeds of a beautiful and remarkable Palm, allied
to the Cocoa-nut (Cocos nucifera), and resembling it in general
appearance. Its noble pinnated leaves are, however, presented
edge-wise to the stem, which is robust, 21 feet in diameter, and
about ninety feet high, bearing large clusters of fruit in compact
bunches, not unlike grapes. The kernels are eaten as Cocoa-
nuts, being sweet and wholesome, but difficult to break. The
spadix and spatha are pendulous on long footstalks, and the
inflorescence is monocious, male and female flowers growing on
distinct spadices. The stem being very rough, I could not induce
my people to climb the tree, though they unhesitatingly ascend
the Cocoa-nut Palm ; but I secured the best specimens that
could be procured, from which you may form some conception
of this stately tree. I shall be glad if the nuts vegetate, and
will feel obliged by your informing me if the mode of packing,
now adopted, proves successful. As you were pleased with
a little Burmanniaceous plant, which I formerly transmitted,
I now send some growing tufts of it, enclosed in a Bamboo ;
when transplanted, I expect they will readily vegetate. I think
to have formerly mentioned that it affects spots where there has
been fire, at some distant period, and where it grows covered
with moss and Lichens. In my subsequent journeys, this fact
was confirmed; for, in Manchester and Clarendon Districts,
I since gathered this interesting little species in several widely
distant localities, but always where the vegetation had been
burnt; often on the mountains at an elevation of 2,500 feet.
Dr. Bromfield is much pleased with Jamaica. Perhaps you
are aware of the dexterity with which this gentleman catches
snakes. When walking with him in St. Ann's, I pointed out a
fine Black Snake, lying under a stone wall
, which he insisted on
capturing alive, with his unprotected hand, in the belief that the
reptile was innocuous, like the common ringed serpent of En-
gland; but it proved otherwise, the seizure was strictly mutual ;
the Black Snake fastened on his hand as he laid hold of it, and
bit him severely. The wound swelled for some days, though
with little pain, and no dangerous consequences ensued.
I think some of the Orchidea from Westmoreland are not
known in England. The species of Broughtonia grows on the
coast here, and will require much heat. The specimens of the
“ Scarlet Seed”, mentioned in Brown's ‘Jamaica', are interesting;
he supposed the plant to be a Sloanea, misled, probably, by not
finding the corolla, which is singularly fugacious, dropping off
directly after the blossom has expanded, when it is quickly
devoured by insects, which seem to be attracted by the red
>
N

42
a
farinaceous powder that surrounds the seeds. There are also
specimens of a Sloanea, of which I previously sent seeds. This
noble tree appears to be imperfectly described. Its seeds
are partially enveloped in a fleshy arillus of a yellowish (not
scarlet) colour. I consider it highly improbable that any bird
can break or pierce the capsules to obtain the seeds, both on
account of their extreme hardness, and because the natural instinct
of birds prevents them from attacking any unripe fruit. As soon
as they become mature, the capsules of the Sloanea burst open
and expose the delicately flavoured seeds. I have never seen
the capsules perforated, though the tree is of common occurrence
in Manchester, St. Ann's, and Hanover parishes, and they appear
of a peculiarly indestructible nature, the ground being often
strown with the capsules of many previous years.
Within the last few days, I have visited the Lagoon, near the
ferry, in search of Nelumbium Jamaicense; but without success.
Nymphea Lotus is common, and is the only individual of that
tribe which I have seen. Sagittaria lancifolia is a showy aquatic.
I hope the seeds of the curious Mimosa-like water-plant have
germinated. I lately obtained a quantity of seeds of Lisianthus
glaucifolius, from the coast of St. Ann's: they should be raised
in sandy peat.
If all is well, it is my intention to leave this Island for
Santa Martha early next month. It will be necessary to furnish
myself with fire-arms, Dr. Linden assuring me that it is unsafe
to travel there without them. Dr. L. is just gone to Cuba, after
a stay of nine weeks here; he considers Jamaica a poor country
for botany; but I think without sufficient reason. I shall be
anxious till I can hear that the Lace-Bark trees arrived safe and
in good condition. My health happily continues good. The
weather is dry and warm at Kingston, but rain has fallen in
great abundance among the mountains.
(To be continued.)

$




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