96 House, the brigade for the Columbia leave the Saslcatchawan, making a portage of 100 miles to Red-Deer river, which falls into the Atha- bane Lake : and as I still adhered to the resolution of accompanying them, I found it necessary to reduce my luggage ; and therefore left my specimens under charge of the gentlemen at Edmonton House, only taking Vi^ith me a small stock of linen, and a bale of paper. We crossed the portage in six days, without meeting with any serious accident. The horse, however, which carried my bale of paper, had the misfortune to fall in crossing Papina river, by which it was thoroughly soaked ; and as the expedition with which the brigade travels, precluded all hope of getting it dried by the way, I was under the unpleasant necessity of leaving it in a damp state until we got to Fort Assinaboyne, a small establishment of the com- pany upon Red-Deer river, where we spent two or three days, prepar- ing the canoe and cargo for our ascent of the river to the mountains. The second day after leaving Edmonton House brought us to the commencement of the woody country, which continues all the way to the Rocky Mountains. The trees consist of Popnlus balsamifera and trepida ; the white Spruce and Birch ; with Firms Banksiana occasion- ally in the drier situations, and more rarely P. bahamea. These are the only trees which occur north of this latitude ; though in some locali- ties and deep swamps the Finns nigra and microcarpa may be seen. It was now ascertained that the canoes were so heavily laden that it would be necessary for some of the party to go by land ; and I agreed to be one of these, in order to have the opportunity of seeing the country and judging of its productions. We quitted the Fort accordingly on the 1st or 2nd of October, and started in high spirits for a journey on horseback. A heavy fall of snow, which took place on the 4th, put, however, a final stop to collecting for this sea- son ; it also rendered our progress through these trackless woods very unpleasant ; our horses soon became jaded, when our only alter- native was to walk, and drive them before us : to add to our misfor- tunes, the animals were continually sinking in the swamps, from which we found it no easy task to extricate them. However, we reached Jasper's House on the 11th day, having travelled a distance of two hundred miles since we left Assinaboyne Fort ; all the party being in perfect health. [To be Co7itimied.] 95 [TAB. XXVI.] ON THE BOTANICAL CHARACTERS OF THE SUGAR CANE, WITH REMARKS ON ITS CUL- TIVATION. By James Macfadyen, M. D., Jamaica. SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM, {Sugar Cane.) Triandria Digynia. Nat. Orel. GRAMiNEyp,. Gen. Char. Spiciila geminae, altera sessilis, altera pcdi- cellata, omnes hermaphroditoe, uniflora?, (biflonv, * Jh\) Gluma duae, coriacea?. Flos hermaphroditus : Falccc diia? hyalinse, inferior mutica aut aristata, Br.) Paha (flos neuter univalvis, Br.) iinica, mutica. Kunth. Saccharum officinarum ; panicula effusa, ramis numcrosissi- mis verticillatis, glumis subacqualibus lanugine breviori- bus, foliis planis glabris. (Tab. XXVI.) Saccharum officinarum. Linn. Sp. PL p. 79. Jfilld. Sjj. PI. V. 1. /?. 381. Humh. et Kunth Nov. Gen. v. \. p. 146. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. \. p. 281. Arundo saccharifera. Sloans Jam. v. \. p. 108. t. QG. Rumph. Herb. Amb. v. \. p. 186. f. 74. f. 1. Hab. In India orientali? Colitur fere ubique inter tropicos. This precious plant, so especially valuable in a commercial point of view, is supposed to be a native of the East Indies. The Chinese date the cultivation of the Sugar Cane to periods of the most remote antiquity: but Dr. Roxburgh ascertained that the Sugar Cane of China was different iVom S. officinarum^ and he has published it as the S. sinense. From the East Indies it was carried by merchants, towards the * " Spiculas bifloras esse vix dubito, quainquain i" speciminibua slccin cat despicere non potui." — Kunth. VOL. I. H FOR OFFICIAL USE. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information No. I 1936 CONTENrs PAGE I— Contribatlons to the Flora of Tropical America: XXV - 1 II— Addition to the Flora of Cyprus: II - - - 16 III — Contributions to the Flora of Borneo and other Malay Islands: V - - - 17 IV — Spartina Townsendli nendocinensis Gill, ex Hook, et Arn. 3, 310. Origanum laxifloriim Royle ex Benth. 3, 376. Orthosiphon pallidus Royle ex Benth. 3, 370. Oxalis adenophylla Gill. 3, 165. andicola Gill. 3, 161. compacta Gill. 3, 162. erythrorhiza Gill. 3, 162. geminata Hook, et Arn. 3, 163. lineata Gill. 3, 162. macrorrhiza Gill. 3, 162. platypila Gill. 3, 163. subacaulis Gill. 3, 163. Oxleya A. Cunn. 1, 246, gen. nov. (Meliaceae) — now reduced to Flindersia R. Br. (1814). Oxleya xanthoxyla A. Cunn. 1, 246. Panicum aristatum Macfad. 2, 115. Passiflora reiitsa Hook, et Am. 3, 325. Pentacaena ramosissima Hook, et Arn. 3, 338 : Loeflingia ramosissitna Weinm. Phaca Arnottiana GUI. 3, 184. canescens Hook, et Arn. 3, 185. ,, carinata Hook, et Am. 3, 185. ,, coqiiimbensis Hook, et Arn. 3, 184. ,, Cruckshanksii Hook, et Arn. 3, 184. elata Hook, et Am. 3, 185. flava Hook, et Am. 3, 186. inflata Gill. 3, 183. ochroleuca Hook, et Am. 3, 186. Phaseolus amoenus Macfad. 2, 113. vestitus Hook. 2, 216. Phloftiis bracteosa Royle ex Benth. 3, 383. cashmeriana Rovle ex Benth. 3, 382. cordata Royle ex Benth. 3, 382. lamiifolia Royle ex Benth. 3,383. latifolia Royle ex Benth. 3, 383. simplex Royle ex Benth. 3, 382" Plectrocarpa Gill, ex Hook, et Arn. 3, 166, gen. nov. (Zygophyllaceae). Plectrocarpa tetracaniha Gill. 3, 167. Pleuropkora polyandra Hook, et Arn. 3, 315. pusilla Hook, et Am. 3, 315. Poinciana Gilliesii Hook. 1, 129. Poly gala spinescens Gill. 3, 146. Portulaca pilosissima Hook. 2, 220. Prenanthes subdentata Hook. 2, 221. Prosopis astringens Gill, ex Hook. 3, 204. ephedrioides Gill, ex Hook. 3, 204. globosa Gill, ex Hook. 3, 205. humilis Gill, ex Hook. 3, 204. sericantha Gill, ex Hook. 3, 204. Psidium amygdalinum Hook, et Arn. 3, 317. Psoralea Higuerilla Gill, ex Hook. 3, 181. Psychotria pyrifolia Hook, et Arn. 3, 360. trifolia Hook, et Arn. 3, 359. Pyrenacantha volubilis Wight 2, 107. Ranunculus trisepalus Gill, ex Hook. 3, 133. Retanilla stricta Hook, et Arn. 3, 173. trinervia Hook, et Arn. 3, 174 : Trevoa trinervia Gill, et Hook. Rhexia heterophylla Hook, et Am. 3, 316. Rhynchosia tnendacinensis Gill, ex Hook. et Arn. 3, 199. ,, Senna Gill, ex Hook, et Am. 3, 199. ,, sericea Gill, ex Hook, et Am. 3, 199. Ribes cucuUatum Hook, et Arn. 3, 340. Rubia Haenkeana Gill, ex Hook, et Arn. 3, 363. intricata Hook, et Arn. 3, 362. ,, mucronata Hook, et Arn. 3, 363 : Galium mucronatum Ruiz et Pav. pusilla Gill, ex Hook, et Am. 3, 363. Richardiana Gill, ex Hook, et Am. 3, 362. Ruellia floribunda Hook. 2, 236. Sageretia trinervis Gill, ex Hook. 3, 172. Salvia hians Royle ex Benth. 3, 373. strictiflora Hook. 2, 234. Sarothra Drummondii Grev. et Hook. 3, 236. Schinus ternifolius GUI. ex Hook. 3, 177. Senecio volubilis Hook. 2, 226. Seseli Gilliesii Hook, et Arn. 3, 354. Sicyos Baderoa Hook, et Arn. 3, 324. Sida Arnottiana GiU. ex Hook. 3, 154. ceratocarpa Hook, et Arn. 3, 154. densiflora Hook, et Arn. 3, 155. Grevilleana Gill, ex Hook. 3, 154. ,, picta Gill, ex Hook. 3, 154. Silene andicola Gill. 3, 147. Sisymbrium Arnottianum Gill, ex Hook. 3, 138. frutescens Gill, ex Hook. 3, 139. leptocarpum Hook, et Am. 3, 139. sagittatum Hook, et Arn. 3, 139. 93 Chile, 2, 529 (1826), appeared there as a nomen nudum. Actually the first description was published 3 years later by Hooker in Hook. Bot. Misc. 1, 158 (September 1829). Wight's " Illustrations of Indian Botany," which appeared in Hook. Bot. Misc. 2, 90-110 (after 22 Oct., 1830), 344-360 (autumn? 1831), 3, 84-104 (spring? 1832), 291-302 (1 March, 1833), was reprinted, under the same title, at Glasgow (Curll & Bell), the title- page bearing the date 1831. This date evidently refers only to the first part of the reprint, which must necessarily have appeared in instalments. In the Bradley BibliogTaph}^ 1, 471, the date of the reprint is given as 1831 [-33]. The copy seen by Pritzel, Thesaurus, ed. 2, n. 10243 included pp. 1-70, tt. i-xix, xxi-xli, which originally appeared in the Botanical Miscellany during the period 1830-33. A copy, presented by George Bidie to Sir J. D. Hooker, and now in the Library of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, ends with p. 58 and t. xxxii, the last instalment being missing. This shows that the title-page was issued before the completion of the reprint. Advantage was taken, when reprinting, to adjust the text slightly. Thus the accounts of Pterospermiim suherifolium, p. 45, Bryophyllwn calycinwn, p. 55,- and Butea frondosa, p. 57, begin at the top of the page, instead of some distance down as in the " Botanical IMiscellany," while the description of Villarsia macro- phylla, pp. 51-52, and the general remarks, pp. 53-54, are adjusted so that the former ends at the bottom of p. 52, and the latter begin at the top of p. 53. The continuation of the " Illustrations of Indian Botany " pubhshed in Hook. Journ. Bot. 1, 62-67, 225-231 (1834) does not appear to have been reprinted. WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, LL.D., F.R.A. & L.S., &c. &c. REGIUS PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVFBSITT OF GLASGOW. LIBRA 11. 3, 147. •Uurop^ora folyanira Hook. ,3a^^^^_ ^^^^ ^^ ^^„ ^oinciana GiUiesH Hook. 1, ^9 ^^ ^olvgala spinescens Gill. 6, I4b 139 3 139. sagittatnm Hook, et Arn. 3, ^olygala spinescens ^^^^- "^ ---^^^ 139. oortulaca pUosissima Hook. 2, 220. 93 BOTANICAL MISCELLANY; CONTAINING FIGURES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SUCH PLANTS AS RECOMMEND THEMSELVES BY THEIR NOVELTY, RARITY, OR HISTORY, OB BT THE USES TO WHICH THEY ARE APPLIED IN THE ARTS, IN MEDICINE, AND IN DOMESTIC CECONOMY; TOGETHER WITH OCCASIONAL BOTANICAL NOTICES AND INFORMATION. BY WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, LL.D., F.R.A. & L.S., &c. &c. REGIUS PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW. LIBRARY VOL. I. NEV/ YORK BOTANICAL OAKDEN LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE -STREET. MDCCCXXX. f:i4!. i t-^l \\ -^ TO THE HONOURABLE THE COUKT OE DIRECTORS or THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. AS A TESTIMONY OF THE IMPORTANT SERVICES RENDERED IV S C I E N C E IX THEIR PRINCELY PAVRONAOiE OF BOTANY, BY WHICH THE PLANTS OF THE VAST POSSESSIONS I Nin U THEIR SWAY, HAVE BEEN MADE KNOWN AND :\tlNIFlCENTLY DISTKIBITED THROlOHOir IHF WHOIK Cn ILl/EO WOKIP. THE PRESENT WOUK IS Dr.nUWTI-n. Wiril SENTIMENTS OF THE HIGHEST ADMIRATION AND ESTEEM. HV rilElR OBEDIENT AXP \ KUV lU'Mr.l.E SKK\ ANV. W. .1. HOOKER, LI., n. KEO.U'S rROVKSSOK iM' liv>»AN\ IN tllK lIMVKHSlrV OK UI.ASt:OX« % i SPIRIDENS REINWARDTII. Cryptogamia Musci. Nat. Ord. Musci. Gen. Char. (Spiridens, Nees.) Seta lateralis. Peristomhm duplex: ext. e dentibus 16, subulatis, spiraliter involutis : int. e ciliis \Q^ remotiusculis, subulatis, linea media notatis atque apicem versus perforatis. Calyptra dimidiata. Spiridens Remwardtii. (Tab. I.) Spiridens Reinwardtii. Nees von Esenheck^ in Nov. Act. Acad. vol. 11. p. U4. /. 17. A. Hab. In summo monte ignivomo Tidor, Moluccarum minorum insula. Reimoardt. Caides subcaespitosi, basi densissinie ferrugineo-tomentosi, pedales et ultra, erecti, ramosi ; ramis subsimplicibus non raro subsecimdis. Folia undique inserta, patentia, flavo-viridia, subsquarrosa, infe- riora prsecipue, ovato-lanceolata, longe angusteque acuminata, rigidiuscula, membranacea, substriata, basi amplexicaulia, mar- gine incrassata, acute serrata. Perichatialia : exteriora erecta, ovato-acuminata, enervia; snperiora longiora, convoluta, longe cuspidato-acuminata, vix serrulata. Seta lateralis, perbrevis, pe- richastio immersa. Capsida obliqua, ovato-oblonga, fusca, laevis. Calyptra conico-acuminata, hinc lateraliter fissa. Operculum co- nico-subulatum, capsula dimidio brevius. Peristoma externi denies sedecim, longi, lineari-lanceolati, fnlvi, transversim striati, madore erecti, siccitate basi reflexi, dein spiraliter involuti ; iiiterni cilia his paulo breviora, erecta, conniventia, libera, subulata, transver- sim striata, linea media longitudinali notata, atque versus apicem medio perforata, basi membrana reticulata, flava, exserta unita. Columella subcylindracea, apice dilatata, massam spongiosum, re- cvi ticulatam, ovato-acuminatam sustinens. Semina minutissima. sphaerica. My valued friend Dr. Nees von Esenbcck, has been so obliging as to send me fine specimens of this most noble of all Mosses, which he has ably illustrated both hy figures and VOL. I. B descriptions in the work above quoted. That author suspects that the Bartramia gigantea of Schwaegrichen's Suppl. v. ii. t. 63. may belong to the same genus as the present ; but as the fruit of that plant is unknown, this point cannot at pre- sent be determined. The character of this genus, as its name implies, is de- pendent upon the spirally involute nature of the teeth of the peristome, as seen when dry ; in this particular bearing much affinity with the Taylor'ia splachnoides. In other respects the essential characters are scarcely different from those of Hypnum, from which however it may be distinguished by its habit ; and in that it is more nearly allied to the Barlrarnicc. Fig. 1. Plant {nat. size). Fig. 2. Leaf. Fig. 3. Perichsetium and cap- sule, with its calyptra. Fig. 4. Operculum. Fig. 5. Peristome. Fig. 6. Teeth of the outer ; and Fig. 7. Teeth of the inner peri- stome. Fig. 8. Portion of the columella with the spongy extre- mity which filled the operculum. Fig. 9. Seeds : — more or less magnified. 3 BRYUM GILLIESII. Cryptogamia Musci. Nat. Ord. Musci. Gen. Char. Seta terminalis. Peristomium duplex : ext. sedecini-den- tatum ; int. e membrana sedecim-laciniata, nunc ciliis interpositis. Calyptra dimidiata. Bryum Gilliesii ; caespitosa ramosa, foliis ovatis concavis obtusis inte- gerrimis grosse reticulatis, nervo integro, capsula inclinata una cum apophysi pyriformi, operculo brevi-conico. (Tab. II.) Hab. In terram ad radices montium in Andibus, prope Mendozam. D. Gillies. Caiiles sublaxe casspitosi, inferne radiculosi, semiunciam longi, erecti, rubicundi, subramosi. Rami dichotomi, non raro ex innova- tionibus orti. Folia subarcte imbricata, erecta, fere exacte ovata, concava, valde obtusa, integerrima, succulenta, laxe reticulata, pallide viridia, nervo valido, usque ad apicem attingente, in- structa. Seta terminalis, semipoUicaris, lasvis. Capsula inclinans una cum apopliysi fere exacte pyrilormis, primum viridis, demum luteo-fusca. Calyptra juvenis fere cyiindracea, hinc Jateraliter fissa. Operculum conicum, vel conico-hemisphaericum, obtusum. Peristomium externum e dcntibus sedecim, acuminatis, brevius- culis, aureo-fuscis ; internum e membrana flava reticulata, sedecim- laciniata, laciniis remotis, erectis, angustis, strictis, ciliis interpo- sitis nullis. From a view of the capsule and kaves alone of this curious little Moss, there are few botanists but would pronounce it to belong to the genus Splachnum : but it is altogether a ter- restrial plant, and appears to grow in a very dry and arid soil; and on carefully removing the operculum and the outer teeth of the peristome, the inner laciniated membrane comes to view, showing it to belong to the genus Bryum, or that division of it called Pohlia by many authors, wanting the interposed ciliae to the inner peristome : and thus bearing the same rc- B 2 lation to Bryum, as Leskea does to Hypnum. This mode of structure too, both in Pohlia and Leskea is generally, but unfortunately not always, accompanied by an erect capsule. We are, however, now acquainted with many species which have interposed ciliae, so minute and imperfect that it would be difficult to say to which division the species possessing them should belong:. In regard to the individual here figured, it is totally unlike any species of Bryum hitherto described ; and I have much pleasure in dedicating it to my friend Dr. Gillies, its disco- verer, whose botanical collections, made in a previously un- explored part of South America, are destined to afford some of the most interesting materials of the present publication. Fig. 1. Plants {nat. size). Fig. 2. Single plant. Fig. 3. Leaf. Fig. 4. Calyptra. Fig. 5. Teeth of the outer peristome. Fig. 6. Portion of the inner peristome: — 7nore or less mag^iijied. ASTELIA ALPINA. Hexandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Inter Asphodeleas et JuNCEAS. Br. Gen. Char. (Astelia. Banks et Soland.) Mores polygami-dioici. Herm. Masc. Perianthium sexpartitum, semiglumaceum. Sta- mina Q, imo perianthio inserta. Pistillum imperfectum. Herm. Fcem. Perianthium ut in masculo, persistens. Stamina imperfecta. Ovarium triloculare v. uniloculare, placentis tribus parietalibus : polyspermum. Stylus 0. Stigmata 3, obtusa. Bacca 1 — 3-locu- laris, polysperma. Herbae hahitu fere Tillandsiae, et pariter supra arborum truncos vivos V. emortuos quandoque jparasiticcc. Radix ^iro5a. Folia radicalia trifariam imbricata, lanceolato-linearia v. ensiformia, carinata, villis appressis, compressis, utrinque subtusve instructa, basibus seri- ceo-lanatis. Caulis nullus v. brevis, paucifolius. Flores racemosi v. paiiiculati, raro subsolitarii, pedicellis inarticidatis, basi unibrac- teatis, parvi, extus sericei. — Br. in Fl. Nov. Holl. Astelia alpi7ia ,• foliis strictis utrinque sericeis, racemo infra diviso, I'acemulis paucifloris, baccis ovalibus unilocularibus, perianthiis sexpartitis. Br. (Tab. III.) Astelia alpina. Br. in Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. v. \. p.29\. Smith in Bees' Cycl. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 2. p. 144. Hab. Insula Van Dieman, Brown, — in summitatem montis Welling- ton, alt. 4000 ped. Fraser. Radix fibrosa (Br.). Caidis perbrevis, fere nullus, e basibus vaginan- tibus fuscis foliorum formatus, atque pilis albis, longis, numero- sissimis pulcherrime sericeis, densissime obsitus. Folia fere omnino radicalia, pedalia et ultra, semiunciam lata, linearia, acu- minata, basi lata, vaginantia, costata, striata, inferne carinata, utrinque sed subtus praecipue, sericeo-villosa. Scapus radicalis ( ? ), in meis exemplaribus foliis brevior, densis- sime albo-sericeus, racemo compacto paniculalo terminatus. Pc- dunculi bracteis foliaceis bi-quadri-pollicaribus sulfulti. Flores foc- mineos solummodo vidi. Hi bracteati, bractea lanceolata, sericea. Perianthium profunde sexpartitum, laciniis lanccolatis subina-qua- libus, subglumaceis, fuscis, extus sericeis. Stamina minuta, abor- tiva, laciniis opposita. Germen, vel Bacca^ vix matura, oblono-a, glabra, stigmatibus tribus obtusis sessilibus terminata, unilocularis, trivalvis ? Beceptacula tria, filiformia, parietalia. Stamina imma- tura plurima, pedicellata. The specimens from which I have been able to make the ac- companying drawing and description of this plant, were com- municated to me, along with very many other rare Australasian plants, from the summit of Mount Wellington in Van Die- man's Isle, where it grows at an elevation of 4000 feet above the level of the sea, forming densely matted patches. No figure can give an idea of its beauty, clothed as it is with white extremely dense silky hairs in almost every part, more espe- cially on the sheathing bases of the leaves. The general aspect of the Astelia is not otherwise very dissimilar to our Luzula maxima, and Mr. Brown regards the genus as intermediate between the AsphodelecE and Juncece,. At the same time that illustrious botanist observes that it approaches to the Til- landsKE, and like them is sometimes parasitic upon the trunks of trees. Mr. Brown mentions at least one other species, as existing in New Zealand ; and a third, Sir James E. Smith has described from the collection of Mr. Menzies, made in the Sandwich Islands, {A. Mejiziesiana, Sm.), which differs essentially from the present individual in having a trilocular berry, and may, on that account, prove to be distinct as to genus ; but in habit the two plants are almost exactly the same ; and as I am in possession of beautiful specimens, given to me by Mr. Menzies, I shall take the opportunity of figuring the A. Menzicsiana in this work. The Melanthium pumilum of Forster is also considered to belong to the pre- sent genus. Fig. 1. Perianth, with one segment cut away, and the germen removed from a female flower, to show the abortive stamens. Fig. 2. Ger- men. Fig. 3. Inner view of a portion of the same, to show the parietal receptacle and the ovules: — magnijicd. MUTISIA ILICIFOLIA. Syngenesia Superflua. Nat. Ord. Composit-^, Div. La- BiATiFLOR.*, DeC. Perdicie.^e, Spreng. Gen. Char. Involncrim cylindricum imbricatum, squamosum ; squamis latis. Beceptaculum nudum. Flosculi, t//5cz hermaphroditi, tubulosi, 5-dentati, demum in lacinias 2 — 5 aquales, vel in tres inajquales fissi ; AnthercE bisetos^e ; radii foeminei, bilabiati ; labio inferiore ligulam referente, tridentato, superiore minore bipartite, (raro in- tegro V. nullo); rudimenta filamentorum 5. Papptis plumosus. Mutisia ilicifolia; glabra scandens, foliis amplexicaulibus cordato-ova- libus spinoso-dentatis reticulatis cirrhiferis, pedunculis unifloris. (Tab. IV.) Mutisia ilicifolia. Cav. Ic. 5. p. 6^. t. 493. Willd. Sp. PL v. 3. p. 2069. Pers. Spi. PL v. 2. p. 453. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 3. p. 505. Hab. Prope villam Vicenziam, in Chili. Z). Cruickshanks. Caulis ramosus ? scandens, angulatus, angulis subalatis nunc spinosis. Folia sesquipoUicaria, remota, alterna, patentia, nunc reflexa, coriacea, ovalia, basi cordata, amplexicaulia, apice truncata, mar- gine repande dentato-spinosa ; reticulata, glabra, costa in cirrlio longo simplici terminata. Pedunculus terminalis, solitarius, uni- florus. Flos magnus, speciosus. Involucrum cylindraceum ; squamis imbricatis, late-ovatis, membranaceis, appendice lanceo- lata coriacea terminatis, infimis reflexis, supremis inappendicu- latis, apice tomentosis. Flosculi, radii foeminei, duas uucias longi, sanguinei, inferne tubulosi, apice ligulati, subbilabiati, labio exteriore, seu ligula, apice tridentato, interiore minutissimo erecto bifido: ore rudimentis staminum quinque. Gcrmcn ob- longum, glabrum, pappo longo plumose basi unito terminatum. Stylus flosculo brevior. Stigma inaqualiter bifidum. Floscidi, disci hermapliroditi, bilabiati, labia exteriore ligulato, recurvato, tridentato, interiore bipartite, laciniis arete revolutis. Stamina prope medium tubi inserta. Anthercc exsertae, flava?, basi biaris- tatse. Pistillum ut in focmineo : ad basin styli vagina cylindracea (fig. 3.) _ Among the Composito' there arc few plants more remarkalile for the beauty of their flowers, and their varied and singular 8 foliage, than the MutisKE. One species, the M. speciosa, has been cultivated at the Royal Gardens at Kew, and figured in the Botanical Magazine, at the first plate of the New Se- ries of that work ; but as it has pinnated leaves, somewhat similar to those of a Vicia, the plant assumes an appearance very unlike the present individual. For representations of other MutisicB, we are hitherto indebted almost whollv to Cavanilles and Humboldt. I intend to make known, by this work, some interesting species which I have received from my valuable correspond- dents W. Cruickshanks, Esq. of Valparaiso, and Dr. Gillies of Mendoza ; and I shall esteem myself happy thus to be the means of recommending them to the horticulturist, as no plants can be more worthy of a place in our stoves. Fig. 1. Floret of the ray. Fig. 2. Floret of the disk. Fig. 3. Ease of the style to show the sheath which surrounds it. Fig. 4. Base of an anther : — more or less magnified. MUTISIA RUNCINATA. Mutisia runcinata ; foliis lanceolatis runcinatis decurrentibus cirrhosis, subtus albo-tomentosis. (Tab. V.) Mutisia runcinata. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 3. p. 2069. Sprejig. Sijst. Veget. V. 3. p. 505. Mutisia retrorsa. Cav. Ic. 5. p. 65. t. 498. Pcrs. Syyi. PI. v. 2. p. 453. Hab. Apud Quebradas, prope villam Vicenziam in Chili. Z). Gillies. Caulis frutescens, scandens, flexuosus, angulatus, foliis decurrentibus alatus. Folia alterna, rigidiuscula, lanceolata, runcinata, basi utrinque in alas decurrentia, supra glabra, subtus albo-tomentosa, apice cirrho simplici terminata. Flores ad apicem ramorum terminales. Involiicrum ovato-cylindraceum, squamis infimis par- vis, reflexis, reliquis magnis, erectis, ovatis, submembranaceis. "Corollae radii lineares, tridentatae." {Willd.) The leaves of this species are deeply runciiiate, and form a striking contrast in the dark colour of their upper surface with the white of the lower side. In the specimens which Dr. Gillies has been so kind as to send me of this plant, the florets of the circmnference are wanting ; they are probably similar to those of J/. ilicifoUa. MUTISIA INFLEXA. Mutisia injlcxa ,- scandens, caule tereti aiigulato, foliis angustolineari- bus cirrhosis sessilibus, marginibus revolutis. (Tab. VI.) ^lutisia intlexa. Cav. Ic. 5. p. Q5. t. 498. Willd. Sp.PL v. S. p. COTO. Pers. Si/n. PI. v. 2. p. 4^53. Sprcng. Si/st. J't'gff. r. S. p. 505. Hab. Apud " Alto del Pueute " in Chili. D. Cruickshanks. Caulis scandens, glaber, nunc subarachnoideo-tomentosus, angiilatus, flexuosus. Folia glabra, vel ad basin subtomentosa, duas ad quatuor uncias longa, directione varia, non rai'o detlexa, vel basi detlexa sursum curvata, omnia angusto-linearia, vel subtilitbrmia, sessilia, marginibns revolutis, apice in cirrho attenuaui. Flos magnus, terniinalis; squamis infimis involucri solummodo aj">- pendice acuminatis reflexis, reliquis obtusis erectis imbricatis. Flares radii Havi. Cavanilles describes the leaves of this species as deflexed at the base, which indeed is the case with some of my speci- mens from Mr.Cruickshanks; but then it appears to be owing to the pendent direction of the branches, whence the leaves take a curvature upwards to meet the light, for other branches have not this peculiar disposition of their foliage. Again, Willdenow describes the margins of the leaf as involute, " ac si inversa essent :" but they are certainly rcvohitc, if my spe- cies be the same as Willdcnow's and Cavanilles's. 10 MUTISIA SUBSPINOSA. Mutisia subspinosa ; scandens, caule alato, foliis lineari-lanceolatis den- tato-spinosis basi decurrentibus apice cirrhosis. (Tab. VII.) Mutisia subspinosa. Cav. Ic. 3. p. 64. t. 495. Willd. Sp. PL v. 3. p. 2070. Pers. Syn. PL v. 2. p. 453. Spreng. Syst. VegeL v. 3. p. 505. Mutisia sinuata. Cav. Ic. 5. p. 66. t. 499. Spreng. Syst. VegeL v. 3. p. 505. Hab. Prope villain Vicenziam in Chili. D. Gillies et CruicJcshanks. Caulis tripedalis, scandens, flexuosus, angulatus, utrinque late alatus ; alls sinuato-spinosis. Folia subcoriacea, pallide viridia, glabra, lineari-lanceolata, basi latiora, utrinque longe decurrentia, apice sensim in cirrho simplici attenuata, margine subsinuato-dentata, dentibus spinulosis, nunc omnino integerrima, et, non raro, vix decurrentia. Flores magni, speciosi, terminales, solitarii. Invo- lucrum fere bipollicare, squamis imbricatis, inferioribus appendi- culatis, infimis appendicibus reflexis. Flosculi radii pulcherrimi, aurei, apice tridentati. This is perhaps the most beautiful of the simple-leaved Afu- tisi(B. It is hardly possible to conceive a more desirable plant for our hothouses ; and it is doubly recommended by the singularity of its foliage. Unquestionably the species, judging from the specimens that have been sent me by Dr. Gillies and Mr. Cruickshanks, is liable to vary in the more or less deeply toothed or even entire margins of the leaves, and in the pre- sence, absence, or breadth of the wings of the stem. Hence I am inclined to think that the M. sinuata of Cavanilles is scarcely distinct from this species. Dr. Gillies observes^ that this and all the family of Mutisicc are known in the language of the country by the name of Estrella. 11 MUTISIA LINEARIFOLIA. Mutisia lincarifolia ; scandens ( ? ) caule tereti, foliis linearibus aplce acutis rigidis subspinosis vectis vel uncinatis, marginibus revolutis. (Tab. VIII.) Mutisia linearifolia. Cav. Ic. 5. p. 66. t. 500. Willd. Sp. PL v. 3. p. 2071. Pers. Syn. PL v. 2. |j. 453. Spreiig, Si/st. Veget. v. 3. p. 505. Hab. Apud " Alto de la Laguna " et " Los Ojos de Agua," in de- scensu Cordillerae versus regnum Chilense. Fl. Martio. D. Gillies. Caulis flexuosus, scandens ? fruticosus, ut et tota planta, glaberrimus, vix angulatus, pallide fuscus. Folia conferta, undique inserta, non raro subsecunda, sesquiunciam longa, pallide viridia, linearia, sessilia, margine revoluta, apice acutissima, subspinosa, recta, saepe uncinata, sed non omnino cirrhosa. Flos magnus pulcher- rimus. Involucri squamcB infimae acuminatae, reflextc, reliquae ob- tusas. Flosculi disci, ut videtur, lutei, longi, apice tridentati, labio interiore distincto bipartite. Pappus albus. It is evident that in this and probably in all the other species, the florets of the disk are at first tubular, bursting at the ex- tremity into five teeth. Generally, two of these teeth, sepa- rating still lower down, become revolute, while the portion having the three terminal teeth is bent back ; hence the bila- biate corolla is formed, such as is represented at Tab. IV.y*. 2. It must be allowed that this species (which I think is the same as the M. linearifolia of Cavanilles, notwithstanding the disposition of the foliage to become cirrhose) approaches very nearly to the M. inflexa Tab. VI. Here, however, the leaves are shorter and broader, and never terminated by an actual tendril. The stems, too, are more robust ; less, if at all, scandent ; the leaves more crowded ; and the flowers larger. 12 MUTISIA LINIFOLIA. Mutisia linifolia ,• caule fruticoso erectiusculo, follis confertis anguste lineari-lanceolatis planis. (Tab. IX.) Hab. El Camino de las Minas de Uspallata. Fl. Martio. D. Gillies. Frutex, ut videtur, parva, basi decumbens, dein erecta, ramosa, ramis erectis. Folia undique inserta, conferta, ubique glaberrima, erecta, vel erecto-patentia, semiunciam fere ad duas uncias longa. Flores oblongi, fere sessiles et foliis subimmersi. Involucrum fusco-cas- taneurn, cylindraceum, squamis omnibus scariosis oblongis erectis, imbricatis, appressis. Flosculi radii desunt in meis exemplaribus, disci involucre paulo longiores, erecti, bilabiati, siccitate flavi. This singular species of Mutisia was gathered by Dr. Gil- lies, near the celebrated mines of Uspallata in South America, and proves quite different from any hitherto described. It forms a small shrub, with numerous branches, and leaves not unlike those of Linmn maritimum ; or if the flowers be taken in conjunction with the leaves, it bears a striking resemblance to some of the smaller Cape ProteacecB. The margins of the foliage are not in the slightest degree revo- lute, nor is there the least appearance of a tendril, or even of a hardened point at the extremity of the leaves. 13 JUNGERMANNIA SERRULATA (3. Cryptogamia Hepatic-e. Nat. Ord. Hepatic/E. Gen. Char. Reccptaadum commune nullum. Calyx monophyllus, tubulosus, (raro nullus). Capsula 4-valvis, seta caljce lonfriore. Jungermannia serrulata ; caule erectiusculo ramoso, foliis distichis patentibus emarginato-bifidis conduplicatis marginibus imbricatis spinuloso-dentatis, stipulis his similibus sed minoribus planius- culis, calyce terminal! oblongo subplicato acuminate, ore dentaio. (Tab. X.) Jungermannia serrulata. Hook, Brit. Jung. t. 88. /3. purpurea. Hab. jS. In Brasilia, prope Rio Janeiro. D. BurcJiell. Caules laxe caespitosi, suberecti dichotome ramosi, non raro proliferi, duas vel tres uncias longi. Folia pulcherrime purpurea, vix lineam longa, patentia, suborbiculata, longitudinaliter condupli- cata, lateribus incurvis imbricatis remote dentato-spinulosis, apice emarginato-bifida, minute reticulata, areolis oblongis. Stipidcc rotundatae, planiusculse apice bifidae, marginibus spinuloso-den- tatis. Calyx terminalis, foliis perichaetialibus laciniatis basi cinctus, sesquilineam longus, oblongus, purpureus, subplicatus, versus apicem prsecipue, ore breviter laciniato. Frudum non vidi, sed intra calycem, germen oblongum parvum stylo terminatum, pis- tilla abortiva tria vel quatuor gerens. Among several very interesting plants obligingly communi- cated to me by Mr. Burchell from Rio Janeiro, is the present beautiful variety of a species, which has already been found in Jamaica and in the Isle of France. It appears therefore to have a widely extended geographical range. Fig. 1. Plants {nat. size). Fig. 2. Portion with the calyx, and seen from the anterior side. Fig. 3. Portion of the stem and leaves, seen from the posterior side. Fig. 4. Single leaf. Fig. 5. Sti- pule. Fig. 6. Portion of a leaf. Fig. 7. Pistil bearing other abortive pistils : — magnijicd. 14 USNEA EASCIATA. Cryptogamia Lichenes. Nat. Ord. Lichenes. Gen. Char. Apotliecia orbiculata, terminalia, peltata, a thallo for- mata ejusque substantia cortical! similari undique obtecta, am- bitu immarginato, plerumque ciliato. Thallus subcrustaceus te- retiusculus ramosus substantia elastica filiformi hyalina centrali percussus. — Ach. Usneajasciata ; ramosissima tuberculato-scabra flavo-virescens, ramis repetitim dichotomis proliferis saepissime nigro-fasciatis ultimis lateralibusque numerosissimis capiliaceo-attenuatis, apotheciis he- mispliEericis nudis brunneis extus tuberculatis. (Tab. XI.) Usnea fasciata. Torrey in Silliman^s American Journ. of Sc. v. 6. cum ic. {absq. apotheciis.) Hab. In rupibus antarcticis Novae Zetlandiae meridionalis. — In Nova HoUandia, locis alpinis ? TJiallus csespitosus, erectus, 3 — 4-uncialisj erectus, ramosissimus, flavo- virescens, ramis repetitim dichotomis magis minusve tuberculoso- scabridis atque proliferis, raraulis minutis gracilibus simplicibus filiformi-attenuatis vel ramosis subhorizontalibus, e latere egredi- entibus, ramis ultimis saepe nigro-fasciatis attenuatis. Apothecia terminalia peltata, primum parva, globosa, demum hemisphaerica, semiunciam diametro, intus fusca, extus e thallo formata, minute tuberculata. W. Edwards, Esq., who accompanied in a medical capacity the first and second expeditions sent to discover a north-west passage, was so obliging as to procure the fine specimen here represented of the antarctic Usnea, on which some observa- tions will be offered under the following species. Fig. 1. Plant {nat. size). Fig. 2. Portion: — magnified. 15 USNEA SPHACELATA. Usnea spliacelata ; thallo erectiusculo fruticuliformi, ramis primariis ochroleiicis nigro-vittatis laevibus, ultimis attenuatis nigris, sorediis confertis concoloribus ochroleucisve. Br. (Tab. XII.) Usnea sphacelata. Br. in Parry's First Voy. App. p. cccvii. Hooker Ace. of Arct. PI. in Linn. Trans, v. 14f. p. 384. Usnea? prope melaxantham. Br. Spitzb. PI. in Scoreshifs Arct. 1. App. p. 76. Hab. In riipibus apud Spitzbergen. D. Scoreshy et Sabine. In Insula Melville. D. Parry. In summitate Montis Tabularis Insula Van Dieman. D. Broison. " Proxima U. melaxantJide Ach. Syn. p. 303, difFert statura aliquoties minore, ramis primariis laevibus, sorediorum praesentia. Apo- thecia nondum visa. Eandem speciem, sorediis pariter instruc- tam apotheciisque destitutam, in summitate Montis Tabularis Insulae Van Dieman, anno ISO^, legi." Br. Mr. Brown has here justly observed how closely this species is allied to the South American U. melaxaiitha. Indeed, that lichen which I have described as the U. inelaxantha in Hum- boldt and Kunth's Syriopsis, and which is found at an eleva- tion of more than 10,000 feet upon the Andes, differs in no respect from the present plant, except in having the base of the thallus of a reddish yellow, and the extremities of the branches more black. Mr. Brown further mentions that he has found U. sphacelata also', but destitute of fructification, upon Table Mountain, in Van Dieman's Island. From a neigh- bouring country, New Holland, I have received the c(|ually nearly allied species, U.fasciata, and in a very fine state of fructification, differing in no respect from the antarctic spe- cimens. These latter approach the U. sphacelata in their pale yellowish hue, the U. melaxantha in the more crowded ramification, and hispid or tuberculatcd thallus ; and differ 16 from botli in the less blackened extremities. Future obser- vations may induce us to unite the two species now described, together with U. melaocantha, thus giving a further proof of the extensive range of country occupied by the same species among the lower orders of the vegetable creation. Fig. 1. 1. Plants {iiat. size). Fig. 2. Stem and branches; and Fig. 3. Portion of a stem with a soredium : — magnified. 17 STICTA MACROPHYLLA. Cryptogamia Lichenes. Nat. Ord. Lichenes. Gen. Char. Apothecia scutelliformia, subtus e thallo formata, centro affixa. Discus coloratus, planus. Thallus foliaceus, coriaceo- cartilagineus, expansus, lobatus, subtus liber us villosus vel tomen- tosus, cyphellis sorediis vel maculis interspersis. Sticta macropliylla ; effusa, thallo subcartilagineo crassiusculo lurido- virescente siccitate cinerascente glabro repetitim dicliotomo seg- mentis latis undulatis obtusissimis, subtus fusco-tonientoso, cyphel- lis albis limbatis, apotheciis fuscis extus tomentosis. a. apotheciis sparsis. Sticta macrophylla (Delis). Fee Crypt, des Ecorces, p. 129. t. 33.* Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 303. |3. apotheciis marginalibus. (Tab. XIII.) Hab. Arboribus Insulae Mauritii. D. Bojer. Insula Franciac; et in variis regionibus Americse Meridionalis, supra ramos annosos Cinchonarum peruvianarum. Fee. Thallus late efFusus, diametro spithamaeus et ultra, suborbiculari-ex- pansus, laciniato-lobatus, imbricatus, laciniis liberis repetitim dichotome divisis, segmentis latis, subundulatis, obtusissimis; supra omnino glaber, leevis, absque sorediis, madore lurido- vel subfusco- viridis, siccitate pallide gi'iseus vel cinerascens, ad marginem fiis- cescens : subtus ubique f usco-tomentosus, ad marginem pallidior. CypliellcB numerosae, urceolatae, albae, limbatae vel marginatae. Substantia subcartilaginea, siccitate rigiila, madefacta magis flac- cida. Odor fere ut in Sticta fuliginosa Europac. Apothecia pri- mum globosa, demum explanata, compressa, fusca, disco piano, subtus margineque tenui tomentosa, in a sparsa, in /3 omnino mar- ginalia. I WAS prepared to publish this noble species of Sticta, which I had received from the Mauritius more than two years * It is called M. macrocarpa in the text ; but that name is not applicable to the plant, nor is it followed in the index, or on the plate. Sprengel, too, calls it macrocarpa. VOL. I. . C 18 ago, with the name of its indefatigable discoverer in that island, M. Bojer, when I obtained from Paris the last number of Fee's Essai sur les Cryptogames des Ecorces Officinales, where it appears under the appellation here adopted. The figure there given is what I call the var. a. with scattered apothecia. Both kinds were found by M. Bojer in the Mauritius. STICTA HUMBOLDTII. Sticta Humholdtii ; thallo subumbilicato cinereo-fuscescente utrinque dense tomentoso, cyphellis majusculis concoloribus, margine varie lobato, lobis rotundatis, apotheciis sparsis sessilibus nigro- fuscis extus tomentosis. (Tab. XIV.) Sticta Humboldtii. Hooker in Humb. et Kunth, Syn. PL JEq. v. 1. p. 28. Humh. Nov. Gen. et Sp. PI. v. 7. p. 86. Hab. Ad corticem Befarics, Thibaudice, et Escallonitry in frigidis Pa- ramo de Almaguer, alt. 1430 hexapod. (Regno Novo-Grana- tensi). Humboldt. Tltallus effusus, diametro 3 — 4-uncialis, suborbicularis, umbilicatus, centre affixus, in lobos rotundatos, subimbricatos profunda di- visus, lobis iterum breviter irregulariterque lobatis, subundulatis ; cinereo-fuscescens, utrinque dense moliiterque tomentoso-hirsutus, subtus paliidior. Cyphcllce concolores, paululum convexae. Apo- thecia sparsa, numerosa, primum hemisphaerica, demum plana, intense fusca, sessilia, subtus margineque involuto pal lido dense tomentosa. The same peculiar smell exists in this, as in some other species of this genus, among which this may well rank as the most beautiful. Fig. 1. Plant {jiat. size). Fig. 2. Side view of an apothecium. Fig. 3. Vertical section of an apothecium. Fig. 4. Apothecium seen from above : — magnijied. 19 ADENOCAULON BICOLOR. Syngenesia Necessaria. Nat. Ord. Composit.e. Gen. Char. (Adenocaulon, Hook.) Involiicrum pentaphyllum, pa- tens, demum reflexum. Floscidi subdecem, tubulosi, disci mas- culi, radii foeminei. Achenia oblongo-clavata, superne glanduloso- hispida. Pappus nullus. Beceptaculum nudum. Adenocaulon Vicolor. (Tab. XV.) Hab. Sylvis densis apud Fretum de Fuca, atque prope Fort Vancou- ver ad flumen Columbia?, in ora occidentali Americae Septeiitri- onalis. Z). Scolder. In montibus " Rocky Mountains " dictis. D. Drummond. Caidis herbaceus, erectus, 3 — 4-pedalem altus, repetitim dichotome ramosus, teres, inferne albo-tomentosus, superne gland ulosus, glandulis nigris viscosis, pedicello diaphano, longiusculo sufFultis. Folia ovato-cordata ; inferiora multo majora, magisque cordata, superiora sensim minora magisque ovata ; omnia subtriloba atque angulato-dentata, submembranacea, tenera, superne viridia, gla- berrima, subtus dense niveo-tomentosa, basi in petiolum longum tomentosum decurrentia. Paniculcc numerosa;, terminales, foliosffi, tomento omnino destitutae, glandulis pedicellatis tectae. Flores pedicellati, bracteati, pro magnitudine planta?, parvi. Involiicrum e foliolis 5 patentibus, ovatis, concavis, subtus margineque glan- dulosis, demum reflexis. Floscidi circiter decem, omnes tubulosi parvi, centrales 5, masculi ; marginales 5, foeminei, omnes 5- nunc rarius 4-fidi, laciniis reflexis. Masc. Stamina 5, exserta, flava. Stylus staminibus paulo longior : Stigma integrum : Gcrmcu ob- longum, gracile, nudum, abortivum ; Fcem. Stamina nulla vel 5, abortiva, vix cohaerentia, polline destituta. Stylus exsertus : Stig- ma crassum, bifidum: Germen oblongum, basi subattenuatum, superne glandulosum. Achenia germine flosculorum triplo (juad- ruplo majora, valde conspicua, cylindraceo-clavata, teretia, apice glandulis numerosis, nigris, pedicellatis instructa. Pappus omnnio nullus. Semen pericarpio conforme. Embryo erectus, subcylin- draceus. Receptaculum parvum, nudum, subconvexum, pro rc- ceptione flosculorum punctatum. c 2 20 That so remarkable a plant as the present should have escaped the notice of Mr. Menzies and other botanists who had visited the north-west coast of America, I can hardly conceive possible. At the same time, as I am wholly unable to find any description of it, or of a genus that at all corresponds with it, I am under the necessity of intro- ducing it as a plant altogether sui generis. The inflorescence at first sight bears a great similarity to that of some umbelli- ferous plants. The involucre is not very unlike the involucre of the old genus Cheer ophy Hum, and it is so patent and in- cludes so small a quantity of florets, that it has by no means the habit of the flower of the Composite. The foliage resem- bles that of a Cineraria or Cacalia, or, if the leaves be taken separately, of a Tussilago. Dr. Scouler of Glasgow, in his late voyage to the north- west coast of America, (of which he has given an interesting account in the latter volumes of Dr. Brewster's Edinburgh Journal of Science,) had the good fortune to find this plant in considerable abundance, both at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia, and at the Straits of Juan de Fuca, considerably to the north of the Columbia, always growing in thick woods. I have named this genus from the glands, which are abun- dant upon the stalks as well as on the fruit of the plant. Fig. 1. Flower. Fig, 2. The same, more advanced. Fig. 3. 3. Fe- male flowers. Fig. 4. Male flower. Fig. 5. Fully formed fruit. ^ Fig, 6. Section of the same : — magnified. 21 SWIETENIA MAHAGONI. {Mahogaity Ti-ee.) Decandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Meliace.'E. Gen. Char. Cal. minimus, ^-fidus, deciduus. Petala 4 — 5. Stam. 8 — 10, filam. coalita in tubum apice dentatum, intus antherirerum. Stylus 1. Stigma capitatum. Capsula oviformis, lignosa, 5-locu- laris, polysperma, valvis a basi dehisceniibus, margine appositis ad angulos placentae centralis pentagonae. Semina deorsum im- bricata, in alam expansa. Albumen carnosum. Embryo rectus. Cotyledo7ies planae, foliaceae. — Axhoxes, foliis alternis abruptc jnn- natis paucijugis. DeC. " Swietenia Mahagoni ; foliis sub-^-jugis, foliolis ovato-lanceolatis inae- qualibus apice acuminatis, racemis axillaribus paniculatis. DeC. (Tab. XVI. XVII.) Swietenia Mahagoni. Jacq. Amer. p. 127. Li7in. Sp. PL p. 54:8. Willd. Sp. PL V. 2. p. 557. Pers. Syri. PL v. I. p. 4G9. Smith in Rees' Cycl. Decand. Prodr. v. I. p. 625. Humb. et Kunth, Syn. PL jEq. v. 3. p.2\9. Cedrus Mahogoni. Mill. Did. Cedi'ela foliis pinnatis &c. Bro'wne, Jam. p. 1 58. Arbor foliis pinnatis, nullo imparl alam claudente &c. Catcsb. Carol. V. 2. p. 81. t. 81. Hab. In India Occidental! locis petrosis; Jamaica, Cuba, et aliis insulis Antillarum ; apud Honduras, prajcipue abuiulat. Prope , Acapulco Mexicanorum, portum Oceani Pacifici. Humboldt. Arbor maxima, trunco vasto, ramis tuberculatis, cinerascenti-fuscis. Folia alterna, pari-pinnata, 3 — 5-juga, foliolis oppositis rcmotis ovato-lanceolatis, obliquis, subcoriaceis, nervosis, glabris, subtus venosis, integerrimis, apice subacuminatis, basi in petiolum bre- vem attenuatis. Panicula axillaris 3 — i uncias longa, pendens, valde ramosa, glabra, ramis basi minute bractcatis, dichotomis. Flares parvi, flavo-virides. Calyx minutus, 5-lobus, lobis rotun- datis, sub lente erosis. Corolla pentapctala, petalis oblongo- ovatis, concavis. Tubus staminifer cylindricus, petalis brcvior, 22 apice decemdentatus, intus paulo infra apicem, antheriferus, an- theris parvis ovato-rotundatis, sessilibus, flavis, dentibus tubi alternantibus. Nectarium basin germinis cingens, breve, apice denticulatum coccineum. Pistillimi longitudine tubi starainiferi : Germen ovatum, viride : Styhis cylindraceus : Stigma peltatum. Capsula bvata, magnitudine ovi Gallo-Pavonis, lignosa, rufo- fusca, minute tuberculata, 5-locularis {DeC.) in valvis 5, e basi ad apicem dehiscens, intus lamina coriacea vestita. Receptaculum centrale, magnum, pentagonum, angulis marginibus valvarum oppositis, sed vix ad margines attingentibus, et sic capsula, sub- unilocularis. Semina rotundata, compressa, fusca, in alam longam sensim attenuata, pendentia, in 5 seriebus duplicibus collecta, intra angulos receptaculi inserta, et prope ejus apicem affixa (a. ^. 17. y^ 4.). Albumen album, tenue. Cotyledo7ies foliaceae, planse. Radicula parva. Few plants are more extensively valuable in a commercial point of view than the Mahogany, and few perhaps are less generally known in their history and botanical characters. The tree exists in but few stoves of our own country, and in such situations is never likely to bear flowers and fruit ; and I cannot mention a single work, accessible to the generality of botani- cal students, where a good representation of it may be found. I hope to be here able, in some measure, to supply this defi- ciency, for I have been favoured with a beautiful series of drawings of the Mahogany, made in the Island of St. Vin- cent, by the Rev. Lansdown Guilding, from which, aided by well dried specimens from the same friend, and by some fine - fruits sent to me by my late pupil, George Tyrrell, Esq. from Jamaica, the accompanying figures have been made. The uses of mahogany wood are too well known to render it necessary for me to mention them in this place ; further than to say that almost all our valuable furniture is formed of it, and that it is peculiarly adapted to such purposes in consequence of its great beauty, hardness, and durability, by means of which it may be carved into splendid ornaments. 23 and will take the most exquisite polish. It is said, too, to be almost indestructible by worms or in water, and to be bullet proof ; — hence the Spaniards used to make their vessels of mahogany : and Captain Franklin took with him to the shores of the Arctic Sea, boats constructed in England of that wood, as being the lightest (in consequence of the thinness of the planks), and the most portable, combined with great strength. Although the Spaniards were, in all probability, the first to bring this wood into use, and although the French must be allowed to produce the most highly finished and ornamental work from it, it is into England that by far the largest importations of it are made, and where it is most extensively employed. Jamaica formerly yielded the greatest quantity of this wood, and the old Jamaica maho- gany is still reckoned, I believe, more valuable than that afforded by other countries. The quality depends much on the situation where the tree grows. In an elevated stony spot, where one would imagine there was scarcely soil to give nourishment to the roots, the wood is found to be of a superior grain and texture ; whereas in low and alluvial situa- tions, however vigorous and luxuriant the plant may be, the quahty of the timber is always inferior, more light and porous, and of a paler colour. I have no means of determining tlie quantity of mahogany w^hich has recently been exported from Jamaica ; but in 1753, according to Dr. Patrick Browne, there were sent out of the island, in planks, 521,300 feet. It is a little remarkable, that in Sloane's Histonj of Jamaica no mention is made of the Mahogany Tree. Browne, in 1789, says that it is a wood universally esteemed, and which sells at a great price ; but he " regrets that it is not cuUivated in tlie more convenient waste lands of Jamaica, as it answers for all beams, joists, planks, boards and shingles, and has fre- quently been put to those uses in that island in former times." Now, I believe, a very large portion of the mahogany 24 imported into Great Britain is derived from the Honduras, where it is unquestionably produced in most abundance, and where it constitutes so important an article of trade that I could not but feel anxious to procure information from the / West India merchants of this country respecting the mode of its being cut, and its transportation. It is to James Ewing, Esq. LL.D. of Glasgow, — a gentleman who unites to the most extensive commercial engagements such a love of literature and the arts as is rarely combined in the same individual, — that I owe the following interesting history of the mahogany trade ; which I think my readers will thank me for making generally known, and which Mr. Ewing had ex- tracted in a measure from the Honduras Almanack for 1827- The first discovery of the beauty of mahogany wood is attributed to the carpenter on board Sir Walter Raleigh's ship, at the time that vessel lay in some harbour in the Island of Trinidad, in 1595. Dr. Gibbons brought it into notice in England. He was an eminent physician about the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century ; and a box for hold- ing candles, and then a bureau, made of a block of mahogany, were given to him by his brother, a West Indian captain. At Honduras, a period of two hundred years is considered to be necessary from the time of the plant springing from seed to that of its perfection and fitness for cutting ; an opera- tion which commences about the month of August. The gangs of labourers employed in this work consist of from twenty to fifty each ; but few exceed the latter number. They are com- posed of slaves and free persons, without any comparative distinction of rank ; and it very frequently occurs that the conductor of such work, here styled the captain, is a slave. Each gang has also one person belonging to it, termed the Huntsman, who is generally selected from the most intelli- gent of his fellows ; and his chief occupation is to search the woods, or, as it is called in this country, the bush, to find cm- 25 ployment for the whole. Accordingly, about the beginning of August, the huntsman is dispatched on his important mis- sion, and if the owner be employed on his own ground, this is seldom a work of much labour or difficulty. He cuts his way into the most elevated situation among the thickest woods, where he climbs the tallest tree he can find, and thence minutely surveys the surrounding country. At this season the leaves of the mahogany tree are invariably of a yellow-reddish hue ; and an eye accustomed to this kind of exercise can, at a great distance, discern the places where the wood is most abundant. To such a spot are his steps directed ; and without compass or other guide than what his recollection affords, he never fails to reach the exact point at which he aims. On some occasions no ordinary stratagem is necessary to be resorted to by the huntsman, to prevent others from availing themselves of the advantage of his dis- coveries ; for if his steps be traced by those who may be en- gaged in the same pursuit, which is a very common occur- rence, all his ingenuity must be exerted to beguile them from the true scent. In this, however, he is not always successful, being followed by those who are entirely aware of the arts he may use, and whose eyes are so quick, that the lightest turn of a leaf or the faintest impression of a foot is unerringly perceived ; even the dried leaves which may be strewed upon the ground, often help to conduct to the secret spot ; and it consequently happens that persons so engaged must frequently undergo the disappointment of finding an advantage they had promised to themselves, seized on by others. The hidden treasure being, however, detected, the next operation is the felling of a sufficient number of trees to employ the gang during the season. The mahogany tree is commonly cut about ten or twelve feet from the ground, a stage being erected for the axeman employed in levelling it : this, to an observer, would appear a labour of much danger ; 26 but it is very rarely that an accident happens to the people engaged in it. The trunk of the tree, from the dimensions of the wood it furnishes, is deemed the most valuable ; but for purposes of an ornamental kind, the limbs or branches are generally preferred, the grain of them being much closer, and the veins more rich and variegated. A sufficient number of trees being now felled to occupy the gang during the season, they commence cutting the roads, which may fairly be estimated as two-thirds of the labour and expense. Each mahogany work forms in itself a small village on the bank of a river ; the choice of situation being always regulated by the proximity of such river to the mahogany intended as the object of future research. In the arranging and appearance of the habitations much rural taste is often displayed ; and it is highly gratifying to the curious to remark the different modes peculiar to the several nations or tribes of Africa, as also the improvement introduced by European experience in the construction of the dwellings, — among which the proprietor's residence, with storehouses, cattle-sheds, &c. invariably form a conspicuous figure ; those of the different labourers being usually of a more humble appearance, but all built of the same material, which the surrounding countries afford in abundance. We have frequently seen houses of this kind completed in a single day, and with no other implement than the axe, con- sequently every workman is capable of performing the labour required to build his own dwelling. After completing this establishment, a main road is opened for it, in as near a direc- tion as possible to the centre of the body of trees so felled, into which branch or wing roads are often introduced, the ground through which the roads are to run being yet a mass of dense forest, both of high trees and underwood. They commence by clearing away those of the latter de- scription with cutlasses, which, although in appearance a 27 slender instrument, yet, from the dexterity with which it is used, answers the purpose admirably. This labour is usually performed by taskwork, of one hundred yards each man per day, which expert workmen will complete in six hours. The underwood being now removed, the larger trees are then felled by the axe, as even with the ground as possible, the task being also at this work one hundred yards per day to each labourer; although this is more difficult, from the number of hard woods growing here, which on failure of the axe are removed by the application of fire. The trunks of these trees, although many of them are va- luable for different purposes, such as Bullet-tree, Ironwood, Redwood, Sapodilla, &c. are thrown away as useless, unless they happen to be adjacent to some creek or small river which may intersect the road ; in that case they are applied to the constructing of bridges across the same ; which are frequently of considerable size, and require great labour to make them of sufficient strength to bear such immense loads as are brought over them. The quantity and distance of road to be cut each season depends on the situation of the body of mahogany trees, which, if much dispersed or scat- tered, will increase the labour and extent of road-cutting; and it not unfrequently happens that miles of road and many bridges are made to a single tree, and which tree may ulti- mately yield but one log. The roads being cleared of all the brushwood, still require the labour of hoes, pickaxes and sledge-hammers, to level the hillocks and to break the rocks, also such of the remaining stumps as might impede the wheels that are hereafter to pass over them. The roads being now all ready, which may generally Ije effected in the month of December, the cross-cutting, as it is technically called, commences. This is merely dividing cross- wise, by means of the saw, each mahogany tree into logs, according to its length: and it often occurs, that while 28 some arc but long enough for one log ; others^ on the con- trary, will admit of four or five being cut from the same trunk or stem, — the chief guide for dividing the trees into logs being to equalize the loads which the cattle are to draw, and prevent their being overburthened : consequently, as the tree increases in thickness, so the logs are reduced in length: this, however, does not altogether obviate the irregularity of the loads, and a supply of oxen are constantly kept in readi- ness to add to the usual number, according to the weight of the log : this becomes unavoidable, owing to the very great difference of size of the mahogany trees : the logs taken from one tree being about three hundred feet, while those from the next may be as many thousand; but the largest log ever cut in Honduras was of the following dimensions : Length 17 feet, breadth 57 inches, depth 64 inches ; measur- ing 5168 superficial feet, or 15 tons weight*. The sawing being now completed, the logs are separated one from the other, and placed in whatever position will admit of the largest square being formed, according to the shape which the end of each log presents, and is then re- duced, by means of the axe, into a square form, although some of the smaller logs are brought into the round ; yet with the larger description, it is essential to render them square, not only because the weight is thereby lessened, but because it prevents their rolling on the truck or carriage. We now reach the month of March, when all the prepa- * The Glasgow Chronicle for Nov. 1827, contains the following particulars of the largest log of mahogany ever brought from Honduras to the port of that city. "It was taken to the wood-yard on a four-wheeled carriage, and there placed between two other logs, preparatory to being cut up, as no saw-pit was capable of containing it. The length was 16 feet, depth 5 feet 6 inches, and the breadth 4 feet 9 inches. It contained 418 cubic feet, 5016 feet of inch deal J and the cost of sawing it, at 3d. a foot, amounted to 62^. 14s. The value of the whole, estimated at Is. 2d. per foot, was 2921. I2s., and its weight was 7| tons, or at the rate of a cubic foot of 41 5 lbs." 29 ration before described is, or ought to be, completed, and the dry season, or time of drawing down the logs from the place of their growth commences. This process can only be carried on in the months of April or May ; the ground during all the rest of the year being too soft to admit of a heavily laden truck to pass over it without sinking ; and al- though the rains usually terminate about February, yet from the ground being so soaked wath rain, the roads arc seldom firm enough for use till the first of April. The mahogany cutter's harvest may be at this time said to commence, as the resuk of his season's work depends upon a continuance of the dry weather: for a single shower of rain would materially injure his roads. It is therefore necessary that not a moment should be lost in drawinir out the wood to the river. The number of trucks worked, is apportioned to the strength of the gang, and the distance generally from six to ten miles. We will, for example, take a gang of forty men, capable of working six trucks, each of which retpiires seven pair of oxen and two drivers ; sixteen to cut food for the cat- tle, and twelve to load or put the logs on the carriages ; tlu^ latter usually take up a temporary residence somewhere^ near the main body of the wood, it being too far to go and return each day to the river side or chief cstablishuKMit. From the intense heat of the sun, the cattle arc tmable to work during its influence ; consequently, they are obliged to use the night-time in lieu of the day, the sultry effects of which it becomes requisite to avoid. The loaders, as before men- tioned, being now at their station in the forest, the tru(k3 set off from the barquadier about 6 o'clock in the evening, and arrive at their different places of loading about 1 I or 12 o'clock at night ; when the loaders, who are then asleej), are warned of the approach of the trucks by the cracking of the whips carried by the cattle-drivers, which are heard at u con- siderable distance ; they arise, and connnence jilacing the logs 30 upon the trucks, which is done by means of a temporary platform laid from the edge of the truck to a sufficient di- stance upon the ground, so as to make an inclined plane, upon which the log is gradually pushed up from each end alternately. Having completed their work of loading all the trucks, which may be done in three hours, they again retire to rest till about 9 o'clock next morning. The drivers now set out on their return, but their progress is considerably retard- ed by the lading ; and although well provided with torch light, they are frequently impeded by small stumps that re- main in the road, and which would be easily avoided in day- light ; they, however, are in general all out at the river side by 11 o'clock next morning ; when, after throwing the logs into the river, having previously marked them on each end with the owner's initials, the cattle are fed, the drivers break- fast, and retire to rest until about sunset, when they feed the cattle a second time, and yoke in again. Thus goes on the routine of trucking during the season, the loaders being employed in the interim preparing the logs for the return of the trucks. Nothing can present a more extraordinary spectacle than this process of trucking or drawing down the mahogany to the river. The six trucks will occupy an extent of road of a quarter of a mile, — the great number of oxen, the drivers half naked, (clothes being inconvenient from the heat of the weather and clouds of dust,) and each bearing a lighted torch ; the wildness of the forest scenery, the rattling of chains, the sound of the whip echoing through the woods : then all this activity and exertion, so ill corresponding with the still hour of midnight, makes it wear more the appearance of some theatrical exhibition than what it really is, — the pursuit of industry which has fallen to the lot of the Honduras wood- cutter. About the end of May the periodical rains again com- 31 mence. The torrents of water discharged from tlie clouds are so great as to render the roads impracticable in the course of a few hours, when all trucking ceases, the cattle arc turned into the pasture, and the trucks, gear, and tools, &c. are housed. The rain now pours down incessantly till about the mid- dle of June, when the rivers swell to an immense liciuht : the logs then float down a distance of 200 miles, being fol- lowed by the gang in pitpans (a kind of flat-bottomed canoe), to disengage them from the branches of the overhanging trees, until they are stopped by a boom placed in some situa- tion convenient to the mouth of the river. Each gang then separates its own cutting by the marks on the ends of the logs, and forms them into large rafts ; in which state they are brought down to the wharfs of the proprietors, when they are taken out of the water and undergo a second pro- cess of the axe to make the surface smooth; the ends, which are frequently split and rent, by being dashed against rocks in the river by the force of the current, arc also sawed ofl', when they are ready for shipping. The average expense of mahogany cutting is usually esti- mated at 100/. Honduras currency, or about 70/. sterling each labourer per annum, independent of the capital sunk in purchase of the works, cattle, trucks, gear, crafts, tools, &c. It will be borne in mind that the above account relates to the Honduras Mahogany ; and Mr. Robert Brown has sug- gested to me that it may be a species different from the Ja- maica, and perhaps the " Cedrela Coroii folio amphorijhirtic pentagono'' of Browne's Jamaica, where is the following ob- servation: "This plant does not grow in Jamaica, and is only inserted here to show that there is another species of the kind known. It was discovered by Mr. Houston near jii.- Gulf of Honduras, and is said to grow to a very large tree." If this be what we call the Honduras Mahogany, and diHerent 32 from that of Jamaica, it is nmch to b^ lamented that ks bo- tanical characters are not yet known to us. I have already observed, that v^orkmen make an important distinction be- tween the two woods, and that the Jamaica kind is the most valuable. Catesby says that when the fruit is ripe, the outer hard shell separates next the footstalk, and thereby exposes the seeds, which being broad and light are dispersed over the surface of the rocks. Such of them as happen to fall into the fissures, very soon send forth roots ; and if these tender fibres meet with resistance from the hardness of the rock, they creep along the surface and seek another fissure into which they penetrate and swell so as to break the rock and thereby make way for the root to enter deeper. In St. Vincent, where the Mahogany does not appear to be indigenous, the trees, as I am informed by Mr. Guilding, do not attain a greater height than fifty feet, and a diameter of eighteen inches. It flowers there in May and June. The bark is very astringent and bitter ; and in its action on the human frame has been said to coincide nearly with the Pe- ruvian bark. Tab. XVI. a. Portion of a branch with a leaf and panicle of flowers {nat.size). Fig. 1. 2. Flowers; and Fig. 3. The tube of the sta- mens laid open to show the anthers and pistil and nectary {inagiiified). — Tab. XVII. Fig. 1. Flower deprived of the petals. Fig. 2. Front view of a flower {Tnagnified). Fig. 3. Cap- sule with one valve removed, the others being in the act of burst- ing. Fig. 4. Receptacle of the seeds ; a. point of attachment of the latter. Fig. 5. Seed. Fig. 6. The same with the integu- ment removed. Fig. 7. Transverse section of ditto. Fig. 8. Seed germinating [nat. size). 33 SCOULERIA AQUATICA. Cryptogamia Musci. Nat. Ord. Musci. Gen. Char. (Scouleria, Hook.) Capsida sphaerica, depressa, subses- silis, terminalis. Peristomium simplex, e dentibus 32, aequidistaii- tibus, apice magis minusve fissis. Columella persistens, e cap- sulae contractione valde exserta. Operculum planum, umboiui- tum, apici columellae arctissime adlieerens. Calijptra dim id lata. Muscus aquaticus, habitu fere Cinclidoti fontinaloidis, seu Aniciangii aquatici, foliis nigrescejitihis^ curvis, minute punctatis, viarginatisy uni7ierviis. Cq-^sxAq. foliis perichcctialihus fere immersa. Scouleria aquatica. (Tab. XVIII.) Scouleria aquatica. Hooker in Drummond, Muse. Americ. i?ied. Hab. Aquis fluentibus apud " Observatory Inlet " in ora occidentali Americas Septentrionalis : saxis enascens. D. Scouler. In rivulis montium "Rocky Mountains": et in fluvio Columbia, saxis. D. Drummond. Caules laxe caespitosi, fluentes (?), bis terve dichotome divisi, 3 — 5 un- cias longi, flexuosi, nigri. Folia undique inserta, conferta, lato- lanceolata, recurva, basi planiuscula, reliqua acute carinata, mar- gine incrassata, serrata, atro-viridia, nervo valido usque ad apicem acutum percurso instructa ; superiora magis erecta atque viridia. Substantia compacta, punctis numerosis minutis seriatim dispo- sitis. Perichcctialia reliquis foliis terminalibus similia. Fructif- catio terminalis. Capsida seta perbrevi imposita atque foliis fere immersa, sphaerica, basi apiceque subdepressa intense fusca, gla- berrima, nitida, demum, operculo secedente, contracta, valde de- pressa: hinc columella cylindracea insigniter exserta fit et, longo post seminum dispersionem, operculum planum umbonatum fus- cum arctissime adhaerentem, sustinet. Infra Oparulum est ad apicem columellse membrana horizontalis umbraculiformis. Pe- ristomium e dentibus 32 reflexis, pro ratione capsulac parvis, flavo- rubris, subangustis, transversim striatis, apice in lacinulis duabus vel tribus fissis. Semina parva, fusco-viridia, sphaerica. Cahjplra magna, fusca, obtusiuscula, hinc lateralitcr fissa. VOL. I. D 34 It irives mo irroat pleasure, in lookiuir ovor tho vahiahlc bo- tanical lolUHtion mailo by Dr. Seoulor on the north-wost roast of America, to tiiul a plant boloniiin^; to liis favourite tribe, the J/itsci, wbieh, eonstitutiui; a new ii:enus, I am thus abU^ to iledieate to him. During" three voars that Mr. Scou- U r attended the (^oReiie course of botanical lectures, I wit- nessed with satisfaction his increasinir love for natural hi- storv ; and although the anatomv and phvsioloiiv of animals be his most favourite pursuit, and the one by which it is to be expected that he will, at a future time, rise to much fame, — vet botanv has occupied a iiieat share of his attention, and his herbarium includes nuich of novelty from the countries which, like a second ^Nlenzies, he has visited, iuid, as a natu- ralist, successfullv investijxatcd. The present moss. Dr. Scouler gathered in running streams at Observatory Inlet, in a latitude nearly parallel with that of London, on the north-west coast of America. At tirst sight it might almost be taken for Ci/ic/idotf/s Jonti/iu/oides or ^-J/iictafi^ii/m aqiiaticifni, but on a more careful examina- tion, the fructitication will be found as widely different from that of the species just mentioned, as from every other plant of the order. Here are thirty-two distinct teeth, more or less cleft at the extremity. The operculum does not fall away, hut separates from the capsule by the sinking down (if I may use the term) of the upper part of the capsule, which thus assumes a hi^hlv remarkable yet constantlv rciiular depressed shape ; and long after the dispersion of the seed, and in the oldest state of the fructitication, the operculum firndy ad- heres to the smnmit of the curiously exserted columella, from which it can onlv be ren\oved by laceration. ^Ir. Drmnmond has been so fortunate as to find the same plant in a part of the Columbia which borders upon the Rocky Momitains, and in other streams of that resrion ; so that it is probably scattered over tlie whole extent of country hctwer^n the Rocky Mountains and the mouth of the Columbia and other plarres on the north-west coast of America. It doe*? not, however, appear to extend to tlie east of tliat cFiain. Bf:autiful Hp<;cimens will be published ia Mr. I>rummond's forthcoming volume of American Mosses. Fig. 1. Plants {nat, iize). Tig. 2. I>;af. Fig. 3. Terminal leaf. /'«>. \. Portion of the same. Fig. f>. Extremity of a fertile branch. /VV>. 6. Calyptra. /%. 7. Capsule before the af>er- culum has separated from it /%. 8. Mature cap^^ule after the dispersion of the seed. Fig. 0. J'ortion of the \^T\AfAi\H. Fig. 10. Teeth of the same. /%. U. Seeds:— wore or /«« magnified. d2 3() BRYUM MENZIESII. Cryptogamia Musci. Nat. Ord. Musci. Gen. Char. Sc/fl terminalis. Peristo7niwn duplex: ^j:/. 16-dentatum; int. e membrana 16-laciniata, nunc ciliis interpositis. Cali/ptra dimidiata. Bryum Mcnziesii ,- caule erecto subdenudato apice prolifero-ramoso, foliis ovato-lanceolatis, marginibus nervoque serratis, setis aggre- gatis, capsula pyriformi pendula. (Tab. XIX.) Hab. Nootka. D. Me?izies. — In loco " Obsei'vatory Inlet" dicto, in ora occidental! Americee Septentrionalis. Z). Scolder. Radix longe descendens atque subrepens, dense ferrugineo-tomentosa. Caides gregatim crescunt, erecti, tripollicares et idtra, simplices, foliis fere denudati, paululum flexuosi, rubri, apice prolifero-ra- mosi, ramis unciam longis gracilibus iterum divisis. Folia caulina, inferne praecipue remota, parva, superne multo majora, erecta sen erecto-appressa, ovato-lanceolata, acuta, rigidiuscula, pellu- cida, subconcava, nervo ad apicem attingente, margine nervoque dorso distincte serrata, pallide fusco-viridia ; ramorum his simil- lima sed minora magisque viridia. Perichcetialia magis lanceolata caulinis majora, atque longe acuminata, sed minus serrata. Flares masadini caulem terminantes, conspicui, foliis ovatis acutis stel- latim patentibus breviter acuminatis rufonervosis circumdati. AnthercE oblongse, sessiles, reticulatas, filis articulatis immixtae. Seta nunc solitariaj nunc duae aut tres aggregatae, ex eodem peri- chaetio, semper ex apice caulis vel trunci, duas uncias longae, erectae, flexuosae. Capsida pyriformis, pendula, rufo-fusca. Oper- culum conicum, obtusiusculum. Pcristomiicm ext. dentibus lonijius- culis aurantiacis, int. membrana reticulata fulva, sedecim laciniata, laciniis marginibus denticulatis, ciliis his interpositis. I HAD long ago in MS. dedicated this beautiful moss to its estimable discoverer, whose friendship to me has been so often mentioned in the volumes of my Musci Exotki ; and I 37 regret that circumstances should, till now, have prevented its having been published in the way I had wished. It was gathered by Mr. Menzies at Nootka Sound, in l/S^; and again, nearly forty years afterwards, upon the same line of coast, by Dr. Scouler. This moss is quite unlike any species with which I am acquainted, having almost as much the habit of a Hupnum^ especially of the dendroid kind, as of a Bryum ; but the fruc- tification is truly terminal, all the shoots springing from beneath the perichaetium. The situation of the male flowers, too, if such they may be called, is equally terminal. In the shape and texture and spinous nerve of the leaf, this plant agrees with my Hypnum spininervium {Muse. Eocot. t. 29.). Ftg.l. Male plant. Fig. 2. Yemale plant {nat. size). Fig. 3. Portion of the extremity of a female plant. Fig. 4, 5. Leaves. Fig. 6. Perichaetial leaf. Fig. 7. External teeth of the peristome. Fig. 8. Portion of the interior peristome. Fig. 9. Leaf which surrounds the male flower. Fig. 10. Anther and one of the ac- companying jointed filaments : — magnijied. BRYUM GIGANTEUM. Bryum giganteum ; caule erecto simplici apice folioso, foliis rosacco- congestis oblongo-spathulatis acutis marginatis serratis nervo ante apicem evanescente, capsula cylindracea horizontali. (Tab. XX.) Hab. Locis petrosis, solo arenaceo, in facie septentrionali niontis Chesapanny in Nepaha legit atque communicavit CI. Wallich^ 1 820. Caulis 3-pollicaris, erectus, inferne foUis fere omnino denutlatus, to- mento ferrugineo densissime obsitus, basi subrepens, superne non raro proliferus, in summum apicem solummodo foliosus. Folia numerosa, magna, 8 lineas longa, in rosulam congesta patentia vel erecto-patentia, oblongo-spathulata, viridia, acuta, laxe reti- culata, areolis oblongis, maigine concolori incrassato, superne 38 praecipue, argute serrata, nervo ante apicem evanescente instructa. Seta terminalis, solitaria, vel duae aut tres ex eodem puncto, tripollicaris, laevis. Capsula semiunciam longa, cylindracea, ho- rizontalis, rufo-fusca. Operculum brevi-hemisphaericum. Peri- stomium flavo-aurantiacum, ext. e dentibus transversim striatis: interius membrana reticulata sedecim-laciniata, laciniis perforatis vel profunde fissis apice unitis, ciliis brevibus duabus vel tribus his alternantibus. Notwithstanding the many curious Nepalese mosses which I have already laid before the public, I still possess, by the friendship of Dr. Wallicli, several new species. Among them the present will rank as the most remarkable, for the great size of all its parts ; while at the same time, in point of general structure, it must be allowed to have great affinity with the Bryum roseum of our own country, and with the South African Bryum umbraculum, figured in Plate 133. of my Musci Exotici. From the former it may, however, be readily distinguished by its much longer and narrower capsules and margined leaves ; from the latter, by the different direction of the capsule, more spathulate foliage ; and from both, by the leaves being much more distinctly serrated, and by the much greater and even gigantic size of the plant. Fig. 1.2. 3. Plants : and Fig. 4. Single leaf, {nat. size). Fig. 5. 6. Leaves. Fig. 7. Summit of ditto. Fig. 8. Capsule. Fig. 9. Por- tion of the external peristome. Fig. 10. Portion of the inner peristome: — 7nore or less magnified. 39 DICRANUM PHASCOIDES. Cryptogamia Musci. Nat. Ord. Musci. Gen. Char. Seta terminalis (Fissidentibus quibusdara exceptis). Pe- ristomium simplex, e dentibus sedecim, bifidis, aequidistantibus. Calyptra dimidiata. Dicranum phascoides ; caulibus laxe ca&spitosis simplicibus erectis, foliis erectis subulatis integerrimis, nervo mediocri, capsula ob- longa perichaetialibus immersa, operculo conico-acuuiinato, ore annulate. (Tab. XXI.) Hab. Apud Sylhet Indiae Orientalis. D. Wallich. Caules subunciam longi, laxe caespitosi, erecti, flexuosi, simplices, ru- bicundi. Folia undique inserta, erecta, subulata, omnino inte- gerrima, laxe et obscure reticulata, tenuissime membranacea, flavo-viridia, nervo mediocri ad apicem attingente instructa, floris masciili vix nervosa, basi insigniter vaginantia, dilatata. Flores utriusque sexus terminates. Capsula oblonga, basi sublatiore, seta brevissima terminans, foliis perichsetialibus immersa, lavis, fusca. Calyptra mihi ignota. Operculum brevi-conicum, ros- tratum. Peristomium e dentibus 16, rubris, bifidis, erecto-pa- tentibus, striatis, annulo pellucido e serie simplici cellulorum constructo, cito deciduo, cinctis. I REGRET that I have not seen the calyptra of this very in- teresting moss, which has so little the appearance of a Di- cranum in its external habit, that, were it not for the very perfect state of the peristome in the specimens sent, I should scarcely have ventured to place it in that genus. Amongst the Dicrana^ however, if such they still may be called, it . comes nearest to that division which includes our D. Jlcx- uosum ; but in them the calyptra is ciliated at the base, the nerve of the leaf is broad, and the seta is of considerable length. 40 Fig. 1. Tnk o{ Dicra?iujn j^hascoides {nat. size). Fig. 2. Sterile plant. Fig. 3. Female plant. Fig. 4. Male plant. Fig. 5. Cauline leaf. Fig. 6. Perichaetial leaf. Fig. 7. Leaf surrounding and including a male flower. Fig. 8. Capsule. Fig. 9. The same, having cast its operculum, and showing the peristome and part of the annulus. Fig. 10. Portion of the annulus. Fig. 11. Teeth of the pe- ristome : — magnified. 41 RICCIA NATANS. Cryptogamia Hepatic^. Nat. Ord. Hepatic;e. Gen. Char. Capsula substantia frondis immersa, membranacea, in- dehiscens, demum evanescens, stylo protruso terminata, seminibus tuberculatis repleta. Riccia nutans ; fronde obovata cordatave dichotome lobata, lobis ro- tundatis margine subtusque longe fimbriatis, fimbriis reticulatis serrato-dentatis. (Tab. XXII.) Riccia natans. Lhm. Sj/si. Nat. ed. 12. v. 2. p. 708. Smith, Engl. Bot. t. 252. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 236. Riccia capillata. Schmidel Icones. p. 276. t. 74. Lemna dimidiata. Rafinesqiie in Amer. Monthly Magaz. v. 1. {Jide Torrey.) Hab. In aquis stagnantibus per totam fere Europaeam. — In America Septentrionali capsulas proferens prope Novam Eboracensem. Dr. Torrey. Frondes subcongestae aquae superficiei natantes, semiunciam longa?, simplices, nunc obovatae, emarginatae, nunc obcordatae, bis terve dichotome lobatae, lobis rotundatis, planae, carnoso-membranaceffi, intus celluloses, laete virides, reticulatae^ obscure costatae, margine saepe purpurascentes, subtus margineque dense fimbriatac, fimbriis lineari-acuminatis, sub lente reticulatis, membranaceis, dentato- serratis, viridibus vel saepissime purpurascentibus. Capsidce semper in costam sitae, substantia immersae, superne convexae, intus granulis vel seminibus numerosis, minutis, subsphaericis, tuberculatis, nigris repletae. The fructification of this (hitherto) supposed species of Riccia has long been a desideratum ; and though the plant has been known for a considerable time to the botanists in Europe, yet no specimens in fruit had been seen by them. At length in 1824 Dr. Torrey, Professor of Natural History at the Military Academy at West Point, New York, 42 was so obliging as to send me specimens in that state from the neighbourhood of that place, which I have already mentioned .in the second edition of the Muscologia Britannica. These I think prove beyond a doubt that the plant is rightly placed in the genus Riccia ; at the same time I must acknowledge that the fructification, in the only specimen I have yet received, is too far advanced to allow me to distinguish the capsule itself. But I know that in our common R. crystallina this part is thin and evanescent, and masses of seeds, from two or three or more capsules at length become confluent in the substance of the frond, and escape by the decay of the epidermis above them, leaving cavities or hollows in the frond. It is the case here also, and the seeds are of precisely the same nature in both. ^ig. 1. Plant of Riccia natans [nat. size). Fig. 2. Fructified plant. Fig. 3. Portion of the same, to show the inside of a capsule. Fig. 4. Another portion, showing the seeds of several capsules conglomerated. Fig. 5. Seeds. Fig. 6. Portion of the epider- mis of the plant: — magnijicd. 43 PARNASSIA FIMBRIATA. Pentandria Tetragynia. Nat. Ord. Droserace^e. Gen. Char. Cal. pentaphyllus. Petala 5, Squamce 5, unguibus petalo- rum opposite, in setas apice glandulosas (plerumque) desinentes. Stamma 5. , Anihera: posticee. Stigmata 4, sessilia. Capsula 4- valvis, 1-locularis, valvis medio septiferis. Semina arillata. {DcC.) Parnassia Jimbriata ; squamis subpalmatis eglandulosis, petalls basi ciliatis, foliis radicalibus longe petiolatis reniformibus, caulina cordata sessili. (Tab. XXIII.) Parnassia fimbriata. Kon. in Ann. of Bot. v. I. p. 391. Smith in ReeSf Cycl. Decand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 320. Hab. In ora occidentali Americas Septentrionalis. D. Menzics. In montibus " Rocky Mountains " dictis. D. Drnmmond. Radix horizontalis, subfusiformis, fibrosa, superne basibus petiolorum vetustorum vestita. Catdis pedalis ad sequipedalem, erectus, gracilis, subangulatus, prope vel supra medium, unifoliatus. Fo- lia radicalia 3 — 6, longe petiolata, reniformia, integerrima, multi- nervosa, caulinum parvum, cordatum, sessile. Flos terminalis, solitarius. Calyx 5-partitus, vel fere pentaphyllus. Petala 5, alba, obovata, subunguiculata, patentia, nervosa, ad basin pul- cherrime ciliata. Squamcz 5, viridi-flavescentes, fusco-punctuta?, petalis oppositae, carnosae, cuneatae, apice quinquelobae, intus linea elevata longitudinali instructa?. Stamina 5, demum pa- tentia : Anther (S oblongo-o vales, pallide flavas, punctata!. Pist il- ium : Germen ovatum : Stigmata 4, sessilia. No botanist that I am aware has ever seen this very curious species of Parnassia in a living state, except Mr. Menzics, who had the gratification of discovering it on the north-west coast of America, and Mr. Drummond, who more recently found it in the interior, growing in pastures and marshy grounds, on the sides of mountains, particularly near the banks of lakes and rivulets. From a drawing and descrip- 44 tion made on the spot, aided by specimens communicated by Mr. Menzies, the present figures and descriptions are pub- lished. Mr. Menzies observed that the stamens, after having per- formed their office of fertihzing the stigmas, which they do by approaching the pistil in succession, each remaining some time in contact with the stigmas, fall back in a hori- zontal position between the petals, giving an appearance of great regularity to the whole flower. It will be seen that in the structure of the scales or nectaries of the flower, the present species departs from the character hitherto laid down for the genus ; but not sufficiently so to constitute a new one : and in habit the plant entirely accords with Par- nass'ia. Fig. 1. Petal. Fig. 2. Stamen. Fig. 3. Scale or Nectary: — magnified. 45 MENYANTHES CRISTA-GALLI. Pentandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Gentiane^. Gen. Char. Cal. 5-partitus. Cor. infundibuliformis, intus hirta (vel cristata). Stigma bilobum. Capsula bivalvis, valvis axi placentiferis. Menyanthes Crista-Galli ; foliis radicalibus longe petiolatis renifor- mibus crenatis, scapo corymboso, laciniis corollae undulatis cris- tatis. (Tab. XXIV.) Menyanthes Crista-Galli, Menzies MSS. Hab. In ora occidentali Americas Septentrionalis. D. Menzies. Radix horizontalis, crassa, fibrosa, superne squamis magnis, ovatis, fuscis, basibus vaginantibus petiolorum foliorum vetustorum. Folia omnia radicalia, longe petiolata, duas uncias Jonga, qua- tuor lata, reniformia, crenata, nervosa : petioli pollicares, superne canaliculati, basi insigniter dilatati vaginantes. Scapus pedalis teres, glaber, superne rubicundus. Mores corymbosi, pedunculis petiolisque bractea ovata munitis. Calyx profunde quinquefidus, laciniis ovato-lanceolatis. Corolla infundibuliformis, alba, 5-fida, laciniis ovatis, acutis, patentibus, margine undulatis, superne la- mella erecta undulata cristatis. Stamina 5, exserta: Anthercs oblongae, flavae. Pistillum : Germen conicum. Styhis cylindra- ceus, deciduus ; Stigma bilobum, flavum. Capsula conico-oblonga, calyce cincta unilocularis, apice dentibus 4 dehiscens. This charming plant is another of Mr. Menzies's interesting discoveries on the north-west coast of America, growing in marshy mountain pastures in Prince William's Sound, and about Cape Edgecombe, in lat. 57°. The crest on the seg- ments of the corolla in this species is exactly similar to that on the flowers of Roxburgh's Menyanthes cristata, which has also white flowers, but with the habit and mode of growth of a Fillarsia. Here, however, there are no hairs upon the corolla, not even at the mouth of the limb, whilst in M. cris- tata that part is hairy. J'^^.l. Flower, i^^^. 2. Capsule. Fig. S. ^^cixon oUhc s^mc: magnifed. / 46 VOHIRIA APHYLLA. Pentandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Gentiane^e. Gen. Char. Cal. 5-fidus, brevis. Cor. hypocrateriformis, tubo longo basi tumido. Stamina in fauce corollse, antheris subrotundis. Stigma capitatum. Capsida oblonga, bivalvis, seminibus scrobi- formibus ad margines introflexos insertis. Vohiria aphylla ; caule aphyllo unifloro, corollae tubo longissimo, la- ciniis ovatis. (Tab. XXV. A.) Gentiana aphylla. Jacq. Am. p. 87. t. 60. f. 3. Exacum aphyllum. Willd. Sp. PL v.l.p. 638. Vohiria uniflora. Lam. — Rcem. et Schultes, Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 176. Lita aphylla. " Dietr. Gccrt. Lex. 5. p. 531." Spreng. Syst. v.\. p.SSX. Hab. In Martlnicse sylvis raontosis vastis et humentibus : in cryptis truncorum luci vix perviis, non alibi. Jacq. In sylvis antiquis Sancti Vincenti, aut terra humida, aut in truncis semiputridis. Rev. L. Guilding. Parasitica. Planter gregariae. Radices e fibris albis subcarnosis crassiusculis. Caulis erectus, flexuosus, albus, simplex, crassitie penna? corvinae, omnino aphyllus, teres, articulatus, articulis vix unciam longis, basi squamosis. Squamcc ovatae, amplexicaules, hinc fissae. Flos ratione plantae magna, terminalis, solitarius. Calyx brevis, S-fidus, striatus. Corolla hypocrateriformis : tubo valde elongato, pallide flavo, superne gracili, apice (ubi stamina inserta) basique, prsecipue, tumida ; limbo quinquefido, flavo, patente, laciniis ovatis. Stamina in fauce corollae inserta : Fila- menta brevia : Anther cb rotundatae, flavae. Pistillum : Germen cylindricum, subpedicellatum : Stylus longissimus, filiformis : Stigma capitatum, obscure 3-lobum. This singular plant, which has hitherto only been considered as a native of Martinique, was found by Mr. Guilding in the Island of St. Vincent, with its roots generally interwoven among those of other plants. 47 VOHIRIA TENELLA. Vohiria tenella ,• caule aphyllo unifloro, coroll£E tubo brevi, laciniis lineari-lanceolatis. (Tab. XXV. B.) Vohiria tenella. Guilding's MSS. Has. In solo humido, Montis Sancti Andreae, Insulae Sancti Vin- centij rarissime. Rev. L. Guilding. Omnibus partibus V. aphyllce similis, sed minor, magis tenera, caulis articulis paucioribus multoque longioribus, corollse tubo breW (styloque similiter abbreviato) laciniisque angustioribus, colore roseo. Fmctus est capsula, corolla marcescente tecta, bivalvis, valvis apicibus unitis marginibus intro-flexis et utrinque tectis seminibus numerosissimis minutissimis, arillatis, arillo longo ut in seminibus generis Orchidis. A. Vohiria aphylla. Fig. I. {nat. size.) Pz^. 2. Upper portion of the stem and calyx. Fig. 3. Upper portion of the tube of the co- rolla, containing the stamens. Fig. 4. Pistil : {magnijied). B. Vo- hiria tenella. Fig. 1. [nat. size.) Fig. 2. Capsule, burst, but still covered by the withered corolla. Fig. 3. Seeds with their arillus : magnified. V SCHULTES'S BOTANICAL VISIT TO ENGLAND. It is by no means our intention in the present work, as we have elsewhere stated, to confine ourselves to the giving scientific and systematic descriptions of plants, together with the histories of those species which are valuable in an ceconomical point of view. A part of our pages will be devoted to botanical information and notices, and even to translations from foreign publications, where we may think these calculated to interest and instruct ; for it has been a subject both of regret and inconvenience to us, that in our country no botanical journal is published, though it gave origin to one which may well serve as a model for a future work of the kind, namely, Konig and Sims's Annals of Botany, of which two volumes appeared about twenty years ago. We possess many original memoirs con- nected with our favourite science ; and with these, and the aid of our friends, we trust that the present publication may, in some measure, supply the deficiency of a more regular journal. We have selected among other matter for this present Number, a subject which cannot fail to be interesting to our countrymen ; namely, the opinions which ' a learned German and Naturalist has been led to form upon the Botany, Botanists, and Scientific Institutions of the Metropolis, and some other parts of England, which he visited in 1824. These are published in the Botanische Zeitung for 1825, and are the substance of a letter, addressed from London by Dr. Schultes, a Professor of Landshut in Bohemia, to the celebrated Naturalist, Count Sternberg. We must not be supposed, however, to assent to all that our author has said, either in regard to the objects which he saw, or to the views which he has been led to entertain of different persons and their actions. The shortness of his stay in England, and the circumstance of his obtaining information only through the 49 medium of a foreign language, may be justly offered as an excuse for some inaccuracies ; while an useful warning may be derived from them, as to the caution with which we should, ourselves, in distant countries, form our judgements. In the present instance, the mistakes to which we allude are of so trifling a kind, and are so amusing, that we only wish our En- glish travellers always erred in an equally charitable and cheerful manner. After a passage of twenty-four hours across the Channel, we landed at Harwich on the 26th day of August. Here we had an immediate opportunity of experiencing the vexatious interpretation of a regulation which, under Napoleon's government, would have been cried out against by the EngUsh as an invention of military de- spotism; but which in this land of liberty, as itis called, has subsisted for these hundred years. This law lays a tax of several pence on every pound-weight of books imported into the kingdom. Now we had with us on board the packet half a dozen folios, for the purpose of drying within their pages the plants which we should collect on our journey ; and although these were only old works on Law and Divinity, which were useless except as paper for specimens, we were required nevertheless to pay a tax amounting to thirty florins ; and this merely because they were in the form of books. Much playful argument and some serious remonstrance were employed on this occasion ; and we at length prevailed on the ignorant officer, who could not even read the titles of these works, to allow them to re- main in his hands, (where they would probably be useless except to curl his old red wig withal,) by means of which arrangement we escaped the heavy impost, but were compelled to take our plants, one by one, out of these folios, and to purchase, at a high price, fresh paper in Ipswich ; thus losing both time and money by the bad interpretation of a worse law. May this our unlucky experience serve as a warning for such botanists as shall hereafter travel in England, not to dry the plants which they may collect on their journey in old books with brass clasps. We passed up the river Orwell with the tide, to the little dull town of Ipswich ; admiring in our way the beautiful banks which E 50 skirted this stream, and which seemed to form one grand park. What particularly struck us here was the deep full verdure of the meadows, and the almost black green of the trees, shrubs and plants, which grew in the hedges. We have frequently heard censures passed, and even made them ourselves, on the intense colours of the figures of plants in the Flora Londinensis and English Botany ; but we now plainly perceived that our complaint was unfounded, the prevailing hue of the vegetation being even of a deeper tone than it is represented in those plates. Except Ulex europceus. Genista anglica, and a species of Ruhus, (which, though called by all the botanists of this country R.fruticosus, is not the plant which bears that name on the continent, of which the corollas are always pale red,) we observed nothing in the Flora of the roadsides which struck us as being different from that of Germany. On the 27th, about noon, we proceeded in the mail-coach from Ipswich to Norwich, where, by a fortunate circumstance, we accom- phshed the object of our journey thilher. Sir James E. Smith, to whom we made this pilgrimage, had ust returned home from the country, and was on the point of aga visiting his friends when we called on him at his beautiful house. Our joy was great at finding this most respectable man so far recovered from the severe illness which had threatened his life, as to be again enabled to devote his leisure hours to the amahilis scientia. He was then employed in revising some printed sheets of the third edition of his Introduction to the Study of Botany. Sir J. E. Smith displayed to us the trea- sures of his collection, (in reality the only one of its kind,) with a courtesy and kindness which are peculiar to great and well-educated men ; and which in this truly noble person are heightened by such charms of gentleness and affability, as cannot fail to attract to him most forcibly even such individuals as have but once enjoyed the privilege of his society. The books of Linnaeus, with their margins full of notes in the handwriting of the immortal Swede ; many valu- able MSS. of his, not yet published ; the Linnaean Herbarium, in the same order and even occupying the very cases which had con- tained it at Upsal, (little as the old-fashioned form of these cabinets corresponds with the elegant arrangement of Smith's museum) ; the collection of insects, shells and minerals, which had belonged to this 51 second creator of Nature ; — all these are arranged and preserved by Sir James with a scrupulous care which almost borders on a kind of rehgious veneration. The relics of Mohammed are not enshrined with more devotion in the Kaaba at Mecca, than are the collections of Linnaeus in the house of Sir J. E. Smith at Norwich. Whilst we bless the Providence that has placed these treasures of the Northern Prophet in the hands of such a Caliph, from whom (as Sir James, alas ! has no family) they will pass into the possession of some valued friend or person who knows how to appreciate and feel their high value, and who will respect them as national property, — we, of the continent, must ever lament that they have fallen to the lot of the " toto disjimctos orbe Britannos ;" as it is, unhappily, impossible for every botanist to make a voyage to this island, here to compare his specimens with those of Linnaeus : " Non cuivis homini con- tingit adire Corinthum." And yet, long as a tribunal botankum or a synodus botanica shall continue to be earnestly desired for that common good, which is as much the object of the botanist as of any other child of Adam, so long ' aust we wish that the following plan, which is the only practical ;i remedy to the distant situation of Linnaeus's collections, should l 2 adopted. — We would propose that in every place where botany is pursued with energy, a kind of Filial or Branch Herbarium (if I may so call it) should be established ; consisting of such plants only as have been accurately and faithfully compared with the original collections of Linnaeus, Thunberg, Pallas, Vahl, Desfontaines, Ruiz and Pavon, Willdenow, Humboldt, &c. The excellent Sir J. E. Smith would willingly open his trea- sures, and allow every facihty to those who held these views. If there should arise any opulent botanist on the continent, or if any of the Governments there should institute a complete herbarium, possessing all the Linnaean species, (which it would not be difficult at the present day to gather together,) and if such herbarium were by the proprietor allowed to be compared by an able botanist with that of Linnaeus ; we should then have in that country a faithful copy of the Linnaean Herbarium, which would enable us, in doubtful cases, to determine with precision what it was that the great Swedish naturalist had meant by any given species. Without such a com- parison of the larger collections with each other; for example, that E 2 52 of Berlin with that of Paris, and one or other of these with the Banksian or Lambertian herbaria, — no degree of certainty can be expected ; and from the increase of extensive private unverified col- lections, the science must labour under a heavy disadvantage in the consequent accumulation of synonyms. If Sieber had identified the plants gathered by him in Crete and Egypt with many of those pre- viously collected by Sibthorpe and Desfontaines, much doubt would have been removed ; and if the late travellers in Brazil, Prince Nieuwied, Auguste St. Hilaire, Martins, and Pohl, had compared their treasures before describing them, many useless synonyms would never have existed. To travel from one herbarium to another, and to carry about, in the memory only, the characteristics of doubtful species, may well be found an almost impracticable task ; and the confusion to which such an attempt is apt to give rise may be seen exemplified in one of our latest large botanical works. To decide upon plants which we have not seen, and only know from an erro- neous diagnosis or imperfect description, is like a blind man judging of colours : " Ilfaut voir, dit Vaveugle." Besides the Linnaean herbarium. Sir J. E. Smith has a large col- lection of plants of his own formation, which is especially rich in the productions of New Holland and Nepaul. The worthy Professor Wallich at Calcutta, whose health has lately suffered from an Indian climate, has greatly contributed towards the latter. The Linnsean specimens, as well as Sir James's private herbarium, are very well preserved ; and after the old plan, which is now seldom followed on the continent, they are fastened down on a folio sheet of paper, and washed over with a solution of corrosive sublimate. Sir James has also under his care the plants of Sibthorpe, to aid him in the publi- cation of his Flora Graca, which is now nearly completed. Among the papers of Linnaeus, their present possessor found a number of copies of two pamphlets by this illustrious man, which do not appear to have been ever published. One of them bears the title of" C Linncei Observationes inRegnum Lapidum," and contains a view of the mineral kingdom, so far as it was known at the time of its being printed : the other is intitled " Orbis eruditi Judicium de Caroli Linrmi, M. D. Scriptis." Both fill a complete sheet of letter-press. Sir James was so kind as to give a copy of each to 53 my son and myself, with his own signature affixed. The latter of these pamphlets, sine loco et anno, like the first, appears to be a defence of this illustrious man extorted from him by some of his envious -and prejudiced contemporaries. But what redounds as much to the honour as it must have done to the peace of the cautious and amiable Linnaeus, is, that after having composed this paper, which consists entirely of the testimony which was borne to his character by the principal naturahsts of his time, — such as Boerhaave, Burmann, Sloane, Dillenius, Jussieu, Haller, Gesner, Gleditsch, Breynius, &c. &c. — he afterwards entirely suppressed it; and thereby deprived his opponents of those fresh subjects of disputation, which are sure to arise on such occasions, and which only furnish o-round for sincere pity for the contending parties. It would appear as if the motto which Linnaeus had chosen for this paper, " Famam extollere fadis Hoc virtutis opus" had animated him with this feeling even while composing it. The case is however quite different when the possessor of the Linnaean herbarium, and of the other treasures left by the creator of the amahilis scientia, is called on to defend himself in a couple of pamphlets against a learned body, under the firm of Universitas Cantabrigiensis, and before the whole European public to advocate the laws and privileges of mankind, and consequently those espe- cially of his own country, against the usurping ignorance and fana- ticism of the learned head of one college, who in our German lan- guage would be termed the Pro-rector, and against the fawning sycophancy of some slothful member*. In such cases, we may well exclaim, as Smith has done in his defence, in the words of Milton, " I hate when Vice can bolt her arguments. And Virtue has no tongue to check her pride." * The titles of these two pamphlets, which are scarcely known in Germany, and in which Sir J. E. Smith defends the eternal laws of truth, are : " Considerations respecting Cambridge, more especially relating to the Botanical Professorship ; by Sir J. E. Smith, M.D. F.R.S. President of the Linnaean Society:" — and "A Defence of the Church and the Universities against such injudicious Advocates as Professor Monk and the Quarterly Review; by Sir J. E. Smith," ice. 54 The whole history which Sir J. E. Smith here gives, — and which I shall relate somewhere else, as characteristic of the English Univer- sities, the question being one which affects the botanical world and the pubhc at large, — is briefly as follows : The present Professor of Botany at Cambridge, Mr. Thomas Martyn, having been for many years prevented from lecturing by illness, confided his office of Professor, in so far as it was the foundation of Walker, to the most eminent botanist in England, the President of the Linnaean Society, Sir J. E. Smith. Most of the members of the University were well pleased with this choice, inasmuch as it advanced the celebrity of the high school at Cam- bridge. In compliance with the desire of Martyn, Smith sacrificed his leisure, went to Cambridge, and there proposed to renew the lectures on botany, which for many years had been discontinued. But the Pro-rector of this University, Mr. Monk, formally laid an interdict on the Knight and President of the Linnaean Society, Sir J. E. Smith, prohibiting him from ascending the rostrum, because he was, — a Dissenter ! — that is, a Christian of a different persuasion from Mr. Monk. What would be said of a German University which for such a reason should exclude so distinguished an indivi- dual as Smith ? Had Cambridge been now in the situation of France, groaning under the rod of such an obscure fanatic as the Bishop of Hermopolis ; or had Sir James, in any of his publications or in any part of his conduct, shown the least trace of irrehgion, — then the University would have been justified in this procedure : but not only have all the works of Smith testified their author to be, in the highest sense of the word, a religious character ; but his whole life has been a series of the exercise of Christian virtue and elevated piety. Who would have believed that an University within the walls of which the immortal Erasmus Roterodamus once taught, and which had produced such a man as Milton, should ever, and even in the twentieth year of the nineteenth century, sink to such a depth of barbarity ! (bestialit'dt !) But " omnia jam Jient " &c. ; and we must not wonder that in this island, as well as on the continent, there should be instances of the existence of dull heads and infected hearts in Universities, when the direction of these institutions is entrusted to the learned corps offreres ignorantins. 55 The few hours which Sir James Smith's kindness induced him to devote to me, though he was ready prepared to set off on a journey- to join his Smithia, (a lady of rare talents,) passed away like a moment of time ; just as the sweetest periods of life seem to fleet upon the swiftest wings. I have rarely beheld a more noble coun- tenance ; one indicative of such candour, simplicity and kindness, united with so much clearness of intellect, as that of Sir J. E. Smith ; and the expression of his features will never be obhterated from my memory. Sir James obtained for my son and myself admittance to the noble hospital at Norwich ; after which we quitted this romantic and prettily situated city, and proceeded by way of Newmarket to Cam- bridge. The coach, like all those which carry the mail in England, went at too rapid a rate, and the day closed too early, to allow of our making many observations on the Flora of the somewhat barren country which lies between Norwich and Newmarket. We only noticed, from the road, some beautiful country seats, and a planta- tion of Pinus sylvestris, which, like the other tribes of Fir, is a rarity on the plains of England, not being a native of this country. We hired a postchaise from Newmarket to Cambridge, which is situated in a rather bleak neighbourhood. I shall describe the University in some other place, and only give a few words to the Botanic Garden, which, as far as such an establishment can be known by a Catalogue, is already known on the continent by the third edition which the deceased Donn and Pursh, together with Mr. Lindley, pubhshed in 1823. I had hoped here to meet my late friend Dr. E. D. Clarke, Professor of Mineralogy, who once spent an evening with me at Landshut, on his return from Egypt, and had invited me in return to see him and his Garden at Cambridge. He knew not that he was asking me to come and see his effigy, when he gave me the invitation ; — the marble bust which the University has placed to his honour in the hbrary, is all that was left of my friend. I was told that Dr. Clarke's death was occasioned by the irritation that an insect o-ave rise to, and which was drawn into his nostril by smelling of a flower. The Garden at Cambridge contains about five acres of very bad ground, and there are from five to six thousand species of plants, the 56 greater part of them cultivated in beds. It does not present so pleasing an appearance as the Dutch botanic gardens, but is, how- ever, kept very neat, and is well arranged. The founder of this institution was the great Dr. R. Walker, Vice-master of Trinity- College, who purchased the ground for 1600/. Bradley, the earhest botanist who paid exclusive attention to the succulent plants, was the first Professor of Botany at Cambridge, whom the celebrated Sherard recommended to the University. There were no Lectures given here on botany till the year 1724; so that this eminent university is far behind many of those in Germany in this respect, which long before that period had supported Botanical Professors and Gardens. Bradley ceased to give lectures six years before his death, when Sherard, and the great physician to the royal household Sloane, recommended John Martyn to the situation. Still, in the year 1734, Martyn discontinued his lectures, as there was no bo- tanic garden, and he met with no support. " Botany slept," as Sir J. E. Smith says, " from 1734 till 1761, when R. Walker raised it from a deep slumber. The Professor of Botany had neither salary nor student." Walker provided both; and aided Martyn, who transferred his office to his son, Thomas Martyn, then twenty-six years of age. The latter has been for the last three years pre- vented from lecturing by age and infirmity ; and in 1818 he trans- ferred his situation, (inasmuch as it related to Walker's foundation,) to Sir James E. Smith. But Monk, by interdict and proscription, prevented this worthy man from performing the duties of the Pro- fessorship ; and the University of Cambridge appears to feel as little as it would have done a hundred years ago, that it has for the last six years been deprived of instruction in one of the most beautiful and useful of sciences. The care of the Garden is committed to Mr. Biggs, whom we did not find at home. The stoves are well built, and they may have been hitherto large enough ; but the pro- gress of the science will soon cause their size to be insufficient, as they extend only to 216 feet. A building was erected some years ago, for the lecture-rooms of the Professors of Botany, Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Mechanics. The Alpine plants, among which are some rare species from the Scotch Highlands, are very properly cultivated in small pots, and placed during winter under glass. The 57 assistant-gardener, who conducted me through the orounds, was not able to tell me the annual expenditure of the institution. The work- people receive two shillings a day. The Library of the University contains many rare works ; but little attention seems to be paid to Natural History : and even the collec- tion of Minerals is not considerable, when compared with many of our mineral cabinets in Bavaria. Our stay in London was extremely short ; and we were anxious to take advantage of one of those clear days which are so uncommon in England, in order to visit Oxford, which is only about fifty-eio-ht miles distant from the metropolis. We performed this distance in less than six hours, though at some risk of breaking our necks. Sir J. E. Smith had been so obliging as to give us a letter to his friend Dr. Williams, Professor of Botany and Librarian to the RadclifTe Library at the University of Oxford ; and through the politeness of this highly estimable person we obtained a view of the treasures of natural history in Oxford, and also of the RadclifFe Library and Hospital. The Botanical Garden at this University is the oldest in England, having been founded by Henry Lord d'Anvers Earl of Danby, in 1622, when the first stone was laid of a wall fourteen feet high which still exists, and which it took eleven years to build, at an expense of 5000/. The erection of the gate by Neklaus Stone, for which luigo Jones furnished the design, cost 500/. On either side of the en- trance to the garden stands a statue ; one of king Charles the First, and the other of his son Charles the Second : these were purchased with the amount of a fine, laid on the celebrated antiquarian Anthony a Wood, as a punishment for a satire which this good old man had ventured to publish in the first edition of the Athena; Oxonienses, against the Earl of Clarendon. This garden had originally been the burial-place of the Jews, who lived in great numbers at Oxford, tdl the noted banishment and destruction of these state creditors in the reign of Edward the First 1290. It was afterwards enlarged, and at present includes five acres. This addition of ground was however but a trifling improvement, and the danger of inundation to which it is exposed both in winter and summer still exists. The water fre- quently stands knee-deep above the plants ; and as the lower parts of the garden cannot be sufficiently raised without an inmiense ex- 58 pense, these portions are left quite uncultivated. The active gardener, who is a Scotchman named Baxter, devotes his attention chiefly to the Cryptogamia ; partly from mortification at finding it impossible to make the garden such as he could wish. He is preparing a, Flora Cryptogamica of the environs of Oxford ; and he showed us the first number of this work, containing specimens very neatly laid out, to which we must invite the attention of our countrymen in Germany. Mr. Baxter also cultivates with zeal the English Willows, having a living individual of almost every species, in a proper Salice- tum. To the Grasses, likewise, he gives much attention ; and, from the experience of several years, he is enabled to decide that Agrostis verticillata, vulgaris, decumbens, fasciculata (Curt.), and stolonifera, are distinct species ; which, when subjected to the same culture for a great length of time, still continue to preserve their characteristic marks. This industrious man, — with the assistance of three persons, each of whom receives two shillings per day, — cultivates between four and five thousand species of plants in the wretched houses of this garden, though in fact there is only one stove, properly so called, and this is much too small. Those which grow in the open air are, like the plants of Cambridge, arranged agreeably to the Linnaean method, and separated into the indigenous and foreign kinds ; and both of these are again divided into annual, biennial, and perennial, by which the study of the allied species becomes difficult. They are partly cultivated in beds, partly in separate squares ; without any view to the effect which this must naturally offer to the eye. Although the Oxford Garden is inadequate to the purposes of botanical instruction in the present state of science, and though the excellent Dr. Williams has been prevented from lecturing this year by the weakness of his sight, it yet possesses, in the Library which has been judiciously added to it, a treasure which no other institution of the kind can boast, namely, the Herbarium and MSS.of Dillenius and of Sherard, with the collection of books that had belonged to these two Coryphi. The first contains almost all the original specimens of Cryptogamia, figured by Dillenius in his work which is now become very scarce ; and they are in very good preservation. Perhaps Professor Williams will give us a new edition, with authen- tic and accurate copies of the plates in this typographical rarity ; and add to them the marginal notes of Dillenius. William Sherard 59 not only left to the Garden of this University his valuable herbarium, and his richhbrary which includes some scarce works that are even wanting to that most complete of botanical libraries, the Banksian j but he also bequeathed a sum of 3000/. to the l/niversity, that with the interest thence arising a Professor of Botany might be supported. It is well known that the first person who received this salary was a German, Dillenius. — A Regius Professor, paid by Government, was appointed in 1793 ; and this individual was the celebrated Sibthorpe, whose herbarium (now in the hands of Sir J. E. Smith for the pub- lication of the Flora Gnzca) belongs likewise to the University. A circumstance which stamps with increased value the herbaria of Dillenius, Sherard, and Bobart, is, that the two first have, annexed to their well preserved specimens, the synonyms and references of co- temporary authors, particularly those of Plukenet, Petiver, and Sloane, in their respective handwritings, as that of Sibthorpe bears the Lin- nsean names ; by which the very frequent old synonyms are well elucidated. I suggested to Professor Wilhams the advantage that would arise from causing some young botanist to draw up a com- plete catalogue of the plants in the collection of Dillenius and She- rard, copying at the same time the synonyms, which after a previous revision might be pubhshed. The science of botany, or at least its history, would thus, in my opinion, gain immensely. It is much to be desired, in general, that a hst of all the great Herbaria were printed ; each plant having its place of growth and first describer noted : this would offer great facihties to the compilers of future monographs on different genera ; —at least a person would know where to look for what he might otherwise long seek in vain. Professor Williams related to me the following anecdote respecting Linnffius, which is traditionally preserved in the Oxford Garden, and which deserves to be also known in Germany. — Linnasus pre- sented himself at Oxford to Dillenius and Sherard, being then a very young man, and his system having as yet made but little noise in the world of science. The latter received him with cordiality ; but Dillenius was very cool, and said to Sherard, " This is the young fellow who is putting all botanists and botany into confusion." Lin- nseus did not understand the English language, in which this remark was made, but yet he recognized in the word caujiuschjen (so pro- nounced by Dillenius in his German accent), the Latin epithet covfusio. 60 He was silent : Sherard and Dillenius walked up and down in the garden with their new acquaintance, and stopped by a wall over- grown with Antirrhinum (Linaria) Cyinbalaria ; a plant upon which they were desirous to have the opinion of Linnaeus, as much doubt had existed respecting it. Linnaeus removed these difficulties with his natural perspicuity. The gentlemen again pointed to a second, and a third plant, of which they felt uncertain; and again the Swede explained the dubious points with perfect ease. Dillenius was surprised ; and Sherard observed to him that he could perceive " no confusion at all" in Linnaeus. He invited the stranger to dine with him ; and during the several days that Linnaeus remained in Oxford, he found that the dislike which Dillenius had at first entertained towards him, wore gradually away, and gave place to esteem and friendship. On taking leave, Linnaeus remarked to Dillenius, that he should be very sorry to have brought confusion into the Garden at Oxford. Dillenius blushed, and apologized for the hasty word which had escaped his lips. — I entertained Dr. Williams with an anecdote of Dillenius, in consequence of which this meritorious man is, in Germany, regarded as a kind of simpleton. " Most of my countrymen," replied Dr. Williams, " look upon him as not a hair better." After having gathered some twigs of trees, planted here by the hands of Dillenius, as a kind of memento of him, we quitted the garden, and followed Professor Williams into his temple the Biblio- theca Radclijfiana. A richer collection than this in works of natural history, physic, and medicine, except perhaps that of Sir Joseph Banks, does not exist in any country. — I pass over the description of the beautiful building which contains it, though one of the finest in Oxford ; and from the cupola of which a most noble view of the city is obtained, being the situation whence the panorama of Oxford was taken. The foundation of this edifice was laid in 1737, and it was opened in 1749 by the executors of Dr. RadclifFe ; who had left to the University a sum of 40,000/. to build the Library, with 150Z. a year for the librarian, and 100/. annually to purchase new books, and as much more to defray the expense of needful repairs. This income would be quite inadequate to cover the cost of procuring yearly the requisite new publications ; but this desirable object has been attained by an arrangement with the Bodleian Library. To the latter institu- tion every author in England is by law compelled to send a copy of 61 his book ; and the Bodleian has agreed to cede to the Radchffian Library all those upon medico-physical subjects. The experience which, as a naturalist and physician. Dr. Williams possesses, renders his services far more valuable to the institution than the inefficient labours of the learned pedants, to whom the office of librarian is frequently committed. The books are arranged in ethnographicid order. The country between Oxford and Henley, half-way back to Lon- don, is so beautiful that we determined to perform this distance on foot. Our expectations of a new Flora were not however realized : except Ulex europccus, and in some places a great number of Ferns we met with nothing more interesting than what usually occurs with us. At Henley we took a stage-coach, and passing the villas of Herschel and Banks, arrived in London. To become properly acquainted with the botanists and state of botany in London would require half a year at least, and we had only half a month in which to attain this object; and were obliged to ceconomize every moment, as we had all the Hospitals also to visit. We particularly desired to make the acquaintance of Mr. Don ; through whose means we hoped to see the Linnsean Society, and the herbarium of Lambert. We had been told so much of the pohteness of this learned man, that we hope he will ascribe the great degree of trouble which we occasioned him, to the character for affiibility which he every where possesses. The preference which the first botanists in London have shown for Mr. Don, by entrusting their treasures to his charge, is as honourable to themselves as to the object of their choice ; and the " dehghtful science" is an equal gainer. Mr. Don is a man in the flower of his age, and, like all the Scotch- men whom we had the pleasure of knowing in London, a person of remarkable frankness and candour. We are greatly obliged to him for the reception which he was so kind as to give us ; he obtained for us a view of the Linnaean Society's apartments, Soho-square : a Cyathea from Nepaul stood on the stairs, as high as the house ; it might have been used on its voyage to Europe for the mast of a ship. The herbarium is in the hall ; very beautifully arranged, with British elegance and solidity. The cases in which the animals, chiefly birds, are preserved, are made of the wood of Fliiidersia au- 62 stralis. The rich hbrary of this estabhshment contains many valu- able works, which are wanting to the great universities, academies, and national collections of the continent. The hall in which the meetings of the Society are held, struck us as being a far finer apartment than the House of Commons ; and we even thought this latter very inferior to the House of Commons at Munich, which is only used every third year ; while again the Hall of Assembly of the Academy at Munich is a mere lumber-room compared with that of the Linnsean Society. The busts of Linnseus and Banks, and of our countryman Trew, and the portraits of Solander and Pulteney, orna- ment this elegant apartment. All that we were, unfortunately, able to see of Sir J. Banks's herbarium and library was from the windows of the Linnsean Society's house ; for Sir Robert Brown was gone to Naples, and had taken with him thekey of the Banksian collection*. We were more successful at Count Lambert's, though with the dis- appointment of not finding at home this venerable sage of seventy years, who has made such sacrifices to botany. He was at his country-seat of Boyton in Wiltshire, some eighty miles, we were told, distant from the capital. Mr. Don, however, had the key to Lambert's sanctum ; and his goodness afforded us a view of its botanical trea- sures, accumulated from all parts of the world. The collection of plants contains above 36,000 species ; and if its increase continues with its former giant strides, it will soon exceed every other. This immense herbarium, of which the noble proprietor has given some information in the second part of his magnificent work on the genus Pinus, consists of no fewer than fifty herbaria, each of which would singly be worth to a botanist more than any pearl in the Mogul's crown. I shall here only mention a few of them, besides the great English one, of the Count's own formation: viz. the plants of Afzelius and Balduinus; the collection made by Baxter in New Holland ; the herbaria of Broussonet, Brown (the author of a work on the botany * We really think that it would have been quite an overstretching of that public- spirited liberality, with which both the former and the present proprietor of the Banksian collection have ever opened its treasures to the use of science, if Sir Robert Brown, when going to Italy, had thought it necessary to leave the key of Sir J. Banks's library and herbarium in the door. — Ed. 63 of Jamaica), of Lord Bute, Hill, and Caley (the latter had spent seven years in New Holland); of Cavanilles, Clarke (who had accompanied Cripps); Durandes, Forster, Flinders, Forsyth, Fraser, Gouan, Hamil- ton (formerly known under the name of Buchanan), Hawkins, and Sibthorpe ; Hibbert, Hudson, Jack, Captain King, Governor King ; a Japanese herbarium (considered as very valuable) ; the plants of Martin (the well known prize, from which Rudge described his Flora Guyanensis)\ of Masson, Arch. Menzies, of Nuttall(from the Mis- souri) ; Pallas, Governor Phihpps, Ponthieu's plants from Jamaica; the museum of the Duchess of Portland, Pursh's herbarium, Raffles's, Richardson's (who was with Franklin), Lieut. Roes (Ross's?), Rox- burgh's, Ruiz', and Pavon's (Count Lambert paid 1500/. for the latter); Sabine's, Seaforth's (from Barbadoes), Sello's, Sieber's, Staunton's, White's (from New South Wales), Wilkins's, Wiles's, &c. &c. If the number of these collections surprises us, the magnificence and variety of the specimens, and the care with which they are preserved, — some under glass, as many of the ArundinacecE ; some in pasteboard boxes, others in mahogany cases ; while entire branches of several species of Banksia, Dryandra, and Protea, are kept, each in their proper place ; with tubes of the Sarracenia and Nepenthes carefully laid on fine cotton and stuffed with the same material, so as to look as perfect as when growing in the stove, — must excite our still greater admiration. The Cinchonas, which are among the grandest of Lam- bert's favourite tribes, fill three parcels, each probably containing two hundred specimens. This truly noble Count, — who is to England vsrhat Count Sternberg is to Bohemia, Count HofFmannsegg to Saxony, and Baron De Lessert to France, — is still by no means among the number of those Enghsh Lords " gnifms Pactolus ftuit :" but with his well employed thousands he has done more for science, and con- sequently been more useful to mankind, than many with their hun- dreds of thousands. His name will therefore live in the annals of improvement, and for centuries and centuries be held in grateful remembrance. Whilst we were employed in viewing Count Lambert's treasures, a little man dressed in black entered the apartment ; and he cast a glance full of sorrow and indignation upon some packages which belonged to the herbarium of Ruiz and Pavon. This look attracted 64 my attention, as did the general elevated physiognomy of this person. I could not suppress my curiosity, and asked Mr, Don who this little man might be. When he replied, Senor Lagasca! I threw myself into the arms of my old friend, who was much puzzled to imagine who I could be, for we had only known each other by correspondence, which had continued for some years ; and here we met, as in a dream, where we least expected to see one another. Poor Lagasca ! he had not only lost all his domestic happiness, (his wife and five children being in Cadiz,) and his fortune ; but also his great herbarium ; the manuscript of his Flora of Spain, on which he had been employed for more than twenty years, and which was ready to be printed ; even the manuscript of his Monograph of the Cerealia, with the dried specimens belonging to it, on which he had laboured at Seville and there completed it, — all, all were destroyed ! He saved nothing from the great shipwreck of that Cortes to which his talents and virtue had raised him, but his own life. Far from his beautiful country, and from his beloved relations, he now lives in the foggy and expen- sive London, where he participates in the afflictions of so many of his worthy and exiled countrymen ! Lagasca and I met almost daily after this interview, and made some botanical excursions together : among other places, to the cele- brated gardens of Kew. We did not see Mr. Townsend Aiton, as he had been called away to Windsor ; but in this well known garden, whose Catalogue has given it so much celebrity, we did not find the pleasure that we had anticipated. We were disappointed particularly in the plants which grow in the open air, which are not so accurately named as those in the Gottingen Botanic Garden, superintended by Schrader : sometimes the same species is marked with two different names. The garden at Kew consists of a fine park, and a large botanical garden of about twenty acres. What we usually term a park in Germany is like anything rather than what receives the same appellation in England ; and which is neither more nor less than a wood, in which nature and art seem to dispute for the original formation and present possession. As in a wood, one may walk, ride and drive about it, without risk of interruption. English parks are in fact beautiful woods, and nothing more ; and it will ever remain one of the most difficult problems in the delightful science of laying 65 out pleasure-grounds, so to plan a charming wood, as that he who is in it shall not know whether he be in a grove or a house. We have on the continent many exquisitely formed gardens, under the name of English ones ; but an English park I have only seen in En- gland. The Botanic Garden at Kew is surrounded by high walls, and intersected into long squares. With regard either to its plan, or its nine or ten stoves, it will not bear a comparison with those of Malmaison, or the Grand Duke of Weimar, of Prince Esterhazy at Eisenstadt, or even with the botanical division of tlie Imperial Garden at Schonbrunn. A Supplement to the Hortns Kewensis, under the inspection of Sir Robert Brown, will soon be published : many species which were formerly cultivated here, are said to be lost. Our countryman, the celebrated flower-painter, Mr. Francis Bauer, with whom I had the honour of being acquainted some years since at Vienna, resides at Kew. I regretted his absence from home when I called to pay my respects to him. The garden of the Horticultural Society at Turnham Green, scarcely half an hour's distance from Kew, is of far greater importance to the art of gardening, which is indeed the proper design of the study of botany. This establishment, which is described in the Horticul- tural Transactions, is likely to prove of incalculable advantage to Britain and to all Europe : every branch of Horticulture, except the ornamental, being here pursued to the greatest extent and according to the purest scientific principles ; such as the cultivation of fruits and vegetables, both forced and in the open air ; and of flowers, whether abroad or under glass. No less than thirty-three acres of land are destined to the accomplishment of the necessary experi- ments, surrounded by a lofty wall, and again walled off" into par- titions. By this plan, however, the Society appears to have inten- tionally sacrificed the picturesque. About forty workmen are kept in this Vineyard of the Lord, who are under the superintendence of a very able gardener, Mr. Munro. At present there are five stoves, two of them built after the newest plan, with convex windows, which are found to be highly advantageous. A very large house is to be erected next year, and heated by steam. We of Germany must long want a great advantage which the English possess in their stoves ; namely, the very slender iron frame-work in which the panes VOL. r. F 66 of glass are inclosed, thus uniting durability with the advantage of admitting the greatest quantity of light. The price of these iron frames in England, where every thing is six times as expensive as with us in Bavaria, amounts to no more than what we should pay for a frame of wood that would not last above a year. The Horticultural stoves contain many valuable plants from China and Sierra Leone ; brought by Mr. Don's brother, who had resided there for some time. So fine a collection of Roses exists no where else ; the celebrated Mr. Sabine, who is secretary to the Society, having been engaged in studying this tribe for almost thirty years. They are arranged in large squares ; one might almost say, in small groves of roses, native and foreign, single and double. On comparing this garden with those of the ancient universities of Cambridge and Oxford, one can- not for a moment hesitate in declaring the superior influence that this must have in benefiting the country ; although it has only been formed within these few years, by the joint exertions of a few private individuals. The friend of mankind contemplates with pleasure how much more a well-directed Society of spirited men can effect in ten or twelve years, with the small sum of about 60,000 florins, raised among themselves, than has been performed by the two great learned bodies of the kingdom, with their millions. Whoever doubts the influence which the Horticultural Society has produced on the nation, or who thinks that our ideas of its value are over-rated, we would advise him to attend one of their sittings, and there to see what is done by the members of this institution ; and then, like that wisest of the Apostles, Thomas, when he shall have weighed in his hand what is sent thither, when he shall have tasted of the fruit, and inhaled the rich perfume diff'used by pines, peaches and nectarines, he will perhaps satisfy himself that it is not all a phantasmagoria. We had the honour of being present at a meeting of the Society in September 1824, and we must confess that although conversant with the rear- ing of fruit for almost forty years, we had never beheld finer peaches, nectarines, plums, melons, grapes and pine-apples, than we saw here. We had been much disappointed in the London fruit-markets, where we certainly saw uncommonly fine-looking fruit; but on tasting, found them to be acid or insipid, compared with the produce of our south- ern hemisphere, in Tyrol, the South of France, and Lower Hungary : 67 but after having enjoyed the flavour of the fruit here presented to ug; it was easier for us to abandon our prejudices against this kind of English produce, than to conceive how so northern and foggy a cli- mate could have brought to perfection such rich fruit ; how Art has thus overcome the omnipotence of Nature. The Horticultural Society possesses a very valuable pomological and botanical hbrary, with a beautiful collection of models in wax of fruits, and two volumes of drawings made in China of native plants. The well-known Mr. Lindley, to whose kindness we owed our ad- mission to the Society's collections, superintends here the botanical business of this establishment, and resides therefore at Turnham Green. Mr. Lindley is also engaged in several botanical publica- tions, among which is the Botanical Register, in which he executes the work of Mr. Bellender Ker, alias Mr. Gawler, whose very bad health has compelled him to reside for some time at Boulogne. In the same district with the two just-mentioned gardens, — namely at Chelsea, south-west of London, — is the celebrated Hortus Chelse- anus, at one time under the direction of Miller, and particularly de- signed for the culture of officinal plants. Mr. Don was so obliging as to introduce us to the present curator, Mr. Anderson, a very amiable, open-hearted old man, who received us with Scottish kindness. Sloane's statue ornaments this garden, which possessing neither great size nor beauty, and still less elegance, yet includes, among the six thousand plants there cultivated, many very rare officinal vegeta- bles, some which are to be found nowhere else. He who would here study botany has a rich field open to him, its value enhanced by Mr. Anderson's experienced remarks. There are standing in this garden, like twin brothers, two noble cedars planted by Miller's own hand; a Pistacia Lentiscus growing against a wall, and which he had raised from seed ; and a Plat anus, whose growth has made an in- crease of sixteen feet in circumference since the time of Miller. I saw here all the three species of Platanus, and was surprised at hearing that the Occidental Plane does not thrive well in the mild climate of England, as it shoots too early in the spring, and then suffi-rs severely from the late frosts. I observed also Samhucus nigra, " foliis ternatis," which grows wild on the ruins of an old Roman wall in Wiltshire, but without perfect stamens, which it equally wants in the Chelsea f2 68 Garden. Among the Succulents, particularly the Aloes, are many that were in the possession of Miller. Banks has also left here a memento of his youth, in the invention of an experiment that will outlive him, much as its success was doubted at first. Mr. Ander- son confirms it, by saying that when a tree or shrub is inoculated with a variegated-leafed variety, the foliage of the grafted stem be- comes also gradually variegated. He showed us a proof of it in a Jasmine, which was only budded with a variegated jasmine, and now covers a whole wall with its particoloured leaves. It is a question, whether this variegation may not be produced in the same way by inoculating variegated buds on any tree favourable to the develop- ment of the buds. Besides a small botanical library, existing at the time of Miller, the herbariums of Catesby, Rand and Nicholls, are also preserved here in well-closed cases : they appear, however, to be but little used, for we found the top papers so covered with coal soot as to blacken our hands. It is sad to see how the coal smoke penetrates every where. There is a collection of seeds by the venerable Rand, whose beautiful arrangement may have suggested theleadingideaof the work by the two Gaertners. The Chelsea Garden is continually receiving seeds from all parts of the world : a large collection, sent by Baron Field, who is a Judge there, from New Holland, had just arrived. The liberal Mr. Anderson kindly offered us a portion of this valuable present, which we have divided again with other friends. Mr. An- derson related to us, not without painful feelings of just indignation, the history of the latter days of the immortal Miller. This zealous officer was dismissed in the most illiberal manner by one of the com- mittee who then superintended the Garden, as a reward for his unre- mitting services to the institution, as well as his extensive knowledge in gardening. He soon after died of grief, and left — nothing ! Fifteen gardeners united, and subscribed a guinea each for a gravestone ; but as just at that time the son of Miller returned from India with a for- tune of 15,000/., and it being naturally supposed that the opulent son would erect a monument to his parent, the simple stone was given up : — yet the son never thought of rearing a monument to his illus- trious father. Sir Joseph Banks then set on foot a new subscription, to which he himself contributed five pounds ; and the opulent nur- 69 serymen and others soon raised a considerable sum : nevertheless this plan came to nothing, as the son was thereby offended. How- ever, the young Miller died soon after, and had a monument erected for himself and his father together. We also visited the garden of the cheerful Haworth, at Queen's Elms, near Chelsea, who indefatigably and exclusively studies the Succulent Plants, and possesses many extremely rare ones. More than 200 Aloes, 360 Mesembryanthema, and 90 Crassulee, are in his collection. Mr. Haworth seems a very communicative and kind- hearted little man : he has the happiness already of beino- a o-iand- father, though in the prime of his age. We had wished to see the respectable Mr. SaUsbury's garden ; but were told that he had sold it, and was living with a friend in the country during the fine weather. We were sorry to lose the opportunity of being acquainted with this celebrated botanist. Fortunately, we had the pleasure of seeing in London the Nestor of the London botanists, who has already passed the eightieth degree of human latitude, — namely, the celebrated Dr. Sims, whom we found indefatigably employed in the continuation of the Botanical Magazine, although with a trembling hand, and a liead bowing down under the ponderous weight of the reverend silver crown of ag-e. A no less venerable and highly amiable sage is the good old man of the mountains, (e monte Grampio,) Sir Archibald Menzies, of the Grampians, among which he was born, at Chapel Place, in the month of March 1754. (!) Flora has presented this valuable old man with a truly viridem senectutem, in reward for the homage which he offered to her in his twice repeated voyage round the world. " And were another expedition going, I would immediately set off again/' said Sir Archibald to us. He has lately returned from an excursion to Scotland ; when his countrymen on taking leave of hiui threw the Menziesia *, accompanied with a thousand blessings, into * We must really beg leave to question the accuracy of this anecdote. We had the happiness of receiving Mr. Menzies at our house in his return from the High- lands, and heard nothing of this story of the Menziesia. Nor can Dr. Schultes be aware of the extreme rarity of this plant. Scarcely a single botanist has seen it on its native mountains, not even Mr. Menzies hinisclf; so that wc well believe thai 70 the coach. He is now as active as a person of forty, and is in great practice as a surgeon in London. A neater herbarium than that of Sir A. Menzies I never saw : the Cyperacese and Graminese, as well as the Mosses and Ferns, (the latter are his favourites,) are laid out with the utmost care in octavo papers, and packed in cases, so as to be ready to be taken on board ship again at a moment's notice. Sir Archibald Menzies informed us, with evident pleasure, that two of his countrymen (of Scotland) are about to enjoy the same privi- lege of travelling as his own youth had received ; — a Mr. MacGray having been sent as a botanist, in that vessel which carried home the remains of the king of the Sandwich Islands, to the South Seas ; and another, Mr. Douglas, being gone, in a similar capacity, to the Columbia River. A Mr. Frost, also, has visited America. From Menzies, too, we learned that Brodie, lieutenant of the County of Nairn and member of Parliament, has lately died. At Mr. Lambert's Museum we had the great good fortune to be- come acquainted with Dr. Richardson, the celebrated companion of Capt. Franklin in his expedition to Arctic America. This gentleman, who lives at Chatham, was so obliging as to show us his herbarium, which contains many rarities, and a great number of new species, particularly belonging to the genera Ranunculus, Rubus, and Poten- tilla. Before starting on the voyage which he will undertake next year in the direction of the North Pole, — for not all the ice of those frozen regions has power to cool his ardour in the cause of science, —Dr. Pcichardson will prepare a new edition of his Appendix. Mr. Andrews the botanist was not at home ; he is proceeding with his works on the EriccE, and Gerania. At the British Museum we had expected to find a treasure of Natural History; but, — except Sloane's collection of dried plants in thirty volumes, and an herbarium which belonged to a Mr. Van Moll, with a small but well preserved set of British birds, — we found nothing that interested us at all. The department of Minerals is if our venerable friend had been greeted with such a shower of his beautiful name- sake, the day would have been one of the happiest of his life ; and the freshly pulled specimens would have been at least as acceptable as the blessings which accompanied them.— Ed, 71 beautifully arranged by the celebrated German, Mr. Konig ; but ex- cept some very rare unique specimens, it is inferior to the two col- lections at Paris, belonging to the Museum and the Ecole des Mines, as well as that of the Academy at Munich. Two tables that we saw here, covered with beautiful specimens of Carpolitha, would en- gage the attention of Count Sternberg for weeks ; and he would be delighted to compare them with those treasures that lie is himself so well acquainted with, and has so liberally communicated to the pubhc. An immense building is in progress ; with the addition of which the British Museum, now of inconsiderable size, will fill an entire square of the city of London. But to render this institution as rich in subjects of Natural History as it is in antiques, or as the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle at Paris was, or as is the collection of Leyden in the department of the animal creation, would be the work of half a century. It is really incredible that a nation, pos- sessed of the greatest conquests and making the most extended dis- coveries in all parts of tlie world, should have collected so scantily for its public Museum : and the more so, as England boasts of men of the most distinguished character in all branches of Natural Hi- story. How is it possible that the British can allow the two neigh- bouring nations whom they look down upon in many respects, to excel them in this way as much as they are outdone by them in others ? This enigma would be to me perfectly inexplicable, if a solution to it were not afforded by the state of the two Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, where the science of Natural History is at so low an ebb. Except the periodical works on Botany, and the Second Part of the publication on the genus Pinus by Count Lambert, we neither saw nor heard of any novelties in this department ; except that we were informed that twenty sheets of Wallich's and Carey's Flora Coromandeliana had arrived in London. Mr. * * * * therefore was wrong, when he asserted with a haughty look three years ago, " A Second Part of this work will never appear !" We have visited the celebrated flower-market of London ; of which no German who has not seen it, could form a proper idea. What chiefly struck us is, that the greatest rarities and most trifling articles are here exposed for sale together, and that both are eagerly 72 bought. Were such things to be carried to the Marche aux Fleurs at Paris, not a pennyworth of them would be sold. But by the two flower-markets of these two principal cities of Europe, an estimate of the different character of their inhabitants may be formed. The wealthy and respectable Englishman, who is a connoisseur, will pur- chase nothing that is common ; for if pretty, he has it already in his garden ; — and the poor Londoner who cannot afford to buy what is beautiful, will still obtain, if possible, something green to decorate the window of his dark little attic *, and give his last farthing for a bit of verdure. The opulent Frenchman, who values all objects only as they please the eye, without reference to their being common or scarce, is willing to pay a greater price for a lovely rose-bush, than for the rarest plant from New Holland or the Cape of Good Hope ; and as to the poor artizan of the French capital, he only thinks of vegetable productions as they are fit for culinary uses ; and whether they be blue or green to look at, is the same to him. Hence it arises that the Parisian flower-market offers a much more delightful vista than that of London, though it is much smaller and more poorly stocked; as the French capital itself cannot compare with London for extent or wealth. If the French pave the squares of their city that they may afford a more agreeable promenade, the English change theirs into delight- ful lawns, which afford a prospect of verdure to every house in the square. In the larger squares, these green plots are planted with groups of trees ; and in the smaller ones with clumps of flowering bushes and shrubs, often interspersed with trees. By this arrange- ment, these quadrangles, and the houses which surround them, have quite a rural and romantic appearance. According to the capa- bilities of the situation, these plots are sometimes square, sometimes oval or circular ; and they are railed in with a light tasteful palisade * Perhaps from the custom of the ancient Romans (for the English still retain traces of the manners of that people): ^'jam in fenestris suis plebs urbana in imagine hortorum quotidiana oculis ruris prebebant, antequam prajigi prospectus omnes coegit multitudinis innumeratiE sava latrocinatio." Plin. Nat. Hist. xiv. cap. 4. By this " prafigi prospectus" is not that most shameful of all imposts, the window- tax comprehended, by which the people are in a nceasure deprived of that most universal of all nature's gifts — light f 73 which does not injure the prospect. Where the streets are very wide, there is in front of every house a small garden, fenced in front, and generally containing a small green, and some tufts of elegant shrubs or beautiful flowering plants, which give to the whole street a cheerful, and to a certain degree a theatrical appearance. The houses themselves are often covered as high as the second story with Jasmine, Roses (particularly Rosa semperjiorens and Banksii), with Clematis, Corchoriis japonicus, Bignonia radicans, and the like, or entwined with them as a beautiful garland. Camellias (?), Rhodo- dendrons, and Dahlias, usually form the clumps on the green places before the houses, which are no where seen in such perfection as in England j for the beauty of these verdant lawns, which extend in front of the dwellings like a green velvet carpet, has often attracted my attention ; and I have inquired of several gardeners the names of the particular species of grass employed for this purpose. Agrostis alba, verticillata, and stolonifera, Poa pratensis, Lolium perenne, and Fes- tuca pratensis, have all been indifferently named : almost every person has mentioned some other kind than has been recommended by my former informants ; but all agree in this, that these grass plots re- quire to be mown carefully every fortnight, — some say even every week, — with the scythe ; in fact, to be close shaven. To the great frequency with which the grass is cut, the beauty of these lawns, or bowling-greens, seems to be chiefly owing : their fine preservation is also aided by the mild and equable climate of England, where the winters are never so severe as to check vegetation for any long period, nor the summers so scorching as to burn up the tender roots ; while the frequent fogs and constantly damp state of the atmosphere morning and evening are highly favourable to verdure. Were the lawns in our country to be mown so often and so close, they would infallibly be soon burnt up. The opulent Englishman is so partial to a o-arden, that if his house should chance to have a northern ex- posure where not a ray of sun can reach, he will yet plant it with evergreen shrubs, as the Ilex ; and with such flowers as are found capable of enduring such an aspect. It is the general taste that prevails for plants, to which the number of nursery-grounds, and the astonishingly active business that they carry on, are owing. The success of so many marchands des plantes continually encourages 74 their increase ; and I am told that not a year passes without the estabUshment of some new institution of this kind. On the way to Hammersmith to see Kennedy and Lee's Nursery, we met the pro- prietors of two others. Gray and Sons, and Malcolm and Co. at Kensington. The house of Lee and Kennedy, so well known with PS on the continent, has lately experienced great changes. Mr. Ken- nedy has withdrawn from the concern, and is gone to Amiens in France ; and the old Lee died about two months ago. At present, the sons carry on the management of this large nursery, which they themselves say contains one hundred acres, and requires the labour of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred workmen. Although this estimate seems to me enormously large, yet thus much is cer- tain, that it is one of the greatest nurseries in London, and carries on an extensive trade both at home and abroad. The more common kinds of plants seem to be chiefly cultivated here ; although there are three hundred species of Erica, and half of every day is allotted to the management of Camellias. The stoves are of the usual kind : there is no pond for the convenient watering of the plants ; nor have the proprietors published a new Catalogue. Mr. Colville, on the road to Chelsea, certainly has the rarer kinds of plants in his collection. Messrs. Mackay and Co., Fraser, &c. have also gardens in this neighbourhood. We here became acr quainted with Mr. Sweet, whose publications on the Gerania and Hortus Suburhanus are well known. Many unknown and rare ve- getables from all parts of the world, particularly Nepaul, New Hol- land, and New Zealand, and the tolerably well explored Cape of Good Hope, exist in Mr. Colville's Nursery : but the estabhshment of this kind, which belongs to Mr. Conrad Loddiges, appeared to us the largest and finest in England. It would be hard to say whether its great extent, the beautiful productions with which it is stocked, or the judgement, taste, and liberality with which it is conducted, are most worthy of admiration. With regard to the latter point, we will venture to say, that much as we have travelled and seen, we have met with no stoves, belonging to prince, king, or emperor, which can compare with those of Messrs. Loddiges, at Hackney, for the magnificence, convenience and elegance of their plan, and the value of their contents. Let my reader imagine a dome, eighty 75 feet long and forty feet high, built in the form of a paraboloid, purely of glass, kept together by a delicate but strong frame of small iron ribs. This dome is heated by steam, when the rays of the sun are found insufficient to warm it. In ascending to the upper part of it by an elegant stage thirty feet high, we thence enjoy a scene entirely novel to a native of Europe : the tropical plants of both hemispheres, the eastern and the western, are stretched below at our feet ; and the prospect is similar to what might be presented on a hill clothed with tropical verdure, through an opening in which we might look at the scenery beyond. A slight touch with one finger suffi.ces to bring down from the light roof of this dome a fine shower of rain, which sprinkles all the exotic vegetation among which you walk. To this gentle and careful manner of watering the plants, (the nearest mode of imitating nature,) may be ascribed the rich luxu- riance of the inmates of this stove. Besides this house, there are some twenty others, from one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet long, and greenhouses of various dimensions ; all situated in two large gardens, containing about one hundred acres, divided by a wall, in wliich plantations are scattered. One of the houses, built after the newest plan with convex windows, is stocked with nearly four hundred kinds of Heath. I am spared the task of enumerating the rarities of this garden, by the 13th edition of its Catalogue, published in 1823 ; and the pretty work called the Botanical Cabi- net, which appears regularly. — 'As we were walking in the garden, through ranges o{ Camellia, Rhododendron, Azalea, &c. accompanied by one of the sons of Mr. Loddiges, we took the liberty of asking him what might be the value of the plants in the whole collection, supposing that every one in the Catalogue were sold according to its price as there marked? " About 200,000/." was the reply : that is, 2,800,000 florins. The cultivation of gardens cannot therefore be so paltry an occupation as some individuals at the University of Landshut would have us to believe, who, while tliey will spend 6000 florins in a beer cellar, yet allow the botanical garden there, which might serve as a nursery-ground for the whole country, to fall to decay in a manner as useless as it is mean ; and this too, when the gardens of the other Universities of Germany have been lately doubled and trebled in extent. As President of the Botanical Gar^ 76 den at Landshut, it becomes me thus publicly to declare this matter, in order that the disgrace which must accrue to the University, which is so far behind her German sisters, may not fall upon me, but on those who, contrary to the wishes of those wise promoters of good, — the Bavarian government, — have brought this stain upon Landshut, and whose names will be pronounced by posterity with the contempt they deserve. Let us only consider what a multitude of people are employed and maintained in London alone by these nurseries : not in labouring the ground and tending the plants only, but in making the millions of pots, of which the smallest costs a halfpenny (a gros- chen of our money) ; in manufacturing the immense quantity of glass which is used; in executing the smiths' and carpenters' work ; — and it must then be readily confessed, that the improvement of a people has attained a high pitch, when the most pure, noble, and innocent kind of pleasure and taste, namely the enjoyment of the beauties of vegetation, has become a necessary ; and thereby bestows food, clothing, and comfort on thousands of individuals, who must other- wise be a burthen to society. The nurserymen of London, from their great business, several of which annually return half a million, are obliged to have counting-houses of their own. Many of them keep travelling botanists in their pay, who from the most remote parts of the globe must send them seeds, roots, and living plants. In China, the East Indies, the Cape of Good Hope, at Sierra Leone, New Holland, New Zealand, Paraguay, Chili, Mexico, and the most northern parts of America and Siberia, many of these enterprising in- dividuals have collectors ; so that Geography is often improved by the trade of horticulture. How reprehensible therefore is the con- duct of those who, — instead of promoting the culture of gardens and the love of plants, by which, according to the immortal Bacon, the mind and heart are alike improved, — endeavour to suppress and stifle all industry ; and whilst they instruct youth in such detestable max- ims, as that " sin alone is the road to God," ( ! ) corrupt the rich and demoralize the poor. In Bavaria we have only one great person vt'ho possesses a garden that deserves the name (except that at Irl- bach) ; and this nobler personage than Bavaria ever numbered among her magnates, is also the friend of that first ruler of Bavaria under whose happy government Botany and Horticulture began to 77 be known. Is it not mortifying to behold the nurserymen of England displaying more taste and wealth than our nobility ? Perhaps I shall be answered, " It is only possible in England ; only the natives of that opulent isle could do so !" — I beg pardon : Mr. Loddio-es, the celebrated gardener and botanist, is no Enghshman ; he is — a Ger- man, a Hanoverian. In his youth he came over to this country as a gardener, possessing no other fortune than industry, talent and worth ; and he is now an old man of eighty-six ; a millioiinaire, the father of many hundred English citizens ( ! ), who for almost half a century have afforded to others the maintenance, without which they might have starved. He has the felicity of seeing two of his sons grown up, and very much like him ; and grandsons who promise to be so too. His name will shine conspicuous in the annals of British Horticulture, and be pronpunced with respect by all who honour virtue and good sense. The respectable old Loddiges strongly re- minded both my son and myself of my immortal friend the late Bertuch of Weimar. I have asked of many, I may say of very many Englishmen, why the great island in the west, called Ireland, is less known with re- spect to its botany, than Canada, Greenland, and Iceland. From all of whom I have received, instead of an answer, the remark, " That is a land of ." Also I am assured that " it is safer to travel among savages than in the west coast of Ireland, where one is pestered by the Catholic clergy, and in momentary danger of being knocked down by the slaves." The exasperation of the English against the Irish is truly excessive, and can never be removed while so many causes of irritation remain. It appears to me that the blackguards must set the good neighbours together by the ears; and this coursing, as they say in England, will be kept up from the east and from the north- east with gold and silver " tam-tams" ( ? ). There are two large islands in Europe, of whose Flora we are totally ignorant ; — one is Sardinia, the other Ireland : both belong to the Infallible Church : had they belonged to the other, we had long ere now been furnished with a history of their vegetable productions ; for all botanists have hitherto been members of the Fallible Church. Since writing the above remark, — that Ireland and Sardinia are still terrcE prorsus incognita in the European Flora, — I have received 78 a letter from the very excellent Balbis, of Lyons, in which he informs me that his friend and former student, the active Bertero, has re- ceived orders from the Royal Sardinian Government to explore, with a botanical view, that hitherto unknown island, and to compile a Flora of it. He will be provided with all necessary assistance at the public expense : and thus we shall become acquainted with the vegetation of Sardinia, as we are with that of Sicily and Corsica. Much may be expected from the energy and zeal of the indefatigable Bertero. I can also give you a piece of botanical intelligence from Paris. The celebrated Baron Bory de St. Vincent will in the course of this year proceed to the Antilles ; there to examine that favourite tribe, the Ferns, of which he already possesses a very complete collection. He expects to be able to elucidate all the points which Plumier left doubtful. From the well-known liberality of mind which this en- lightened naturahst possesses, I should hope that it would be as agreeable to him as to our Germans who are partial to the Ferns, to have this information communicated in these pages ; and, whether before or after his voyage has taken place, to see them thus placed in connection will confer much pleasure on — J. A. Schultes. INFORMATION RESPECTING THE GERMAN BOTANICAL SOCIETY, JEstahlishedfor the purpose of sending Collectors to different Countries. We have already, in Brewster's Edinburgh Journal of Science, given a favourable account of this excellent Institution, and invited our countrymen to encourage it. To that work therefore we may refer, (vol. vii. p. 23.) for ahistory of the foundation and object of this esta- blishment. In London, Mr. Christy, of Gracechurch-street, and Mr. Hunnemann, Queen-street, Soho, have taken a warm interest in its behalf; and through the medium of the latter gentleman a consider- able amount of subscriptions has been transmitted. We are desirous of giving still more publicity to the undertaking, confident as we are that it must tend materially to increase our knowledge of the vege- table productions of the globe ; but feel that we cannot do it bet- ter than in the words of a circular letter which has been translated 79 from the German, and kindly communicated to us by our liberal friend, and the friend of science at large, Mr. Hunnemann ; and which letter contains the latest information on the subject. We shall merely add, that we are daily, and almost hourly, in expectation of the arrival of our share of the collections, for 1827. Preliminary Notice. To the Members of the Travelling Union for promoting Natural History ; and an Invitation to Botanists as well as Mineralogists, to contribute their Subscriptions for 1828. About the middle of this month the copious and valuable collection of objects of Natural History, particularly in reference to Botany, made by Mr. Fleischer, during his travels in the Levant, chiefly in the vicinity of Smyrna, and from whence he has just returned, has arrived in safety; and also the first part of a similar collection, made during last summer in the island of Sardinia, by Mr. Miiller, another of the travellers. Besides a great variety of seeds and other objects of natural history, there are now lying ready for distribution to the subscribers of 1827, about 40,000 specimens of plants from these countries, hitherto but little visited by naturalists. But the Union consisting at present of 116 members, by whom 145 shares have been subscribed for, the arrangement of the shares will require so much time, as to prevent the distribution from taking place till the month of March, 1828. However, we may venture to anticipate that every member will feel fully satisfied with the result of this year's travels, — from two to three hundred perfect and well-dried specimens of plants from those distant countries ; and for such of the individuals as have subscribed for other objects, a corresponding variety of insects, seeds, 8cc. con- stitutes an ample dividend for every single subscription of 15 florins (30 shillings sterling). In soliciting all the members of the Union to transmit their sub- scriptions as early as circumstances will permit, in order to aflbrd greater scope to the further enterprizes of the Union, we beg leave to present here a more detailed statement of the plans intended to be pursued for 1828, viz. : — 1. Mr. Miiller, who remains in Sardinia, will continue to make collections there ; and his increased acquaintance with the nature of the country is likely to render his researches more and more successful. 2. Some friends of the Union will collect for its members the Flora of the Southern parts of Africa, at the Cape : a portion of which collection, intended for the year 1828, containing from six 80 to seven thousand specimens, is already in our possession ; so that such members as send in their subscriptions early enough, may, if they desire it, receive a dividend of Cape specimens for 1828 to be added to their shares for 1827. 3. Two travellers, both of them students of pharmacy, vi^ill be sent to Norway, and are to depart in April next. One of them has been preparing himself for some years for a journey in pursuit of objects of natural history in that country; he is likewise well ac- quainted with the Northern Flora, and an ardent Muscologist : the other, possessing considerable mineralogical experience, will direct his attention chiefly to the collection of Norwegian fossils ; but he is also no novice in botany, and well acquainted with Lichens and Algoe ; for which reasons this journey is likely to promise a rich har- vest of that tribe of plants. Thus we may presume that this undertaking, which is to be ex- tended into Lapland, will prove no less interesting than the Southern expeditions ; since Norway has not, upon the whole, been much fre- quented for similar purposes. We therefore invite the assistance, for the year 1828, of all friends to botany, and also every minera- logist, who are desirous of obtaining in a safe manner and at a mo- derate premium the singular fossils of Norway, — a country so remark- able in a geognostic and oryctognostic point of view. The amount of a single subscription is 15 florins (30 shilUngs sterling). Mine- ralogists who desire to become members, are requested when they remit (postage paid) their subscriptions, to mention, at the same time, the average form or size of which they wish their specimens to be ; and to state which specimens they desire especially to possess. The friends of botany who mean to become members for the year 1828, are in the same manner requested to express at the time of sending their subscriptions, whether they prefer receiving phaeno- gamous or cryptogamous plants, or large kinds only ; whether Sar- dinian or Norwegian plants are most desirable to them, or specimens indiscriminately from all the different countries ; or lastly, whe- ther there are any particidar natural families of which they wish to have samples. The subscriptions are to be remitted either to the Central Institute of the (Economical Society at Stuttgard, or to one or other of the undersigned, but always postage paid. For receiving their respective shares, the members have to pay nothing further, ex- cept the charges incurred for transmitting them from this place to their respective addresses ; and it is left to their own option to point out the safest and least expensive channel by which they are to be sent. (Signed) Professor Hochstettek. Dr. Steudel. Esslingen in Wurtenberg, Dec. 20th, 1 827. 81 LOCALITIES OF SOME RARE PLANTS, Found by W. Wilson, Esq. of Warrington, chiefly among the Breadalhane Mountains of Scotland, in the Summer of 1827. Periodical works destined to communicate information upon any branch of science, besides possessing the advantage of distributino- knowledge, have this still further recommendation, that they en- courage its votaries to follow up the study more keenly, from the opportunities such works afford of preventing their discoveries from being lost to the world. In this respect the English Botany of the late Sir J. E. Smith, — whose loss we little thought we should so soon have to deplore, whilst transcribing for the press an article of the present Number, wherein his character is so highly and deservedly extolled by a learned foreigner, — the English Botany, we say, in this respect did an incalculable deal of good : so much so, that, during the course of its publication, that period may be reckoned the golden &ra of British Botany. It is true that many contributors to that book, like its highly-gifted Author, are now numbered with the dead ; and we fear that in acuteness at discriminating species, and industry in going in pursuit of them, there are some investigators, yet but few recently come forward, who will bear a comparison with a Dickson, a Goodenough, a Woodward, a Stackhouse, a Don, a Stuart, a Brodie : whilst the labours of many of the surviving friends of British Botany seem to have terminated with that publication. The spirit of Botany, however, still lives with them, and is now and then called forth by some interesting discovery ; and we can also yet make mention of ardent admirers of the plants that belong to our happy islands, "Spreading o'er them wild and gay. Blessing Spring and Summer's day," and among which, these naturalists have detected— for let it not be supposed that our Flora is exhausted— some, which either from the circumstance of their novelty or. their rarity deserve particular notice. Even in a county so near to the metropolis of the king- dom as Sussex, Mr. Borrer has discovered a most interesting ad- dition, both as to species and genus, to the British Flora : the Isnarda ;,aZ.«fm, which he found at Mayfield, in June 1827. The same gentleman has been so good as to communicate to us the Phyteuma VOL. 1. ^ 82 spicata, which was detected three years ago at Mayfield and Waldron, in the same rich botanical county, by Mrs. Price. Our excellent friend the Rev. Mr. Henslow, Professor of Botany in the University of Cambridge, has been fortunate in meeting with many rare British plants ; and one, that is quite new to the " English Flora,;" and that too in such abundance that it seems surprising it should not yet have found a place in works descriptive of British Plants. I mean the AltJma hirsuta. The last (and we regret to say the concluding) Numbers of the New Series * of Flora Londinensis contain two plants, which we little ex- pected would be found in so southern a latitude as Ireland ; Papaver nudicauh, and Ledum palmtre : both of which the eminent Minera- logical Professor, Giesecke of Dublin, detected there, in the north- west corner of the island. In the midland counties of England, Mr. Purton still zealously follows up the study of the Fungi : and Dr. Howitt has ascertained a new station for that most rare and curious of all Mosses, the Schisfostega pennata, as mentioned in the second edition of the Muscologia Britamiica : whilst Mr. Jowet has diligently explored the botanical riches of the environs of Nottingham, and has published an interesting account of them, in a series of letters signed // Rosario, in the Nottingham Journal. Scotland too, notwithstanding the numerous discoveries of Dick- son and the elder Don, is still frequently rewarding her sons, as well as the stranger who visits her mountains, with some new productions ; especially among the class Cryptogamia. Greville, Arnott, and Drummond have recently added largely to her Flora ; but chiefly the late lamented Carmichael has enriched the catalogue with many spe- cies, which none but one gifted with his acute eye and his discrimina- ting mind could have detected. Many of these novelties have ap- peared, either in the Flora Scotica, the Flora Londinensis, or the Crijptogamic Flora of Scotland by Dr. Greville f : the rest we trust will soon be described in the new edition of the Flora Scotica, which * The New Series of the Flora Londinensis is now concluded, with 216 plates of, mostly, the rare plants of Britain : and the new edition of the Old Series is also completed in three volumes, with 432 plates. f This gentleman, we are happy to learn, has made an arrangement with a bookseller for the publication of a work on the Marine Alga: of Britain. 83 will, by such powerful aid, constitute perhaps as complete a cata- logue of vegetable productions as any country can boast. The alpine region of Clova, though so successfully investigated by Mr. Don, has yielded a great number of novelties to Mr. Drummond of Forfar. But these discoveries, interesting as they are to the British Naturalist, shrink into nothing in comparison with what he has brought home from the alpine regions of North America ; and some account of these must form the subject of an article in this Journal. There are botanists however, we cannot but believe, who are suc- cessfully pursuing their career, from the purest and most disinterested love of the science, alike "unknowing and unknown" as respects other botanists ; believing perhaps that their discoveries, made under such disadvantageous circumstances, cannot be valuable to the more ex- perienced labourer in the field. It was accident that made us ac- quainted with such an one, whose name stands at the head of this article. We had solicited permission to publish in the Flora Lon- dinensis his important discovery of the Cotoneaster vulgaris * as a native of Britain, and had afterwards the pleasure of making an ex- cursion into the Highlands of Scotland with him. We parted at Killin, where Mr. Wilson remained for some weeks, botanizino- in the neighbouring mountains, which are known to be very rich in plants. The following observations are the result of these excursions. We give the list as it is ; for though the species which compose it are not all of such rarity as to be particularly interesting to those who are in the habit of exploring alpine districts, yet there are few whose localities may not be acceptable to some collector ; and they are stated with considerable .minuteness and accuracy. The remarks, be it observed, are chiefly with reference to Sir J. E. Smith's English Flora. ■ Aspidium Lonchitis : particularly fine and abundant below Craig Calliach. * This plant Mr. Wilson found in Wales, in which country and in the neigh- bouring border of England he has met with many interesting productions, not be- fore known as existing in Britain : amongst them is Bjjum affme, of Schwacgrichen, which was detected in a wood at Over, Cheshire, sparingly and in swampy ground, since the publication of the second edition of Muscologia Britannka. G 84. Aspidium dilatatum : a small variety in the woods of Finlarig ; on a detached rock, overgrown with moss : and a still smaller one on the rocks near the summit of Ben Lawers. Woodsia hj/perborea. Rocks below the summit of Mael Greadha, looking towards the east : and upon Ben Lawers. Salix phylicifoUa. Burn above Finlarig. S. prunifolia. Craig Calliach. S. reticulata. Ben Lawers. Very abundant upon Craig Calliach. Carex atrata. Craig Calliach. Mael Greadha. Ben Lawers. July and August. C. dioica : Monoecious variety, in Fion Glen ; and on the north side of Craig Calliach. July. C. pulla. Very abundant about the swampy (not boggy) sources of alpine rills, at the north side of Ben Cruachpen, frequently inter- mixed with Juncus castaneus : also plentiful in wet places between Ben Cruachpen and Mael Greadha ; Ben Lawers ; Mael Ghyrdy : — a perfectly alpine species. July, August. C. axillaris. Burn near Auchmore, a small distance above Loch Tay. C capillaris. Craig Calliach. Ben Lawers ; on moist declivities at the foot of projecting rocks. July, August. Kobresia caricina : near the summit of Schroine ach Lochen ; a moun- tain south of Mael Ghyrdy. August. Listera cordata. Ben Lawers, at the upper end of the burn leading from Lawers Kirk to the Lake, below the summit, growing with Cornus suecica. July. Hieracium alpinum. Mael Duncrosk (the mountain between Craig CalUach and Mael Ghyrdy) : also on rocks to the east of the sum- mit of Mael Ghyrdy. July. Apargia Taraxaci. Craig Calliach, and other mountains near it: in moist situations near rivulets. August. Serratnla alpina. Craig Calliach. Schroine ach Lochen. August. Gnaphalium supinum. Craig Calliach, Ben Lawers, &c. July. Hypericum hirsutum. Finlarig Wood. August. Arabis hirsuta. Finlarig Wood, and on rocks behind the Manse at Killin. July. Draba hirta. Ben Lawers : confined to the very summit of the dif- 85 ferent ridges of the mountains, and found in drier situations than D. incana usually inhabits. July. Melampyrum sylvaticum. Burn above Finlaria; : very sparinoly. Au- gust. Dry as octopetala. Rather plentiful upon Craig Calliach. July. Arbutus Uva-Ursi : usually found upon rocks and broken places in subalpine situations : upon Mael Ghyrdy it is plentiful upon the ground, intermixed with Vaccinium Vitis-Idcea and V. MyrtUlus. May and June. Cherleria sedoides. Ben Lawers, Mael Greadha. June, July. Calyx one-leaved ? yet deeply divided into five segments. Stamens from a glandular disk : those opposite to the segments have, on each side of their base, a yellow gland (not " on the inner side") ; the other filaments are placed between these lateral glands, not at their back. Arenaria verria. Mael Duncrosk : a very small distance from Craig Calliach; where, at nearly the same elevation, A. rubella occurs, and where A. verna is not found. Filaments from a glandular disk ; those alternate with the petals have at their exterior bases a single nectariferous pore. A. rubella. Mael Greadha, very sparingly : rather plentiful on the east side of Craig Calliach, at a considerable distance below the summit of Ben Lawers, towards the south-west, in considerable plenty : it prefers the bare declivities at the foot of projecting rocks thinly covered with soil. July. Anthers generally quite white. Nectary very similar to that of Cherleria. Styles 3, 4, or 5 ; frequently 4. Stem sometimes two- flowered, mostly single-flowered. Sedum villosum. Ben Lawers, very sparingly, near the sources of rivulets halfway up the mountain. June. Spergula saginoides. Craig Calliach, Ben Lawers, Sec. not uncom- mon. July, August. Vaccinium uliginosum. Craig CaUiach, upon the rocks in wet situa- tions : on Ben Lawers it is found with V. Myrtillus, halfway up the mountains. June. Epilobium alsinifolium. On the east side of Mael Greadha, below the rocks ; not observed elsewhere : E. alpinum very common. July. 86 — Epilohium alsinifolium alone is found in Wales ; it has commonly been mistaken for E. alpinum. Trientalis europaa. Ben Lavvers, in open moist ground, amongst Junciis squarrosus, very dwarfish, and bearing only one flower. Coppice near Auchmore, in dry sunny situations, where the fruit is matured. June, July. Tojieldia palmtris : of common occurrence in swampy places near springs, at the middle region of the Breadalbane mountains. July. What is termed a calyx, appears to be only a trifid, lateral bractea. I think the corolla is monopetalous : if so, the filaments are attached to the segments. Germen solitary ; the supposed capsules are only valves of one capsule, united in the germen to the summit : they separate at the furrows. Luciola spicata : equally general on rocks, near the summits : some- times found, like Gnaphalium supinum, at the side of burns, a considerable distance down the mountains ; probably carried thither by the rains. Juncus castaneus. Fion Glen ; Mael Ghyrdy ; and between Ben Cru- achpen and Mael Greadha : although so plentiful in Fion Glen, on the north-west side of Ben Cruachpen, it is scarcely to be de- tected on the other side of that mountain. It is found only in very w^et (not boggy) places at the sources of alpine rills. July. I have not observed it on Ben Lawers. Leaves not " flat," but deeply channelled, and rounded at the back, with cellular partitions ; not keeled : the channelled upper surface consists of a membranaceous skin. Angles of the capsule very blunt, and the sides convex. J. biglumis: most plentiful on the north-west side of Mael Greadha. In Fion Glen it is often found growing with Juncus castaneus and /. triglumis. It occurs also on the south-east side of Ben Cruachpen ; upon Ben Lawers ; and Schroine ach Lochen ; Mael Ghyrdy. June, July. Leaves not flat but tubular, and slightly compressed, with distant, internal partitions. Capsule with three rounded prominences at the summit (hence very abrupt), and the style placed in the hol- low thus formed. Stisfmas long-er and more slender than in J. tri- glumis : in this latter the leaves are setaceous, and as if suddenly 87 contracted from the top of the sheath ; channelled, hollow, with distant, transverse partitions, and likewise with a longitudinal par- tition from back to front (hence the leaf appears to be doubly tubular). Flowers from two to five, on each stem : capsules taper- ing at the summit. Juncus trijidus. Rocks to the east of the summit of Mael Ghyrdy : not observed any where else in that district. July. Gentiana nivalis. Rocks below the summit of Ben Lawers, towards the south-west, very sparingly. August. G. campestris : a white variety, very abundant in many situations near Killin. Sibbaldia procnmhens. Ben Lawers, Mael Greadha, Mael Ghyrdy, It prefers barren, somewhat moist declivities, where the soil barely covers the rock. July. The stamens, as well as the pistills, vary greatly in number. More than ten of each are often found on the same flower. I cannot see how it differs from Potentilla. Herbage decidedly glaucous, but with a blackish tinge. Cornus suecica. Ben Lawers, not far from the lake, growing with Lister a cor data. July. Poaglauca. Ben Lawers, Mael Ghyrdy, Schroine achLochen. July. Sesleria c&rulea. Very abundant on Craig Calhach ; Mael Greadha, &c. June. Melica nutans. Burn above Finlarig. June. Festuca vivipara : with perfect flowers, near Auchmore, in dry grassy places : a very doubtful species. June. Scirpus pauciflorus : abundant in swampy ground in the lower region of the Breadalbane mountains. Veronica alpina. Craig Calliach. July. V. saxatiUs. Craig Calliach, Mael Duncrosk, Mael Greadha, Ben Lawers. Musci, Sec. Bryum demissum. North-west side of Mael Greadha : fruit ripe in August. Bartramiaithyphylla: very plentiful on the summit of the north- eastern ridge of Ben Lawers. 88 Gymnostomum curvirostrum. Burn at the foot of Mael Ghyrdy, in the ascent from Kilhn. Bri/tim Zierii: plentiful with fruit, near the summit of Schroine ach Lochen. August. Neckera pennata. Mael Duncrosk : upon the rocks, in holes. (This has only previously been found by Mr. Drummond in For- farshire, and has been first pubhshed as British, in Greville's Cryptogamic Flora of Scotland, and in the second edition of Mus- cologia Britannica. H.) Pelfidea venosa : plentiful near the summit of Schroine ach Lochen, and very large ^ also upon Ben Lawers, on rocks north-east of the summit, on the north-east or furthest rido;e from Killin. NATURAL HISTORY OF MADEIRA. Our friend the Rev. R. T. Lowe, who is at this time visiting the Island of Madeira, on a Cambridge Travelling Bachelorship, is di- ligently engaged in exploring the different regions of that interesting spot, in search of its natural productions. In Botany we know that he has been very successful, from the excellent plants that he has communicated to us. Among them is a new Fern, of the genus Cryptogramma* . It gives us much pleasure to know that he is col- lecting materials for a Flora and Fauna of Madeira : and from his acquirements, no less than from his industry, we can confidently say that this gentleman is eminently well qualified for the task . SOME ACCOUNT OF THE SUBSTANCE COMMONLY KNOWN UNDER THE NAME OF RICE PAPER. Although this substance is known to many persons as a very beau- tiful substitute for paper, and even preferable to it for making cer- tain kinds of drawings and for manufacturing artificial flowers, it has generally, we believe, been considered as an article that has un- dergone some preparatory process ; and, misled probably by its Eu- * Cryptogramma Loveii. — Iconcs Filicum, p. v. t. 89. recently published. 89 ropean name, the idea has prevailed that it was composed of rice. Yet if this paper be held up between the eye and the light, an exqui- sitely beautiful cellular tissue is discoverable, such as no art of man could produce or imitate. It was then a subject of much gratifica- tion to us, that we were lately favoured by Dr. Livingstone with. a specimen of the paper, inclosing a portion of the stem of the plant from which it is cut. The latter is evidently herbaceous ; the piece is about four inches long, hollow in the centre, with a membranous transverse septum at each end, so that it appears to be the joint of a stem. The diameter is about an inch, and the thickness of the parenchymatous substance is little more than half an inch, but of the purest possible white. This piece might therefore be cut into a sheet or leaf, though only of four inches in length yet of consider- able breadth ; for it would of necessity be cut in such a manner as to unroll like a scroll of common paper. It was Dr. Livingstone who first brought from China to Europe a quantity of this substance, which he presented about twenty-five years ago to Miss Jane Jack, who was celebrated for the beauty and accuracy of her artificial flowers. Formed of rice paper, they ob- tained additional celebrity, fetched very high prices, and were ea- gerly sought for by persons of the greatest rank and most acknow- ledged taste. For a bouquet which Miss Jack presented to the late Princess Charlotte of Wales, she received the regal present of 70/. When Dr. Livingstone first procured the rice paper from the Chinese, the pieces did not exceed four inches square ; they were dyed of various shades and colours, and cost about 6d. each square. Since that time the price has been much reduced, and the size of the pieces increased, so as to be upwards of a foot long and five inches across, and preserving their natural whiteness. The tinted pieces are employed by the Chinese for their artificial flowers, and the plain white for making drawings upon. Now, tliis material is so much esteemed in Europe, that it is in request with people of all nations who visit Canton. The same substance being also known in our possessions at the East Indies, we wrote for information to General Hardwicke, a gen- tleman whose long residence in that country and whose ardent love of natural history gave him opportunities of becoming acquainted with 90 the nature and properties of the vegetable productions, such as few have enjoyed ; and with that promptitude and kindness which ever mark his character, especially when he is engaged in furthering the cause of science. General Hardwicke immediately transmitted the following reply, which is extracted verbatim from his letter. " I am very glad that it is in my power to answer your inquiries about the Plant which produces the substance known under the name of Rice Paper. It has very often interested me, and gratified my curiosity, to remark to how many useful purposes it is applied by the natives of India. You will find a drawing of the species which produces it in my volumes of Indian plants, among the PapilionacecE ; it is the Mhdiynomene paludosa of Roxburgh. It grows abundantly in the marshy plains of Bengal, and on the borders of Jeels or extensive lakes, in every province between Calcutta and Hurdwar. The plant is perennial, of straggling low growth, and seldom exceeds a diameter of two inches and a half in the stem. It is brought to the Calcutta bazaars in great quantities in a green state ; and the thickest stems are cut into lamina?, from which the natives form artificial flowers and various fancy ornaments to decorate their shrines at Hindoo festivals. The Indians make hats of rice paper, by cementing together as many leaves as will produce the requisite thickness : in this way any kind of shape may be formed ; and when covered with silk or cloth, the hats are strong and inconceivably light. It is an article of great use to fishermen ; it forms floats of the best description to their exten- sive nets. The slender stems of the plant are bundled into fascines about three feet long ; and with one of these under his arm does ever^ fisherman go out to his daily occupation. With his net on his shoulders, he proceeds to work without a boat, and stretches it in the deepest and most extensive lakes, supported with this buoyant faggot. " You must observe that the cutting of this material into leaves, or laminae, is not performed by transverse sections of the stem, but made vertically round the stem. The most perfect stems are selected for this purpose ; but I believe few are found sufficiently free from knots to produce a cutting of more than nine or ten inches in length. " You make use of the term, pith, and call the laminae ' simply the pith of the plant ;' then you must consider the whole stalk of the plant as pith, for the bark is so thin and tender that you may scratch 91 it off with the thumb-nail. I have one of the lamina in my pocket- book measuring in length eight inches and three quarters, and trans- versely six inches and a half. The examination of this, even in an undressed state, completely identifies itwith what is called like Paper. " I must not forget to give you the native name of the plant, which in Bengalee is Shola, commonly pronounced Sola. Dr. Roxburgh considered the plant as annual, I believe. The foliage and other parts of the plant, where water is wanting, die down to the roots ; but where water is plentiful, the stems remain and branch out afresh in the proper season." The volumes of drawings of Indian plants above alluded to, had been previously consigned to our use by General Hardwicke ; and they contain a complete figure of the plant, with flower, fruit, and a portion of that part of the stem which is thus employed for making rice paper. These will be engraved and pubhshed in the next Number of this Miscellany. With regard to the species, however, the drawing in question is certainly the JEschi/nomene paliidosa * of Roxburgh ; for it entirely agrees with his figure of that plant in the splendid series of unpub- lished drawings in the possession of the Honourable the East India Company, copies from which we have now by us. But there ajjpears to be reason to think that is the same species with JEscJujnomene lagenariaf of Loureiro, which grows in Cochinchina. The cliarac- ters entirely agree ; and Loureiro attributes to his plant, uses some- what similar. " Caulis" he says " spongiosus et facile cedens, ac elastice resiliens commode aptatur ad obturandas lagenas, defectio suberis, quo regio ilia caret." Again ; this species is, and in my opinion justly, united by DeCandolle at the suggestion of Dr. Wal- lich, with JEachynomene aspera of Linnaius ; which name we there- fore prefer should be retained. * In the drawing and MS. Catalogue at the India House it is called aqmtica : in the printed "Hortus Benghalcnsis" JEschynomenc paludosa, S/iola and KatlirShola, Benghalce. t Iledysarunti lagenaria, Roxb. Ilort. Bcnghal. Vliool-Skola, Bcnglialcc. 92 FLORA OF THE BRITISH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. Doctor Hooker is engaged in preparing for publication the entire collection of plants of British North America, which have been en- trusted to him for that purpose by Captain Franklin and Dr. Rich- ardson ; and he has already completed many drawings of new species for the plates. This herbarium, alone, is extremely extensive, and the specimens are in the finest possible preservation. It includes collections made in three different portions of the country. 1. That of Captain Franklin and his officers, upon the coasts of the Arctic Seas, from the mouth of the Mackenzie river, westward towards Behring's Straits. 2. That of Dr. Richardson, principally obtained from the shores of the same sea, to the eastward of the Mackenzie river, and between it and the Copper-mine river ; and comprising among many other rarities, probably the whole of the species which were unfortunately lost in the former expedition. And 3rdly, The portion collected by Mr. Drummond, the Assistant Naturalist ; by far the most extensive, as may be supposed, of the three, since his whole time was devoted to forming collections, and in the most fertile part of the country ; — that is to say, from the whole extent of the inland route of the Expedition, through Canada and the Hudson Bay Com- pany's territories ; and from that very interesting district, too, which Mr. Drummond alone was charged to visit ; namely, the most elevated chain of the Rocky Mountains, a part of that vast, ridge, extending in an almost uninterrupted line to the Andes of South America, and which no botanist had previously explored. This com- bined herbarium is so extensive that it, alone, would justify the pre- paration of a Flora of that vast region. But with these he has the opportunity of incorporating all the previous discoveries of the same travellers on the former overland expedition ; of Captain Parry, and other arctic voyagers ; together with the plants of Newfoundland and Labrador, gathered by Dr. Morrison, who afterwards fell a victim to his courage and love of science in exploring Central Africa ; the botanical productions of Canada, which have been received from the Lady Dalhousie, Mrs. Percival, Mr. Sheppard, and Mr Todd, &c. ; those of North West America, gathered by Mr. Menzies and Dr. Scouler ; together with herbaria which will be more particularly no- 93 ticed in the work itself. All these, too, Dr. Hooker is enabled to compare with a great number of the species of tlie United States, which he has received with their names from the authors of most of the Floras of that country, and which will serve to clear up many points which must otherwise have remained doubtful. A considerable number of seeds have likewise been brought home by Captain Franklin and Dr. Richardson, and many have already vegetated; so that it may be expected that we shall soon have a number of these rarities flowering in our gardens; and, as may very well be conceived in a country not extending further south than lat. 42** (and this of an alpine character), such plants must be admirably suited to cultivation in the open air with us : which circumstance will Sfive an additional interest to the Flora. So large has been the collection in the Class Cn/ptogamia, that Mr. Drummond, Assistant Naturalist to the Expedition, has, in illus- tration of the above work, published, under the title of " Musci Amekicani," specimens of the Mosses which were gathered during the expedition. The number of distinct species, thus procured, exceeds two hundred and forty, which, with the well marked varieties, amount to two hundred and eighty-six kinds, to each being affixed its name, and references to species that have been already described, and descriptive characters of those which have proved to be new. The whole of the continent of North America has not been known to possess so many Mosses as Mr. Drummond has detected in this single journey. Scarcely any species of Phascum was before ascertained to exist in North America ; here there are five, one of which has been hitherto undescribed, P. subexsertum. Among some of the most interesting species of other genera, we may mention Gi/mnostomum phascoides, latifolium, and pumilum, three new species ; Splachnnm rubruni and luteum, two of the finest and probably the most difficult to be obtained of any of the known Mosses. Upon the latter interesting ones, 'Mr. Drummond has made two remarks, which are at variance witli the previously received opinions respecting them ; namely, that the curi- ous apophysis, which Hedwig and others considered to be umbracu- liform, in a perfect state is glabrous and filled with a copious celkilar tissue mixed with a fluid substance : and secondly, that notwith- 94 standing Wahlenberg's remark upon S, luteum, " tutissima ut etiam facillima differentia hujus et praecedenti speciei {S. ruhrum), in colore umbraculi consistit," there are intermediate states as to colour and every other particular, which would warrant a botanist in uniting the two. So splendid, indeed, is this colour in the apophysis of the true S. ruhrum, of Hedwig, that Wahlenberg further says of it, " adeo satu- ratissimus et elegantissimus, ut nihil in natura pulchrius esse queat." Splachnum heterophyllnm and intermedium are new species. S. arc- ^ecwm of Brown. Systyliiim splachnoides of Hornschuch; and Tayloria splachnoides of Hooker. Conostomum horeale. Grimmia cali/ptrata and Ilookeri (nov. sp.). Drummondia davellata Hook, (the Gym- nostomum prorepens Hedw.) Scouleria aquatica Hook. ; in the pre- sent work, ^. 18. Weissia turbinata, allied to W. splachnoides and macrocarpa (n. sp.). Dieranum julaceum, Richardsoni, and microcar- pon (n. sp.). Didymodon oblongifolinm oxiA fragile (n. sp.). Tor- tula bryoides and suberecta (n. sp.). Neckera Menziesii (n. sp.), but previously discovered in the north-west coast of America by the gen- tleman whose name it bears. Hypnum vagans and pulchrum (n. sp.). Hypnum confervoides Bridel. H. obtusifolium (n. sp.). H. robustum {Hooker, Exot. Muse). H. abietinum (in fruit) ; and the variety called scitum. H. erectum (n. sp.). H. neckeroides (Hooker, Muse. Exot.). Climacium americanum, a very noble plant, quite distinct from C. den- droides of Europe, which is also in the collection. Fontinalis capil- lacea. Bryum turgidum, triquetrum, demissum (Muse. Exot.). Cin- clidium stygium. Timmia megapoUtana. Arrhenopte.rum heterosti- chum, and Polytrichum angustatum, Bridel, and Hooker Muse. Exot. ^c. : together with many of the rarest species which have already been known to inhabit Europe or the United States of North America. These Mosses are neatly arranged (the specimens being fastened upon each leaf of paper) in two 4 to volumes, of the same size with the forthcoming Fauna of these regions by Dr. Richardson, and the general Flora by Dr. Hooker, and as the Narrative of the Journey by Captain Franklin, to which the Natural History portions may be con- sidered as forming an Appendix. The whole will then constitute a very complete history, both as to geographical discoveries, scenery, in- habitants and productions, of an immense extent of countiy, which but a few years ago was considered as a " terra prorsus incognita." SKETCH OF A JOURNEY TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS AND TO THE COLUMBIA RI\TR IN NORTH AMERICA : By Thomas Drummond, Assistant Naturalist to the second Land Arctic Expedition, under the command of Captain Franklin, R.N, [It is scarcely necessary to preface the following journal of an excursion through a country hitherto unknown to the Naturalist with any observation ; further than to say, that it embraces that period of time when Mr. Drummond quitted Capt. Franklin, Dr. Richardson, and the other officers of the Expedition, at Cumberland House, to the period of his rejoining them at the same place. — Ed.] Until the 20tli of August 1825, I remained at Cumberland House, waiting the arrival of the company's boats from York Factory ; and then proceeded with them, as directed, to Carlton House. On arriving at that post, Sept. 1st, the Indians were found to be in so unsettled a state, that it would have been very unsafe to make excur- sions in the neighbourhood, without the protection of a strong party ; and I therefore decided upon going on with the brigade, until I should find a place better suited for my purpose. The plains in the immediate vicinity of Carlton House are partially covered with wood, which however disappears at a distance of about twenty miles to the westward. The soil is in general sandy, and produces a peculiar vegetation ; amongst which the tribe of Papilio- nace(R considerably prevails ; and the Genera Phlox, Lialris, Malva, and Eriogonum. Two or three species of Uinbellifera and Asclepiadea were seen here, which I observed in no other part of my route ; also five or six species of Phascum *. We left Carlton House on the 2nd of September, and I proceeded with the party, making daily excur- sions along the banks and as far into the interior as possible, taking care to rejoin the brigade every evening. The general aspect of the country and of vegetation continues much the same, until reaching Edmonton House, a distance of about 400 miles. The river Saskatchawan appears to form the northern boun- dary of these extensive plains, which are said to extend all the way to Mexico ; and their breadth at this point may be estimated at from 700 to 800 miles, from the junction of the South-branch river with the Saskatchawan, to the Rocky Mountains House. At Edmonton * A aenus of Mosses scarce! v known hitherto as American. 96 House, the brigade for the Columbia leave the Saslcatchawan, making a portage of 100 miles to Red-Deer river, which falls into the Atha- bane Lake : and as I still adhered to the resolution of accompanying them, I found it necessary to reduce my luggage ; and therefore left my specimens under charge of the gentlemen at Edmonton House, only taking with me a small stock of linen, and a bale of paper. We crossed the portage in six days, without meeting with any serious accident. The horse, however, which carried my bale of paper, had the misfortune to fall in crossing Papina river, by which it was thoroughly soaked ; and as the expedition with which the brigade travels, precluded all hope of getting it dried by the way, I was under the unpleasant necessity of leaving it in a damp state until we got to Fort Assinaboyne, a small establishment of the com- pany upon Red-Deer river, where we spent two or three days, prepar- ing the canoe and cargo for our ascent of the river to the mountains. The second day after leaving Edmonton House brought us to the commencement of the woody country, which continues all the way to the Rocky Mountains. The trees consist of Popiilus balsamifera and trepida'i the white Spruce and Birch ; with Finns Banksiana occasion- ally in the drier situations, and more rarely P. halsamea. These are the only trees which occur north of this latitude ; though in some locali- ties and deep swamps the Finns nigra and microcarpa may be seen. It was now ascertained that the canoes were so heavily laden that it would be necessary for some of the party to go by land ; and I agreed to be one of these, in order to have the opportunity of seeing the country and judging of its productions. We quitted the Fort accordingly on the 1st or 2nd of October, and started in high spirits for a journey on horseback. A heavy fall of snow, which took place on the 4th, put, however, a final stop to collecting for this sea- son ; it also rendered our progress through these trackless woods very unpleasant ; our horses soon became jaded, when our only alter- native was to walk, and drive them before us : to add to our misfor- tunes, the animals were continually sinking in the swamps, from which we found it no easy task to extricate them. However, we reached Jasper's House on the 1 1th day, having travelled a distance of two hundred miles since we left Assinaboyne Fort ; all the party being in perfect health. \To be Continued.] 95 [TAB. XXVI.] ON THE BOTANICAL CHARACTERS OF THE SUGAR CANE, WITH REMARKS ON ITS CUL- TIVATION. By James Macfadyen, M. D., Jamaica. SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM, {Sugar Cane.) Triandria Digynia. Nat. Ord. Gramine^e. Gen. Char. SpiciilcB geminse, altera sessilis, altera pedi- cellata, omnes hermaphrodita;, uniflorae, (biflorae,* Br.) Gluma duae, coriaceae. Flo8 hermaphroditus : PalecB duae hyalinae, inferior mutica aut aristata, Br.) Palea (flos neuter univalvis, Br.) unica, mutica. Kunth. Saccharum officinarum ; panicula efFusa, ramis numerosissi- mis verticillatis, glumis subaequalibus lanugine breviori- bus, foliis planis glabris. (Tab. XXVI.) Saccharum officinarum. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 79. Willd. Sp. PI. V. 1. p. 38L Humh. et Kunth Nov. Gen. v. \. p. 146. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. \. p. 28 L Arundo saccharifera. Shane Jam. v. 1. p. 108. t. 66. Rumph. Herb. Amb. v. 1. p. 186. f. 74. / 1. Hab. In India orientali ? Colitur fere ubique inter tropicos. This precious plant, so especially valuable in a commercial point of view, is supposed to be a native of the East Indies. The Chinese date the cultivation of the Sugar Cane to periods of the most remote antiquity: but Dr. Roxburgh ascertained that the Sug-ar Cane of China was different from S. officinarum, and he has published it as the S. sineme. From the East Indies it was carried by merchants, towards the * " Spiculas bifloras esse vix dubito, quamquam in speciminibus siccis eas despicere non potui." — Kunth. VOL. I. H 96 close of the thirteenth century, to Arabia, wlience the cul- tivation of it soon extended to Nubia, Egypt, and ^^thiopia. The Moors introduced it into Spain. Tiie Sj)aniards con- veyed it to the Canaries in the beginning of the fifteenth cen- tury. From the Canaries it was imported to St. Domingo, and now forms one of the staple articles of trade of the whole of the West India Islands. An account of its botanical characters, then, and of the mode of its cultivation in the most extensive of our Islands in the West Indies, cannot but be acceptable to our readers : and this I am enabled to offer through the kindness of Dr. Macfadyen of Jamaica, who has lately sent to me, from that Island, the following Memoir on the Botanical Characters of the Su^ar Cane, with Remarks on its Cultivation. — Hook. It must be a subject of regret, that no direct intercourse exists between the British settlements in the East, and the West Indian colonies. While allied in their climate, and with the character of their labouring classes not very dissimilar, hav- ing also nearly the same objects of cultivation, the one knows nothing of the methods pursued and the processes employed by the other. There cannot be a doubt, but that, were the communication more easy, they might, with advantage, be mutually enlightened. We, in these islands, might learn a lesson from our Eastern rivals, who, for ages — long before a native of civilized Europe stepped on these shores — were occupied in the cultivation of the Cane, the Coffee, and many other productions, which now constitute the sources of our wealth. Perhaps we, in return, might suggest some improve- ment. It is with this view that I engage in my present task, trusting that some information may be given, in return, by some one conversant with the state of agriculture in the East. Soon after my arrival in this island, I was led to make some observations on the botanical characters of the com- mon Sugar Cane. Having found them to differ fi'om any account 1 have as yet met with, I was tempted to draw out the following description. 97 Desciuptio. Radix, culmi crassitie, j)eieiinis, solida, arti- ciilata, supra unamquamque articulam fibrillis numerosis secedentibus, Culmi plures ex una radice, usque ad 12, vel ultra, pedum altitudincm adsurgentes, erecti, teretes, laevi, foliosi, articu- lati, supra unamquamque articulam punctis viridibus in 3 ordinibus notati. Gemmce disticlie alternantes. Folia 3 pedalia et ultra, et 3 pollices lata, erecto-patentia, lineari-lanceolata, nervo costali incrassato, ante apieem cvan- escente, margine serrulato-aspera, prope basin ciliata, pilis albis strictis. Vafjince pedales, striata;, farinos.x', pilis strictis facile abstersis munitjje,, pubescentia nigra interspersis. Ligiila sub-lunata, Integra, f'olii marginem versus pilis longis strictis ciliata. Panicula bipedalis, erecta, efFusa. Rachis stricta, obtuse angulata carinataque, ad ramorum ortum leviter villosa, ce- tera hispidula. Rami utplurimum verticillati, (6, 7, 8 in uno verticillo,) pauci inter verticilla sparsi, "primo erecto-patentes, deinde patentes, alternatim ramosi, ramulis simplicibus, gra- cilibus, obsolete angulati, basi villosi, ad articulos leviter flexuosi. ylrticuli trilineares, basi attenuati, apice parum in-' crassati. Flares in utroque articulo, aut duo, quorum alter sessilis, alter pediccllatus, aut (rare) quatuor, quorum 2 sessiles et 2 lateraliter pedicellati." * Calyx uniflorus, 3 glumis, basi pilis albis sericeis cinctus. Glumce subaequales oblongo-lanceolata; : extima leviter ciliata obsolete binervis: media, acuminata; nervo dorsali viridi carinata (carina apieem versus villosa) cum vestigiis 2-4 ner- vorum lateralium obsolete notata, subdiaphana, basi purpur- ascens, margine villoso-ciliata, glumam intiniam arete am- plectens : glumxi intima, prioribus paullum brevior, diapliana, punctis purpureo-fuscis notata, ovato-lanceolata, mutica, enervis, v. obsolete uninervis, glaberrima, apice ciliata. Corolla (squamae liypogynae, Br.) minuta, 2valvis: valvulcB hyalinae; una (gluma intima calycis excepta) rotunda, ciliato- ♦ Meyer, Piimitur. florm Essifjuibonensu, p. 07. 1£ 2 98 it lacinulata; altera brevis, ovata, apice tenerrime prolongata, filiforini. " Stamina 3, antheris linear! -oblongis, ochro- leucis; Germe?i ovatum; stylis 2; stigmatibus rubro-fuscis. Semen desideratur." Such is the account which my own observations, together with those of Meyer and others, have enabled me to draw out. I have ventured to differ from those who have pre- ceded me, in regarding the calyx as formed of 3 glumes. The description given by Mr. Brown is, " flowers all herma- phrodite; calyx 2 flowered, exterior floret neuter, interior hermaphrodite, 2 valved, minute, embi'aced by the neuter floret." To me it appears preferable, to consider the 3 outer as glumes, since they are similar in texture, appearance, and every other respect, and as they differ so materially from what the distinguished Botanist above cited and all othei's agree in denominating corolla — as constituting the outer floral covering, and the two minute pellucid hypogynous scales as alone entitled to the designation of corolla. I ob- serve that Palisot de Beauvois, in his Agrost. nov. p. 7, considers what has been here styled the innei'most calycine glume, as a one-valved corolla ; and what has been set down as corolla, he has termed a nectary. This is certainly prefei-able to considering the calyx as 2 flowered. We now come to make a few remarks on the cultivation of the Cane. The original stock of Canes cultivated in these islands was probably brought from Spain. There cannot be a doubt, indeed, but that the Sugar Cane is not indigenous to any part of the New World. We are, it is true, informed by the early voyagers and travellers, that Canes were found growing wild on the banks of the Mississippi, and other rivers of con- tinental America; and Labat mentions that the first French settlers met with them in Martinique, and some of the other islands. It is most probable that they mistook for them some other of the reedy grasses, such as the wild cane, (Arundo sagittata,) or some species of the genus Arundinai'ia — all of which are common on the banks of rivers in these latitudes, and all, by their appearance and manner of flowering, might 99 readily deceive an inexperienced eye. Besides, were the Sugar Cane a native, it would be difficult to account for its being at present found nowhere in a state of nature. It is a peculiarity of the Cane in this climate, that it refuses to perfect its seed. Ever since its cultivation in this island, it has been raised from cuttings of the joints. By these in- numerable subdivisions, it has been continued to the present time, retaining all the characters and peculiarities of the parent plant. There are, in reality, only a very few plants in the island — the Canes which cover our fields being strictly not distinct beings, but prolongations of a few individuals — their origin derived from the enlargement of one part re- moved by division from another. The case is different in the East. Here we can point out but a few varieties : there, along the banks of the Ganges, its native region, it perfects its seed, * and may be raised in this manner, presenting innumerable varieties, corresponding to what we observe in all plants produced in this manner — the offspring seldom pre- senting a strict similarity to its parent stock. It may be remarked, that in all plants, the cultivation of which is carried on by any other method than that of seed, (whether by suckers, as the plantain or pine, or by divisions of the stem, as in the case before us,) there is a tendency, in the course of time, to dispense with the process necessary for perfecting the fruit. We observe Nature, as it were, wishing to spare herself an exertion which is no longer necessary. In barren worn-out soils, on the contrary, where the supply of nourishment is scanty, we find an attempt made in many vegetables to return to this natural i)rocess of propagation ; the plant shedding its seed, which, carried to a distance, germinates under circumstances more favourable than those of the parent. Perhaps in such situations we may hope to dis- cover the seed of the Cane perfected. We might also succeed in obtaining it, by removing suckers from the plant, so that * Dr. Roxburgh, however, notwithstanding his long residence in the country of the Ganges, never saw the seed of the Sugar Canc.—EJ. 100 its energies may be concentrated in the process of fructi- fication. It is another disadvantage attending the propagation from cuttings, that the stock sooner or later degenerates. We have instances in the apple, the pear, and in most fruits in which recourse has been had to this artificial method of con- tinuing a species. The Cane itself affords iis a well marked example. The original sort, which has been cultivated since the discovery of the island, has gradually deteriorated, till it has become no longer worthy of cultivation. It is needless to ascribe this to diminished fertility, since in new land it still comes up stunted in its growth. In like manner, the kinds which have been more recently introduced, are gradually deteriorating, so that, if no new stocks are imported, we may expect the discovery to be made, that the most fertile island in the world is no longer capable of growing Canes to advantage. It may be proper to notice here, the peculiarities of the different stocks or breeds of Cane now in cultivation in the West India Islands. The oldest stock — that which has been cultivated ever since the discovery of these islands — is known by the name of the Country Cane. It is readily distinguished by its diminu- tive size, its stem spindling, the joints close to one another, and the leaves but little broader than those of some of the common grasses. At one time great returns were obtained from it, and the quality of the produce is described as having been superior to anything we can obtain from the varieties at present in favour — being white, hard, and sparkling. Now, however, it has been consigned to deserved disrepute — its growth indicating all the symptoms of a worn-out stock, its aspect being dwarf-like, its returns scanty, and it, alone, of all the different breeds, being liable to the attacks of insects. There are some planters, however, who still regret that it should be thrown out of cultivation; ascribing the di- minished fertility of the soil, and the inferior character of the produce, to the recently imported stocks, by which it has been superseded. That such have little occasion for their 101 complaints, I need only mention, that though planted in rich newly opened land, it has never been observed to improve — the foliage having the same grass-like appearance, marked with ferruginous spots, and the stalk coming up stunted and spindling. II. The Ribbon Cane is a variety which has of late been deservedly rejected by all good planters. Its introduction is recent. The foliage it bears is profuse, the stem strong, and the joints, which are distant, are marked with longitudinal stripes of purple and yellow. It is from this last peculiarity that it derives its distinctive appellation. Altogether, it bears the appearance of a plant possessed of strong vegetative powers, holding a middle rank, in regard to size of stem and its general appearance, to the two stocks which still remain to be noticed. III. The Bourbon Cane was introduced into the French colonies by Bougainville from the Isle of France. It was afterwards brought into the British Islands by Captain Bligh. It surpasses all others in the thickness of its stem, which bulges out between the joints. The joints themselves are longer than in the Country Cane, but shorter dian the Rib- bon and the Violet. Its foliage also is less luxuriant, the leaves being of a light green, somewhat stiff and erecto-pa- tent. The hairs around the base of the calyx are few, and shorter than in the other varieties ; the glumes have a reddish tinge, the outermost very obscurely 2 nerved, the middle ob- soletely 1 nerved, and the innermost almost nerveless. This variety is the richest in the sweet principle, and, where cir- cumstances admit, is always cultivated in preference. It demands indeed a fertile soil. On a poor soil, on the con- trary, it soon dies away, failing to reach even the 2d or 3d ratoons. Hence, whilst it is the favourite stock in tlie Parish of Vere, its cultivation has been found to injure, in many cases irreparably, the light, gravelly, and sandy loams of the Parish of St. Thomas in the East. IV. The Violet, or, as it is called in the French Islands, the Batavian Cane, is more grown in the West than m the East Indies ; the soil of tiic latter being so fertile as to 102 admit of the cultivation of more approved varieties. The stem of the Violet Cane is of a purple colour, varying in intensity according to the nature of the soil. Thus, in poor lands near the sea-shore, such as several cane-pieces of Pera and Leith-Hall, but lately reclaimed from a state of salt morass, Canes may be observed of a deep purple colour, known by the names of the Claret Cane, the Black, the Im- perial, Mont-Blanc, &c. The colour of such, when culti- vated in a more favourable situation, has been observed to assume a paler character. As for the foliage of the Violet Cane, it is broad and luxuriant, and of a dark green colour : the glumes of the Calyx are purplish, spotted with deeper purple spots ; they are marked with prominent green nerves, the outermost glume having 2 of this description, with 2 marginal less distinct, the middle having a dorsal nerve keeled and villose, with the traces of 2 marginal nerves, and the innermost the same as in the last, with the exception that the dorsal nerve is not villose. In the Systema Vegetabilium of Roemer and Schultes, this is set down as a distinct species, under the name of S. violaceum. The only character at all distinctive, is the outer valve of the corolla being 4 nerved — a peculiarity by no means warranting such a division. ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE SUGAR CANE. The Cane is a plant of a warm latitude, its growth being in proportion to the heat of the climate, and the fertility of the soil. It may be considered as the production of the highest effort of the powers of vegetation. In almost all other plants, it is only during the germination of the seed, the most active period of their lives, that the sweet principle is to be detected. In the Cane it is at all times to be found, and tJicit in quantities surpassing what exists in all other plants put together. It is on our plains that the Cane reaches all the perfection of which it is capable in these islands. Yet, even here, ac- cordiiif^ U) report, its size and luxuriance arc- inli-rior lo wlniL it attains in Madagascar, the Isle lA' l'"rance, and the (hstrictH ol" the East, )r)ore immediately beneath the Ivjuator. Like all f^ramineous plants, it dc.lights in a rather moist climate. Where the rains, however, are excessive, a rank luxiiriancfi is the conse(|iience, uniavourahle to the niaturation ol the plant; the jnices it allords heing watery and deficient in iIk- saccharine j)rinci[)le, yielding on crystallization a daik coloured sugar. Thus, in few |)arts of the ishuid (lo«;s more rain fall than in the parish of l*(jrtland. To the eye, few spots can aj)pear more l)eautif"ul than (iolden-Vale — an almost perfectly level plain, cov(;red with a luxuriant vegeta- tion, encotnpassed by lofty mountains, clothed to tii(;ir sum- mits with forest trees, which ecHidefJse the va[)0(irs conveyed over them by the prevalent easterly winds of the tropics. 'I'he sky, however, being almost constantly overcast, the sti- mulating influence; ol the sun's niys is too S{)arifig it) awaken the energies <)iri(. : l.licir imir^in.s iin; KCtin-cly Hurniliid, ;iii(l llir Idiuk ^IuikIh arc. very hiiiuII. :l. Cit\\\irw\}ii o(ii)fi/rm ; loliis cHiptico-lunctrolnliH oblu.sis imi- croimlis piilclicnimc /^IfiiKlnloso-scinilis, ciipsiilii. Uiiiiijru- Imi tiicfK'cii, .'m/^nlis ohdisis. ('I'ah. \I..) ('(.Ili/Minjii (xlorilrni. Mo/. C/ii/i, nl .IikjI. v. I. /;. 'i!)l. Cioloii ( !()|liriinj. Sf/sf. hycf. v. :\. p. H7r>, IIaii. Ill ((iiiviiMiliiis Aiidiiim vcthuh IVIt;ii(l()/niii ; v\ in «' Villi.! Ciiliciilc," An.lihiis ( !liilciisil)U,s : nil. ^)0(M^ iid (lOOO pcd. Tlic nlinosl. eeiniens, it, always becomes yellowish, or in some iusl.inuH's it, inclines to black. /'/>/. I, (Iii|)snle, from which one coccus, nl .////. 2, is removed: iKihintl sizf. /''!;/. ".i. Minikin of the lenli with glands: — )ii. Colliji;niijn /rif/fn/nt, {(Ii//. d IToo/i.)\ Ibliis eilipticis nni- cronalis serratis subj^landnlosis, ca[)sula acute tricpietra. v^ 143 Hab. In Andibus Chilensibiis, una cum C. salicifoUa. The leaves of this, in shape, nearly resemble those of the preceding species ; but they are scarcely glandular. The fruit, too, is very different, being not only extremely sharp at the angles, but there is scarcely any sinus between the angles, where the cocci join, as in all the other species ; so that a section of this would describe an equilateral triangle with straight sides : whereas, a section of the others would rather represent 3 lobes, more or less acute. [TAB. XLL] GYMNOSTOMUM WILSONI. Gymnostomum Wilsoni ; foliis oblongo-obovatis obtusis cum mucrone minutissime reticulatis opacis integerrimis margine tenuissimo recurvo, capsula oblongo-elliptica oi-e paululum contracto, operculo oblique rostrato, calyp- tra superne scabra. (Tab. XLI.) Gymnostomum affine. Wilson MS S. Hab. In Anglia ad terram, prope " Over," in comitatu Cheshire. D. Gul. Wilson. In arvis apud Forfar, Scotia?. Drummond. Fruct. fert. Jan. PlantcB cajspitose crescunt. Radix tomentosa. Caulis ple- rumque simplex, erectus vel inclinatus, fere ad basin foli- osus. Folia oblonga-obovata, magis minusve carinata, integerrima, margine tenui recurvo, obtusa, minutissime reticulata, opaca, glauco-viridia, infcrne attenuata, laxe reticulata, pellucida; nervo ultra apicem in mucrone lon- giusculo exserto; superiora majora. Seta breviuscula, rufa. Capsida oblongo-elliptica, rufo-fusca, basi obscure apophysata, ore subcontracto. Calyptra dimidiata, fere recta, superne papilloso-scabra. Operculum e lata basi rostratum, rostro tenui, capsula triplo breviore, obliquo. VOL. I. L 144 My attention was first directed to this moss by Mr. Wilson of Warrington, who clearly distinguished it from the species of Gymnostomum., to which it is, in natural affinity, most nearly allied, and with which it has probably not unfrequently been confounded by muscologists, namely G. truncatulum /3. It requires, indeed, a minute examination to distinguish the differences; but they exist so assuredly, that no one who has seen the two together on the same field of the microscope, would ever think of uniting them. To say nothing of the more extended tufts of the present plant, and of its more glaucous hue, the leaves are blunter at the extremity than in G. truncatulum /3., they have a longer apiculus, a more evident, though a very slender recurved margin, and a structure of cellules so different, that a moderate power of the microscope, which will render those of G. truncatulum /3. (see the figure in the accompanying plate,) very distinctly visible, is not sufficient to bring them at all into view in our present plant, {Jigs. 3, 4.) Again, in G. Wilsoni the capsule is more contracted at the mouth, the beak of the lid is longer, and the calyptra is curiously papilloso-scabrous above. Mr. Wilson had named this new species of Gymnostomum G. affine in his MSS., without being aware that Nees von Esenbeck and Hornschuch had so named a moss allied to, or a variety of, G. Heimii. Thus I am at liberty to dedicate it to the very acute botanist who first detected and distin- guished it, and to whom I am indebted for many valuable specimens of British plants, and numerous and important observations upon them. Fig. 1, G. Wilsoni : — natural size. Fig. 2, Single plant : — magnified. Figs. 3, 4, Leaves. Fig. 5, Apex of a leaf. Fig. 6, Capsule. Fig. 7, Operculum. Fig. 8, Calyptra. Fig. 9, Leaf of Gymn. truncatulum (i. to show the differ- ence in form and reticulations : — magnified. 145 [TAB, XLIL] LEMNA GIBBA. REMARKS ON THE STRUCTURE AND GERMINATION; BY WM. WILSON, ESQ. OF WARRINGTON. [All who have had occasion to examine the minute seeds of the different species of Lemna, must confess that it is ex- tremely difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend their structure satisfactorily, and that germination alone can teach us the true nature of the different parts. The fructification, however, of any of the species may be deemed of rare occur- rence. Few botanists have been privileged by seeing the seeds, and still fewer have had the patience to watch and to describe them when in a state of developement ; nor, when this is done, can the description be rendered intelligible to another without the aid of magnified figures. I have myself figured and described the fructification of three of our British species of Lemna in the new series of the Floi'a Londinensis, but ignorant as I was of the germination of all of them, I confess I could not hazard an opinion on the nature of those parts which were brought to view by the dissecting knife. Nor am I aware of the existence of any representation of the germination of any Lemna except that (of Lemna gibha) published by Dr. Gaertner, from the ob- servations of Mr. Hartmann, and given in the Botanische Zeitung for March 1824, No. 12. These, however, appear to be very imperfect. At length my valued friend Mr. Wilson communicated to me, both in 1827 and 1828, the result of his patient attention to the developement of the seeds of Lemna^ and the result of these, together with his excellent figures, are here given. — W. J. H.~\ As I considered (says Mr. Wilson,) that in a state of nature the seeds always remained at the bottom of the water, I did not attempt to immerse those which I preserved through L 2 146 the winter in u ilry state, during that period; nor was it until March 11th that I exposed a few of them to germinate, and from the tardiness of their movements, compared with others immersed afterwards, I am confirmed in my original opinion, that they could not be made to grow much earlier than April. The dissections of the seed last year proved of considerable service, and enabled me to understand better the singular appearances which present themselves. When the seeds have been macerated for five or six days, they imbibe sufficient water to enable them to sink to the bottom : previous to this they swim on the surface, and when almost ready to descend, the upper end of the seed, from which the embryo bursts forth, is turned downwards. After lying at the bottom a few days, the embryo expands and bursts the inner coat of the seed, elevating its upper portion, which is always circular, with a small rather thick umbo at its centre. I term this part the scutelhim, * as it seems destined to protect the embryo from injury while breaking through the external covering, which is of a rather firm texture, though much thinner in the part intended for the transmission of the embryo than it is elsewhere. Between this part and the apex of the inner coat of the seed there is at first a considerable vacancy, and it is only after the rupture of the inner coat that the embryo is sufficiently swelled to arrive at the outer barrier, and force open a passage. {Fig. 1.) At the time when that is accomplished, the embryo be- comes visible, bearing on its summit the scutellum, firmly attached by its centre only, to the lower lip of the cotyledon,^ * This is no doubt the dark spot figured in the section of the seed of Lemna trisulcu, given at Jig. 13 of the plate in the Flora Londinensis, and which I have there spoken of as a sort of operculum, — IV. J. H. f The names of the different parts are given rather from a supposed resem- blance to such parts in other seeds whose structure is well known, than from a full conviction of the correctness of their application. A structure so ano- malous might well create doubts in the minds of the most experienced botanists. — //'. J. II. U7 and also covering, with a portion of its circumference, the upper one, which, however, very soon forces the scutellum aside, and projects beyond it. The cotyledon, at first erect, now takes an oblique direction, and ultimately an horizontal one, (Jig, 2,) and soon after its appearance the seed rises to the surface of the water. Then the plantule, hitherto concealed, begins to extend its disc beyond the lips of the cotyledon, passing over the scutellum, and projecting far beyond it. The spur of the plantule, seated within the cavity {fig. 3, «,) of the lower lip, also grows larger, and its gradual developement is marked by a continually increasing prominence just below the scutel- lum, {figs. 6, 7, 8,) in the middle of the lower lip, which is at length pierced, {fig. 9,) and the spur becomes the root of the now almost erect plantule. The root bears at its extremity a sheath, not formed of a portion of the lower lip, as I once erroneously supposed, but precisely similar to that found on the roots of the parent plants or innovations afterwards produced, {figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.) The root continues to grow until it is about six times as long as the seed, (some- times it remains very short,) and the lower portion of the embryo within the integuments of the seed now swells, and becoming slightly bulbous at its extremity, is securely re- tained within them. An innovation or secondary plant, from one or other of the sides of the plantule, {figs. 10, 12, 13,) near the insertion of the root, now makes its appearance. (I do not remember to have seen an instance in which there was one on each side of the same plantule, though I have frequently seen a second in- novation afterwards arise close to the first.) Its developement is exactly similar to those subsecjuently produced, and the spur or root does not pierce any portion of the plantule, but slips from the lower margin of the fissure, which has the same appearance as the (so termed) calyx in the fertile plant. This secondary plant usually bears two innovations on each side, and at the time when the plantule has thus given birth to a race of grandchildren, viviparously produced, the cotyledon remains attached to the whole, without any 148 symptoms of decay, and the integuments of the seed are still retained unaltered by the lower portion of the emhryo. At this stage, the plantule appears to be destitute of gibbosity on its lower surface, but the secondary frond is slightly con- vex below, and the tertiary ones still more so. The scutellum, it must be observed, has always a greater diameter than the orifice of the lower portion of the inner coat of the seed. This puzzled me at first; and it was only after a very careful dissection that I ascertained the fact of the inner coat being formed of three distinct skins, and that the scutellum is formed of different proportions of each ; the inner one * being the largest {fig. 14, a,) and the middle one the smallest of the three, {fig. 14, 6.) They are all of a circular figure, and the fissure in each of the skins is differ- ently situated. In one instance I found the scutellum, after the expansion of the embryo, not wholly detached from the lower portion of the inner coat of the seed, and entirely separated from the lip of the cotyledon, except perhaps the inner reticulated portion, which, I have reason to think, was carried up with the cotyledon. References to the Plate, Tab. XLII. Fig. ], The embryo just bursting through the outer coat of the seed. Fig. 2, The same more advanced ; a, the scutellum ; b, the lower lip of the cotyledon ; c, the upper lip of do. Fig. 3, The same a little more advanced; the lips of the cotyledon being open, the scutellum adhering to the ex- tremity of the lower lip, and exhibiting the plantule with its spur or radicle (a,) within. Fig. 4, The same after the removal of the coats of the seed. Fig. 5, The inner coat of the seed, with the scutellum or upper portion, («,) which always separates from the lower part at a circular fissure. * The inner skin proves to be albumen. This part is much more obvious in tlie seed of L, minor. — Jr. 149 Fig. 6, Sliows the embryo still more advanced, the lower lip in front. Fig. 7, The same, (a side view,) as seen in water against the light, showing the spur (or radicle) of the plantule pro- jecting into the lower lip of the cotyledon. Fig. 8, The same still more advanced, when the spur is about to burst through the lower lip. Fig. 9, Shows the spur after it has perforated the lower lip. It is now become the root, having a sheath at its ex- tremity. Fig. 10, Shows the innovation just shooting forth. Fig. 11, An innovation with its spur or radicle growing at the side of the primary plant, which in this instance was bent sideways. Fig. 12, The primary plant, wdth the innovation shooting forth its root. Fig. 13, Another view of the same. At this stage the coty- ledon is undecayed, and the coats of the seed still closely retain the lower portion of the cotyledon or embryo. Fig. 14, The scutellum or upper portion of the inner coat of the seed, removed from the lower lip of the cotyledon. It is formed, like the remaining portion of the inner coat, of three distinct skins: the innermost, (or lowest, a,) reticulated and colourless: the middle one, (6,) of a reddish brown colour and firmer texture, not reticulated : the outer, (or upper one, c,) pellucid and somewhat radiated. They differ in size considerably, the inner or lower one being largest, and the middle one the smallest of the three, and invariably circular ; the two others have their edges sometimes irregularly torn. In the figure the inner membrane is shown almost separated from the two others ; they are, however, connected at the centre. Fig. 15, The two upper coats, or skins of the scutellum, detached from the lowest one. Fig. 16, The inner or lower coat of the scutellum, showing its reticulated structure. 150 [TAB. XLIII. XLIV. XLV.] ON THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS COLLETIA, OF THE NATURAL ORDER RHAMNE^, Discovered by Dr. Gillies in South America. The genus Colletia, named by Commerson in honour of his countryman Collet, a botanist who, we are informed, studied the plants of Bresse, and proved a great opponent to the sys- tem of Tournefort, was established in the Genera Plantarura of Jussieu, I believe upon the C. spinosa, Lam., (C, horrida, Willd.) a native, it is said, of Brazil, Chili, and Peru: and the main character is made to depend, according to Jussieu, Lamarck, Willdenow, and in part, De CandoUe, upon the campanulate perianth or calyx having 5 plic(B internally, which are squamiform; yet the C. spinosa presents nothing of this kind, nor has any species of the genus that has come under my observation. Kunth,* too, who has examined Jussieu's own specimen, expressly says, that he " could not detect the plicae mentioned by Jussieu," but he observed within, an " annular, narrow, fleshy, entire disc, reflexed and glabrous, inserted above the base of the calyx," exactly as I find in all Dr. Gillies's undoubted species of CoUetia. Ventenat, in his Jardin de Cels, added C. obcordata, and in his Choix de Plantes, C. ser?'ati/olia, and C. Ephedra; all, as well as C. horrida, having opposite spinous branches and few or no leaves, together with campanulate flowers; but these, except C. serratifolia, M. Kunth thinks should consti- tute a peculiar genus, on the one hand allied to CoUetia and Rhamnus, on the other to Ceanothus, differing from the true Colktice in the presence of petals, antl in the absence of a disc. Hence that author excludes from his generic character the 5 squamiform plica3 to the calyx and the petals, and de- fines the disc as above in describing that of C. horrida : " Dis- cus annularis, angustus, carnosus, integer, calyce supra basin * Nov. Gen. V. 7, p. 46. /^ 151 insertus, reflexus." De Caiidolle, in his Prodromus, retains the characters, " Calyx intus villosus aut 5-plicatus : Petala 0 ; " but so far adopts the idea of Kunth as to include only C. horrida and C. serratifoUa among the Colleti(B verce, whilst C. obcordata and C. Ephedra, are put into the section (?) Re- tanilla. The others come among the " species non satis notce." Thus stood the genus Colletia, till 1827, when M. Adolphe Brongniart's " Memoire sur la famille des Rhamne'es," ap- peared in the 10th vol. of the Annales des Sciences Naturelles. There, part of the character of Colletia runs, " Petala nulla vel minutissima, linearia," and " Discus brevis, cupulajformis, fundo calycis adnatus:" and the species included are C. Jiorrida, serratifoUa, tetragona, a new species from Peru, and C. pubescens, a New Holland one from my Plerbarium, which has a short tube, petals, and a disc of a very different charac- ter from that of C. spinosa, to which is added, as a " species affinis," C. infesta [Ceanothus infesta, Kunth and De Caii- dolle, which has petals and a disc lining the whole tube : — while Colletia obcordata and C. Ephedra, of Vent, are trans- ferred to the new genus Retanilla. In all the species now noticed, there is so strong a general resemblance that it seems almost a pity to separate them generically, and Brongniart, who has so done, has nevertheless included into his Colletia species with and without petals, and with a disc of at least three very different structures. If, therefore, Retanilla is to be removed from Colletia, by the same rule C. pid)escens and C. infesta ought to be: and, now that we are acquainted with three other Colletice, from the travels of Dr. Gillies, agreeing in every essential particular with the generic character of C. horrida, I shall deem this latter the type of the genus, which I would thus define : COLLETIA. Cal. subcampanulatus, 5-fidus, coloratus, supra-basin de- mum circumscissus. Petala nulla. Antherce reniformes vel cordatae, subuniloculares sulco hippocrepico dchis- centes. Discus annularis, angustus, carnosus, integer, re- flexus, supra basin calycis insertus. Germen superum vel 152 subinferum. Stylus subexsertus. Stigma incrassatiim, obsolete trilobum. Capsula 3-cocca, 3-sperma, inferne basi calycis cincta. Frutices, cortice viridi tecti, valde ramosi. Rami decussatim oppositi, spinescentes. Folia opposita, pauca vel nulla. Ylores, jjedimculati e tuberculis axillaribus ad basin spinarum erumpentes. " No organ in this family," observes M. Brongniart, " pre- sents more numerous modifications, or more important for classification, than the disc^ If this be the case, we shall surely be correct in confining the genus Colletia to those in- dividuals of this tribe which have the disc constituted as above described. Brongniart describes this disc as being cupulaeform, or cup-shaped, which, however correct in reality, does not convey the idea of the appearance of this disc that the words of M. Kunth do. I have seen nothing like it in any other plants of the order. The probability, in- deed, is, that this disc originates at the very base of the germen, that it lines the very bottom of the calyx, but with a coat so thin, that, though distinctly represented as such in the figure of Colletia spinosa figured by Brongniart, I have not myself been able to discover it. A little above the base, the disc becomes distinctly visible, and forms a narrow, fleshy, entire, reflexed ring. It is at its insertion that the separa- tion takes place, as the fruit advances to maturity, when the base remains and surrounds the base of the fruit. * Spinis Latissimis. 1. Colletia crwcmto, {Gill, et Hook.) \ foliis paucissimis ellip- ticis integerrimis, caule horrido spinis decussatis laterali- ter compressis ovatis acutissimis decurrentibus. (Tab. XLIII.) Hab. In collibus arenosis prope " Maldonado," Rio de la Plata. Frutex tri-quadripedalis, ereqtus, ramosus. Rami decussa- tim oppositi, subangulati, ubique spinis magnis horridis decussatis, lateraliter compressis, ovatis acutissimis, pun- 153 gentibus, decurrentibus tecti. Folia peipauca, valde caduca, ad basin spinarum, elliptica, integerrima, basi in petiolum brevem attenuata. Flores fasciculati, parvi, ad basin spinarum inserti, nutantes. Pedunculus flore brevior. Calyx cylindraceo-campanulatus, corollinus, albidus, basi solummodo viridis, obscure decemstriatus, apice quinque- fidus, segmentis patentibus. Petala 0. Stamina 5, fauce intra calycis segmenta inserta. Filamenta brevissima. AnthercB subrotundae, subuniloculares, bivalves, rima arcu- ata dehiscentes, valva inferiore minore. Discus annularis, carnosus, revolutus, integer. Pistillum : Germen liberum, ovatum, sulcis tribus obscuris longitudinalibus notatum. Stylus filiformis, longitudine fere tubi. Stigma incrassa- tum, parvum, trilobum. This, one of the most singular among the many curious plants in Dr. Gillies's rich collection of South American plants, was gathered during a hasty visit from the ship to the shores of the Banda Oriental, near Maldonado. It may be considered as constituted of a mass of opposite decussated and decurrent large laterally compressed spines, of the same dull green colour as the central portion or stem that unites them, and equally woody. The tips are darker coloured, sometimes brown, and very pungent. If the fascicle of flowers appears from any point except that of the base of a spine, it is either at the extremity, or below some slight swelling, and is indicative of a new spine which is about to appear. The leaves are so rare that only one could be found upon any of the specimens, and that upon one of the youngest branches. The form and structure of the flowers are very similar to those of Colletia ferox. Tab. XLIII. Fig. I, Flower. Fig. 2, Section of the same. Fig. 3, A leaf: — magnijied. * * Spinis suhulatis. 2. Colletia spinosa ; spinis validis, florum fasciculis sparsis, calycibus urceolatis, filamentis elongatis exsertis. (Tab. XLIV. A.) 154 «. glabra. , Colletia spinosa. Lam. lU. v. 2. p. 90. b. 129. Humb. et Kunth Nov. Gen. Ann. v. 7. j). 59. Roem. et Schultz. Syst. Veget. v. 5. p. 512. De Cand. Prodr. v. 2. p. 28. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 1. p. 771. Colletia horrida. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 1. p. 1113. Vent. Hort. Cels. p. 92. (vix Brongniart.) Colletia polyacantha. Willd. in Roem. et Schultz. Syst. Veget. V. 5. p. 113. /3. pubescenti-incana. Hab. cc. In ascensu Andium a convalle Uspallatensi ad " Ladera de las Vacas," atque in Andibus Chilensibus, prope " La Guardia," in valle fluminis " Aconcagua:" alt. 5000 ad 7500 ped. — /3. Apud " Romeral" prope urbem Chilensem " Curico," ubi Yaqui ab incolis vocatur. Lamarck appears to be the original authority for this species, which he has figured under the name here adopted in his lllustrationes. Brongniart adopts the name of horrida; but in the figure which he has given of the flowers, I find a considerable difference from that of Lamarck, for he repre- sents the filaments of the stamens so short, as not to raise the anthers above the margin of the sinuses of the segments, — a character so nearly corresponding with our next plant, that I have little hesitation in referring it to that species. Tab. XLIV. A. C. spitiosa. Fig. 1, Flower. Fig. 2, Section of do. Fig. 3, Stamen : — magnijied. 3. Colletia ferox^ (Gill, et Hook.); spinis validis, florum fasci- culis sparsis, calycibus oblongo-cylindraceis, antheris subsessihbus. (Tab. XLIV. B.) Colletia horrida. Bi'ongniart in Ann. des Sciences Nat. v. 10. p. 366. t. U.f. 1.? Hab. Prope Mendozam et in convallibus Andium versus Mendozam : alt. 2600 ad 5000 ped. This docs not appear to differ in any particular from the preceding species, except in the rather longer flowers, which 155 are broader and less urceolate; and in the anthers having filaments so exceedingly short, that without a very minute examination they might be entirely overlooked. Brongniart's figure of C. horrida represents the anthers as almost wholly included within the tube of the calyx : and the segments of the calyx are given as erect, whereas in our plant they are remarkably revolute. Tab. XLIV. B. C. ferox. Fig. 1, Flower. Fig. 2, Sta- men. Fig. 3, Young fruit. Fig. 4, Ripe fruit : natural size : — all but fig. 4 magnified. *^ 4. Colletia ^. 214. Spi'eng. Syst. Veget. v. 2. J). 751. Zapania lantanoides. Lam. III. v. 2. p. 140. Zapania odorata. Pe?'S. Syn. PL v. p. 140. Verbena globulifera. Herit. Stirp. v. 1. p. 23. t. 12. Willd. Sp. PI. V. I. />. 116. Hab. Copiose in planitiis australibus Provincias " Cor- dova." Caulis erectus, basi fruticosus. Planta tota aspera, fragrans. Friictus subrotundo-compressus, maturitate stylo termin- atus. PRIVA. 1. ^r'wa IcBvis ; herbacea glabra, foliis oppositis ovatis den- tatis basi cuneatis petiolatis, fructu calyce ampliato nudo tecto. Priva laevis. Juss. in Ann. du Mus. v. 7. j). 70. Castelia cuneato-ovata. Cavan. Icon. v. 6. p. 61. t. 583. Hab. Circa Mendozam, ad vias : et in Provincia Cordovae : alt. 1000 ad 2500 ped. < This plant, so well figured and described by Cavanilles, as a new genus, {Castelia^) has been referred to the genus Priva by Jussieu, and perhaps with justice. In habit it is not very dissimilar, but the calyx, though it becomes enlarged in pro- portion as the fruit increases in size, is never inflated, and it is always naked, free from setae. Flowers fragrant. Roots tuberous, whence the vernacular name " Papilla." WILSONIA. {nov. gen.) (Tab. XLIX.) Gen. Char. Ccd. 5-dentatus, tubulosus, dente anteriore majore, demum hinc longitudinaliter fissus. Corolla tubo cylindraceo, limbo 5-fido, inaquali. Stamina 4, didynama, fertilia. Stigma laterale. Driipa sicca : Nuces duae, bilo- culares, dispermae, primum arete cohaerentes, demum so- lutae. 173 1. Wihonia glaberrima, {Gill. et. Hook.); (Tab. XLIX.) Hab. In convallibus Andiiim, prope Mendozam : alt. 5000 ad 6000 ped. Frutex erectus, rigidus, subvirgatus, ubique glaberrimus. Ra- muli subspinescentes. Folia^ proecipue in raniis juniori- bus, saepe fasciculata, alterna, parva, oblongo-spathulata, crassiuscula, subcarnosa, obtusa, uninervia, sessilia. Flores terminales, in spicam laxiusculam congest!, bracteati, odor- ati. BractecB inferiores foliiformes, supremcB lineares, calyce breviores. Calyx brevissime pedicellatus, oblongo-cylin- draceus, 5-dentatus, parvus, dente unico (exteriore) lon- giore. Corolla calyce quadruplo longior. Tubus cylin- draceus, superne incrassatus. Germen ovatus, basi glan- dula carnosa cinctum. Stylus filiformis, tubo corollse longior. Stigma dilatatum, obliquum, sen laterale. Fruc- tus : Drupa ovalis, siccitate nigra, basi calyce hinc fisso circumdata, utrinque longitudinaliter sulcata, demum in duas nuces, plano-convexas, biloculares, dispermas, facile solutae. This has the habit of some species of Verbena, with a calyx of a similar structure to them, breaking down on one side as the fruit advances to maturity ; but the fruit itself is altogether that of Priva, from which it differs in its whole habit, in the small calyx, and especially in the woody stems and branches. I have named it in compliment to Wm. Wilson, Esq. of Warrington, whose unwearied exertions in the cause of botany, and acute researches into the structure of the minuter parts of vegetables, justly entitle him to such a mark of distinction. Among the Verbenas, the species most nearly allied to this is V. aspera of the present memoir, which has fasciculated and alternate leaves. But that has a fruit of four nuts, as in the rest of its genus. — The evanescent pericarp in this and in Priva Icevis, and in many Ve?-bence, I have in vain searched for. 174 [TAB. L.] ON MACRiEA, A NEW GENUS OF PLANTS FROM CHILE. After the excellent Memoir of Mr. Lindley on the present genus, published in Brande's Journal of Science, v. 25. p. 104, I should not have thought of presenting any farther observa- tions, only that I have for a long time had the plate en- graved, and the description of two species of the genus {Xeropetalon MSS.) ready for publication. Circumstances, over which I had no control, prevented their appearance, and now I should scarcely have thought them worthy of meeting the public eye, were it not that a figure of the genus is still a desideratum, and that I have been more fortunate than Mr. Lindley in possessing perfect fruit. My first knowledge of the plant was derived from Mr. Lindley himself, who kindly gave me a specimen from his Herbarium, as a genus allied to Frankenia. That author, in the Memoir above quoted, has alluded to its affinity with FrankeniacecBi and has pointed out the differences in the struc- ture of the ribs of the calyx. In examining this, and other species which I have since received from the Horticultural Society, and from Mr. Cruickshanks of Valparaiso, Mr. Arnott and myself were forcibly struck with their similarity in many points to the CaryophyllecB and Cistinea, as well as the Linea. From all of these Macrcea differs in its mono- phyllous calyx, and in the nature, and especially the dehi- scence of the capsule, and from the latter more particularly in the curved embryo. There is another point of resemblance to which Mr. Lind- ley has alluded, namely, its affinity with the GeraniacecB. He observes, " If we can understand the axis of the capsule of Macraa to be an elongated torus, we have then a fruit of a sufficiently similar structure to be compared to that of Ger- aniacecB, Hutacece^ and other neighbouring tribes." Still I must confess that the habit of our plants is so entirely at variance with the GeraniacecBy as are the monophyllous calyx, 175 the dry membranaceous nature of the petals, and the strait (never convoluted or plicate) cotyledons of the embryo, that to unite the two would hardly be consistent with the object of a natural arrangement. MacrcBa probably forms a distinct order from any hitherto known, and Chile may yet soon pro- duce other novelties allied to this which will better enable us to refer it to its right place in the system. Mr. Lindley considers the stamens to be inserted upon a short torus. To me they appear perfectly hypogynous : and, immediately at the base of each alternate stamen, and al- ternating with the petals, 1 find a small fleshy pubescent scale or gland. These are so small, however, that their real structure is not to be seen without much difficulty. Geiieric Character. MACRiEA. Lindl. Cal. inferus, monophyllus, campanulatus decemcostatus, angulatus, 5 dentatus, dentibus marginatis. Petala 5, hypogyna, obovata, unguiculata, scariosa, per- sistens. Stam. 10, hypogyna, basi5-glandulosa. Filamenta filiformia. AnthercE, oblongae, basi insertae, biloculares, lon- gitudinaliter dehiscentes. Germen ovale, trilobum. Stylus perbrevis. Stigmata 3, linearia, dorso sulcata. Capsula subrotundo-ovalis, 3-loba, trilocularis, semitrivalvis, valvis loculicidis. Locula disperma. Semina 2 in singulo loculo, receptaculo parvo versus medium axeos inserta, altero ascendente, altei'o suspenso, globosa, subangulata, fusca. Albumen carnosum, album, copiosum. Embryo filiformis, curvatus. Cotyledones angustae. Radicula elongata, ad hilum seminis versa. Suffrutices aridcB. Rami oppositi. Folia opposita, hrevimme petiolata^ ovata, integerrima vel crenata, puhescentia, suhtus niveo-tomentosa. Panicula^ terminales, dlchotomce, breves. 1. Macraea. grandifolia ; foliis subtus griseis glandulosis, venis prominentibus, ramis pubescentibus, pedunculis folio bi'evioribus. Lindl. Macraea grandifolia. Lindl. in Brande's Journ. v. 25. p. 204. Hab. Spontc crescentem juxta vicum Colina, urbis Santiago VOL. I. N 176 finitimum legit Macrae. 1825. — In Andibus Chilensibus in valle " del Fray Carlos," prope radices mentis igni- vomi " Peteroa;" alt. 7500 ped. Gillies. Folia 8 lineas longa, plerumque integerrima, nunc obscure serrata, subtus minus tomentoso-nivea quam in reliquis. Most of my specimens of this species are derived from the same source as Mr. Lindley's, and I am indebted for them to the liberality of the Horticultural Society. 2. Macraea parvifolia; foliis subtus niveis venis obscuris, ramis arachnoideis pedunculis folio brevioribus. Lindl. Macrsea parvifolia. Lindl. in Brande's Journ. v. 25. p. 204. Hab. Cum precedente legit Macrae. 3. Macrsea rosea; foliis (integerrimis) distantibus subtus niveis eglandulosis, ramis pubescentibus, pedunculis elon- gatis. Lindl. (Tab. L.) Macraea rosea. Lindl. in Brande's Journ. v. 25. p. 204. Hab. Ad Cumbre, Andium claustrum, Novembre floridam legit Macrae. In Chile, a Guardia usque ad Primera Quebrada. L>. Cruickshanks. — In summum fere montis altissimi Chilensis, " San Pedro Nolasco" dicti. Gillies. Friitex, ut videtur, parvus, pedalis et ultra, erectus vel subde- cumbens, ramis oppositis, vetustioribus glabris, fuscis nitidis; junioribus gracilibus tereti-filiformibus, pubescen- tibus. Folia opposita, remotiuscula, ovata, brevissime petiolata, patentia vel reflexa, integerrima, oblique ner- vosa, superne atroviridia, appresse pubescenti-pilosa, sub- tus niveo-tomentosa, marginibus planis. PanicidcB breves, terminales, bis-terve di-trichotomae. Pedunculi pedicellive basi bibracteati; bracteis inferioribus foliiformibus; su- perioribus minutis, lanceolatis. Calyx pubescens, ore paululum contractus, basi abrupte constrictus. Corolla rosea, longe unguiculata, venosa, venis intra marginem unitis. Fig. 1, Calyx. Fig. 2, Petal. Fig. 3, Stamens, with the ac- companying gland. Fig. 4, Pistil. Fig. 5, Style and 177 stigmas. Fig. 6, Capsule. Fig. 7, Section of do. Fig* 8, Valve of the capsule, showing the attachment of the seeds, and the central axis partly free. Fig. 9, Seed. Fig. 10, Section of the seed to show the embryo: — all more or less magnified. 4. Macraea crenata; foliis profunde crenatis marginibus reflexis subtus niveo-tomentosis, floribus subcorymbosis, (petalis albis.) Hab. Cum priore. D. Cruickshanks. In Andibus Chilensibus prope " La Guardia" in valle fluminis Aconcagua: alt. 5000 ped. Gillies. Until after the publication of Mr. Lindley's Memoir, I was only acquainted with the present and foregoing species : the former having the leaves quite entire, the margins plane, the flowers of a beautiful rose-colour; the latter having deeply crenate leaves, with the margins revolute, the petals white. But I am fearful that these characters may not be constant, and I am equally in doubt with regard to the characters of the rest of the genus. The glands, extremely minute in themselves, are very variable on different individuals and even on different leaves of the same specimen. The quantity of pubescence on the under side of the leaf is scarcely to be relied on, and thus the nerves beneath become more or less conspicuous. The length of the peduncles and colour of the flowers I fear cannot much be depended upon. All might, probably, without violation to nature, be referred to varieties of the same species. The genus is deservedly named in compliment to Mr. James Macrae, who made valuable collections for the Horti- cultural Society both in the Brazils, at the Sandwich Islands and in Chile ; and who is now entrusted with the charge of the Botanic Garden at Ceylon. N 2 178 SKETCH OF A JOURNEY TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS AND TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER IN NORTH AMERICA: Sy Thomas Druwmond, Assistant Naturalist to the second Land Arctic Expedition, under the command of Captain Sir John Franklin, R. N. [It is scarcely necessary to preface the following journal of an excursion through a country hitherto unknown to the Naturalist with any ob- servation, further than to say, that it embraces the period of time when Mr. Drummond quitted Sir John Franklin, Dr. Richardson, and the other officers of the Expedition, at Cumberland House, to that of his rejoining them at the same place. — Ed.] Cumberland House, of which the latitude is 53o 56' 40" N., longitude 102" 16' 41" W., is situated upon a small island, called Pine Island, formed by the branching of the Saskatch- avvan, which divides into two channels, just before its junction with a lake, called Pine Island Lake. In times of high water, occasioned by the melting of the snow upon the mountains where it takes its rise, the river runs into the lake by the upper channel, and empties itself by the lower. During the time which elapsed between my arrival at Cum- berland House, on the 28th of June, and the 10th of August, when the waters began to. fall, the lake had risen six feet perpendicular, reducing the island, which is naturally low, to a very small compass, and destroying the corn which grew immediately around the fort. This was a very unusual cir- cumstance, and I found, when afterwards ascending the Sas- katchawan, that the waters had attained to upwards of twenty feet above their winter level. The country in the neighbour- hood of Cumberland House is limestone, similar to that de- scribed by Dr. Richardson in the vicinity of Lake Winnipeg. The following list comprises some of the plants which I collected during my stay at Cumberland House, but it cannot be considered as a full enumeration, since many of the spring- flowers were past, and a still greater number must have escaped my memory: — Ilippuris vulgaris, Utricularia vul- garis and media, J^eronica peregrina and scutellata, a species of Lycopus ? 2 species of Scirpus, a species of Eriophorum, 179 Alopecurus aristulatus, Phleum pratense, Alopecurus sp., a Poa resembling P. distans and P. annua^ Loliun perenne^ introduced? Bromiis sp.? Tritlcum sp., Elymus niollis and another species, Hordeum juhatum^ Arundo coloi-ata, A. phragmites, A. catiadensis, &c. with many other GraminecB. Galium septentrionale, and 2 other species, Potamogeton pec- tinatim^ P. lucens, P. JIuitans, and 2 others. Pidmonaria paniculata^ Myosotis Lapptda, and another species, Lysimachia thyrsiflora and L. ciliata^ Apocynum androscemifolium and A. cannabinmn^ Campanula rotundifoUa^ Lonicerajlava ? Diervilla cmridea, Symphoria racemosa, and another species or variety, Viola debilis and V. canadensis^ Swertia difformis ? a Gentiana, with the habit of G. Campestris, 4 or 5 species of Chenopo- dium, Pastinaca saliva, perhaps naturalized, and several other UmbellifercB, of one of which the Indians eat the roots. Vi- biirnum edule and V. oycoccos, Parnassia paluslris, Drosera rotundifolia, LinncEa borealis, Cornus alba, and C. canadensis, a species of Allium, Convallaria bifolia, Acorus Calamus, Jun- cus bufonius, and J. gracilis, &c., several species of Rumex, Alisma Plantago, Vaccinium Vitis Idcea, and V. Oycoccos, Polygonum amphibiiim, P. Persicaria, P. Convolvulus and P. aviculare, Monotropa uniflora, Pyrola secunda, P. elliptica, with the flowers, pure, white, and very fragrant, P. chlorantha and P. rotundifolia, the latter differing from the British species in having rose-coloured blossoms, Andromeda pol if olia. Arbutus Uva ursi, Saxifraga tricuspidata, Mitella nuda, Stellaria lateriflora, &c. Aronia ovalis, a species of Primus, resembling P. Cerasus, Spiraea scdicifolia, 3 varieties of Rose, a Rubus, resembling R. Idceus, R. trijlorus, ChaincBmorus, and R. pistillaris, Fragaria canadensis and F. Vesca, Potcntilla norvegica ? also a species with quinate and another with pinnate leaves, Potentilla anserina, Geum strictum, Comarum palustre, Actcea americana, a 'Nuphar similar to N. lutea, Aquilegia canadensis, Anemone dichotoma and A. mnltijida. Ranunculus Purshii, R. Jluviatdis, R. sceleratus, and several other species, Mentha canadensis, Scutellaria galericulata, Dracocephalum virginicum and D. parviflorum, a species of Melampyrum, Lepidium virginicum, Erysimum cheiranthoides? 180 Sisymbrium canescens and S. brachycarpum, Geranium caro- linimiufn, Fumaria aurea, Lathyrus palustris and another species, Vicia canadensis and V. pisiformis, an Astragalus, resembling A. glycyphyllos, Hieraciimi sabaudum, Sonchus oleraceus and 2 other species, a species of Cnicus, of which I obtained no specimens, the inundation having destroyed them all before their time of flowering. Verbesina alata ? with large yellow blossoms, a species of Senecio and another of Bidens, Leontodon palustre, Gnaphalium like G. dioicum, Artemisia biennis, several kinds of Erigeron, Solidago mnltira- diata and several others, many species of Aster, a Tussilago, Achillea Millefolium and another species. Pursh considers the A. Millefolium to be a naturalized plant, but this is cer- tainly not the case, for it is frequently found near the sum- raits of the Rocky Mountains. Of Orchis there are several kinds, Corallorhiza innata, Cypripedium pubescens, Spar- ganiwn ramosum, and S. simplex, Carex Pseudo-Cyperiis, C. filiformis, C. teretiuscula and several others. Typha latifolia, Urtica urens? Myriophyllum spicatum, Ceratophyllnm demer- sum, Sagittaria sagittifolia, Calla palustris, Festuca fliiitans. Uvidaria puberula, a species of Impatiens ? Fpilobium angiis- tifolium and many others, a JRibes like rubrum, another with black hispid fruit, 2 species with black smooth fruit, and one resembling the gooseberry. Lemna minor, L. trisidca, L. minor, and L. gihba, Equisetum palustre, E, arvense, E. syl- vaticum, and a species smaller than E. variegatum, §t. The only moss that I added to my collection here was Bryum triquetrum, found abundantly in the swamps. The following trees gi'ow in this neighbourhood : Pinus alba, P. nigra, and P. microcarpa, Populus trepida, and the rough-barked species, Populus balsamina, Betula jjapyracea and B. glandulosa, the latter is small and confined to the swamps; with a few species of JVillows. There is also a species of Fraxinus, sparingly met with on the banks of the river Saskatchawan, and a species o^ Elm. This place may be considered as the highest northern limit of the genera Ulmus and Fraxinus. The birds which I observed here offer comparatively little worthy of remark. The Passenger Pigeon is very common, 181 building its nest in the willow bushes on the margins of the lake, and feeding principally at this season upon tiie berries of Cormis alba and C. canadensis. A species of Caprwmff^us is also common here and throughout all the country from Canada to the Rocky Mountains. It is called Peesqua by the natives, because its note consists of this word, which it repeats almost incessantly during the fine summer evenino-s, when it soars so high as to be almost imperceptible. In windy weather it flies lower, in pursuit of its food, probably insects, and it may then be sometimes taken, though this is always difficult, on account of the irregularity of its move- ments. It makes its nest, which much resembles that of the common lapiving, on the ground, and lays three or four eo-o-s of a dirty brown, marked with darker coloured spots. I often met with it on the plains of the Saskatchawan, in the beginning of July. The insects are not numerous : I observed Papilio Atalanta^ P. Urticce, and P. Comma-album, and P. Cardui ; also a species much resembling P. Cardaminis, but the sexes exactly similar, the male insect wanting the orange spot upon the wings ; also another species, pure white, resembling P. Napi, and a large purple one with a white border; a large yellow butterfly of the swallow-tail kind, with black clouds and streaks; and a smaller yellow one, resembling P. Rhamni. In Coleoptera, the genera Bupresfis and Cerambyx are numerous on the picquets of the fort : but many of the most common British genera are almost wanting, such as Cnrcidio, Scarabcetis, and Staphylina. Tlie Mosquitoes are more plen- tiful here than I saw them anywhere else. The country round Cumberland House is very flat and marshy. The only rising ground of any considerable eleva- tion visible from it is the Basqua Hill, said to be about 40 or 50 miles distant. It was visited by the late Lieutenant Hood during the winter which that Expedition passed at Cumberland House, and from the information which the Indians gave me of the numerous plants that grow there ex- clusively, I regretted very much that it was not in my power to explore it. 182 The company's boats having arrived about the 20th of August, I left this place for Carlton House. On arriving at that post, Sept. 1st, the Indians were found to be in so unsettled a state, that it would have been very unsafe to make excursions in that neighbourhood, without the protection of a strong party ; and I therefore decided upon proceeding with the brigade, until I should find a place better suited to my purpose. In ascending the river, the banks became gradually more elevated, seldom, however, precipitous, but rising gradually with broken undulating ground, sometimes for the space of a mile, before reaching the level of the sur- rounding country, which, at the junction of the south branch, may be estimated at from 150 to 200 feet above the bed of the river. This place may be considered as the commence- ment of those extensive plains which reach from hence to the Rocky Mountains, a distance of at least 700 or 800 miles, and, according to Indian information, are prolonged as far south as Mexico. The district is appropriately named by the Canadian Voyageurs, la grande Prairie, The woods which partially cover the country immediately contiguous to Carlton House, disappear at a distance of about 20 miles to the westward. The soil is generally sandy, and the vegetation becomes of a diiferent and peculiar aspect, the tribe of Papi- lionacece prevailing to a considerable degree, and the genera Plilox, Liatris, Malva, and Ej'iogonum. Here I first observed a Psoralea^ nearly allied to P. esculenta of Pursh, its roots, like that species, affording to the poor natives, in times of scarcity, a miserable substitute for animal food. The roots somewhat resemble those of the Dahlia^ and the Indians are very expert at digging them up with a forked stick, which they use in the manner of a lever. They sometimes also eat the roots of a species of Hedysarum, the plant probably mentioned by Sir Alexander M'Kenzie under the appellation of Liquorice. Two or three kinds of UmbellifercB and As- ■clepiadecB, which 1 found nowhere else in my route, grew in this neighbourhood, also 5 or 6 species oi Phascum* * A genus of Mosses scarcely knowa hitherto as natives of America. 183 The plan I pursued for collecting was as follows. When the boats stopped to breakfast, I immediately went on shore with my vasculum, proceeding along the banks of the river, and making short excursions into the interior, taking care, however, to join the boats, if possible, at their encampment for the night. After supper, I commenced laying down the plants gathered in the day's excursion, changed and dried the papers of those collected previously; which operation generally occupied me till daybreak, when the boats started. I then went on board and slept till the breakfast hour, when I landed and proceeded as before. Thus I continued daily until we reached Edmonton House, a distance of about 400 miles, the vegetation having preserved much the same char- acter all the way. The Aronia ovalis is not uncommon about Carlton House, and its fruit is eaten by the natives, mixed with their pemmi- can, while they prefer the wood which it affords to every other kind for making their arrows. The species oi Primus, Bird- Cherry, or Choke-Cherry, is also frequently met with; and its fruit, when fully ripe, is not disagreeable. I found the fruit of the Viburnimi edule to be very efficacious in allaying thirst.' Several interesting animals of the deer kind occur in this vicinity. One of them, called by the traders the short-tailed Jumping Deer, is a creature about the size of a fallow deer. It has hair of a beautiful silvery grey colour. I killed a fine specimen of this animal on my journey to Carlton House, in the spring of 1827, but was under the painful necessity of using its skin, after having carried it 15 days, for food. It was a male, and had at that time (the middle of March,) shed its horns. There is another species, called in this country the long-tailed Jumping Deer, probably the Mule Deer of Lewis and Clarke, but it did not come under my own observation. The prong- horned Antelope, described by Dr. Richardson, in Captain Franklin's first Expedition, is a very beautiful litde animal, of about the size and general appearance of the roebuck. It is considered the swiftest inhabitant of the plains. These creatures arrive in the neighbourhood of Carlton House about the end of April. They bring forth their young in May, 184 producing two at a birth, and are said to migrate to the south during the winter. The Hare of the plains is of very rare occurrence : in size it rather exceeds the British hare, and turns white during the winter. I killed a specimen of it on my journey to Edmonton House, in the autumn of 1825 ; it was a female, and giving suck at that time, (the middle of September,) and was of a much lighter grey than the English animal. Not being aware of the scarcity of this creature, and indeed confounding it with the common hare, I took but little care of its skin, which was lost in consequence. Another very interesting animal is the Badger of the plains. Its general appearance resembles the European species, but it is not so large. These creatures burrow in the open plains, making their holes perpendicular at the entrance, which, when concealed by the growth of the grass, prove very troublesome to the pedestrian and dangerous to the mounted hunter, whose horse at full speed is often thrown by them, to the no small risk of the rider's neck. The badgers are very dexterous at concealing themselves in their burrows, and it is difficult to dig them out. We adopted the plan of filling their holes with water, which forced the animals to come out, when we secured them easily. The same method proved successful for catching the ground squirrels, but it is not likely that it would answer equally well when the earth is thoroughly thawed, as the water would then drain off, and the little creatures would dig deeper and deeper, throwing up the earth behind them, which would prevent the water from reaching them. The Badgers ap- pear to be partly carnivorous, living on mice and ground squirrels, which their claws are admirably adapted for digging up. The Small Wolf, or Prairie Dog, is a very common inhabi- tant of the plains. Its size is intermediate between the com- mon wolf and the fox. Like the former of these animals, the Prairie Dogs hunt in packs of from 3 to 50 and more, and thus, from their number, they become an overmatch for the largest animals of the country ; they are also so impudent that they will venture within a few yards of the hunter, and 185 carry away the game he may have killed, though a fire be lighted for its protection. I procured specimens of this ani- mal at Carlton, in the spring of 1827. There is another small species of Tox found in the plains, which the traders call the Kit Fox, it is the smallest of the genus that I have ever seen. The traders furnished us with skins of it, but it did not fall under my observation in a living state. The different species of Arctomys, or Ground Squirrel, have been already described by Dr. Richardson. Three of them are found in the vicinity of Carlton House : they are the Arctomys Franklinii, A. Richardsoni, and A. Hoodii. All are lively and beautiful animals. The former, when pursued by dogs, will sometimes climb up a tree, but it is an unwieldy creature in such circumstances, when compared with the Hudson^s Bay Squirrel, which it somewhat resembles. The birds most worthy of notice are the Tetrao Phasian- ellus, the Pheasant of the traders, or Pin-tailed Grous : these abound on the plains. They ai'e about as big as the British grous, of a much lighter colour, and having two of the tail feathers projecting about two inches beyond the rest, whence the name is derived. In habit, these birds resemble the common grous, they make their nests on the ground, laying fi'om five to ten or a dozen eggs, which are like those of a partridge. They keep in families until winter, when they congregate in large coveys. At pairing time, which is the month of May, the Pin-tailed Grous select some little emin- ence, to which they resort at daybreak in great numbers, jumping, running round each other, chuckling, and pei-form- ing many curious manoeuvres; and this they continue to do for several weeks, until the ground is worn quite bare, when they separate in pairs for the season. Their flesh is well- flavoured, and the sportsman would find excellent amuse- ment in following them. Among the numerous species of Duck that frequent the lakes of the plain, may be particularised the Buddy Duck, remarkable for the brilliant blue colour of the bill of the male, and the singular way in which, when courting or 186 caressing the female, it carries its tail, which is perfectly upright, giving the bird, at a little distance, the appearance of having two heads. It seems to breed in the neighbour- hood of Carlton, as I killed a pair of them in the beginning of June, the female having eggs in her body ready for ex- clusion. Their plumage is remarkably thick and glossy, as that of the Grebes, and, like these birds when pursued or frightened, the ducks dive, and show only their bills above water. The Bittern is frequently seen in the marshes about Carlton House ; its habits are the same as those of the British species, and it possesses the same singular cry. The sound is very deceptive, frequently appearing as if quite near when really a mile distant. The Bitterns appear to have the power of inflating their necks and windpipes to a large size, and I feel no doubt that to this property alone they owe the extraordinary booming noise which they make. There is also a species of Curvirostra common in the lakes of the plains, near which they breed. On approaching their haunts, they fly to meet you, giving, at the same time, the note of alarm to the rest, who immediately join, as if to chase away the intruder, by which means they are easily shot. The American Curlew, and several other species of that genus, have the same habit, as well as the Lapwing of our own country. A beautiful little bird, Phalaropus Wilsoni, also inhabits those lakes. I procured several specimens about the middle of May, 1827. They swim with great ease, but generally frequent the shallow water. There is also another small bird that deserves to be noticed for the courage with which it attacks all others that venture near its residence; it is a species of Flycatcher, about the size of a lark, and it is truly amusing to see it assault the Falco horealis, or any other large bird. It soars above them, then darting down on the back of the opponent, applies its beak, with all the strength that it possesses, to its head, sometimes remaining in this position for a minute or more, and then it returns in triumph to its station, on the top of 187 some neighbouring bush or small tree, where it resumes the occupation of watching for flies. Many small birds are also seen here in their passage to more northerly regions, such as the Emberiza nivalis, E. laponica, &c. The large snowy owl is also met with, and a small brown species, called by the natives the Beaver Owl; but why so designated, I could not learn. I observed one of their nests near Carlton House, built on the ground amoner the bushes, containing two young ones, in the end of May. Several Lepidopterce occurred in these districts, which I did not meet with in any other situations ; but as their names are unknown to me, I cannot particularize them. The tribe of Coleoptera is scarce, which may, in some measure, be owing to the grass of the prairies being frequently set on fire. Amongst them I remarked a curious species of Cicindela, almost white, with a slight shade of a darker colour on the margin of each elytra; it inhabits sandy spots near the South Branch River. The following Mosses, and these only, were seen in the vicinity of Carlton House. Phascum cuspidatum, var. 2; P. muticum, P. serrotnm, P. suhexsertum, and P. crispum. Gymnnfitomum tetragonum, G. latifolium, G. ova.t?mi, G. phascoides, and G. subsessile, &c. 1 have already mentioned that there is little or no difference perceptible between the nature and productions of the country that lies between Carlton House and Edmonton. It is diflicult to account for these plains being almost desti- tute of wood ; but it may partly be owing to repeated con- flagrations, which lay waste the land to a great extent, no deep ravines, extensive swamps, or elevated ground inter- vening to check the progress of the flames. Thus much is certain, that the vicinity of Edmonton House, for many miles round, was, twenty or thirty years ago, covered with trees, but by being frequently set on fire, it has become exactly similar to the rest. There are few, if any, rocks visible from the banks of the river, between Cumberland and Edmonton, so that I am unable to decide where the junction takes place between the sandstone and limestone districts ; probably it is where the 188 country begins to rise, before reaching the place where the South Branch River meets the Saskatchawan. Sandstone appears to prevail around Edmonton ; it contains thin strata of coal, which is found to burn well, and is employed in the forge for working the iron necessary in boat-building. The distance between the junction of the South Branch River with the Saskatchawan, and the Rocky Mountains House, may be estimated at from 700 to 800 miles. At Edmonton House, the brigade for the Columbia left the Sas- katchawan, making a portage of 100 miles to the Red-Deer River, which falls into the Athabasca Lake ; and as I still adhered to my resolution of accompanying it, I found it necessary to reduce my luggage into as small a compass as possible, and therefore left my specimens under the charge of the gentlemen at Edmonton House, only carrying with me a small stock of linen and a bale of paper. The second day, after leaving Edmonton House, brought us to the commencement of the woody country, which con- tinues all the way to the Rocky Mountains. The trees con- sist of Populus halsamifera and P. trepida ; the IVIiite Spruce Fir and the Birch^ with Pitius Banksiana occasionally in the drier situations, and then, more rarely, the Balsam Poplar. These are the only trees which occur north of this latitude, though in some localities, and in deep swamps, the Pinus nigra and P. microcarpa may occasionally be seen. Almost the only plants which we remarked as peculiar to this district, were a species of Delphinium, allied to D. elatiim, and a curious aquatic, resembling in habit the Hydrocharis Morsus Ranee, of which I gathered no specimens at the time, for it was out of flower, and I never saw it again. We crossed the Portage in six days, without meeting with any serious accident. The horse, however, which carried my bale of paper, unluckily fell down in crossing Papina River, by which the plants were thoroughly soaked ; and as the speed with which the brigade proceeded precluded all hope of getting them dried by the way, I found myself unwillingly compelled to carry them on in a damp state, until we reached Fort Assina- boyne, a small establishment belonging to the Company upon 189 Red-Deer River, where we spent two or three days preparing the canoes and cargo for our ascent of the river to the moun- tains. The Red-Deer River, on which this Fort is situated, is probably one of the most southern streams which empties its waters into the Frozen Ocean. The whole distance from Fort Assinaboyne to the Rocky Mountains, following the general course of the river, which runs in a nearly due west direction, may be estimated at about 200 miles. The country is thickly wooded with the same species of trees as were mentioned before; the Pinus Banksiana and Populus halsamifera, however, becoming much more frequent. It was now ascertained that the canoes were so heavily laden, that it would be necessary for some of the party to go by land, and I gladly agreed to be one of these, in order to have the opportunity of seeing the country, and judging of its probable productions. We quitted the Fort accordingly, on the 1st or 2d of October, and started in high spirits for a journey on horseback. A heavy fall of snow, however, which took place on the 4th, put a final period to collecting for this season ; it also rendered our progress through these trackless woods very unpleasant, our horses becoming soon jaded, when the only alternative was to walk, and drive them before us. To add to these misfortunes, the poor animals were continually sinking in the swamps, from which we found it no easy task to extricate them. The Red-Deer River is very rapid, so that its rise must be considerable, though not discernible when travelling through the woods which skirt it. The general appearance of the country is flat, intersected with lakes and swamps, and occasionally broken undulat- ing ground. The weather during this part of our jour- ney, proved very unfavourable; snow and a thick fog- prevented my making much observation on the vegetation, which, however, appeared to bear the same character until we approached the mountains. It also forbade my getting any view whatever of the Rocky Mountains, until we actually reached them. We arrived at Jasper's House on the eleventh day, having travelled a distance of 200 miles since we quitted Assinaboyne Fort, under disadvantageous 190 circumstances ; but all the party were in good health, and we were joined by the canoes on the day following. Jasper's Lake may be considered as the entrance to the Rocky Mountains. It is about 8 or 9 miles in length, and 2 or 3 in breadth, being, in fact, merely an expansion of the Red-Deer River. The Hudson's Bay Company have built a hut here for the accommodation of the person who takes charge of their horses, which are used for crossing the Portage to the Col- umbia ; but the boats, after discharging part of their cargo at the head of the lake, proceed about 50 miles farther up the river, where the Portage commences, to the Upper House. The kindness of Lieut. Simpson, R. N., who was at this time employed in surveying the country, gave me the opportunity of ascertaining the latitude of the commence- ment and termination of the Rocky Mountains Portage. Jasper's House, or the beginning of the mountains, is in 53^ 18' 40" north latitude, U7" 38' 36" west longitude. The commencement of the Portage 52° 43' 10" north, 117o 54' 46" west; the travelling distance he estimates at 54 miles. The latitude of the west end of the Portage, at the Columbia, is 52° 7' 10", longitude 118° 22' 30", and he calculates the travellinij distance at 97 miles. The- height of one of the mountains, taken from the com- mencement of the Portage, Lieut. Simpson reckons at 5,900 feet above its apparent base, and he thinks that the altitude of the Rocky Mountains may be stated at about 16,000 feet above the level of the sea. The first indication which the vegetation afforded of our approach to the mountains, was the Arbutus alpina and Dryas Drimimotidii ; the latter, with a beautiful yellow flower, was growing upon the gravelly battures formed by one of the mountain rivulets : Dryas tenella was also there, and an Eriogonum of considerable beauty. I also observed Splachnum angiistatuni and S. mnioides, growing commonly on the animal tracks in the woods, principally on the dung of the wolf or fox. I after- wards ascertained, though too late to profit by the informa- tion, that two of the largest and finest mosses that are known, the Splachnum ruhrum and S. luteum, may be found in the 191 same vicinity. The Cetraria nivalis and C. cucuUata abound in the pine woods, and here I first observed the Pinus taxi- folia. That curious moss, the Gymnostomum pulvinatum is met with on the rocks, and also Neckera Menziesii, nov. sp. ; the latter but rarely. At the head of Jasper's Lake, our tract led us over a rather lofty rock, where, besides the beautiful Eriogonum and Dryas tenella, 1 found a plant much resembling a Saxifraga, with roundish leaves 'and pale red flowers, and also several of the alpine species of Potentilla. From this rock I obtained the first good view of the sur- rounding mountains, which gratified me extremely. The rocks are mountain limestone, and destitute of vegetation for about one-third of their height, but whether this is owincr to their great elevation, or to a want of soil, I am unable to determine. The Red-Deer River at this place takes a bend to the south, which it continues for upwards of 70 miles, forming a narrow valley of about a mile in breadth, with a fine range of mountains on each side, or they may rather be called groupes of mountains, as they are frequently inter- sected with deep narrow valleys, running in almost every direction. Their general height, skirting the river, may be computed at from 3 to 7,000 feet above it; there is generally a secondary kind of range at their bases, probably formed by the gradual crumbling down of the more elevated parts ; and almost always clothed with vegetation to the very top, while two-thirds or more of the highest range consists of nothing but bare rock, destitute of even a Lichen ; a circumstance which I attribute more to the nature of the soil than to the altitude of the mountains. The rocks frequently rise perpen- dicularly to a considerable height, but their summits are so sloping as to render them mostly accessible. On the whole, I thought their vegetation less interesting than what I had remarked on the rocks about the head of Clova and Loch- na-gar in Scotland. The dry arid sides of the low hills are thickly covered with Arbutus uva-ursi, mixed sometimes with Juniperus prostratiis, a plant which is also frequent on the steep and dry banks of the Saskatchawan. About half-way between Jasper's House and the commencement of the VOL. I. o 192 Portage, we crossed the Assinaboyne River, which is a large branch of the Red-Deer River, and running at ahnost right anffles with it, to the westward. I liad afterwards an oppor- tunity of following the course of this stream for 100 miles, but yet did not reach its source. I here first met with a species of Viscmn (?) on the Pinus Banksiana, and giving the branches of that tree a most curious appearance; also with Splachnmn mnioides and S. angustatum; and on the rocks grows Gymnostomum pulvi- natum, which for some time I mistook for a variety of Grim- mia apocarpa^ to which it bears a considerable resemblance ; Hypnum obtusifolium, Didymodon rigidulum, and D. fragile^ also occur here. On reaching the Portage, we halted for a day or two, to arrange the luggage, preparatory to crossing the Rocky Mountains. The very great difficulty with which this process was attended, compelled me to give up the resolution I had formed of going for the winter to the Columbia River, and decided me upon remaining among the Rocky Moun- tains, the gendeman who was in charge of the brigade hav- ing kindly promised to engage a hunter to remain with me during that time. He also provided me with horses to con- vey my luggage, but as I had left my tent and other neces- saries at Edmonton House, I found myself but indilFerendy equipped for an American winter. My plan was to reach the Smoking River, where the Hudson's Bay Company has an establishment : but unforseen circumstances prevented my accomplishing this design. The brigade left the Upper House on the 18th of October, and, for the first time in my life, I found myself alone with Indians; but every thing was so new to me, and I had such agreeable anticipations as to the result of my next summer's occupations, that I scarcely felt the solitariness of my situation. The snow again disap- peared partially from some of the low grounds, and I was busily engaged in investigating, as far as possible, the promise of the ensuing spring. Didymodon latifoUum, Gym- nostomum ovation, and a very handsome yellow Lichen, were growing upon die trees, likewise the curious parasitical plant, 193 which I mentioned before, as being probably a species of Viscum, was seen on the Pinus Banksiana. At the junction of the Assinaboyne with the Red-Deer River, I was first gratified with a sight of the Rocky Mountain sheep. At this season their flesh is excellent, superior, in my opinion, to the best English mutton. After they have been once disturbed, they become so shy and vigilant, that it is difficult to ap- proach them, taking refuge in the inaccessible pi'ecipices, but coming down to the grassy hills to feed, where the hunters frequently surprise them. Our route now lay along the Assinaboyne River, and we proceeded slowly, encamping at every 15 or 20 miles, and often remaining two or three days in the same spot, for the sake of huntino^. The following is the circumstance which hindered our reaching the Smoking River. The hunter whom I had engaged was accompanied by his brother-in-law, an Iroquois Indian, whose wife was taken in labour. According to the custom of these tribes, the woman quitted the tent in which she had lodged, until she should be delivered, and owing to the extreme severity of the weather, the ground being covered with snow, and the mercury indicating 38 degrees below zero, both the mother and her infant perished. The despondency which this event excited in the minds of the survivors, was so deep, that ten or fifteen days elapsed before they could be induced to quit the spot. The snow, during this interval, was gradually increasing, so that the only places which I could investigate were the per- pendicular sides of banks and rocks; for the trees, being chiefly of the fir tribe, produce but very few lichens. Here I observed Dufourea arctica^ Tortula brevifoUa, and Dicranum latifolium. It was the beginning of December before the hunter could be prevailed on to overcome his grief so far as to resume his occupation. We had ascended the Assina- boyne River upwards of 100 miles, when it here takes a south-westerly course, intersecting the chain of the Rocky Mountains almost exactly across. Tiie snow had become so deep, that the horses could proceed no fardier in that direction, and we were, in consequence, compelled to o 2 194 abandon altogether our hope of reaching the estabhshment on the Smoking River for this season. We therefore altered our route, keeping outside the mountains, and reached Baptiste River, so named after my hunter, who was in the habit of wintering there occasionally. This river falls into Red-Deer River, but it was the 1st of January, 1826, before we reached the station where we proposed to pass the winter. On the sandstone rocks of Baptiste River, I met with Gym- nostomum pusilliim and JVeissia Seligeri. The spot which the hunter had selected was an extensive plain, abounding in dicarf Willows and Betula glandtdosa ; and the burnt woods which covered the coimtry around afforded good grass for the horses, of which we had a large band, and sheltered also the American Elk or Moose Deer, and the Wood Buffalo, which choose those burnt woods as their favourite resort. These animals, if frequently disturbed, will quit the place, and we now found this to be the case; for our hunter, though considered one of the most expert shots in the country, found it difficult to procure enough for our supply, and was often obliged to travel for eight or ten days without seeing one of these creatures. As we were now likely to remain stationary for a short time, I set about building myself a brushwood hut, formed of the boughs of the JVhite Spruce, and soon completed it. I had calculated upon being able to procure a good many specimens of birds during the winter, but here too I was disappointed, for most of them quit this country during the hard weather, and a very few kinds only remain, chiefly belonging to the genera Tetrao, Picus, Stryx, Corvus, &c. Among them I remarked two species of Parus, and the Lesser Redpoll. It is difficult to understand how these little creatures can resist the severity of cold in these high latitudes. A slight shower of rain fell about the 10th of January, which is a very rare phenomenon at this time of year; and it caused us great inconvenience, by moistening the surface of the snow for a few inches, when the succeeding night's frost formed it into a hard crust, by which travelling was rendered very laborious and difficult, and it became almost impossible to get near any animal, owing to the noise 195 made in walking, by the breaking of the crust. At this time, January 10th, the snow was about two feet deep, and it gradually increased till the 27th of March, its greatest average depth being from five to six feet. Our liorses began to suiFer considerably from the unusual severity of the winter : the hunters lost the whole of the young ones of the preceding year, and one which I had received from the Company died also. The animals of all kinds were becoming more and more scarce, so that my hunter resolved upon leaving this spot, and accordingly removed 80 or 100 miles farther down the river, but I preferred remaining where I was, though my situation became very lonel}^, being deprived of books or any source of amusement. When the weather permitted, I generally took a walk, to habituate myself to the use of snow shoes, but I added very little to my collections. The hunter returned about the beginning of March, bringing with him some venison, which proved a very acceptable supply, as the Partridges, Tetrao canadensis, and T. rupestris, the only game to be met with in my short rambles, were becoming difficult to be obtained. Nothing particular occui'red until the 1st of April, when I determined upon going back to the Portage, in hopes of receiving letters from Captain Franklin or from home, as well as for the purpose of procuring specimens of the waterfowl which might then be expected to return to the many lakes in the vicinity. I left Baptiste River, accordingly, accompanied by the Indian who took charge of my horses, and carrying with me the few specimens of plants and birds that I had been able to obtain. In six days we reached Jas- per's House, the distance in a direct line being from 150 to 200 miles, which was the greatest journey I had ever yet performed in snow shoes. On the 9th I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. M'Millan, who brought me, from Edmonton House, my tent, another supply of paper, and a little tea and sugar, by which my situation was rendered comparatively comfortable. The winter, he assured me, had been remarkably severe, and vegetation was a full month later than usual. The ducks and geese now began to return, so that my time was fully 196 occupied till the 6th of May, when the brigade arrived, having crossed the Rocky Mountains from the Columbia River. They found me encamped near a small lake, about half-way between Jasper's House and the commencement of the Portage, living upon IVhite Fish, which, though small, are of an excellent quality, and which I did not observe in any other lake among the Rocky Mountains. I agreed to accompany the brigade as far as Jasper's House, and ac- cordingly set out with them on horseback. Having crossed the Assinaboyne River, the party halted to breakfast, and I went on before them for a few miles, to procure specimens of a Jungermannia, which I had previously observed in a small rivulet on our track. On this occasion I had a narrow escape from the jaws of a grisly bear; for, while passing through a small open glade, intent upon discovering the moss of which I was in search, I was surprised by hearing a sudden rush and then a harsh growl, just behind me; and on looking round, I beheld a large bear approaching towards me, and two young ones making off in a contrary direction as fast as possible. My astonishment was great, for I had not calculated upon seeing these animals so eai'ly in the season, and this was the first I had met with. She halted within two or three yards of me, growling and rearing her- self on her hind feet, then suddenly wheeled about, and went off in the direction the young ones had taken, probably to ascertain whether they were safe. During this momentary absence, I drew from my gun the small shot with which I had been firing at ducks during the morning, and which, I was well aware, would avail me nothing against so large and powerful a creature, and replaced it with ball. The bear, meanwhile, had advanced and retreated two or three times, apparently more furious than ever; halting at each interval within a shorter and shorter distance of me, always raising herself on her hind legs, and growling a horrible defiance, and at length approaching to within the length of my gun from me. Now was my time to fire : but judge of my alarm and mortification, when I found that my gun would not go off! The morning had been wet, and the damp liad 197 communicated to the powder. My only resource was to plant myself firm and stationary, in the hope of disabling the bear by a blow on her head with the butt end of my gun, when she should throw herself on me to seize me. She had gone and returned ten or a dozen times, her rage apparently increasing with her additional confidence, and I momentarily expected to find myself in her gripe, when the dogs belong- ing to the brigade made their appearance, but on beholding the bear they fled with all possible speed. The horsemen were just behind, but such was the surprise and alarm of the whole party, that though there were several hunters and at least half-a-dozen guns among them, the bear made her escape unhurt, passing one of the horsemen, (whose gun, like mine, missed fire,) and apparently intimidated by the number of the party. For the future, I took care to keep my gun in better order, but I found, by future experience, that the best mode of getting rid of the bears when attacked by them, was to rattle my vasculum, or specimen box, when they imme- diately decamp. This is the animal described by Lewis and Clark in their Travels on the Missouri, and so much dreaded by the Indians. My adventure with the bear did not, how- ever, prevent my accomplishing the collecting of the Junger- maimia. It is No. 17 of the " American Mosses." On the 7th of May, I found the first plant in flower, namely, the Anemone Nuttalliana ; the A. borealis and Saxi- fraga oppositifoUa soon followed, with Alyssum arerwsum and A. arcticum, some species of Draba and Carex, &c. Among the mosses, I must not omit Neckera Menziesii, Didymodon latifoliiim, D. ohlongifoUum, and Weissia macro- carpa, (the two latter growing on slate,) Funaria Muhlen- bergii, Hypnum Halleriy and, though very sparingly, Spfach- num rubrum, and S. luteum. Immediately upon arriving at Jasper's House, I had despatched the Indian who took charge of my horses back to Baptiste River, there to take care of them until the season was sufficiently advanced to allow of their travelling. He arrived on the 17th, bringing the animals and the paper, &c. which I had left thei-e, and charged also with the 198 unwelcome intelligence, that the hunter with whom I had spent the winter, and whom I had engaged to accompany me to the Rocky Mountains in the summer, had, with that fickle- ness which is characteristic of most Indians, changed his mind, and refused to go to the mountains this season. This circumstance caused me much uneasiness, and I had no other remedy but to remain with the old Canadian who had charge of the Company's horses for the Portage ; and as he had only stated places where his animals could find pastur- age, I was much more confined in my range than I should otherwise have been. Although I might possibly have killed as much game as was necessary for my own use and that of the person who kept the horses, yet the time which this would have occupied would have left me but little leisure for any other employment. We remained in the vicinity of Jasper's House, until the 15th of June, making collections of all that the country afforded. The species olPotentilla and Ranunculus, which are numerous among the Rocky Mountains, were now coming into flower. Arbutus alpina, Dryas tenella, &c. were also in bloom, and the beautiful Calypso borealis ornamented the pine woods. On leaving Jasper's House, we skirted along the mountains to the north, halting occasionally for a day or two, until we reached the Lac-la- Pierre, a distance of per- haps 60 miles in a straight line. This lake is surrounded by what I have called secondary rocks, covered with vegetation, which was advancing rapidly, so that I had my hands com- pletely full of employment, but I had now to encounter a formidable obstacle, and one of which I had formed very inadequate ideas, in the rise of the waters, caused by the melting of the snows. The smallest ravine, that had been dry for nine months of the year, becomes, under these cir- cumstances, an impassable torrent. The larger rivers are flooded in proportion. A fall of the temperature certainly occasions a corresponding diminution of the waters, but these transitions are so sudden, that it is dangerous to trust to them, as I experienced more than once, when having suc- ceeded in crossing a stream in the morning, I found it so 199 swollen on my return, that I was compelled to remain for days a prisoner on the other side, to the great hindrance of my plans, and injury of the plants collected. This difficulty could not be avoided but by having two or three men and a skin canoe. Many of the plants that grow here are very local, apparently often confined to one particular mountain or valley, and I am quite confident that if any one could penetrate farther into the interior than it was in my power to do, they would be amply repaid for the fatigue thereby incurred. It might be easily managed by carrying a suf- ficient quantity of Pemmican, made previously, or obtained from the flesh of the animals that occur here, and thus reaching the Height of Land before the melting of the snow. As an instance of the exclusive locality of some plants, I may mention what I observed in a small plain, surrounded by mountains, and situated about 30 miles west from Lac-la- Pierre, and called by the hunters the Wolf Plain. Here I gathered Claytonia lanceolata, Anemone patens, a large species of Valeriana, Spergula saginoides, Veronica officinalis. Ciner- aria ? Tussilago frigida, Lupinus perennis, and new species of the genera Ranuncidus, Caltha, Trollius, Potentilla, &c. &c. ; most of these were in the greatest abundance, and scarcely observed anywhere else during my route. Splachnwm urceo- latum and sphcericum also grew there, and Neph7'oma polaris. Among the mosses which I saw in the vicinity of Jasper's House, were Phascum cuspidatum, Gymnostomum Heimii, Weissia latifoUa, Systylium splachnoides, Tayloria splach- noides, &c. The effects of the unusually cold winter were now ob- servable in the excessive emaciation of the animals, which were reduced to skin and bone. All vegetation was ex- tremely backward, and according to the assertion of the old Canadian, who had been resident for many years among the Rocky Mountains, the waters were higher than they had been for twenty years. To conclude, the mosquitoes were also dreadfully numerous, owing to the almost continual rain ; for in dry weather, when the atmosphere is clear and frosty at night, these insects are much diminished in quantity. We 200 remained in the vicinity of Lac-la- Pierre, making excursions for 15 or 20 miles around, and then left the camp, and pitched our tent at Grande Saline^ about 20 miles south-west of our last station. Here are a great number of salt springs ; but I observed little that was peculiar in the vegetation. At this spot only I found Splachnu7n heterophyllum, and at about a day's ride, 60 miles west of this place, I first met with Veratrum viride, and several species of Potentilla and Ran- unculus that I had not previously seen. About the 20th of July, we began to retrace our journey, as the Canadian had received orders to have his horses in readiness at Jasper's House by the 24th, as the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company was expected to cross to the Columbia at this time. I therefore determined to return at the same period, hoping to be able to cross by the assistance of the Governor ; but other arrangements having been effected, he did not arrive. After waiting for ten or twelve days in fruitless expectation, I was compelled to give up the scheme, as the waters were too high to be passed without the assistance of canoes, &c. Having here fallen in with several Indians, who had assem- bled to receive ammunition, &c. from the Governor, I en- gaged one of them to accompany me in a tour through the Rocky Mountains to the north, as far as the sources of Peau River. After depositing the specimens I had collected at Jasper's House, we again set off, taking Lac-la- Pierre in our route, for the purpose of obtaining the seeds of those plants which I had already observed there. Here we staid for a few days, in order to lay in provisions for our journey, but were vei'y unsuccessful, only killing a single Rocky Mountain sheep, which was quickly devoured, as my hunter's family consisted of his wife, five children, and himself, besides me, and the person that took charge of my horses. We there- fore determined upon proceeding, and of depending upon what we should meet with on the route, which proved very inadequate to our demands ; however, we contrived to make shift, until we reached the Smoking River, one of the branches of Peau River, where we again met with some of the mountain sheep, and succeeded in killing a few, which 201 put a close to our state of comparative starvation. The Smoking River is about 200 miles, in a direct line, from Jasper's House. Here I first found Rhododendron lapponi- cutn, Mitella cordifolia, and a new species ? Woodsia hyper- borea, a new Caltha, a species of Trollius, &c., Conostomnm boreale, Hypnum confervoideum, Eriophorum capitatum, and several other rare species. Between Providence and Smok- ing River, we passed a chain of beautiful green grassy hills, much frequented by the buffaloes. This journey was not, on the whole, very productive. I found Menziesia empetrifolia and M. globulains, both in great abundance, also a new species of Menziesia with white flowers, two species of Be- faria, Ruhus stellatus, a Mimuclus like Lewisii, Veratrum viride, a small shrub with fine flavoured fruit, which also grew on the Height of Land, Juncus biglumis and arcuatuSy and a new species, and Tiarella cordifolia. All the hills in this neighbourhood are covered with Andromeda tetragona. We had a considerable fall of snow on the 24th of August, which only partially left the ground afterwards, continuing to linger on the high spots, and it much impeded my opera- tions. I remained here until the latter part of September, causing pemmican to be made of the buffaloes' flesh, which my hunter killed, with the intention of carrying it to the Columbia, where I hoped to spend the winter among the mountains; but letters that I received from Captain Franklin obliged me to alter my plans, and the frequency of snow showers compelled me to return to the Portage by a different route from that which I had jiursued in going. One of my principal objects in visiting Providence had been to obtain specimens of the Mouton blanc, a kind of goat, but though I devoted several days exclusively to that pursuit, 1 had not the satisfaction of seeing one ; although in some seasons of the year they are said to be plentiful. Little occurred worthy of remark on my return to Edmonton House, where I busied myself in gathering seeds of the plants I had formerly col- lected. Now, however, I determined upon crossing the Portage, with the Columbia brigade, as I had formed a strong idea 202 that the vegetation would change considerably in its charac- ter, after passing the Height of Land. This surmise I found to be correct, as may be seen from the habitats affixed to the specimens from the Rocky Mountains. About 15 or 20 miles above the commencement of the Portage, we left the main branch of Red-Deer River, and followed a lesser stream that here joins it, winding along its banks, and not unfrequently scrambling in the bed of it, until we reached a small lake where it takes its source, and the Height of Land. The lake is not more than 200 yards in length, and is called the Committee's Punch Bowl. Out of its other extremity flows one of the tributary streams of the Columbia. On reaching the middle, I took a hearty draught, pleasing myself with the thought that some of the water I had tasted might have flowed either to the Frozen or Pacific Oceans. I observed little change in the vegetation until within ten or a dozen miles of this lake : the trees were gradually di- minishing in size, and, on the sides of the high ground, reduced to mere bushes, principally JHiite Spruce and Balsam Poplar. I may enumerate a few of the plants, as far as I am able to do so from recollection. A Saxifraga like S. trijida, but with the foliage simple ; another resembling multijida, the leaves much divided, with creeping shoots. S. leucanthemifolia ? entirely viviparous ; another species with nearly round foliage, and also viviparous ; another plant be- longing to this order, with oblongo-ovate leaves, approaching in habit S. umhrosa, but having the leaves distichous, and white underneath ; a small plant, growing in spongy places, like an Hippuris, about two inches high ; a diminutive creep- ing plant, exactly similar to AnagalUs tenella, of which I preserved no specimens ; a low procumbent shrub, with cor- date foliage, and bearing very fine flavoured red berries ; a hexandrous plant, probably a Fritillaria, only the stem and seed-vessels remaining, of which seeds were brought home, but I am ignorant whether they have vegetated, &c. The following mosses also occurred : Dicranum Starkii, Trichos- tamtwi patens, T. sudeticum, T. aciculare, and T. lanuginosum ; Hypnum molle, H. stramhieum, Bryum Zierii, and a species 203 named by Dr. Hooker B. Schleicheri, which grows in the stream that falls into the Columbia, at its very eflux from the lake. When it is considered that we visited this place in the middle of October, and during a violent snow storm, which had already covered the ground to a depth of several inches, we may form some idea of what might be expected to be the productions of this country, lying at the very foot of the Rocky Mountains, during fine weather, and at an earlier season of the year, when so many peculiar plants were still observable, although I was obliged to keep up with the brigade, and we proceeded as quickly as possible. At the time of my return, the snow was so deep as to preclude the possibility of finding any thing. The first glacier I saw, was about twenty miles before reaching the lake ; but I visited a very large one at ten miles nearer to the lake. I found the trees, or rather bushes, of IVJiite Spruce and Balsam Poplar^ growing almost close to the ice. The only thing that repaid me for the trouble was a patch of Trichostomum lanuginosum, the only one I met with during the journey. To the plants I have already named, may be added Tiarella trifoliata^ T. cordifolia, and T. Menziesii, a species of Spiraa, Vaccinium hispidulum, Gaultheria serpyllifolia, and another Vaccinium allied to V. Myrtillus ; none of these, however, were in flower. Amongst the CryptogamicB, I also found here Adiantnm pe- datum, and Aspidiiim Lonchitis ; Pohjtrichum pallidisetum, var., Grimmia torquata, a nondescript Didymodon, and doubtless many more which have escaped my memory, and which, with those enumerated, were scarcely seen any where else. When the lake is passed, you descend rather gently for about eight or ten miles, with a similar vegetation to that of the eastern side; but when the summit of the Great Hill, or Grand Cote, a few miles beyond the Height of Land, is attained, the change becomes most striking. Instead of the stunted miserable looking Balsam and llliite Spruce which grow on the eastern side, the Pinus Strohus and P. canadensis, with Thuja occidentalism and several other trees, increasing in variety as you descend, and often attaining an enormous size, present themselves to view, their branches also covered 204 with Sticta pubnonacea, and Cetraria glauca, enhancing ma- terially the novelty of their appearance. Here also I found a most troublesome kind of Aralia, the A. erinacea^ Hook, in great abundance ; also Menziesiaferruginea, and a large species ofSpircea, allied to S. Arimcus ; two or three different Uvularice; a species oi Dracana^ bearing only one berry of a blue colour; Pyrola umhellata, a very singular and new kind of umbelli- ferous plant; Lycopodium Selago, var., Hypnum rohustiim^ (Hooker;) H. vagans, tenax^ and loreum ; Dicranum hetero- mallum^ and D. crispum ; Polytrichum alpinum^ urnigerumy and undulatum, &c. The " Grande Cote" is of very steep and difficult descent for two or three miles. Upon reaching the base, we came upon Portage River, which has its rise in the lake called the Committee's Punch Bowl, and which, running through a small and narrow valley, perhaps 20 miles long, finally falls into the Columbia River. The stream is very winding, and it is necessary to cross it in many places, which, at this season of the year, was a very unpleasant operation, the water being often as high as a man's middle. The track leaves the river in two places, where the valley is quite filled with the current, or intercepted with rocks, and traverses the points of two woods, in which I observed Pothos fcetida^ which had not occurred since leaving New York, and, for the first time, Mahonia pinnata, and a shrub resembling Box- wood ; two or three species of Vaccinium unknown to me, and growing two or three feet high, with large but not very well flavoured fruit; a species of Noli-me-tangere ; Circcea alpina; Lycopodium Selago ; Aspidium Lonchitis, acideatum, and Phcegopteris ; on rocks opposite the first wooded point, were Hypnum necheroides^ Bryum hornum, Weissia acutely (likewise found on the Height of Land,) Bartramia Halleriana, Di- cranum pellucidum ; and on stones in the river, that most curious moss, Scouleria aquatica (of Hooker, in No. I. of the present work, t. 19,) while the "battures," or gravelly banks, left bare by the receding of the streams, were covered with Dicranum julaceum, D. pellucidum, &c. We reached the Boat Encampment on the Columbia, the 17th of October. On the following day, the bl-igade pursued their voyage, and 205 I began to prepare for re-crossing the Rocky Mountains. I observed little that was interesting or peculiar in the vege- tation about the Columbia. All the plants were out of flower, and most of them, indeed, in a state of decay. It was with much regret that I began to retrace my steps back to Jasper's House, with the person in charge of the horses; and till our arrival at the commencement of the Portage, the weather continued wet and stormy, the Height of Land being deeply covered with snow, so that my collections received no additions. On my journey, I met with Mr. Finnan M'Donald, a gentleman who had been for upwards of twenty years in the Company's service, to the west of the mountains. From him I received much information relative to the dis- tricts south of the Columbia, which had been explored by himself only, and also an account of the enormous pine tree found in the Umpquha country, and of a tree smelling like Laurus Camphora, both, I understand, since introduced into Britain by Mr. D. Douglas. We arrived at Jasper's House on the 30th of October, and spent ten or fifteen days there in making arrangements for descending the river from Fort Assinaboyne, and in exploring the adjacent country. The most interesting object that I saw, was a species of Pimis, whose jreneral habit bore a considerable resemblance to Pinus Strobus : the cones are about double the size of those of P. sylvestris, but blunter at the apex, and with seeds very large in proportion to the cone. The squirrels, or some bird, had devoured the greater part of them, and mutilated the re- mainder. Of this tree, I observed but very few individuals, and these were confined to the very highest parts of the secondary mountains, such as near the glacier which I visited at the Height of Land. Pinus taxifolia is common here, and attains a larger circumference at the base than any other species which occurs on the eastern side of the Rocky Moun- tains. Its shape resembles a sugar loaf, tapering very quickly to the top. The bark is remarkably thick and rough near the root, and is frequently covered with Orthotricum ohtusi- foliwn, and with a fine yellow Lichen^ with brownisli black shields, which the natives of this country use for dyeing. Its 206 cones resemble those of the Spruce Fir, but are rather smaller. The seeds are furnished with remarkably long wings, which protrude half-an-inch beyond every scale, giving the cones a very singular appearance. There is also in this vicinity a species of Rubus, resembling R. odoratus^ but having white flowers, and a large and very insipid fruit; and the Aster exscapus, so called by Dr. Richardson, abounds here. It has a very singular habit, little like that of the genus Aster ; the flower buds are formed in Autumn, and bear an exact similarity to those of Globularia vulgaris. I watched it long, with great interest, expecting it to produce something very handsome, but found the blossoms remarkably insignificant, the rays being small and nearly white. Erigeron compositum is plentiful, and a very pretty little Astragalus, which I saw no where else : also Cryptogramma acrostichoides, Pteris gra- cilis, and a species (?) of Nephrodium, with the fronds whitish beneath. Having accomplished our preparations, I embarked my stock of specimens, and, with Mr. M'Donald and his family, began to descend the river. The winter had set in with all its rigour ; the cold became severe, the river had subsided greatly, and being choked with snow, and full of rapids and shallows, we found great difficulty in proceeding, being often obliged to quit the boat and lift her over the stones. We, however, continued to drift along with the stream for a few days; but our boat was so large and heavy that she fre- quently struck against the shallows, and we were almost worn out with fatigue, with our being continually obliged to jump into the half frozen water to endeavour to force her along. Mr. M 'Donald's legs were much cut and bruised with the floating ice, and I, who kept on my stockings to avoid this misfortune, suffered on the other hand with frost, which rendered my wet clothes a most painful encumbrance. The ice and snow now became so intense and heavy, that though we had calculated on reaching Fort Assinaboyne before the river became wholly impassable, we found our- selves unable to proceed, and stuck fast on the seventh day, when not more than half-way on our voyage. As Mr. 207 M'Donald's family were incapable of travelling, he agreed to encamp and remain with the luggage, while a clerk belono-ino- to the Company and myself prosecuted our journey on foot to Fort Assinaboyne, whence we were to send horses to his assistance. We had calculated on reaching this place in three days, but it was the fifth evening before we arrived, having, however, met with no other hindrance than the unavoidable hardships of such a journey. On the way I re- marked the Scheuchzeria palustris growing in a small lake, its seed-vessels only appearing above the ice. I met with this plant in no other situation. We received much kind- ness, on our arrival, from Mr. Harriot, the gentleman who has the charge of the Fort, who also sent horses, as soon as they could be procured, to the relief of Mr. M 'Don aid, who had suffered great anxiety from the delay occasioned by our long journey, and whose provisions were nearly exhausted. He reached us, happily, about the 1st of December, bringing with him the whole of the luggage in good order. After resting here for a few days, we prosecuted our journey to Edmonton House, where we intended to winter, and got there about the middle of December, being most kindly welcomed by J. Rowand, Esq. Superintendant of the Fort. I immediately applied myself to the examination and arrange- ment of my specimens, which, it gave me much pleasure to find, were in excellent preservation, and as I now considered the most hazardous part of the expedition to be over, I spent the three succeeding months in comparative ease and com- fort. In the beginning of February, I received the agreeable intelligence from Dr. Richardson of the complete success of his undertaking, and that he expected to be at Carlton House in February, where he desired me to join him as soon as convenient. Accordingly, I quitted Edmonton House in the middle of March, taking with me a single specimen of every plant gathered among the Rocky Mountains; also a train of dogs, and a half-bred and Indian guide. Owing to some misunderstanding between the Hudson's Bay Company and the Indians of the plains, it was considered unsafe to pursue the usual track between the Posts, which very much VOL. I. P 208 lenathened our route and caused us considerable inconveni- ence. We proceeded for a few days along the river, and then struck into the wooded country north of the Saskatcha- wan, to avoid encountering the hostile tribes. We shortly began to feel symptoms of snow blindness, which consider- ably retarded our progress, and although we had a sufficient supply of provisions for this journey in usual cases, we still found our stores considerably diminishing. The blindness became worse, and although we fired at several animals, we did not succeed in killino: any. To add to our distresses, we now discovered that we had gone too far into the woods, by which the distance that we had to traverse was much in- creased. Our dogs became excessively fatigued, so that we were under the necessity of cutting up our sledge and carry- ing the luggage ourselves. The provisions were wholly spent, and I was compelled to destroy a fine specimen of the Jumping Deer, as I have before mentioned, although it was the only one we had been able to procure, and I had carried it all the way from the Columbia River, where I had killed it. As I had not been very particular in divesting this skin of the flesh, it proved the more valuable on that account. Our ignorance of the actual distance which lay between us and the Fort, prevented the Indians from desponding, for we expected to reach it every succeeding night; but we grew weak with exhaustion, and proceeded, therefore, but the more and more slowly. Within about a day's journey of the Fort, the half-bred Indian recognised the spot where we were, and we had the good fortune to kill a Skiink, an animal which I have omitted to mention in my former list, and which afforded us a comfortable meal. This creature, when hunted, discharges an intolerably fetid liquor upon its pursuers, and few dogs will afterwards attempt to destroy it. The one which we killed on the evening before we reached the Fort, proved tolerable eating, though it had a strong flavour of this obnoxious liquid. The distance being now so inconsiderable, I laid down my luggage, and we made our way to the Fort as quickly as possible. You may judge of my happiness at being first met on my approach by Dr. 209 Richardson, who had been looking for us some time, and had become very uneasy at our delay. I immediately ex- perienced the hospitality of P. Prudens, Esq. Superintendant of the Fort, and I may safely say that I did justice to it; for after having more than once despatched all the victuals set before me, my voracity induced Dr. Richardson to inquire how long I had fasted, a question which I evaded for some time, under apprehension that he would use his authority to prevent tlie bad consequences which sometimes result from repletion after a long fast; however, I am happy to say that no uncomfortable effects ensued, and after a night's rest, I was almost fit for another journey. It was on the 5th of April that I arrived, and immediately set about gathering specimens of the different birds and animals found in the neighbourhood of Carlton House. Having previously enumerated, so far as I could, the most remarkable plants, I shall now mention a few of the animals and birds that came under my observation. The one that claims the first attention is the Rocky Mountain Sheep^ the animal called " Big Horn" by Lewis and Clark. In size it rather exceeds the largest English varieties of the common sheep. The rams are very remarkable for their immense and heavy horns, which turn round so as to form a volution and a half; and when this is the case, I have been assured that they often prove fatal to the animal, their points coming in contact with the ground, and preventing them from browsing. The female has small curved horns, like the common goat. Instead of wool, these sheep have hair like the moose deer. They are a timid inoffensive animal, herding in small flocks, and, on the approach of a dog, be- taking themselves to some rocky precipice, whither the enemy cannot follow them ; they then become an easy prey to the hunter, who may shoot them at his leisure. The female brings forth one and sometimes two young at a time, and hides them in some inaccessible place, where she visits them once or twice a-day, to give them suck, till they are strong enough to shift for themselves. They prefer the bare grassy mountains where there are steep rocks, to wliich they p 2 210 may retreat in case of alarm, in winter descending lower, but never quitting the mountains. There is a kind of earth met with among slate-rocks, of which these sheep are remarkably fond ; it is probably impregnated with salt, and by digging it out, they form caves of a considerable size. I have been repeatedly startled, when creeping along a narrow ledge of rock, to find a whole flock of them thus engaged ; and as it sometimes happens that such spots are accessible only by one path, it is necessary to retreat as quickly as possible, or run the risk of being thrown down by them and dashed over the precipice. They appear to be tenacious of life, as they frequently make good their escape after being severely wounded. Their flesh is excellent, exactly resembling, both in appearance and flavour, the best English mutton. The IVhite Sheepi which I mentioned before as having fruitlessly endeavoured to obtain, is another very interesting creature, and peculiar to the Rocky Mountains. It is said to resemble the common goat in every respect, except having a fine and beautiful wool intermixed among the hair, particularly along the back and buttocks. I have seen the skins of this animal, but was not so fortunate as to procure a good specimen. Although one of my main objects in going to the mountains north of the Smoking River, was to obtain the llliite Sheep, none were to be found, though at times they frequent that neighbourhood in considerable numbers. The bears next claim our notice : and first, the Grisly Bear. As I have already mentioned the only instance of my being attacked by them, I have only to add that they are a very formidable creature, from their great size and strength, being said to prove an overmatch for every other animal inhabiting these regions, not excepting the BufFaloe. They are abundant about the Rocky Mountains, differing much in colour, varying from a light grey to a dark chocolate hue; the last kind beinrj said to be more ferocious than the others. They abound among the mountains north of the Smoking River. Except in the first instance, I always found the bears disposed to retreat as fast as possible, without offering the least affront; and as I was but indifferently armed, 211 carrying only a single-barrelled gun, I considered it the safest plan to follow their example ; particularly as there are generally two or more of these creatures in company. I therefore contented myself with procuring two fine specimens of their heads, my means of conveyance being altogether inadequate to the carrying a whole skin ; but I was so un- lucky as to lose one of these heads, which a Wolverine carried away while it was drying. The flesh is very bad eating, the very dogs refusing to touch it. Their food con- sists of flesh, berries, and roots: the berries of the Hippophae canadensis have a very obvious effect upon them, acting as a strong cathartic. They lie dormant for a few months in the depth of winter, and when they retire to their hiding-places, generally under a fallen tree, or some similar situation, they are extremely fat, and even when they first sally out, are in good condition, which, however, they soon lose. I saw several m.iserable objects, (proofs of their prowess,) at the various establishments of the Company, but as I have already detailed the particulars to Dr. Richardson, it will be un- necessary here to repeat them. The Black Bear is also an inhabitant of these mountains, but it is a much less for- midable animal than the grisly bear. These are likewise subject to great variety of colour, and I have seen the skin of one nearly white, at least cream coloured; there is also a kind with a reddish snout, which the hunters consider the most ferocious, but they seldom or ever attack man, unless wounded, or when defending their young. Their food ap- pears to consist principally of roots, and their flesh is tolerably good food, as I often had occasion to experience, the paws being considered a great delicacy by the Indians, who hunt them with avidity, while they are in great fear of the grisly bear. The description of them in Lewis and Clark's Travels, appears rather overcharged; but perhaps they are more ferocious on the Missouri than they are in more northern latitudes. A species of Marmot inhabits the Rocky Mountains, of which I am sorry to say that no speci- men was obtained. It is called by the Canadians Le Siffleur, being remarkable for its whistling. I saw it occasionally, 212 but never got near enough to shoot it; it appears to be about the size of a common cat, and resembles a badger in colour. These marmots are extremely vigilant, always placing a sentinel, who watches while the rest are feeding or cutting provisions for the winter ; on being disturbed, he gives a shrill whistle, which is repeated from one to another along the whole side of the mountain which they inhabit. Their flesh is much esteemed by the natives, who take them in traps, and they are much more frequent on the western than the eastern side of the mountains." I observed them on the mountains near the Wolf's Plain, and also saw there the following little animal, Arctomys Parryi, which is abundant there, and in its manners appearing exactly to resemble those species which inhabit the plains about Carlton. Speci- mens of it were brought home. There is also another diminutive animal found among the Rocky Mountains, whose general form and appearance exactly resembles a young rabbit of five or six weeks old, having small round ears. It is probably another kind of marmot, and lives in rough stony places near the summits of the mountains. It has a weak cry, resembling that of a rabbit when hurt. Upon the approach of any one, it gives the alarm, disappearing among the stones, and soon showing itself ai^ain at a distance of fif- teen or twenty yards from its first station. They appear to make no burrows of their own, but make their way among the interstices of the stones with great celerity. They live on grass, and probably sleep during the winter. Among the birds of these regions, the Calumet Eagle is one of the scarcest. It is about the size of the common grey eagle of our mountains, and nearly of the same colour, the tail excepted, which is very beautiful, — black at both ex- tremities, and white in the middle. They are highly prized by the natives, who decorate their war bonnets and the stems of their calumets with their feathers, whence I have adopted the name. It would appear that they are very rare, as I never saw any but the one I killed. It was a very old bird, and the plumage in bad order, having been shot in the sum- mer-time, upon the summit of one of the mountains near 213 Lac-la- Pierre. Had I but the pen of M. Aiuhiboii, I could give as striking a description of it as he gives of the " Bird of Washington." Of the genus Tetrao I remarked the following species : Tetrao PhasianelluSi the one which I have already described as inhabiting the plains; T. canadensis^ which frequents pine woods ; T. Umbellus, or the White Flesher, a bird found among poplar woods, and remarkable for the curious beating that it makes with its wings, and always when seated on a fallen tree ; another species of Tetrao, nearly allied to the last, and probably only a variety of it ; T. Rich- ardsoni: — this fine bird has been thus named by M. Louis Bonaparte, in honour of Dr. Richardson ; it is the largest species that I saw, and appears to be peculiar to the Rocky Mountains; the back of the male is of an uniform dark brown, nearly black, with the breast and under part of a leaden colour, the space round the eyes, which is bare of feathers, is, in this bird, of a yellow colour. The usual station of the male, about the pairing time, is on some rocky eminence, or large stone, where he sits, swelling out his neck, spreading his tail, and repeating the cry, " Coomhe, Coombe" in the fine mornings. The hens much resemble the females of Tetrao canadensis, and are considerably smaller than the other sex. They live on berries and herbs of various kinds, and are very good eating. Of those species that turn white during winter, I saw three; they were easily distinguishable by one having the whole tail black, another has only two black feathers in it, and the other has a tail entirely white. Neither Ptarmigans nor IVillow-Grous occur among the mountains, and none of the species are migratory ; but the winter residents are few in number. The following birds were seen : seven or eight species of Wood- pecker, the Golden Winged species being the only one that migrates ; three or four different Owls ; the Common llaven^ and the Corvus canadensis, (the Uskashoan of the Indians;) this bird is very familiar, generally making its appearance wherever you may chance to encamp, attracted doubtless by the hope of finding provisions. It is very fond of the fat of meat, which it will steal, and lay up encache for a future 214 occasion. It begins to build early : I observed a pair col- lecting materials for a nest on the 18th of March, although the ground was covered at the time with five or six feet depth of snow. The Lesser Redpoll, and two species of Parus are also winter residents, which is astonishing, as the ther- mometer often sinks to 50 degrees below zero. One kind of Falcon, the Falco palumbarius, also remained all the year at the place where I first resided during the winter, on Baptiste River, about 60 or 80 miles from the Rocky Mountains: also the Snow Bunting, [Ember iza nivalis,) and a kind of Water Ouzel, very similar to the British species, but without the white breast. Those birds which are migratory, quit this part of the country about the beginning of October, and reappear in the latter end of April. One of the first to return is the JVhite Headed Eagle, and then follow the Ducks and Geese, with a whole host of small birds. The only songster is a species of Turdus, called by the Canadians the Robin ; it resembles the common thrush, except in having a reddish breast. In the spring of 1826, immense flocks of the Bohemicm or Waxen Chatterer were observed feeding on the berries of Arbutus Uva-ursi, but I do not think that they breed here, although a small flock of them was seen on the south branch of the Saskatchawan in June 1827. The snow-shoe travelling, and the mode of encamping during winter has been so frequently described, that it is quite unnecessary for me to detail them here. One of the principal inducements for fixing upon any particular situation is when it affords dry wood in abundance. The snow is then cleared away with the assistance of the snow-shoes, and trees of a large size having been felled, they are divided into lengths fit for carrying. You may then, after lighting a fire collect a parcel of pine branches, the white spruce and balsam if procurable, are the best, with which a space is covered sufficient for a bed, and proceed to prepare supper. Pemmican is the best and most convenient food to be carried upon a journey. Without a pound of this and a little tea, no one should think of travelling in these desert wilds; it affords an excellent meal, and the hunter may afterwards 215 prepare for rest by rolling round him the blanket which he always takes with him. If the fire be occasionally renewed, the weather seldom causes much inconvenience. To a person accustomed to all the luxuries a civilized country can afford, this mode of life appears hard and uninviting, but the change takes place gradually, and is therefore but little felt. It seems strange, too, to live entirely on animal food, without any vegetables or salt, but it produces no inconvenience, as I can attest from an experience of about eighteen months, when I enjoyed a state of perfect health. I found full employment in collecting the productions of the vicinity of Carlton House till the end of May, when Dr. Richardson quitted us to meet Captain Franklin at Cumber- land House : thither Captain Back and I and the rest of the Expedition followed him in the beginning of July; but during my stay at Carlton House, I made several short ex- cursions to the South Branch River, which rises considerably farther to the southward than the North Branch, but I did not find a single plant different from what are met with on the latter river. I also ascended the North Branch for upwards of a hundred miles, but saw little that was not equally common nearer to the Fort; from which circum- stances, I was induced to conclude that little variation takes place for a considerable distance to the southward. Dr. Richardson having left his servant with me, we embarked in a small canoe on the 14th of July, picking up what specimens we could find along the river, and reached Cumberland House on the morning of the 19th, quite safe. As Captain Back was not yet arrived, I determined upon making an excursion as far north as Beaver Lake, where I added a few common plants to the collection ; but as Dr. Richardson had already passed that way twice before, there was little left for me to do. I returned again to Cumberland House, and in a few days Captain Back and Lieutenant Kendall, with the rest of the people belonging to the Expedition, arrived in excellent health, and we immediately began preparing to embark for York Factory, on Hudson's Bay. As we travelled with much despatch, my collections 216 received but little accessions of any importance. Cypripedium arietinum was found on the portage of the Grand Rapids, at the entrance of Lake Winnipeg ; Weissia calcarea and Tor- tula humilis on the limestone rocks of the same lake ; Splach- num ampullaceum was growing between Norway House and the Bay, while Splachnum vasculosum and intermedmm, Weissia turbinata, Cinclidiiim stygium^ &c. abounded near the Factory. Several phaenogamous plants, not previously re- marked, were met with, such as Saxifraga Hirculus, Carda- mine pratensis, a species of Tanacetum, and two or three Umbelliferce, one of them viviparous, with some Syngenesious plants, and Aralia hispida, &c. &c. On the 1st of September, we encountered a dreadful storm in Hudson's Bay, from which we escaped as if by miracle. We had gone to visit the ship, which lay at five or six miles distance from the Fort; the party consisting of Captain Back, Lieutenant Kendall, Mr, D. Douglas, the Doctor belonging to the establishment, and myself, with eight men. On leav- ing the vessel to return to the Fort in the evening, the wind blew rather freshly, but little danger was apprehended; it suddenly, however, increased to a hurricane, and we were compelled to return if possible to the ship, but after several vain attempts, we found this to be impracticable. We, therefore, threw out an anchor until a boat should be sent to our assistance from the ship. This was immediately done, the boat being furnished with a tow line, and just as it had neared to within twenty or thirty yards of us, our anchor gave way, and we were driven off, at the mercy of the winds and waves. Our masts were almost immediately carried overboard, and after a dreadfully severe, but ineffectual attempt to approach the vessel by dint of rowing, we were compelled to give over, and to submit to being carried out to sea. By this time the water had become very rough, and our little bark was tossed about like an egg-shell, which caused all the men to get sick, and utterly incapacitated them from making the smallest effort to save themselves and us. We continued baling out the water with our hats, as much '& as we could. Lieutenant Kendall exerted himself to the 217 utmost, and he succeeded in setting up a temporary mast, which enabled Captain Back to keep the head of tlie boat to windward, and we continued to drive before the wind farther and farther out to sea. We had already lightened our little skiff by heaving overboard several casks of provision with which she had been loaded, and it was proposed to run her ashore, but most of the party opposed this, and it was resolved to continue out to sea. The night was dark in the extreme, with tremendous thunder and rain, the billows rolling mountains high, and breaking continually over us, which, added to the severe cold, caused us great suffering. Mr. Douglas became dreadfully ill, and the rest were in so benumbed a state, that it was hardly possible to make the necessary exertion to keep the boat from sinking, which could only be done by relieving her constantly from the water as fast as she filled. I shall never forget the sound of the waves as they approached us : sometimes, by the skill of our steersman, we partly avoided them, but much oftener did they dash over us with tremendous fury, and had two of these billows followed in quick succession, our instant destruction would have been inevitable, but by constant baling we kept the boat afloat. The storm continued without abating during the night, and at break of day we found oui'selves rapidly drifting towards a lee shore. This we avoided by tacking, and we still continued to drive to sea. Towards the middle of the next day, tlie hurricane began to diminish a little in violence, but the sea was still dreadfully agitated, and it was not till the middle of the following night that our oars could be of the smallest service to us. At this time we were entirely out of sight of land, without compass to guide our course ; the sun, too, was not visible. As the storm diminished, the men recovered from their sickness, and the oars were again plied, and with some success, as it afterwards appeared that we had gone to a distance of 60 or 70 miles in the Bay. With the aid of the tide and our oars we retraced our way back, and never shall I forget the joy that beamed on every countenance when the masts of the ship were again visible. Previous to this we had felt a return 218 of appetite, which was a sure sign that we considered our- selves comparatively out of danger, and a cask containing oatmeal was quickly broached, which, mixed with a little salt water, sufficed to allay our hunger; but I believe that Lieutenant Kendall and myself were the only partakers. We were soon espied from the ship, and a boat with plenty of provisions was sent to meet us, which proved very accep- table. The news of our having been swept out to sea had been speedily conveyed to the Factory, and Mr. M'Tavish, the Superintendant, lost no time in despatching Indians along each shore of the Bay, with provisions, &c. in case of our being cast ashore alive, for it was not considered possible that an open boat could have weathered so tremendous a storm ; but when they found the casks of stores that we had thrown overboard, they almost all returned, and gave us up for lost. On reaching the vessel, we received the kindest attention from our fellow-sufferer. Captain Davidson, and likewise from Mr. M'Tavish, York Factory. Mr. Kendall and Mr. Douglas suffered severely, and did not recover the full use of their limbs until their landing in England. For my own part I endured little inconvenience, comparatively, and after enjoying a night's repose, I was able to take a walk as far as the North River, about five miles distant from the Fort, through a continued swamp the whole way, which was very laborious, for I sank up to my knees at every step, the underneath part of the ground being hard frozen, and the only plant which recompensed me for all my labour was Polytrichwn formosum. Shortly after, we set sail for England in the Hudson's Bay Company's ship, the Prince of Wales, and having an excellent passage, arrived in London on the 15th of October, 1827, in good health. I am sorry not to be qualified to speak of the mineral kingdom, and the only opportunity that occurred for investi- gation was unfortunately lost by spending the winter of 1825-6 distant from the Rocky Mountains. There appears, however, to be little variety; the high mountains consisting principally of primitive limestone on their eastern side. On reaching the Heiglit of Land, these characters change, as the 219 changes of vegetation may testify, and the mountains are found to be formed of micaceous slate. The Columbia appears to flow through a country exactly similar, as at least one-third of its sand is composed of mica. I observed one large vein of secondary limestone, containing fossils, when crossing the Assinaboyne River, near a considerable water- fall, about 60 miles above its junction with Red-Deer River. The mountahis which I explored north of the Smoking River are principally conglomerate sandstone, and below these, the country appears to be sandstone, containing coal, for at least 200 miles to the eastward, as far as Edmonton House on the Saskatchawan. At the eastern extremity of Lake Winnipeg, which is limestone, the primitive rocks again occur, and these probably continue to the sea. LEDEBOUR'S ILLUSTRATIONS OF RUSSIAN PLANTS. This work, which is so much desired by the scientific botanist, we are happy to learn from the author himself, is in a state of considerable forwardness, and will, under the title of " Icones Plantarum 'Novarmn vel imperfecte Cognitarum, Floram Rossicam, imprimis Altaicam Illustratayites" together with a complete Flora Altaica, and an account of the journey, speedily be published. The Altaic plants were collected by the Counsellor of State, Ledebour, assisted by Dr. Bunge and Dr. Meyer, during a journey undertaken at the expense of the Russian Government, with the view to examine the natural produc- tions of the Altaic Mountains, and a portion of the Chinese dominions bordering upon them. During the period that Ledebour was engaged in investigating that part of the Steppe situated between the Ob and the Irtt/sch, in crossing the lofty mountains to the west and south west of the Altaic range, the valley of the Tscharysch, the Koksmi, the upper Katunja, and the Buchtorma on the Russian frontiers, the 220 eastern chain of the Altai were explored by Biinge, who passed a considerable length of time in the districts of the lower Katunja, the Tschuja, the Baschkaris, and TscJmlysch- man, thence by the mouth of the river into the Telezkischen Lake, or Sea. Meyer, in the meantime, ascended the Irtysch, as far as Noor-Saisan, by which means he visited the eastern mountains of Kurtschen, situated in the Chinese Empire, as well as the Dolen-kara and Ackaul ; thence, crossing it in a westerly direction, he passed through Somgoripsa, Kirgisen steppe, particularly the territories of Ahlaikit and Semipala- tinsk, and passed over the mountainous range of Tschingistan, Kent, Ku, and Kar-karala, to the Altyn-tube, and to the sources of the Nura. The '■^ Icones Plantarum" will be published at Munich, and will comprise 500 plates in folio, executed in lithography by Seb. Minsinger. It will appear in 10 parts, each of 50 leaves, two of which parts will form a volume. The figures will chiefly represent new plants, discovered in the Altaic mountains and their environs. But a few other species of the Russian Asiatic Flora will also be admitted, which, if they have not altogether escaped the notice of former travel- lers, have as yet been imperfectly known, and either not at all, or very erroneously represented. The drawings, alwaj's made under the immediate inspection of the author, all from perfect and mostly living specimens, exhibit the plants of the natural size; and every where, when necessary, are added accurate and more or less magnified analyses of the parts of fructification. The text, given in Latin, will appear on beautiful vellum paper, and of the same size as the plates, and will be confined to the names, diagnoses, mention of the country, duration, and time of flowering of the plant, char- acters of the new genera, and explanations of the plates. The more full descriptions will appear in the Flora Altaica above mentioned, which will be published in octavo. This work, in three volumes, will enumerate all the plants found on the Altaic Mountains, and in the Steppes which extend along their southern and western bases, and will contain about 1700 species, arranged according to the Linnaean 221 System, and in the Latin language. The first volume, which is already prepared for the press, includes the first five classes, and amongst them are more than 100 new species. The narrative of the journey, which is to appear in the German language, gives a full description of the Altaic Mountains, as respects their natural history, statistics, geo- graphical situation, &c. &c. Many observations on the Entomology of the country will be there given, and descrip- tions of the new species of the Coleopterous tribes. REMARKS ON THE BOTANY, &c. OF THE BANKS OF SWAN RIVER, ISLE OF BUACHE, BAIE GEOGRAPHE, AND CAPE NATURALISTE. By Mr. Charles Eraser, Colonial Botanist in New South Wales. [The attention of this country has been of late considerably directed to the Swan River, on the west coast of New Hol- land, as a suitable situation for a British Colony. Many of our countrymen are already gone with a view to settling there, and grants of land on liberal terms are offered upon certain, but very judicious conditions, by His Majesty's Government. The remarks, therefore, of Mr. Eraser, upon the soil, climate, vegetable productions, aspect of the country, &c. cannot fail to prove interesting to the general reader, as well as to the man of science. Previous to the expedition which Mr. Fraser accompanied, I am not aware that any naturalists, except those of the French Voyage of Discovery, have ever visited the Swan River ; and all their investigations have been attended with such disastrous circumstances, pardy, it would appear, from mismanagement, and partly from natural causes, that their means of observation were thereby very much limited. Swan River is situated in lat. 32" 4' 31" S., long. 115o 46' 43" E. of Greenwich, in that part of the west coast of New Holland called Edel's Land. It empties itself into the ocean at one extremity of a semicircular bay, whose other extremity VOL. I. S 222 is formed by Cape Peron ; and in front of this bay is a groupe of islands, among which those of Berthollet and Buache are the most remarkable for their size. The river in question was discovered by Vlaming, a Dutchman, and derived its name from the great number of black swans which were seen, and of which that navigator took two to Batavia with him. M. Heirisson, an officer of the Natu- raliste, one of Baudin's ships, was the first person who surveyed the river, in June 1801. The mouth he found to be obstructed by a bar of rocks, which threatened to inter- cept the passage; but after overcoming that difficulty, the depth of water rapidly increased. Pelicans were seen in great numbers, and the strand was covered by molluscous animals, left by the tide, and yielding an abundant food to the aquatic birds. The soil consisted of sand hills, having a line of rocks next the sea, of a calcareous nature, mixed with sand, and full of excavations and clefts. Upon the sand hills (" dunes") grew different shrubs, of which many were in flower; and great flocks of land birds, especially of beautiful parrots, hovering among the trees, seemed to give animation by their presence and numbers to these unknown and desert shores. Soon, in ascending the river, the right bank became lofty, then the left, which was crowned with vei'dure. The rocks were full of petrifactions. Proceeding past Moreau's Inlet, M. Heirisson enjoyed a beautiful spectacle: on one side was seen the upper course of the river, which could be traced to a table land of distant moun- tains, whilst on the other its descent was observed as far as the sea. The two banks appeared almost every where covered with noble forests, which extended for a great way into the interior of the country. Continuing, the passage of the river appeared obstructed by shoals and islets, which were named HeirissoiH s Isles. Three days were employed in the ascent, and the return was hastened long before the expedition had reached the source among the hills, by the failure of the stock of provisions. It was Mr. Eraser's lot to examine the course of the river much more accurately, and his account is here given in his own words. — Ed.] 223 The North and South Heads of the entrance into Swan River are formed of low rocks of fossil limestone, in an advanced state of decomposition ; presenting, in many instances, aper- tures of the most fantastic form, in which are exposed to view masses of roots and trunks of trees of great size. The soil on the South Head is a barren sand, producing a considerable variety of interesting plants, amongst which I observed Anigozauthus rufus, Anthocercis littorea, two species of Metrosideros, a charming species o( Prostanthera, producino" large quantities of rich blue flowers, a species of Gnaphalmmy with procumbent stems, the white flowers of which give a snowy appearance to many parts of the cliffs, and a beautiful species of Dryandra. The appearance of the Giiaphalliim, above-mentioned, is in some measure confirmatory of the sandy character which the French give of these hills. On tracing the river a quarter of a mile from its entrance, on the south bank, I observed quantities of a species otBnm- onia growing in great luxuriance on the margin of a salt marsh; its flow^ers of a brilliant sky-blue. Here I like- wise gathered a magnificent species of Melaleuca with scarlet flowers, and two species of Metrosideros, with various other plants, which, from their being neither in flower nor in fruit, I could not attempt to describe. Half a mile from the entrance, I found the soil, although apparently sterile, to consist of a fine light brown loam, con- taining a small proportion of sand, and capable of producing any description of light garden crop. This character not only applies to the immediate bank as far as the reach below Pelican Point, but likewise to the hills as far as my observation led. Those hills present the appearance of a petrified forest, from the immense quantity of trunks which protrude for several feet above the surface; and their decom- posed state renders them of benefit rather than otherwise to the soil. Here I observed a brown snake, similar to that of Port Jackson, and it is remarkable that this was the only snake seen during the survey. At the distance of one mile from the mouth of the river, the genus Eucalyptus appears, altliough in a stunted state. Q 2 224 I was much astonished at the beautiful dark green and vigorous appearance of the trees, considering that the season had been evidently unusually dry ; but the cause must arise from the great quantity of springs with which this country abounds. On penetrating two feet into the earth, I found the soil perfectly moist, and I feel confident that had I penetrated a foot deeper, I should have found water. On the beach I observed several small pools of water, and many moist spots, which, in seasons of usual humidity, must be the seat of active springs, issuing from the calcareous rocks that bound them. The luxuriance of the vegetation on the imme- diate beach is truly astonishing. It consists principally of syngenesious plants, and a species of Hibiscus with peltate leaves. Here I observed a beautiful pendulous Leptospermuniy resembling, in its appearance and the situation which it pi'efers, the weeping willow. An arborescent species of Acacia was likewise seen associated with it. While examining the productions of a mass of cavernous limestone rocks on the beach, I was astonished by observing an extensive spring issue from beneath them, in width about seven feet, running at the rate of three feet in a second. The water was brackish, but is evidently fresh at some periods of the tide. Its elevation is about three feet above low water mark, yet at the lowest ebb its current was at the above rate. The water was found, on being analysed, to be of the same quality as that at Harrowgate. The soil on the North Head is sandy : its productions much the same as that of the South. Two hundred yards from the beach, the soil changes to a light red loam, improving, as the hills are ascended, to that of a fine virgin earth. The valleys separating these hills are, along the coast, of the richest de- scription, as far as my observations led, and, inland, extending to Pelican Point, beyond which their character was not ascer- tained. These hills are admirably adajHed for the site of a town, their elevated situation commanding a view of the whole of Canning Sound, with the adjacent coast, the interior for some distance, and the meanderings of the rivei'. Their lying open to all breezes, too, is an additional advantage. 225 The limestone with which these hills are studded, renders them admirably adapted for the production of the vine, and as they are free from timber or brushwood, they may at once be brought into a state of cultivation. The few trees and shrubs seen on these hills consisted of stunted Eucalypti and Leptospenna^ and a beautiful species of Calytris, or Cypress^ of the finest green colour, producing large warted cones. On traversing the beach, I was agreeably surprised at the great degree of fragrance imparted by two graceful species of Metrosideros then in flower, which exceeded any thinff I ever experienced. On the beach I observed a magnificent arborescent species of Rhagodia, twenty feet in height, immense quantities of Gnaphahum, two species oi Elichrysum, and a beautiful species of an unknown plant. There were no marine productions observed upon the shore. From Pelican Point to the entrance of the Moreau, the country is diversified with hills of gentle elevation, and with narrow valleys, magnificently clothed with trees of the richest green. Here the genus Banksia appears in all its grandeur, consisting of three species, of which B. grandis is the most conspicuous. The principal timber is Eucalyptus. The shrubs consist of a species of Dryandra^ two species of Hakea, one of Grevillea, and a pendulous species of Vimin- aria of considerable height, richly clothed with yellow and crimson flowers, associating itself in the most graceful manner with the weeping Leptospermum formerly alluded to. ZanthorhcBa hastilis is abundant, as is Zamia spiralis, while Anthocercis littorea is seen to attain the height of ten feet. The shores are covered with rushes of great height and thickness, concealing many beautiful syngenesious plants ; but they are occasionally flooded. Here I observed the connnon Cassuarina of Port Jackson, though with a stunted habit. These beds of rushes are probably the rendezvous of theZ)M- gong, mentioned by Mons. Peron, but of which we saw none. On examining the shoal water of Pelican Point, I observed an aquatic stoloniferous species of Goodenia, with which the sandy bottom is covered. 226 The soil between the above points resembles, in its sur- face, the sandy soil of the shores of Port Jackson, more than any hitherto seen ; but, on digging a few inches, it is found to contain a considerable proportion of loam. The valleys and head lands furnish an excellent soil, more particularly that of Garden Point. Here we planted several Bananas, and seeds of all sorts of culinary vegetables. This Point pro- duces an immense quantity of herbaceous plants, amongst which I observed a pulverulent species of Goode?iia, and a species of Centaurea. The botany of Point Heathcote is splendid, consisting of magnificent Banksias and Dryandras, a remarkable species of Hakea, two species of Grevillea, a species of Lepfospernmm, and a beautiful dwarf species of Calytris. Here we came to great abundance of fresh water on the beach, by scratching the sand with our fingers, within two inches of low water mark. The beach at Garden Point is of the same character, and I doubt not but every beach within the heads will be found of the same description. This was afterwards found to be the case, not only on the river, but on the beaches of the islands of Buache and of Berthollet. The view from Pelican Point is exceedingly grand ; the contrast between the dark blue of the distant mountains and the vivid green of the surrounding forests, is such as must in a peculiar manner strike the attention of a person long accus- tomed to the monotonous brown of the vegetation of Port Jackson. It is indeed materially different from any thing I have yet seen in New South Wales. From Point Heathcote to the islands, the country seems to improve, as far as I could judge from the immense quantity ofherbage.it produced. Point Belches, on the opposite shore, the only spot of that shore examined, was found to produce Banksias and Eu- calyptas. The shrubs consisted of a beautiful Isopogon, a species of Acacia, and a Jacksonia, with crimson flowers, together with the general productions of the opposite shore. Tlie soil is sandy, and the cliifs, which are of very considerable elevation, are formed of fossil, lime and sandstone. The view from 227 this point of the meanderings of the river and the Moreau, with the surrounding country and distant mountains, is par- ticularly grand. This seems to be the extreme easterly boundary of the limestone. The islands on the flats are composed of a rich deposite carried down by the floods. Their margins are covered with Metrosideros and Cassuarina, and their interior with sea-side succulent plants. On one of these islands I caught sight of a plant with an arborescent habit, which, on ex- amination, proved to be a species of Zamia, with spiral fruit, differing only from Z. spiralis in habit. Here the equatorial Goodenia, formerly alluded to, disappears. The difficulties which the party now experienced from having mistaken the channel, and in having consequently to drag the boats over the mud, were great, but by perseverance were overcome. From the extensive beds of oyster shells, which lie a foot deep in soft mud, our feet became dreadfully lacerated. These flats are extensive, but by employing flat bottomed boats they may be easily crossed. At Point Fraser, the bank may be said to terminate, and the channel appears to be that of a beautiful inland river. From the entrance to this spot, it may be more properly called an estuary. The flats, or levels, at this point are very fertile, composed of a rich alluvial deposite, but evidently occasionally flooded — drift timber having been seen five feet above the surface. Here are extensive salt marshes, ad- mirably adapted to the growth of cotton.* The hills on the bank of the river are exceedingly barren, resembling those of Port Jackson, but producing a magnificent species of Angophora, which seems to assume the same situation in the botany of this tract as the genus Eucalyptus does in that of Port Jackson. Banksia grandis was here seen to attain the * This has already been produced at Sydney, and pronounced by the ablest judges in Britain to be of a very superior quality. There can be no question, but that, both as to soil and climate, the banks of the Swan River would prove better adapted to the cultivation of this plant than Port Jackson, and the seed that should be tried is that of the Sea Island Cotton. — Ed. 228 height of fifty feet, and its trunk frequently exceeded two feet and a half in diameter. Amongst the new botany of this tract may be enumerated a species of Metrosideros of great elegance, forming thickets on the flats, and intermingling with two other species of the same genus, but of less beauty. Its flowers are of the most brilliant scarlet: the general height of the plant six feet. There were also a pink-flowered handsome species of Cen- taurea, a remarkable dwarf species of Hakea, two species of Daviesia and Dryandra armata. I observed a species of PsittacuS) (Cockatoo,) in large flocks, whose voice is more plaintive than that of the white cockatoo. It feeds on the roots of Orchideous plants, to obtain which it scratches the ground to a considerable depth. While attending to a boat in the rivei", which the party were dragging over the mud, I distinctly heard the bellowing of some huge animal, similar to that of an ox, proceeding from an extensive marsh farther up the river. (Could this be the Dugong* of the French?) Immediately afterwards I * The Dugony, or Dougong, of the French, is the Trichecus Dugong of Gmelin, an inhabitant of the Indian seas, but is not, that I am aware, found in the part of New Holland visited by Mr. Fraser. The animal whose bellow- ing he heard, was unquestionably the Phoca prohoscidea (now made the genus ]\Iacrorhi?uts) of Pcron's Voyage aux Terres Australes, v. 2. p. SA. t. 32. TJie Phoqtie a trompe, Elephant marin, Bottle-nosed Seal, Sea-Lion of Anson's Voy- age. The French Voyagers heard it in the same river, and, as it appears, for the first time. They were descending the river, overpowered with misfortune and fatigue, and want of food. In the midst of their dangers, night came on. " Nous nous disposions a mettre pied a terre pour nous secher et reparer notre vigeur eteinte, lorsque tout-a-coup un hurlement terrible vint nous glacer de terreur; il etait semblablc au mugissement d'un boiuf, mais beaucaup plus fort, et paroissoit sortir des roseaux voisins. A ce cri redoubtable, nous perdimes toute envie de descendre a terre et quoique transis de froid, nous preferames passer la nuit sur I'eau, sans souper et sans pouvoir fcrmer I'oeil, a cause de la pluie et du froid." v. 1. p. 183. Their alarm would probably have been still greater, could they have formed an idea of the size of the animal, which is from twenty-five to thirty feet in length : and it herds in such numbers that the whole shore of the bottom of a bay has been seen covered with them, giving the appearance, at a little distance, of masses of black rock. The remarkable fea- ture of the animal is, that, in the male, the nostrils, which, at rest, are 229 was visited by three natives, armed : they made signs for me to depart, but oiFered no violence. On hearing the voices of the party they retired into the woods. One mile up the river, from the last point, is a small creek of fresh water issuing from an extensive lagoon clothed with arborescent species of Metrosideros of great beauty. The banks are covered with the most interesting plants, amongst which I observed two species of Calytris, a species of Acacia, with a scolopendrous stem, and several Papilionaceous plants. The Angophoras on the flats are gigantic. Those flats are formed of tolerable loam of great depth and capable of producing fair crops. The Zamia, seen from the islands, was here observed to attain the height of thirty feet. Zanthorhcea arhorea, too, was of equal size, and, associated with the splendid Banksias, im- parted to the forest a character perfectly tropical. I was astonished at observing the facility with which water was obtained in this apparently sterile tract: for, on digging to the depth of three feet, water was found in abun- dance, and of the best quality. Proceeding up the river from the above-mentioned creek, the country assumes a distinct appearance from that seen below. On the left is an extensive salt marsh, bordered by thickets of Cassuarina, surrounded by a flat of the richest description, rivalling, in point of soil, that of the Hawkesbury. Here I first observed the Brome or Kangaroo grass of New flaccid and pendent, when the animal is irritated are protruded to the length of a foot, then resembling the trunk of the elephant, whence one of its French names. Notwithstanding, however, the vast size and consequent strength of these animals, and notwithstanding that they have among themselves the most terrible and bloody conflicts, which exhibit a truly extraordinary spectacle, they are, in general, extremely mild and gentle. Man may walk in the midst of them without any reason to apprehend the smallest danger; and they only defend themselves when attacked. They are caught abundantly for their oil, especially by English fishermen ; one of whom has been known to make a pet of one of these amphibious monsters, to caress it daily, and even to ride upon its back. For a full history of this singular animal, see Peron's Voyage, v. 2. chap. 2.3. — £d. 230 South Wales in great luxuriance, (with the exception of some seen on the banks at Point Fraser.) Bastard and real Blue Gum is seen here in considerable quantities and of great size. The opposite bank is high, and covered with Etu:alyptus and Banksia — the soil a light sandy loam. From the above point, the country resembles, in its features, that which borders all the rivers of New South Wales whose course is west of the Blue Mountains, varying alter- nately on each bank into hilly points and extensive flats. The hills are covered with magnificent Angophora^, Zamias, and ZanthorhcBa. The soil a rich red loam of very great • depth, throwing up a luxuriant herbage, amongst which I observed Anigozanthus rufa. Clematis aristata, and a beauti- ful species of Borya. (?) The flats, which are composed of the richest brown loam, equal to any on the east coast, are thinly studded with gigantic Blue Gums, and occasional stripes of suffi'utescent Acacias and papilionaceous shrubs, occupying in this country the same situation in the geography of its botany as the Green Wattle in that of New South Wales. Banksia and Zamia are still seen on the high lands. It is worthy of remark, that, in New South Wales, the presence of Banksia, Zamia, and Zanthorhcea are considered sure criterions of a bad soil, and such being the impression on my mind, I pronounced all the land on which they were seen to grow to be sterile, until I examined a ridge on the banks, producing them in great luxuriance; when, to my astonishment, I found the soil to be a red earth of great depth, producing the most luxuriant Brome grass. In proportion as we ascend the river, the flats increase in breadth and luxuriance, each being backed by a terrace of forest land of the finest description, extending for miles from the river, and resembling in character those seen on the banks of the Macquarie River, west of Wellington Valley. On farther observation, towards the source of the river, those flats were seen to extend to the base of the mountains, inter- spersed with stripes of good forest land, on which I observed a considerable portion of stringy hark. The variety of plants seen on this tract was great : amongst the new ones observed, 231 I may enumerate seven species of Hakea, a species of Lam- hertia^ four species of Isopogoji, three species of Leptospermum, a species of Petrophila, and a liliacious plant not seen in flower. Banksia grandis was remarked in a stunted state. The base of the mountains, (which was named Darling's Range, in honour of General Darling,) is covered with fragments of quartz and chalcedony ; the soil a red sandy loam. Here I observed a species of Hakea with holly-shaped leaves. Farther up, the soil improves to a light brown loam, but, from its rocky nature, is incapable of cultivation. I saw a beautiful species of Dryandra^ a species of Hakea, and several syngenesious plants. The summit of the mountain is studded with noble Aiigophoras. Here too I found a beautiful species of Arthropodium, with filiform leaves, an arborescent species of Hakea, a species of Dryandra, and two species oflsopogon. The view from this summit is extensive, resembling that seen from Princess Charlotte's Valley, which I witnessed in 1817, (vide Oxley's Journal,) but divested of the permanent swamps. The highest part of the range is of ironstone, and it is re- markable that there is no underwood. The ranges are of equal height, so that no view could be had to the eastward. At the source of the river, I observed thickets of an arborescent species of Acacia, and gigantic thistles, eleven feet in height. Here I found a magnificent species of Hibiscus, with brilliant sky-blue flowers, and a species of Euphorbia. The ridges on the banks are perforated with immense numbers of deep pits, the origin or cause of which we could not at first ascertain. They proved to be made by the natives for the purpose of catching land tortoises, with which those ridges abound. We found the river to be navigable until it almost ceases to be a stream, or where there was not room for a boat to pass. The water is fresh sixteen miles below its navigable source, and that at the end of a very dry season ; what, there- fore, must it be in a wet season ? Mons. Freycinet states that he found no fresh water, although he was in the country during the rains, a decisive proof that we must have pene- trated at least twenty-five miles higher than he did. We 232 saw nothing of the lake laid down by him, and judge it to be a swamp. The supply of water from under-ground springs into the river must be immense, for it is impossible that the springs at the source could furnish such a quantity of fresh water. The tide at the entrance of Swan River was not observed to rise above two feet, even at spring tides, and at the source it was hardly observable. The climate during our stay was the most delightful I ever experienced; the thermometer seldom ranging above 85°. The nights agreeably cool. The sea breezes set in at two hours after sunrise, and cease at sunset, when they are immediately succeeded by the land breeze, which, even in February, is so agreeable that, while surveying the river, we preferred sleeping in the open air to lodging in tents. The quantity of black swans, ducks, pelicans, and aquatic birds seen on the river was truly astonishing. Without any exasfferation, I have seen a number of black swans which could not be estimated at less than five hundred rise at once, exhibiting a spectacle which, if the size and colour of the bird be taken into account, and the noise and rustling occa- sioned by the flapping of their wings, previous to their rising, is quite unique in its kind. We frequently had from twelve to fifteen of them in the boats, and the crews thought nothing of devouring eight roasted swans in a day. The animals are the same as in New South Wales: the Kangaroo.^ Emu, Native dog, &c. &c. Fish were abundant, and the sound swarmed with Tiger Sharks. The few natives which we saw were not disposed to behave ill; on the contrary, they seemed alarmed much at first, but soon gained confidence. We gave them some black swans, which they eagerly accepted, and we dressed several of them in the old jackets of our marines. They had indeed a most ludicrous appearance, and seemed like men in shackles. It is worthy of remark, that these savages have no means of navi- gation, and rather show a horror of the water. Their arms are the same as those of the natives of New South Wales, their clothing and appearance equally loathsome. The advantages which this country holds out to settlers, 233 above those of New South Wales, besides the important circumstance of its vicinity to India, the Spice Islands, Java, the Mauritius, and the Cape of Good Hope, and indepen- dent of its situation as a place of call for East India and China ships, are, in the first place; The great ease with which a settler can bring his land into cultivation — the forests aver- aging not more than from eight to ten trees to an acre. Secondly; The facility with which he can bring his pi-oduce to market, either by land or water; the coast being of easy access on any part near the river, and no impediments existing in the interior. Thirdly; The great abundance of fresh water of the best quality, an advantage which New South Wales, east of the Blue Mountains, does not possess, excepting on the immediate banks of the rivers and creeks. Fourthly ; The great abundance of limestone. Ten miles from the entrance of Swan River, the Moreau of the French branches off to the south, accordinff to the report of the party who went to explore it. It seems of equal extent with the Swan River, and the country on its banks of the same description. The island of Berthollet, distant six miles from Buache, is a barren inhospitable spot, producing abundance of hares, seals, and mutton birds. Its shores present many tesselated cliffs of limestone resembling the turrets of a Gothic cathe- dral. There is no water on this island. The island of Buache is composed principally of low ridges of light sandy loam, traversing the island from north to south, and terminating on the south with high cliffs or banks of sand, the loftiest parts of which are thickly covered with Cypress, {Calytris) and the surface towards the sea is considerably interrupted by limestone rocks. The soil, though light, appears to me, from the immense thickets of a species of Solanum which it produces, and which attains the height of ten feet, to be capable of producing any description of light garden crops. The interior of those ridges are singularly divided by transverse dykes or banks, forming deep pits, which receive all the water from the ridges; the dykes preventing its escape otherwise than by 234 absorption. These pits are covered with gigantic Solana, and a beautiful species of Brunonia. Fresh water may be found in each of these islands by digging two feet deep. The north side of the island is in many places covered with extensive thickets of arborescent Metrosideros, and the soil I found to be of a very fine brown loam, studded with detached blocks of limestone, and susceptible of producing any description of crop. In one of those thickets we sowed various sorts of culinary seeds, and introduced several plants of the Banana. The coast towards Port Cockburn is thickly studded with cypress, the soil a light sand. Here we found abundance of fresh water on the beach, as well as in cypress thickets beyond the influence of the sea. My observations did not extend beyond Port Cockburn, but from the appearance of the country I doubt not its being of tlie same quality as that already described. Between the isles of Berthollet and Buache is the entrance for ships drawing more than sixteen feet water into Port Cockburn. Vessels drawing less than sixteen feet can run directly across the sound, from the entrance of Swan River to Port Cochrane. Vessels of any burthen can proceed up the sound to the entrance of the river, where there is good anchorage, with plenty of room to beat out, should the wind come to blow hard from the north-west. The sound is locked in on all points, excepting from north to north-west. It is remarkable, that, on the shores of the sound at the entrance of the river, there is not a perpendicular height of five feet from the line of low water to that of vegetation, a proof that there is never any very heavy weather in the sound. There is no surf, and boats may land on any part of the main. On the bar, at the entrance, there is only one fathom of water, but that is always smooth. Port Cockburn is distant only eight miles from it, where there is room for the largest fleet, with seven fathoms water within twenty yards of the shore, and this perfectly land-locked. Proceeding from the mouth of the river along Bay Geo- graphe, the appearance of the country is particularly pleasing. 235 The shore seems well clothed with timber, and the foliage is of the richest green. The observations taken here confirm me in my opinion that the principal part of the timber consists of Eucalyptus. I saw no traces of Banksia nor of Cassuarina. From the shore the country is seen to rise gradually into gentle undulating hills, separated, apparently, by valleys of considerable size ; the whole terminated by a magnificent range of hills, thickly covered with heavy timber extending all along the bay. At the head of the bay the feature of the country changes : exhibiting bold hills, with large masses of granite, in many instances jutting into the sea with considerable grandeur. The hills, too, are clear of timber, with the exception of some stunted Eucalyptus, and are divided by beautiful wind- ing valleys, in each of which is a small stream and a soil of the richest loam, throwing up immense quantities of herbaceous plants, amongst which I observed thistles of eleven feet in height. I found the soil, on examination, to exceed ten feet in depth. On digging the sand on the beach we found abun- dance of fresh water, and the soil with which the hills are covered is of the finest description to the very summit. At Cape Naturaliste, the character of the soil continues without any visible change, but in the geological structure there is a very great difference. Here are immense cliffs, presenting at their base large beds of granite and schistose rock, passing alternately into each other, and observing in their dip an angle of fifteen degrees. They were seen occasionally to inclose immense masses of puddingstone, and an extraor- dinary aggregate containing petrifactions of bivalve shells, and other marine productions, every part of which was covered with minute crystals of lime. Large masses of feldt- spar were seen traversing those beds in various directions and of various thickness. The granite rock was succeeded by a bed of micaceous schist, in an advanced state of decomposition, over which were observed several caverns, which were found to contain rock-salt in crystalized masses and in large quantities. The rock is decomposed pudding- stone, containing various sorts of granite; the salt having 236 penetrated the most compact parts of the granite. The base of the cavern is a coarse sandstone, the whole covered with limestone. The southern extreme of the Cape consists of lofty cliffs, presenting two ranges of superb caverns : the lowest of which we explored. The great or outer cavern is about forty feet high at the entrance, forty feet in breadth, and about ninety feet in depth, into which the sea rolls at high- water, over immense blocks of granite, and in awful grandeur. The stalactites in this cavern are many of them from twenty to twenty-five feet in length, covered with minute Cryptogamic vegetables of fantastic colours and form. The walls of the cavern are clothed with the same substances, which gfive to the whole an extraordinary appearance. The second cavern is distinct from the first. The entrance is about twenty feet in height, and twenty in breadth, increasing in height and breadth farther in. The stalactites and stalagmites in this cavern are abundant, and of the purest white. The former were observed often to exceed fifteen feet in length. There was a remarkable circumstance observed at the entrance of this cavern : the stalactites were all bent outwards, as if a gale of wind was perpetually blowing through the cavern. The three succeeding caverns are of minor importance, but all containing stalactites. The appearance of the cliffs and caverns from the sea is exceedingly grand. It is impossible to pass along the beach fourteen yards without crossing a stream which issues from caverns of limestone, and which forms banks of shells, sea-weed, stones, and whatever substances may come within their reach, incrusting them in a most beautiful manner. Such, indeed, were the attractions of the country, that we all felt sorry on leaving it. Charles Fraser. 237 [TAB. LI. LII. LIII. LIV.] JOURNAL OF A TWO MONTHS' RESIDENCE ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVERS BRISBANE AND LOGAN, ON THE EAST COAST OF NEW HOLLAND. By C. Fkaser, Colonial Botanist. To which are added, Figures and Descriptions of a feiv of the most Interesting Plants. MoRETON Bay, situated in latitude 27^ South, was so named, if I mistake not, by Capt. Cook, surveyed by Capt. Flinders, and farther explored by Mr. Oxley, who discovered a fine fresh-water river flowing into the Bay, and which, " from respect to his Excellency the Governor, under whose orders the Bay was examined, was honoured with the name of Brisbane River." * A settlement was subsequently formed there, bearing the name of Brisbane Town. It is to Sir Thomas Brisbane that I am indebted for some information relative to this country, which may be considered prefatory to the remarks of Mr. Eraser. Sir Thomas's letter is dated Mackerstane Castle, 3d Nov. 1829. " I visited," he says, " Moreton Bay in 1824. It is situ- ated about 600 miles north of Sydney, and forms one of three Penal Settlements, viz. Port Macquarrie, 165 miles north of Sydney, that already named, and Norfolk Island, nearly 1000 miles E. N. E. of Sydney. The Penal Settlements are for the purpose of receiving and trying to reclaim convicts who have committed crimes after their transportation ; and according to the nature of the offence they are sent — for the slighter ones to Port Macquarrie; for those of a graver natui'e to Moreton Bay; and, finally, on committing those of the deepest dye, to Norfolk Island, which last is occupied with the most desperate characters, and are either capital respites, or re- corded sentences of death. These unfortunate individuals * Mr. Oxley's Report, published in Mr. Barron Field's Memoirs of New South Wales. VOL. I. B 238 are employed in clearing the country, in the first place, for the immediate wants of the settlement, and when that is accomplished, they go in order to prepare it for settlers, as has been done in the case of Newcastle, only 65 miles north of Sydney, which was cleared by culprits, but which, in 1823, I gave up to free settlers from England, and it is now one of the richest and best districts of the country. To escape from these Penal Settlements is almost hopeless, as they are surrounded by ferocious races of people, who would murder an Europaean for any part of his clothing or appoint- ments. In the same manner, and at no remote period from the colonizing of New South Wales, that of Port Macquarrie will be made over to the settlers, and also Moreton Bay, which will require the local government to grant settlements still farther north upon the coast. It is remarkable how much better the condition of the aboriginal inhabitants ap- pears upon the coast than it is in the interior. While at Moreton Bay, I fell in with natives who had never seen an European. One old chief put his hand all over my arm and shoulder to feel if my clothes were part of myself, when the ecstacy of some was beyond my powers of description. They had no weapons but long spears, and perhaps, if left to themselves, would not aiuive at the possession of bows and arrows for some centuries. They had never seen iron or steel, and when I presented them with tomahawks, knives, and scissors, it produced the most extraordinary surprise, one of the natives throwing himself down on the sand, rolling over and over, roaring and making a hideous noise, but all through pure delight." Mr. Eraser, as Colonial Botanist, was directed to establish a public garden at Brisbane Town, to collect the vegetable products of the country, to make observations on their uses and importance, especially on the forest trees, and to report on the nature of the soil, and to what extent it is fitted for agricultural purposes, or grazing. How far this zealous naturalist has succeeded in the object of his mission will appear, in part, from the following journal : and our gardens in this country, especially those of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and , ' 239 Liverpool, and the pages of the Botanical Magazine will testify how successful he has been in discovering new plants. The dried specimens from this part of New Holland, in particular, which he has communicated to me, are both numerous and valuable, and the future pages of this work will, I trust, contain the figures and descriptions of many of them. Mr. Allan Cunningham, the able botanist attached to the Royal Gardens of Kew, was engaged at the same time, and with the same object, in exploring the vegetable riches of this novel country; and their united collections, whenever they shall be published, will add greatly to our knowledge of the botany of Australia. — JV. J. H. June SOth, 1828. — Arrived at Amity Point, Moreton Bay, in the ship Lucy Ann, and cast anchor in Rainbow Reach, after a passage of twenty-three days from Port-Jackson. Jidi/ 1st. — At seven o'clock in the morning, proceeded across Moreton Bay, in company with Mr. Allan Cunning- ham, the Government Botanist, and entered the Brisbane River at ten o'clock, where we landed for an hour and re- freshed the men, and then reached Brisbane Town at three o'clock. The banks of this river, until arriving at the islands, are clothed with Mangroves, Casuarince, and Banksia Compar, entwined with many thick climbers, and containing several interesting plants. Above the islands, the Casuarina disap- pears, and is succeeded by Gum Trees, {Eucalypti,) and exten- sive brushwoods, the latter exhibiting a profusion of Yelloiv Wood, {Oxleija xanthoxijla,*) and Tulip Wood, a few straggling AraucaricB, Flindersia australis, and many other interesting timber trees, together with a vast variety of shrubs. The hills that rise behind the copses are open and stony, tolerably covered with grass, and with a few scattered Gum Trees. On approaching Brisbane Town, the banks of the river become more elevated and rocky. The north side is formed • See page 24'6. R 2 240 of quartz rock and ironstone, the south of a peculiarly composed basaltic stratum, of which the basis is bright pink-coloured, with white spots : it is remarkably hard, and breaks into square blocks, and is used for the foundations of buildings at Brisbane Town, being reckoned exceedingly durable. July 2d. — At nine o'clock, crossed the river to examine some dense forests on its southern bank, where I succeeded in collecting four species of Capparis, Carissa ovata^ Exocar- pus latifolia, Dendrobium tetragonum, and another new species. Here the Acrostichum grande * (of Cunningham) forms a most striking feature. On my return to Brisbane Town in the afternoon, I accompanied Capt. Logan to the intended site of the New Garden, where we felled a magnificent tree of Flindersia australis, loaded with ripe fruit. July 3d. — Employed this day in laying down the bound- aries of the New Garden, and fixing the situation of a large pond in its centre. * This is indeed a most singular plant, which Mr. Fraser farther notices in his letter to me, dated Sydney, 5th Feb. of this present year, 1829. " In a case," he says, " I have sent you a package of specimens of that superb Acrosti- chum, grande of Mr. Cunningham. To admit their fronds between paper of the largest atlas size, I have been obliged to divide them into very many portions or sections. The colour is a bright pea-geeen, that of the seeds a light bi'own. The plant is found parasitic on all descriptions of trees in the forests on the banks of the rivers Brisbane and Hastings, the latter (in lat. 31° 20" South) being its extreme southern range." The nidus, if I may so call it, or the base with the roots of one of these gigantic Acrosticha, was sent also, which in shape resembles a little punt or boat, having a completely convex lower surface, from the numerous ascending scales or old remains of former yeai's' fronds'; and it is in itself quite a curiosity. With regard to the species, it approaches very nearly, if it be not actually the same with the Plati/cerium hiforme of Blume, in his splendid Flora of Java, v. 1. p. 14. t. 18. That author found it growing on stems of Arenga saccharifcra of Labill. in Java, but only once was able to dis- cover a fertile frond, and that at the foot of the mountain Giinung Seribu. Again, it seems to be identical with the Acrostichum fuciforme, Wall, found by Dr. Wallich at Singapore. Seeds of it arc sown in the Glasgow Botanic "Garden, and if wt are successful in raising plants from them, it would of all Ferns be the one most worthy of cultivation in our stoves. 241 July 4'th. — Accompanied Capt. Logan to examine a forest on the banks of a stream called Breakfast Creek, three miles north-west of Brisbane Town, noted for its gigantic timber, and the vast variety of its plants. In this interesting forest I observed several species of Ficus, upwards of 150 feet high, enclosing immense Iron Bark Trees, on which, originally, the seeds of these Fig trees had been deposited by birds. Here they had immediately vegetated, and thrown out their para- sitical and rapacious roots, which adhering close to the bark of the Iron Tree, had followed the course of its stem down- wards to the earth, where, once arrived, their progress of growth is truly astonishing. The roots of the Ficus then increase rapidly in number, envelope the Iron Bark, and send out, at the same time, such gigantic branches, that it is not unusual to see the original tree, at a height of TO or 80 feet, peeping through the Fig, as if itself were the parasite on the real intruder. In the singular angles, or Walls, as they are here termed, which are formed by the roots of these trees, and of which I observed many sixteen feet high, there is room enough to dine half-a-dozen persons. The fruit is eagerly sought by Regent Birds, {Sericulus chi-ysocejjhalus,) Blue Pigeons, and Swamp Pheasants [Cuculus Phasianus,) and the spreading and massy boughs support a number of superb parasitical plants. This forest abounds in Urtica Gigas, as well as in an un- published and most interesting new plant,* producing fruit * CASTANOSPERMUM AUSTRALE. Decandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord, LECuMiNosiE. Div. Cassie^e? De Cand. Gen. Char. Castanospermum. Cunningham, Cal. coloratus, subilabiatus, brevi-tubulosus, labio superiore bifido, inferiore trifido. Pet. 5, papilionacea, alis carinaque suba;qualibus. Stam. 10, libera. Gcrmcn longe stipitatuin. Leyumen stipitatuni, grossum, oblongo-cylindraceum, bivalve, subtetrasper- mum : valvi3 coriaceis intus spongiosis. Arbor procera. Folia impari- pinnata. Racemi laterales, suhcompositi. C. australe. Cuymingham et Frascr, MSS. — (Tab. LI. LII.) 242 larger than a Spanish Chestnut, by which name it is here known. The legumens are large, solitary, and pendent, pro- duced by the two-year-old wood : t\\Q leaves are impari-pin- nate, each several leaflet being oval, lanceolate, and of a rich green, and the shade afforded by the whole tree excels any I have hitherto seen in New South Wales. By the natives Hab. In rivos fluminis " Brisbane" dicti, Novse HoUandi*. D. A. Cun- ningham et D. C. Fraser. Arbor 30-40-ped. et ultra, cortice cinereo ruguloso obtecta, dense foliosa. Folia pallide viridia, spithamcea, fere ad pedalem, impavi-pinnata ; foliolis elliptico- ovatis, subacuminatis, integerrimis, glabris, pavallelira venosis, plerumque alternantibus. Racemi e ramis vetustioribus progredientes, solitarii vel aggregati, digitales, simplices vel subcompositi. Pedunculi, pedicellique vix unciam longi, glabri. Calyx brevis, tubulosus, coloratus, vix distincte bi- labiatus, labio superiore dentibus duobus, inferiore tribus, suba?qualibus. Petala 5, crocea, perigyna, papilionacea, calyce 4-plo longiora, subconniventia. Vexillum obovatum, unguiculatum, lateribus deflexis. Al^eeps through a most beautiful valley, and seems to have its source at the foot of the eastern cone (Mount Hooker) of the high Range. We followed it upwards for two miles and a half, till the dense forests of Araucaria for- bade our farther progress. We named this romantic valley Glen Lyon. Having regained, at one o'clock, our former track along the Logan, we proceeded for two miles and a half along its banks, through a fine flat country, above which the high central peak (Mount Lindsay) rose in great majesty, so that the tout ensemble of the whole upper ward of the Vale of Aris may compare with any scenery that I ever saw. Our walk this day was short, but eight miles, and its true southward progress only two miles and a half. The banks of the river abound here with wild turkeys, and are thickly overgrown with forests of Cedar, {Cedrela Toona,) and Chestnuts, (Castanospermum,) which, with tlie 261 roots of Caladium glycijrrhizon afford the chief aliment of the aborigines. The Chestnut Trees are of rapid growth, and yield a most grateful shade. Aug. 2d. — A hoar frost added to the chilliness of the morning, and the quicksilver, at eight o'clock, stood at 40°. Two miles from our encampment, the Logan receives a rivulet from the north, and suddenly alters its westerly to a southward course. One mile farther, on the accession of the Benvie stream, it changes back again to the westward, and, sweeping round the base of Mount Clanmorris, passes through a magnificent valley, which, to save distance, we left on our right, the mountain bearing from us west by north. Through hilly forests, we entered a valley of the richest and most varied character, from which Mount Lindsay rises with a grandeur that baffles all description. Downwards from its summit, which is about 5500 feet above the valley, it presents a perpendicular front of rock at least 2000 feet high, and the whole springs, as it were, from a base-line of fine flat land, stretching for more than five miles, uninterruptedly, between Mount Clanmorris and M'Pherson's Range. We halted on the banks of the Logan at two o'clock, having accomplished eight miles to-day. An hour after, the Captain and I ascended a circular range of hills which seemed to gird the base of the mountain, in the hope of finding a path by which it might be possible to climb it. This range is composed of argillaceous trap, and I discovered on its summit a new species of Acacia, with uniform leaves. We retrained our tent in the afternoon, havino^ met with a tribe of natives in the way, who, as usual, took to their heels on our approach. Aug. 3d. — Morning cold and frosty. At day-break, Capt. Logan, Mr. Cunningham, two men, and I began the ascent of the mountain. On attaining the summit of the ridge, over the lower part of which, as I mentioned, we had passed yesterday, we found that it conducted to the centre of the mountain's northern front, at an elevation, assuredly, of 2000 feet from the Logan, which flows at its base. Here that front presents a really terrific aprearance, bising a perpendicular 262 mass of rock, unvaried by even the smallest trace of vegeta- tion, except a few straggling lichens may be so called. From the above-mentioned ridge, we scrambled, with considerable difficulty and some risk, over masses of detached rock, lightly studded with trees and shrubs, by which our progress was much aided for about 1000 feet farther, till we reached the summit of one of the defiles, where, for a while, all farther advance seemed to be forbidden. Hence we saw Mount Warning bearing east by south, and about twenty-five miles distant. On a careful scrutiny of the fearful precipices which over- hung us, Capt. Logan detected a path by which it appeared possible, and barely possible, to ascend ; so, putting off our shoes and stockings, and leaving the rest of the party behind, he and I began scrambling on hands and knees to the first peak, a height of about 300 feet, with great difficulty, but having once attained a certain elevation, we had no alterna- tive but to proceed, any attempt at returning in this direction appearing totally impracticable. To cast a glance down- wards was most perilous, for a dreadful chasm, 1600 feet deep, yawned below us ; while to the right extended a ti-ack- less labyrinth of detached rocks : to look forward was enough to quell the firmest courage, by displaying the dangers and difficulties that beset our path ; so that all we could do was, by clinging fast with our great toes, to trust ourselves to small nodules on the surface of the crags, and thus to effect an advance by suspending our weight on slender twigs of Casu- arina and Metrosideros, whose appearance scarcely warranted them strong enough to support a goat. When the summit of this peak was gained, my nerves were so much agitated that I was forced to lie down on a rock, resting myself against a bush till I recovered. Capt. Logan now proceeded towards the next peak, and, as soon as I possibly could, I followed him, leaving my shoes and collecting-bags behind. From the size of the detached portions of rock, and the stunted nature of the shrubs of Casuarina, Eucalyptus, and Banksia, which start up here and there between the fissures, our progress was both diffi- cult and dangerous ; and finding it hopeless to climb far on 263 such ground without shoes, I returned for them, and was thus thrown considerably in the rear. I hallooed continually to Capt. Logan, who always answered me while within hear- ing, but the number of echoes, at least five, which repeated backwards and forwards the different sounds, had such an effect in confusing me, that I knew not whence the voice came; and it would have required the speed and agility of an antelope to overtake him. I continued scrambling on- wards till half-past eleven, when I perceived Capt. Logan near the summit, and then relinquished all hope of joining him ; I also struck into a brushwood of Eucalyptus inimosoides, Tasmannia insipida, Xanthorrhcea hastilis, Epacris grandiflora, and several Port-Jackson Ferns, among which I observed Gleichenia angustifolia. From the dampness of the earth, I hoped to obtain here some water wherewith to allay my parching thirst, but I was disappointed. Through this brush I at length penetrated, and advanced about 500 feet higher still, when my strength became so much exhausted, and the day so far advanced, that after waiting an hour in expectation of seeing Capt. Logan, I commenced my descent, the summit of the moun- tain rearing its gigantic head full 800 feet above me. The descent proved a more difficult task than the climb- ing had been, from the narrowness of the ridges, in many places not exceeding six feet, with huge precipices on each side, and the danger of slipping between these masses when leaping from one to another, many of them being as slippery as a piece of ice, in which case an instantaneous death must have been my portion. After prodigious exertions, I suc- ceeded in regaining the point where I had left my collecting- bags and shoes, and now I was still more puzzled how to descend thus encumbered ; but, mustering all my courage and caution, I began sliding gently from bush to bush, often narrowly escaping being dashed to atoms, and by carefully lowering my boxes and shoes before me from one point to another, I at length got within sight of Mr. Cunningham and the rest of the party, by whose assistance I was lowered down the rocks, having almost all my clothes torn off my back. 264 During our journey towards this mountain, we had con- ceived it to be Mount Warning, allowing some considerable error to have occurred in laying down the geographical posi- tion of the latter, and not seeing any high land to the east- ward of it; but having ascertained its true situation to~day, we named it Mount Lindsay, in honour of Col. Lindsay of the 39th Regt. The view from this mountain is peculiarly grand : northward lies the vale of the Brisbane River, bounded in that direction by distant chains of lofty mountains, the out- lines of whose peaks we could scarcely discriminate. To the north-west, the Dividing Range of the Interior Waters, with its lateral hills projecting into the plain, appear to great advantage, as well as Mount French, and the lovely plains in its immediate vicinity. To the north-east is Flinders' Peak, with Moreton Bay and Island, and the Glass Houses, bearing north-east, half east. Eastward rises Mount Warn- ing, distant about twenty-five miles, (with its lateral ranges,) appearing at least 3000 feet lower than Mount Lindsay, and in the same direction lie several extensive tracts of per- fectly open country. A magnificent district extends to the southward, exhibiting many wide and partially cleared plains, stretching as far as the eye can behold. To the west, the ground is high and rugged. I could perceive, south of me, the meandering of a stream, (the Richmond River, so called by the Hon. Capt. Rous,) which Capt. Logan surveyed from his loftier position, without any obstruction, and reports it to be a river of considerable magnitude. Mount Hooker, with its pigeon-house shaped summit, forms a striking feature in the landscape to the south-east, while Mount Clanmorris and Lloyd's Hills, on the north-west, add greatly to the interest of the country in the opposite direction. On the north-west shoulder of Mount Lindsay, there is an extraordinary projecting precipitous rock, which was named Blantyre Head. At four o'clock we were joined by Capt. Logan, who had encountered much risk and difficulty, and we regained our encampment, passing through the forest land, at six o'clock. 265 The botany is not mucli varied, the only novelties being a species of Kennedia, with one of Calythrix, Callicoma, and Elichrysum. It is worthy of remark, that on the upper regions of these mountains, the common productions of the South-head Road and Port Jackson predominate. Aug. Mh. — Weather cold and bleak. At eight o'clock, Capt. Logan proceeded to the base of Mount Hooker, for the purpose of examining the Pass, (since called St. George's,) which we observed there yesterday, when upon Mount Lind- say. He returned at six in the evening, having advanced six miles to the south through the Pass, and reports that the path is accessible, though it requires some clearing. It may be approached either by Glen Lyon, or by the base of Mount Lindsay, and it will soon be the great entrance to the Shoal Bay Country, connecting those tracts with the Moreton Bay Country, which promises to be, ere long, the emporium of Australia. We took the height of Mount Lindsay above the valley, by trigonometrical survey, which gave an elevation of 4755 feet, and allowing that the valley itself, as calculated by the barometrical experiments, was 900 feet above the level of the sea, an altitude of 5655 feet will thus belong to the mountain ; while Mount Hooker may be estimated at 4000 feet, and Mount Clanmorris at 5000. The latitude was 28° 15' 21" South, and allowing the centre of Mount Lindsay to be three miles south of the situation of our tent, its true position may be reckoned at 28° 18' 21" South, long. 152° 0' 06". Aug. 5th. — The morning was clear and calm, and we started at the usual hour. Our course being altered from that of yesterday, we were led into a ravine, formed by the River Logan, between Mount Clanmorris and Lloyd's Hill, through which we found it impossible to effect a passage. Capt. Logan and Mr. Cunningham having got through on foot, I returned with the cattle by the way that we had gone on the 2d, and rejoined them on the banks of the river, which here expands into a fine stream, and in which, a few miles farther on, there is no current whatever, the whole percolat- ing through the gravelly bottom. After crossing the river. 266 we again turned to the north-west, and cUmbed a lofty range of forest-covered land, of easy access, and where the soil and grass are excellent. At three o'clock we halted on a tract of the same forest ground, well watered : Hughes' Peak bearing from our tent north 35io, having performed a distance of nine miles, and true north course four miles and a half. Aug. 6th. — Morning clear and chilly. At a mile and a half from our encampment, we descended into a beautiful valley, watered by the Benvie, stretching to the south-west round the base of Mount Clanmorris, which frowns in awful majesty over the lovely vale beneath. The flats increase as we advanced, both as to breadth and fertility, and the stream winds beautifully through them. Our course lying to the north, we were obliged to quit this fertile valley, which I did with much reluctance ; the magnificence of the mountain scenery, and the richness of the soil rendering this one of the most enchanting scenes in all New Holland. Again we crossed a considerable tract of high forest ground, which was of good quality, and continued for several miles. Some of the ridges seem formed of excellent lime. On attaining the northern boundary of this country, we saw a wide extent of open marshy flats, bounded by a range of picturesque hills, lying before us to the north. We named the latter Minto Craigs, and gave the appellation of the Teviot to a lovely stream which flows at their base. This tract, as well as that in the direction of Mount Lindsay, had been explored in 1827 by Capt. Logan. Hence Mount Shadforth is seen to much effect: this country is the commencement of Teviot- dale, the stream being formed by the combined waters which descend from Mount Shadforth and the Dividing Range, and it is exceedingly fertile and picturesque. Here the Emus followed us for a considerable distance, apparently fearless of any danger. At five o'clock, we encamped on the banks of the Teviot, having accomplished by the odometer eleven miles and a half, and the true reduced course being nine miles west, seventeen south. Aug. llth. — Our bullocks having strayed this morning, we were unable to start till ten o'clock. At eight o'clock, 1 267 ascended Minto Craigs, where I found an unpublished species of Acacia, one of Hovea, Lasiopetaluin, Croton, Lepto- spermum, of Aspidiwn and Alyxia, with the Epidendrum proli- ferum. The hills are composed of a compact silicious trap, forming large precipices. To the west is an extensive valley, containing a plain of considerable magnitude, while the Teviot meanders to the south of Flinders' Peak. On the north, I saw some large flats or plains, reaching to the base of Mount French. At the base of these Craigs, I killed an enormous brown snake, nearly eight feet long, in an almost torpid state. Our course (west by north) led us through a tract of rugged forest ranges, covered with ironstone and trap, the former in nodules, enclosing indurated clay, which rendered travelling difficult for our cattle. At twelve, we descended into the flats that I had descried from Minto Craigs, (Dalhousie Plains,) which proved exceedingly marshy. They abound in Emus, and enclose some of the largest ponds in the east coast of New Holland. Finding it impracticable to penetrate from this point to the Gap or Pass in the Divid- ing Range, seen by Mr. Cunningham in 1827, without rounding the eastern extremity of Mount French, (called Mount Dumaresq by Capt. Logan in 1827,) on account of the impervious nature of the forests of Araucaria with which that mountain is clothed, though we felt most anxious to ob- tain a view of the country west of that Range, and to satisfy the curiosity of those persons who have been interested in the surveys of 1827 and 1828; we were, nevertheless, obliged to abandon it from that point, and to pursue a more easterly course. This determination arose from no willingness on the part of any of us to relinquish the former plan, but was forced on us by the reduced state of our resources, and the exhaustion of our bullocks, although Capt. Logan used every means that could be devised for their relief I had been a determined enemy to the employment of those animals pre- vious to this excursion, but I am now convinced, from what Capt. Logan has effected with them, as well as from my own experience, that celerity of movement is the only point in which they are inferior to horses. 268 At one o'clock, we encamped on the borders of the marsh. Captain Logan and two men went to ascertain the possibility of penetrating to the Dividing Range, and returned at six o'clock with an unsatisfactory report. Aug. 8th. — The weather was mild and clear this morn- ing, and we pursued our way along the flats seen yesterday, which we found to stretch round the eastern base of Mount French. Their length is about seven miles, and their breadth from one and a half to two miles. Towards the north-east they are dry and well watered, and the chain of ponds that commences at their north-east extremity soon becomes united, and forms a beautiful stream, which was named the Esk. Passing down Eskdale, the flats increase in magnitude, stretching to the hills on either side of the stream. Two miles north-east of the first flats, is a second plain, firm and dry, which was called Rattray's Plain ; and to the east again, the valley opens in the direction of Flin- ders' Peak. The brushes which commenced at Mount French accom- panied us in all our day's route, and, after considerably impeding our progress, completely arrested our intended course. The species of Xanthorrhcea seen to-day, with their extraordinary bee-hive tops, were truly superb. We halted at three o'clock: lat. at noon, 28^ South: thermometer at six in the morning, 40^. Aug. 9th. — The air mild and clear : thermometer at 50°. We proceeded directly towards the high peak of Flinders, anxiously expecting to encamp at its base ; but we had not gone above two miles, when we found ourselves bewildered in dense forests of Araucaria, from which the only outlet was by the banks of the stream, diat here, taking a sudden turn to east north-east, observed die same direction to the close of this day's journey, passing through an exceedingly broad and fertile valley, abounding in extensive ponds. At three o'clock, stopped, as usual, having walked ten miles and a half, the reduced distance being seven miles east north-east : the latitude at noon 27^ 55' 41" South, and the thermometer at sunset indicating 60°. 269 Aug. \Oth. — During the continuance of this day's jour- ney, which began at the customary hour, and with agree- able weather, we traversed some magnificent forest land, beautifully watered, and lying chiefly at the base of the high peak of Flinders' Mountain. Our halt did not take place till five o'clock, when we had travelled nearly twelve miles. Aug. Wth. — A strong desire to return by the first vessel to Port- Jackson, carrying thither the largest possible collec- tion of living plants from the banks of the Brisbane River, induced me to quit the party this morning, and to accompany Capt. Logan back to Brisbane Town. We therefore set off at eight o'clock, and, travelling all day in a due southerly direction, reached the town at night, having traversed twenty- five miles of tolerably good country. Mr. Cunningham, with three men and two oxen, proceeded to the westward, in order to connect his former survey with the present one. From the period of my return till I embarked for Port- Jackson, I was busily employed in securing my collection of dried plants, completing that of living ones, and laying out the rest of the New Garden. Since the above was written, Mr. Cunningham has returned, having accomplished his object of connecting his route and observations of last year with those made during the present. This he did without any difficulty; thus establishing, beyond doubt, the practicability of forming a road from the shores of Moreton Bay to the immense open country west of the Dividing Range. Charles Fraser. Stdket, bth February, 1829. VOL. I. 270 [TAB. LV.] HABENARIA CORDATA. Habenaria cordata ; foliis binis cordatis nervosis reticulatim venosis semiamplexicaulibus, spica terminali, petalis con- niventibus, labello trifido laciniis lineari-lanceolatis, cornu brevissimo, tubere solitario. (Tab. LV.) Habenaria cordata. Bi'. — Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 3. p. 691. Orchis cordata. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 4. p. 28. Satyrium diphyllum. " Link in Schrad. Diar. Bot. 1799. p. 323." Hab. Muris apud Vicum " Arco de Santo Gorge," et in rupibus apud " Entraza, " in ora septentrionali Insiilae Madeirse. Rev. R. T. Lowe. Radix e tubere solitario ovali, fibrisque paucis, simplicibus, flexuosis, subtomentosis. Caidis basi decumbens, dein erectus, spithamaeus, succulentus, diphyllus. Folia basi semiamplexicaulia, tenuia, membranacea, siccitate pellu- cida, pulcherrime reticulata, cordata ; inferius triplo ma- j us,, late orbiculari-cordatum, patens, 3-4 uncias longum, nervis 3 primariis, 2-que secundariis parallelis : superiiis ovato-cordatuni, subacuminatum, costatum, nervisque subsex notatum. Flores in spicam subdensam, terminalem congesti. Bractea germinis longitudine, lineari-lanceolata. Petala vel perianthii foliola 5, erecta, subconniventia, elliptico-lanceolata, uniformia; lahellum erecto-patens, obovato-oblongum, basi in cornu brevissimo productum, ad medium usque trifidum, laciniis lineari-lanceolatis, obtusis. Capsida clavata, tricostata. Anthera ovalis, bi- locularis, loculis basi paululum divaricatis. Glandulce massce pollinis nudae. Hitherto, I believe, this curious species of Habenaria has only been described by Link in Schrader's Journal, and as a native of Portugal. Two years ago, I had the satisfaction of receiving well-dried specimens of this species, gathered in the y 271 Island of Madeira by my friend Mr. Lowe. Tliey vary some- what in size ; but, in all, the lower of the two leaves is very large in proportion to the size of the plant, and is as large, as orbicular, and as delicate in structure as those of the Hahenaria orbiculata of North America. Tab. LV. Fig. 1, Plant: — nat. size. Fig. 2, Flower and bractea. Fig. 3, Anther and stigma. Fig. 4, Labellum ; — more or less magnified. [TAB. LVL] ON A NEW SPECIES OF CASTELA; Communicated by Dr. Nicholson, from Antigua. DlCECIA OcTANDRA. Nat. Ord. OCHNACE^. DC. Gen. Char. Cat. parvus, 4~fidus. Pet. 4, ovalia, con cava, patentia, dentibus calycinis alternantia. Masc: Stam. 8, disco hypogyno parvo inserta: Filam. filiformia: An- thercB inversae. Pistillum abortivum, minutum. F^m. : Stam. abortientia 8, filamentis brevibus. Pist. globosum, profunde 4-lobum, disco hypogyno insertum : Stylus vix ullus: (S^M7WZ«ta 4, recurvata, basi unita. Z)r?/ CURCULIGO SUMATRANA. Roxb. Hexandria Monogynia. C. sumatrana ; foliis lato-lanceolatis plicatis glabris, spicis densis brevibus, tubo perianthii bacca longiore. Involucrum. Rumph. Amb. v. 6. p. 114. t. 53. Kalapa Puyn. Malay. Sumatra and Pulo Penang. — Root composed of fibres, proceeding from a tuber. Leaves radical, petiolate, ovato- 278 lanceolate, acuminate, attenuated to the base, plicato-nervose, very entire, smooth. Petioles erect, channelled above, keeled beneath, sheathing at the base. Spikes radical from among the sheaths of the petioles, erect, dense, much shorter than the petioles. Flowers erect, sessile, appressed to the rachis, each furnished with an ovate, acuminate, membranaceous spatha. Calyx none. Corolla yellow, superior, limb spread- ing, 6~parted; laciniae lanceolate, acute, tube impervious, being a thick solid column, on the summit of the germen. Stamens 6, erect, opposite to the laciniae of the corolla. Anthers linear. Style short. Ovary 3-celled, many-seeded. Capsule baccate, ovate, 3-sided, containing 8-10 ovate, black seeds, which are imbedded in pulp. I found at Singapore another species, agreeing in most respects with this, but having hirsute leaves. LORANTHUS COCCINEUS. W.J. L. coccineus ; floribus spicatis tetrandris, spicis axillaribus erectis, foliis subovatis glabris. (Tab. LVIII.) * Found at Singapore. — Branches long, vimineous. Leaves alternate, oblong, ovate, subcordate at the base, attenuated towards the apex, which is obtuse, entire, smooth. Petioles short. Spikes axillary, solitary or in pairs, erect, longer than the leaves. Flowers sessile, closely pressed to the rachis be- fore expansion. A single, small, ovate, ferruginous bractea is situated at the base of each flower. Calyx superior, nearly entire, scarcely toothed. Corolla coccineous, 4-petaled, erect, tubular, limb spreading, petals nearly linear, broadest at the base. Stamens 4, red, erect, inserted into the middle of the petals, and equalling them in length. Anthers oblong, adnate, red. Style red, erect, scarcely longer than the stamens. Stigma obtusely capitate. Berry ovate, elongated above, 1- seeded. Seed contained in a hard shell, 4-sided, its apex * Fig. 1, Flower. Fig. 2, Flower, from which the corolla and stamens have fallen. Fig, 3, Stamen and petal ; — magnified. 279 immersed in gluten, into which the radicle shoots. Embryo inverse, the radicle produced beyond the albumen. This species is nearly allied to the L. pentapetalus of Rox- burgh, agreeing with it in habit and inflorescence. ^ LORANTHUS FERRUGINEUS. Roxb. L. ferrugineus ; ferrugineo-villosa, foliis ellipticis obtusis supra glabris, pedunculis fasciculatis axillaribus 2-6 floris, floribus tetrandris extus ferrugineo-villosis. Roxb. Hort. V Beng. p. 87. [ejusd. Fl. Ind. v. 2. p. 207.) (Tab. LIX.) * Sumatra, &c. — A parasitic shrub, which attaches itself firmly to branches of trees, by means of its long runners, and numer- ous circular bands. The branches are long and hanging, and when young, densely covered with reddish ferruginous wool. Leaves opposite, on short petioles, coriaceous, elliptical, obtuse, entire, smooth and green above, ferruginous and densely vil- lous beneath. Stipides none. Peduncles fascicled, from 1-4 in each axil, 2-6 flowered. A small scale-like bractea embraces the base of the ovary. Calyx (if any) an entire margin, crown- ing the ovary. Corolla covered externally, as well as the peduncles and ovary, with ferruginous tomentum, green and smooth within, tubular, divisible into 4 petals, which com- monly adhere at their base, but separate at the limb, which is generally more deeply cloven on one side. Stamens 4, inserted into the tube, and nearly as long as the limb. Fila- ments flat, deep purple. Style as long as the corolla. Stigma subrotund. Berry ovate, ferruginous, 1-seeded. NEPHELIUM LAPPACEUM. Rambutan. Malay. N. lappaceum. Marsd. Hist. Sumat. p. 4. Frequent throughout the Malay countries and islands. — A tree. Leaves alternate, pinnate; leaflets generally 5-7, ovate, acute at both ends, very entire, smooth. Panicles terminal, erect. Flowers numerous, small, white, male and * Fi^. 1, Flower. Fig. 2, Segment of the corolla with its stamen: — mag- nified. 280 hermaphrodite. Calyx 4-6 parted, spreading. Coi-olla none. Stamens 5-8, spreading, longer than the calyx, inserted into a disk below the germen. Anthers subrotund. Ovary 2- seeded, abortive in the male flowers. Style 1. Stigmas 2, revolute. Fruit geminate, one commonly abortive, its rudi- ment remaining at the base of the perfect one, which is subrotund, covered with a coriaceous rind, and echinate with long soft spines, 1 -seeded, the seed covered with a white acid pulp. The fruit is much esteemed, and has an agreeable subacid flavour. The parts of this flower vary much in number ; six is perhaps the most frequent number of stamens. There is but one style, not two as commonly described. The affinities of this tree appear little understood. It doubtless belongs to the family of Sapindi, and is closely related to Scytalia, as justly conjectured by the author of the botanical articles in Rees' Cyclopaedia. SAPINDUS RUBIGINOSUS. Roxb. OCTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. S. rubiginosus ; arborescens, inermis, paniculis terminalibus, calycibus 5-phyllis, corollis 4-petalis, baccis tribus conna- tis oblongis. Kalit layn. Malay. Pulo Penang. — Arborescent. Leaves alternate, abruptly pinnate; leaflets nearly opposite, subsessile, ovato-lanceolate, obtuse with a small mucro or point, very entire, nearly smooth, with a few scattered hairs, chiefly on the under surface. Petioles tomentose. Panicles terminal, erect, composed of numerous simple racemes. Pedicels short, generally in pairs. Bracteas subulate. Calyx 5-leaved, leaflets subrotund, con- cave, the 2 outer ones smaller. Corolla white, 4-petaled, somewhat longer than the calyx ; petals ovate, obtuse, appen- diculate at the base, appendices furnished with 2 transverse lines of white hairs. Stamens 8, of which the 5 upper and longer ones are incumbent over the remaining 3. Filaments 281 villous: anthers oblong, yellow. Style 1, short, persistent. Stigma capitate, 4-sidecl, villous. Gennens 3, 1-seeded. Berries 3, connate at the base, purple, oblong, 1-seeded. MELIA EXCELSA. TV. J. Decandria Monogynia. M. excelsa; foliis pinnatis, foliolis integerrimis, paniculis co- arctatis axillaribus foliis paulo longioribus. Pulo Penang. — A lofty tree, with straight trunk and light grey bark. Branches rough with the vestiges of the fallen foliage, leafy at their summits. Leaves crowded, disposed in a spiral manner, pinnate with an odd one, which is often wanting; leaflets subopposite, oblong-lanceolate, inequilateral, obtusely acuminate, very entire, smooth, shining above. Petioles round, smooth and thickened, somewhat scaly at the base. Panicles axillary, ascending, rather longer than the leaves, not diffuse. Flowers pedicellate, pedicels bracteolated. Calyx very small, 5-parted. Corolla white, 5-petaled, spread- ing; petals linear. Staminiferous tube erect, gibbous at the base, 10-dentate, 10-furrowed, as if consisting of 10 united filaments. Anthers 10, oblong, yellow, within the mouth of the tube. Style as long as the tube. Stigma capitate. MICROCOS TOMENTOSA. Smith in Bees' Cycl POLYANDRIA MoNOGYNIA. Nat. Ord. TlLIACE^. M. tomentosa; foliis trinerviis subtus villosis. (Tab. LX.)* Grewia paniculata. Boxb. Hort. Beng. v. 3. p. 93. Native of Pulo Penang. — A moderately sized tree, with rough bark, the branchlets villous and ferruginous. Leaves alternate, shortly petioled, elliptico-oblong, broader above, with a short acumen, 3-nerved, dentate, serrated towai'ds the apex, scarcely pilose above, densely villous beneath, the * Fig. 1, Flower. Fig. 2, Stamen. Fig. 3, Pistil. Figs. 4, 5, Petals. Fig. 6, Drupe -. — magnijied. 282 hairs divaricated, and often stellated. Stipules linear, generally bifid. Panicles terminal. Flowers for the most part in threes, involucred with deciduous, 3-fid, and linear bracteas. Calyx 5-leaved, spreading, leaflets oblong, concave. Corolla yellow, less than the calyx; petals ovate, unguiculate, and without nectaries. Stamens numerous, inserted below the germen. Germen stipitate. Drupe containing a nut, marked externally with 5 lines, 3-celled, 3-seeded. This agrees perfectly with the excellent description given by Sir J. E. Smith, in Rees' Cyclopaedia, from a specimen preserved in the herbarium of the younger Linnaeus, un- accompanied with any notice concerning its native country, and also deficient in fruit. Its affinity to the original species of Microcos is fully proved, on actual examination of the fruit, and this exact coincidence affords a farther confirma- tion of the propriety of separating Microcos from Grewia. The terminal inflorescence and involucral bracteas form a peculiar and distinctive character: in this species, the flowers are generally 3 together, and are surrounded by 3 trifid bracteas, within which are found 3 other smaller and linear ones. MICROCOS GLABRA. W.J. M. glabra ; foliis trinerviis serratis glabris. Found on the Island of Carnicobar. It nearly resembles M. tomentosa, differing chiefly in its smooth foliage : the in- florescence and fruit are entirely similar. Young branches tomentose: there are frequently flowers in the uppermost axils. MIMOSA JIRINGA. M.jiringa; arbor inermis, foliis conjugato-pinnatis, foliolis 3-jugis glaberrimis, paniculis fasciculatis axillaribus, capi- tulis paucifloris, leguminibus maximis articulato-contortis nigris. M. Djiringa. Roxb. Hort. Beng. p. 93. Bua Jiring. Malay. Pulo Penang, Malacca, &c. — A lofty tree, unarmed, with grey bark and round smooth branches. Leaves alternate, 283 conjugato-pinnate ; leaflets 3-paired, on short thick pedicels, ovato-lanceolate, very entire and smooth, the upper pairs larger. Petioles round, somewhat keeled ; an indistinct gland at the base of the common petiole. Capitula few- flowered, panicled ; panicles fasciculate, axillary, or in the axils of fallen leaves. Floivers white. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla twice as long as the calyx, 5-cleft. Stamens numer- ous, monadelphous, long, fertile. Style as long as the stamens. Legumes solitary, very large, almost black, about a foot long, spirally contorted, articulate, 2-valved ; articula- tions subrotund, 1-seeded, convex and prominent on both sides. Seeds large, subrotund, doubly convex. This species belongs to the genus Inga of Willdenow. *- CLERODENDRUM MOLLE. W. J. DiDYNAMIA AnGIOSPERMIA. C. molle ; caule erecto tetragono, foliis cordatis acuminatis integerrimis tomentosis, panicula terminal], tubo corollas calyce vix longior, calyce fructus ampliato carnoso albo. Frequent in Sumatra, Pulo Penang, &c. — A shrub, 3-6 feet high, erect, but little branched : stem 4-sided, villous. Leaves opposite, petiolate, cordate, acuminate, very entire, softly tomentose. Panicle terminal, oppositely trichotomous, erect, with leaf-like bracteas. Calyx 5-parted, tomentose, laciniae ovate, acute, erect, with reflexed margins. Corolla tomentose without, tube as long as the calyx, limb 5-partite, spreading, secund, laciniae nearly equal, crisped at the margin. Stamens exserted, horizontally deflexed to each side. Style erect, as long as the stamens. Stigma bifid. Calyx of the fruit flat, enlarged, fleshy, and white. Berry 1-4 seeded, according to the number that prove abortive. This species approaches nearest to C. infortunatmn, but is sufficiently distinguished by the softness of its leaves, which are larger and more deeply cordate, by the comparative shortness of the tube of its corolla, and by the white calyx of the fruit. Besides this species, I have met with another in various 284 parts of these Islands, and particularly at Acheen, which has been figured in Andrews' Botanical Repository, under the name of C. pyramidale. It is a large showy plant. A still more beautiful species, and perhaps the most elegant of the whole genus, is the C. nutans, so named by my friend Dr. Wallich, Superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Calcutta, who received it from the north-eastern frontier of Bengal. I found it not uncommonly at Pulo Penang, and this is not the only instance in which I have had occasion to observe a coincidence between the plants of these distant countries. This species is characterized as follows : C. nutans ; [Wall.) foliis lanceolatis acuminatis glabris, pani- culis longissimis terminalibus nutantibus, pedunculis re- motis divaricatis paucifloris. The panicles or racemes hang gracefully from the extre- mity of the branches ; the flowers are white, not numerous ; the peduncles, or primary divisions of the panicle, being remote, opposite, divaricated, short, and seldom bearing more than 3 flowers. It is called Unting-unting by the Malays. (This plant I find to be distinct from the Sylhet species, and call it C. Jackiana, I have a third species, with nodding pan- icles, (C penduliflorum,) which is a native of Tavoy. — Wall.) GMELINA VILLOSA. Boxb. G. villosa ; spinosa, foliis rhomboideis subtus villosis, racemis terminalibus, bracteis magnis acuminatis, drupis sphaericis dispermis. Radix Deiparse. Humph. Amb. v. 2. p. 124. t, 39. Kayo- Briang. Native of Sumatra, &c. — Arborescent. Leaves opposite, broadly ovate, sometimes obscurely 3-lobed, rather obtuse, entire, smooth above, villous beneath as well as the petioles and branchlets. Racemes terminal. Bracteas lai-ge, ovate, acuminate. Calyx obliquely 4-toothed, marked externally with 6 green scutellae or pustules. Corolla yellow, ventricose. Anthers 2-lobed. Ovary 4-spermous. Drupe with a 2-seeded nut. n y VITEX ARBOREA. Roxh. Hort. Beng. p. 46. DiDYNAMIA AnGIOSPERMIA. V. arhorea; arborea, foliis ternatis, foliolis ovato-lanceolatis integerrimis subtomentosis, paniculis terminalibus, bracteis calyce longioribus. Lubbun. Malay. Sumatra, &c. — A tree, with somewhat 4-sided branches. Leaves opposite, petiolated, ternate, sometimes quinate; leaf- lets ovato-lanceolate, acuminate, quite entire, rigid, covered with a very short tomentum. Petioles long, thickened at the base, pulverulent. Panicles terminal: flowers subsessile. Bracteas opposite, ovato-lanceolate, acute, tomentose, longer than the calyces. Calyx 5-dentate, tomentose, persistent. Corolla ca;rulescent, or nearly white, longer than the calyx, contracted and almost closed at the mouth ; limb bilabiate, upper lip 2-lobed, lobes diverging, lower lip larger, 3-lobed, the lateral lobes reflexed, the middle one larger, subrotund, concave, tomentose at the base, and of a deeper blue than the rest. Stamens 4, didynamous, ascending, longer than the corolla. Style longer than the stamens. Stigma bifid. Berry black, juicy, containing a 4-celled, 4-seeded nut. The wood of this tree is very hard, and employed by the inhabitants of Sumatra in the construction of their houses. They consider an infusion of the bark as a useful application in cases of ophthalmia. SPHENODESME. W. J. DiDYNAMIA Angiospermia. Nat. Ord. Vitices. Juss. Calyx tubulosus, 5-dentatus. Corolla 5-loba, subirregularis. Stamina 4-5, exserta. Ovarium 4-loculare, 4-sporum. Bacca monosperma. Flores fasciculati, involucrati. Sphenodesme pentandra. W. J. S. pentandra; foliis oblongo-ovatis glabris, involucris 5-6 phyllis, fasciculis 6-T floris, floribus pentandris. Roscoea pentandra. Roxb. Cat. Hort. Beng. p. 64. (Congea. Roxb. Corom. 3. — Wall.) VOL. I. u 286 Native of Pulo Penang. — A climbing shrubs with 4-sided, somewhat pilose branches. Leaves opposite, petiolate, ob- long-ovate, subcordate at the base, acuminate, (sometimes with a retuse acumen,) very entire, smooth. Petioles short, pilose. Fascicles G-T-flowered, peduncled, disposed in pani- cles at the extremity of the branches, and in the upper axils. Involucres consisting of 5-6, oblong, obtuse, membranace- ous, reticulated leaflets^ which are longer than the sessile flowers. Calyx campanulate, 5-plicate, 5-dentate. Corolla infundibuliform, faux villous; limb 5-lobed, nearly regular. Stamens 5, long, exserted. Style filiform, bifid. Ovary very hairy, 3-4.-celled; cells 1-seeded. There is always one leaflet less in the involucre than the number of flowers in the fascicle, the central flower having no fulcrum. This species was sent to Dr. Roxburgh from Sylhet, and by him called JRoscoea ; that name, however, being preoccupied, a new one has become necessary. I have therefore given it that o^ Sphenodesme, [fasciculus alatus.) (Mr. Jack's shrub is certainly different: I call it Congea Jackiana. — Wall.) STERCULIA COCCINEA. Roxh. MoNADELPHIA DeCANDRIA. S. coccinea ; foliis oblonjjo-lanceolatis obtuse acuminatis gla- bris, racemis axillaribus et lateralibus nutantibus, laciniis calycinis linearibus patentibus, folliculis coccineis. Native of Pulo Penang. — A large, smooth shrub. Leaves at the summits of the branches, alternate, petiolate, 8-10 inches long, oblongo-lanceolate, obtusely acuminate, abrupt at the base, entire, smooth on both sides. Petioles thickened at both ends. Macetnes lateral, from among the leaves at the end of the branches, drooping; jlowers alternate, pedicellate; pedicells articulated. Tuhe of the calyx somewhat ventricose; limb 5-parted, lacinioe linear, with revolute margins, twice .is long as the tube, spreading. Corolla none. Stamens 10, sessile on the stipes of the germen. Ovary stipitate on a column as long as the tube, subrotund, 5-lobed, crowned 287 with a declinate style. Stigmas 5, linear, revolute. Fruit composed of 5, nearly equal, crimson follicles, each of which contains 2-3 seeds, enveloped in a black, pulpy arillus. Dr. Roxburgh's S. coccinea is a native of Sylhet, and is said to have panicled flowers, and 4-8-seeded follicles. My plant, however, agrees so well in every other respect, that I cannot consider it to be really distinct, as those differences may be merely the effect of a less favourable situation. (On comparing specimens of both trees, I have ascertained the species of my late very dear friend, W. Jack, to differ from that of Roxburgh. I call it S. IcBvis. The same ob- servation applies to the plant immediately following. Rox- burgh's S. angustifolia does not agree with it; and I have therefore separated Mr. Jack's tree, as a distinct species, to which I have given the name of aS. Jackiana. — Wall.) V STERCULIA ANGUSTIFOLIA. Roxb. S. angustifolia ; foliis lanceolatis superne latioribus acuminatis subtus villosis, racemis extra- axillarib us nutantibus, laciniis calycinis linearibus apice connexis. Unting-unting Besar. Malay. Native of Pulo Penang. — A tree; branches covered with ferruffinous wool. Leaves at the summits of the branches, alternate, petiolate, lanceolate, broader above, acuminate, narrowing to the base and there rounded, entire, smooth (in adult leaves) above, covered beneath with stellated hairs. Petioles thickened at both ends, ferruginously villous, as well as the nerve of the leaf. Stijmles linear, acute, shorter than the petiole, deciduous. Racemes {panicles?) near the ex- tremity of the branches, lateral or extra-axillary, branched, lax, ferruginous. Bracteas linear-lanceolate, acute. Calyx deeply 5-parted, tomentose, lacinia long, linear, acute, con- nected at their points and gaping at the sides, greenish yellow, with a red spot at the base. Corolla none. Stamens 10, on a curved column. Ovary stipitate, tomentose, 5-lobed. Style declinate. Stigma 5-lobed. u 2 288 A great proportion of tlie flowers are male, and I have not seen the perfect fruit. Dr. Roxburgh's plant was a native of Chittagong. CALLA HUMILIS. W. J. MoNOECIA MONANDRIA. C. hiunilis ; acaulis, foliis ellipticis snpra glabris, pedunculis 4-5 ex axillis foliorum petiolis brevioribus. Kladee ayer. Malay. Pulo Penang, &c. — A small stemless plant, growing under the shade of forests, 5-6 incl es high. Root a leaf-bearing tuber, which sends out nume) us, long, villous fibres. Stein none, except the above-mentii ned tuber, which is everywhere invested with the sheaths o the petioles. Leaves erect, petiolate, elliptical, ovate, rather obtuse, with a subulate acumen, slightly cordate at the base, entire, with a pellucid crisped margin, smooth and green above, somewhat hoary beneath, with villous papill '2. Petioles shorter than the leaves, channelled above, sheathing and dilated into a waved margin at the base. The bases of the sheaths are often perforated by the fibres of the root. Peduncles 4-5, axillary, 1 -flowered, shorter than the petioles, furnished with mem- branous sheaths at the base. Spathas of an obscure red colour, oblong, convolute, acuminated, as long as the spadix. Spadix cylindrical, entirely covered with florets, male above and female below, for about a quarter of its length. Anthers numerous, subrotund, yellow, sessile. Germens ovate. Styles very short. Stigmas obtuse, peltate. A few anthers are intermingled with the pistils. Capsides membranaceous, globose, somewhat 4-lobed, (2-celled ?) generally 8-seeded. Seeds somewhat kidney-shaped, arranged round the axis. CALLA ANGUSTIFOLIA. W. J. C. angustifolia ; acaulis, foliis lanceolatis utrinque glabris acutis, pedunculis 4-5 ex axillis foliorum petiolis brevi- oribus. 289 Pulo Penang. — A small plant of the same size as, and nearly related to, the preceding. Leaves radical, petiolated, lanceolate, acute at both ends, entire, smooth. Petioles sheathing at the base. Peduncles 4-5, axillary, 1-flowered. Flowers, ^c. exactly as in the preceding. These two species are so closely allied, that it is doubtful if they may not be considered as varieties. CALLA NITIDA. W. J. C. nitida ; foliis ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis, scapis com- pressis foliis brevioribus, haccis monospermis. Pulo Penang. — A large sub Quiescent species. Leaves 1-1^ foot long, ovato-lanceolate, acuminate, very entire, very smooth, with numerous parallel nerves proceeding from a middle rib. Petioles sheathing nearly their whole length. Scapes compressed, smooth, shorter than the leaves. Spadix invested by the Spatha, covered with Jlorets, male above, female beneath. Berries obloil^, large, 1-seeded. FLACOURTIA INERMIS. Roxb. F. inermis ; arborescens, inermis, floribus hermaphroditis fasciculatis axillaribus, foliis ovatis serratis glabris. Koorkup. Malay. Sumatra and Pulo Penang. — A tree of moderate size. Leaves alternate, shortly petiolated, ovate, obtusely acuminate, with large blunt serratures, very smooth, lucid, 6-8 inches long. Peduncles fasciculate in the axils, many-flowered. Flowers hermaphrodite. Cahjx 4-leaved, spreading, some- what tomentos'e, leaflets subrotund, sharpish. Corolla none. Nectary composed of numerous, small, subrotund, orange- coloured glands, situated at the base of the calyx and surrounding the stamens. Stamens numerous, (20-30,) hypogynous, longer than the calyx; _^/a;«e72fo- white; anthers yellow, roundish. Ovary superior, ovate, crowned with 4-5 short, thick, diverging styles; stigmas capitate, 2-lobed. 290 Berry reddish -purple, with a juicy acid flesh, in which are imbedded 8-10 pyrence, according to the number of the styles. The fruit of this, though rather too acid to be eaten raw, is esteemed for tarts and pies. ^ ROTTLERA ALBA. Roxh. R. alba; foliis rhomboideo-ovatis subtus incanis, paniculis terminalibus laxis, fructibus stellato-pilosis spinis molli- bus echinatis. Baleangin. Malay. Sumatra and Pulo Penang. — A tree of moderate size : branches roundish, furfuraceous with appressed stellated hairs. Leaves alternate, petiolate, rhomboidal-ovate, often approaching to 3-lobed, long-acuminate, rounded and bi- glandular at the base where the petiole is inserted within the margin, remotely denticular towards the apex, smooth and green above, hoary and tomentose beneath. The young leaves have stellate deciduous hairs on their upper surface. Petioles long. Stipules none. Panicles terminal or from the bifurcations of the branches, peduncled, lax, and drooping. Flowers small, numerous, shortly pedicelled. Bracteas small, and, together with the peduncles and calyx, sprinkled with furfuraceous tomentum. Male. Calyx 3-phyllous, leaflets ovate, acute. Stamens numerous in the centre of the flower. Anthers subrotund. Female. Calyx 4, sometimes 5-partite, erect, laciniae acute. Styles 3, diverging, hirsute above. Stigmas simple. Fruit tricoccous, beset with soft flexible spines, and covered with stellated hairs, 3-seeded. Seeds subrotund, attached to >Vy, the superior and internal angle of the cells. ( To be continued in the future Numbers of this Work.) 291 [TAB. LXL] BYTTNERIA HETEROPHYLLA. Pentandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Byttneriace/e. Br. Gen. Char. Cal. 5-partitus, petaloideus, persistens. Pet. 5, basi dilatato-saccata, apice longe mucronata. Stam. 10, filamentis basi connatis; alternis sterilibus petaloideis, alt. fertilibus, subulatis, simplicibus. Antherce utrinque rima lateral! dehiscens. Styli 5, (coadunati.) Ovarium 5-loculare, loculis 3-4-ovulatis. Caps. 3-5-valvis. De Cand. Byttneria heterophylla {Hook.); scandens, foliis cordatis brevi- acuminatis integris lobatis palmatisque, petalis longe mucronatis bidentatis basi attenuatis. Telfairia volubilis. Newman in litt. Heterophyllum ramosum. Bojer^ MSS. Hab. In monte Tannanarivou, provincise Emirne, Ins. Madagascar. Z). Pro/. Bojer. Cult, in Ins. Mauritii. D. Newman. Frutex volubilis. Caules longissimi, valde ramosi, teretes, subvillosi, rami juniores versus apices subscabri. Folia petiolata, late cordata, brevi-acuminata, Integra vel lobata, lobis latis, acutis, vel palmatim tri-quinquepartita ; subtus paululum pubescentia, 3-5-nervia, costata, subtus ad basin uniglandulosa, et in axillis venarum pubescentia. Pani- culcB axillares, pubescentes, breves, solitariae vel subfasci- culatae, subcorymbosae, patentes vel cernuae; ramuli ultimi umbellati, bracteis paucis involucriformibus, linearibus sufFulti. Calyx profunde 5-partitus, sepalis lanceolatis, patentissiniis, coccineis, extus pubesccntibus. Pet. 5, erecta, flava, dorso rubescentia, convexo-saccata, utrinque dente vel appendicula patenti aucta, inferne attenuata, superne mucrone vel appendice subulata, petali longitu- dine, subciliata terminata. Stamina in urceolum connata, petalis multo breviora. Filamenta 10, quorum 5 abortiva, 292 petaliformia, apice recurva, 5 alternantia breviora, fili- formia vel subulata. AnthercB didymae. Pollen viride, subglobosum, tuberculis tribus notatum. Pistillum (abor- tivum) globosum, 5-lobum, pubescens. Styli in unum filiforme coadunati. Stigma simplex. — Newman in litt. Most of the above is copied from a description made from living plants in the Island of Mauritius, and communi- cated to me, together with a drawing and specimens, by Mr. Newman, Curator of the Royal Botanic Garden in that island, as a new genus, under the name of " Telfairia volu- bilis." M. Bojer, who discovered the plant in Madagascar, had previously sent it to me as " Heterophi/lhim ramosimi." MSS. But upon carefully comparing the structure of the flowers with those of Byttneria^ I could not discover sufficient char- acters to warrant its separation from that genus. Mr. New- man, indeed, considers the plant to be dioecious; and it is certain that the blossoms do not bear fruit in the Mauritius : but the flowers contain a pistil, to all appearance, perfectly formed. It is remarkable not only for the variously shaped leaves that occur, as well on different plants as upon the same indi- vidual, and for its extended growth. " This singular and gigantic Creeper" says M. Bojer in his letter to me, " in- habits the province of Emirne, in the interior of the Island of Madagascar, where it covers, with its most extensive branches, a great portion of the western side of the mountain Tannanarivou. In no other spot have I seen it, nor have I met with the ripe fruit. Its flowers much resemble those of Theobroma Cacao, (or Chocolate Tree,) and they fall off" soon after thei'- expansion." Fig. 1, Flower. Figs. 2, 3, Petals. Fig. 4, Stamen com- bined into a cup-shaped nectary. Fig. 5, Stamen. Fig. 6, Grain of pollen. Fig. 7, Pistil, (abortive.) — magnified. 293 [TAB. LXIL] ON A NEW GENUS OF THE NATURAL ORDER OF TILIACE^, FROM THE ISLAND OF MA- DAGASCAR. Communicated by Professor Bojer of the Mauritius. VINCENTIA TRIFLORA. Polyandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Tiliace^e. Gen. Char. Cal. 5-sepalus, sepalis reflexis, tortuosis, de- mum deciduis. Cor. pentapetala. Petala 5, apice bifida, basi squama instructa. Torus pentagonus. Stam. nu- merosa, libera, tore stipitiformi inserta. Germen 1, ovatum, hispidum. Stylus I, persistens. Stigma 4- fidum. Capsula globosa, indehiscens, (vel drupa sicca,) 4-pyrena. Nuces loculis 5, vel, abortu, uniloculares, monospermse. Semina horizontalia, pyriformia, compressa. Albumen 0. Cotyledones planae. Radicula ad hilum seminis versa. Bojer. Vincentia triflora, Bojer, MSS. (Tab. LXIL) Crescit in sylvis depressis ad ripas fluminis Marou-voaii dicti in sinu Bombatac, ad eras occidentales Insula^ Ma- dagascar. Bojer. Arbor procera, non rare 30-pedalis, et ultra, facie Ulmi cam- pestris. Truncus brevis, cortice crasso donatus, ut in Tilia europcea, valde ramosus. Rami alterni, elongati, patentes vel penduli, versus apices flexuosi et virides, glabri. StipulcB subulatse, deciduae. Folia alterna, petio- lata, ovali-oblonga, juniora longe acuminata, grosse ser- rata, basi obtusa ; adultiora magis cordata, undulata, 4-pollicaria, 2 uncias lata, glaberrima, nitida, basi trinervia, venisque minutis transversalibus, supra viridia, subtus pallidiora, venaeque magis prominentes. Petioli brevius- culi, graciles. Pedunculi axillares, solitarii vel bini, apice triflori. Flores pedicellati, terni, ante florationem bractea late ovata, membranacea, nitida inclusa. Alabastra oblonga, 294 fere cylindracea, hirsuta. Calyx e sepalis vel foliolis 5, linearibus, extus fasciculato-pilosis, intus flavis, glabris. Petala oblonga, flava, apice bifida, ad basin squama con- cava, margine piloso, aucta. Torus obconicusj pentagonus, carnosus. Stamina petalis longiora. Filamenta subulato- filiformia. AnthercB ovales, biloculares. Germen ovatum, pilis erectis rigidis undique tectum. Stylus staminibus paulo longior, filiformis. Stigma 4-fidum, segmentis an- gustis. Capsula globosa, magnitudine fere Cerasi minoris, setoso-verrucosa, intus succo gelatinoso elastico farcta, non pulposa, 4-pyrena. Nuces erectse, trigonae, sub- quadriloculares. Loculi transversi, nunc abortientes, ma- teria cellulosa circumdati, monospermi. Semina nitida, pyriformia, compressa, pallide fusca, basi funiculo um- bilical i inserta, apice nigro-maculata. Albumen nullum. Cotyledones piano- compressae, carnosae. Radicula ad hilum seminis versa. Bojer. This genus has been named by its intelligent discoverer, Professor Bojer, in honour of M. John Vincent, an eminent advocate of the Mauritius, and a great cultivator and patron of Natural History, especially of Botany, in that island. The above description was kindly communicated to me through Charles Telfair, Esq., by Professor Bojer of the Mauritius, accompanied by a most beautiful drawing, executed in the island, by Madame Bernard. M. Bojer notices the affinity of this genus with Grewia and Columbia ; differing from the latter in its wingless capsules, and from the former in its crustaceous capsule, its many cells within each nut, and transverse seeds, attached to the inner angle of each cell. Fig. 1, Petal. Fig. 2, Flower from which the floral cover- ings are removed, showing the torus, stamens, and pistil. Fig. 3, Pistil. Fig. 4, Ripe fruits. Fig. 5, The same cut round transversely to show the nuts. Fig. 6, A nut. Fig. 7, The same cut through vertically. Fig. 8, Seed. Fig. 9, Transverse section of a seed : — all but Jigs. 4, 5, 6, more or less magnified. 295 SOME REMARKS ON THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS CITRUS, WHICH ARE CULTIVATED IN JAMAICA. By James Macfadyen, M. D., Jamaica. The genus Citrus is so generally diffused, and its species have so long been submitted to the investigations of science that it may appear strange if w^e assert that many points con- nected with its history still remain to be elucidated. The botanists of Europe have in general been limited in their obser- vations to individuals reared in orangeries and conservatories, where the natural habits and characters of these plants can never be properly developed. They have consequently been led into errors, into which they never could have fallen, had they visited countries where the different species grow in a state of nature. Thus the Lirne and the Lemon are set down by almost all systematic writers as belonging to the same species ; the sweet and the bitter Oranges are considered as distinct ; while of the Shaddock and the Forbidden Fruit they know little or nothing. The genus Citrus belongs to the natural order Auran- TiACE.E, the 33d of the Jussieuan System, as altered by De Candolle. The generic characters are, " Proportion of the parts of the j^o?^?er quinary. Ca^. urceolate, 3-5 -fid. Petals 5-8. Stamens 20-60, with \he filaments compressed, more or less united at the base, so as to be polyadelphous : Anthers oblong. Style cylindrical. Stigma hemispherical. Fruit a berry i 7-12-locular; the Cells many-seeded, with the Seeds imbedded in a pulp. The cuticle of the seed membranaceous, Auriculce of the Cotyledons very short. The species which compose this genus are Trees or Shrubs, furnished for the most part with axillary spines. 1. C. Medica, (the Citron.) Petioles naked. Leaves oblong, rounded at the apex, (very rarely acute.) Stamens 35-40. Fruit oblong, with the rind thick, and rugose on the surface. Syn. Malus Medica, (Theophrastus, 1. 4. c. 4.); Malum Mediae, (Virg. Georg.); OtrodJ {of the Arabians.) 296 This is an arborescent shrub, the lowest of the genus, seldom attaining, in an open situation, more than eight feet in height. It divides near the root in an irregular manner ; the branches are long, subsimple, at first nearly erect, after- wards, from the weight of the fruit, decumbent. Extremities of the young branchlets compressed, smooth, with a faint violet tinge. Spines horizontal. Leaves 6 inches long, and 2 broad; oblong, rounded at the apex, (very rarely acute,) serrulato-crenate, glabrous, pellucido-punctate, with dots excavated on the upper surface. Colour yellowish green. Petiole one-third of an inch, naked, incrassated. Peduncles very short, axillary, solitary, one-flowered. Calyx sub- 5-dentate, with the teeth erect. Corolla 5-petaled. Petals oblong, obtuse. Stamens about 40 or less, of unequal leno-ths. Nectary surrounding the base of the style, 5-gonal, green. Stigma bilobular. The fruit is externally yellow, rouo-h. The rind is divisible into 2 layers: that which is external is formed of an infinite number of vesicles filled with an essential oil; the other, which is internal, is thick, white, composing the principal part of the bulk of the fruit. The pulp is enclosed in a diaphanous membrane, and arranged into several compartments. These compartments are many- seeded. This species has a great resemblance in its mode of growth and other characters to the C. Limonum. It is distinguished by the larger size of its leaves, and by these being of a more oijlong figure. They are, also, distinctly serrated ; and for the most part rounded at the apex. In the present species, also, the axillary spines spread out nearly horizontally, whilst in the Lemon they are patent, forming with the stem an angle of 45°. The Citron is a native of Media. It passed from thence into many of the provinces of Persia, and in course of time became known to the Greeks. About the same period also it began to be cultivated in Judea. It has been conjectured by many commentators, from the circumstance of Jews at the present day carrying Citrons to the Feast of Tabernacles, that it was the fruit " Hadar " spoken of in the 23d chapter, 40th 297 verse of the book of Leviticus. " Sumetisque vobis die priino fructus arhoris pulcherrimcB (Hadar) spatulasque palmarum, et ramos ligni densarum frondium, et salices de torrente, et laeta- bimini coram Domino Deo vestro." Hence, also, on the old Samaritan coins, Citrons^ attached to a palm, may be observed on one side. Josephus likewise notices this custom as of great antiquity. Thus, on one occasion, when Alexander, the king and high priest, stood at the altar, the people revolted, and threw at him the Citrons they bore in their hands. It is probable, however, that no particular fruit was alluded to, and that it was not till the days of Solomon, when their intercourse with distant countries became extensive, that the Citron was made known to the Jews. As for the Greeks, they seem to have been acquainted with it at an early period, as we find a very precise description of it in the writings of Theophrastus. The Citron is used only in confections. It contains but little pulp, and the juice is less acid than that of the Lemon. The ri7id is its most valuable part, affording, on expression, a considerable proportion of essential oil. 2. C. Limonum, (theZemow.) Petioles sub-alate, oblong, nar- rowed towards the apex, remotely crenato -serrate. Stamens 30-35. Fruit oblong, with the rind thin, and the pulp very acid. Syn. Limoun (of the Arabians) ; C Limon (Miller's Dic- tionary); C. Limon (Linnaeus, Sp. PI.) This is a tree, rather taller than the Citron; seldom, however,- exceeding 10-12 feet in height. In growth it is very irregular. The branches spring from near the bottom of the stem, are rather long, and angular towards their extremities, which, when young, have a violet tinge. Spines long, axillary, patent. Leaves oblong, at the base rounded, narrower to- wards the apex, remotely crenato-serrate, smooth, yellowish o-reen, witli o-reen dots. Petiole rather more than half an inch in length, subulate. Flowers axillary, solitary, or in a raceme, from 2-6-flowered. Peduncle rather shorter than the petiole. Pedicels with the green portion very short, a bractea beneath 298 each pedicel, minute, subulate. Calyx 5-toothed. Petals 4, previous to expansion tinged with violet. Filaments subu- late, more or less united, in 2 ranks ; the inner a line shorter than the outer ; 30-35 in number. The Fruit ovoid, mammillose at the apex, with the pulp arranged in 9-11 cells, the parenchyme which contains it adhering firmly to the rind. This, as well as those species of the genus which still re- main to be noticed, was unknown to the ancients. We seek in vain for any notice of it in the writings of antiquity. It might, at first sight, be supposed that the Golden Apples of the Hesperides had some reference to them. These islands are, at the present day, known by the name of the Canaries or Fortunate Islands, and are situated off the western coast of Africa. But no voyager has noticed Oranges or Lemons as growing there, till within a recent date ; and those which are now found, bear evident marks of having been introduced, and are only met with in the neighbourhood of Europaean settlements. As the Orange, the Lemon, and the other species, therefore, (with the exception of the Citron,) were unknown to the Greeks and Romans, we have reason for inferring that they are natives of a country into which the arms of these vic- torious nations did not penetrate. As they never extended their conquests beyond the Ganges, we are probably not far from the truth when we consider China and the adjacent countries as the regions to which these fruits are indigenous ; the objects of cultivation to a people who can date their civilization from a remote period. It was not till the aera of the Crusades that these fruits became known to the inhabitants of Europe. The Arabs, under the influence of fanaticism, had spread their conquests over the greater part of Asia. In their progress, they met with many exotic plants, and, amongst others, with those under consideration, which their love of luxury, as well as their fondness for medicine and agriculture, soon prompted them to transplant into the districts whence they had come. According to Abd-Allatif, an Arabian traveller, the first seeds of these fruits were brought from India in the 300th year of 299 the Hegira, and sown in Oman, whence they were afterwards conveyed to Palestine and the shores of the Levant. It was probably by the same warlike people that they were first propagated in Spain, as well as in their possessions in Northern Africa. It is not wonderful that these fruits attracted the curiosity of the Crusaders of the north. Returning to their homes and families, they carried with them some seeds of the pro- ductions, which, in a distant country, had excited their ad- miration. It was thus that the orchards of Europe became enriched, not only with individuals of the Orange kind, but with other fruit trees, such as the Apricot of Alexandria, and the Damascene Plum. These foreign fruits were more especially cultivated by the monks ; the most refined as well as most luxurious class of the community in those days. Even at the present time, where the climate permits, these plants are always in great numbers about monastaries, occu- pying a principal place in the garden.* I need scarcely add, that their cultivation is now carried on in every civilized country, the desire of possessing them having, in cold climates, first led to the idea of erecting buildings capable of producing an artificial climate, such as is suited to the growth of plants of more favoured regions. The rind of the Lemon, like that of the Citron, abounds with an essential oil. The fruit is principally esteemed, how- ever, for its agreeable acid juice, adapted as a condiment both for animal and vegetable substances. It has been found during long voyages a preventive against scurvy, and is said to be an antidote to vegetable poisons. It is of great im- portance, serving as a mordant for fixing vegetable reds. Thus large quantities are employed in Turkey-red dyeing, and for the purpose of freshening the colour yielded by the Carthamus tinctorius. * There is an Orange in the court of the convent of St. Sabina at Rome, which is still alive, although it is said to have been planted six hundred years ago, by the hands of Saint Dominic. 300 3. C. Lima, (the Lime.) Petioles with the alae narrow. Leaves oval, obtuse, obscurely crenulate. Stamens 25. Fruit subglobose ; pulp acid. Syn. Lime de Naples. Limocello di Napoli. Limon Calaber. Lime. This is a tree of shrubby growth ; occasionally attaining from 15 to 20 feet in height. The principal branches rise from the bottom of the stem. Branchlets compressed, gla- brous, green. Leaves oval, not acuminate, obtuse, obscurely crenulated towards the apex, with a minute tooth in each indentation. Petiole alate, with the wings narrow. Spines axillary, in a direction between patent and horizontal. Ra- ceme axillary. Peduncle about the length of the petiole, generally 6-flowered. Bractece at the base of the pedicels, minute. Calyx regularly 5-fid or 5-dentate. Petals 5, sub- aequal, linear -lanceolate, white. Stamens 25, rarely ap- proaching 30, the short stamens being for the most part wanting. Fruit sub-globose. One of the principal uses to which this ti'ee is applied, is the formation of hedgerows, for which few plants are better adapted, whether we regard beauty or utility. The fruit of it is used for the same purposes as the Lemon. The acid, however, is more abundant, and purer, the juice con- taining but a slight proportion of vegetable matter. The plant itself appears to have been known at an earlier period than any of the other species, with the exception of the Citron. Thus, according to Theophrastus, it was with difficulty that Harpalus could bring the Lime and Box-tree to grow at Babylon. It is mentioned by some writers, that the fruit of the Lime de Naples is without seed. This is not the case in this country, the seed being constantly present, and large, in proportion to the size of the fruit. 4. C.Limetta, {Sweet Lime.) Petiole sub-alate. Leaves o\Siie, serrate. Stamens 30. Fruit globose, crowned with a boss-like projection ; rind firm ; juice sweet. 301 Syn. Limo dulcis. Limetta Bergamotta. Peretta. Sweet Lime. This, unlike the former, has the habit of a tree. Its cul- tivation is by no means general. 5. C. Aurantium. Var. ». C. dulcis, [Siveet Orange.) Petiole subalate. Leaves ovato-sublanceolate, slightly acuminate, with a blunt point. Stamens 20-22. Fruit globose; rind thin; pulp sweet. Syn. Narendj, (Avicenna.) Arangi, (Langue Romaine.) Melarancio, (early Italian writers.) Aurantium, (Miller.) Granger, (French.) Orange, (English.) This is a tree, often attaining 24 feet in height. Branches for the most part erecto-patent. Leaves alternate, petiolated, ovato-sublanceolate, slightly acuminate, with a blunt point, and near the apex a few crenatures. Petiole winged, or sub- alate. Spines axillary. Flowers axillary, peduncled, for the most part solitary. Calyx 3-fid ; divisions obtuse. Co- rolla of 4 petals, linear-lanceolate, obtuse, white. Stamens, generally 22. Fruit yellow, smooth ; rind thin ; pulp white, sweet. 6. Var. /3. C. vulgaris, {Bitter Orange.) This differs little from the preceding variety. The leaves are more acuminate, and partake more of the lanceolate figure. The alee of the petioles are broader. The calyx is, for the most part, regu- larly 5-fid, with the divisions acute. Petals 4-5. Stamens 22. Peduncle minutely pubescent. Fruit, as in the former, globose; rind more rough, and having a deeper shade of red; pulp acrid. Although to the practised eye it is easy to distinguish be- tween these two varieties, it is difficult to say in what the distinctive marks consist. In general, the hitter Orange is a tree of a more vigorous growth, the stem is taller, and the leaves are larger and of a deeper green, with the crenatures more distinct. The calyx is also more regularly 5-fid, and the petals 5 in number, and suba?qual. x 302 We have already mentioned that the Orange, with the Lemon and other species, became known to Europe during the Middle Ages. We have reasons for concludina; that it was only the bitter-fruited variety with which they were then acquainted, and that it was not till an after period that the sweet Orange was introduced. Thus, all the old established orange groves of Spain, as those at Seville, planted by the Moors, are of this sort. The Arabian writers, also, always describe the Orange Tree as producing a fruit with an acrid juice. We are informed that the first sweet Orange was reared in the garden of the Count de St. Laurent, at Lisbon. Hence this fruit has come to be generally known by the name of the Portugal Orange. It is probable that the seeds were procured from China; the Portuguese, previous to this, having discovered the route to India by the Cape of Good Hope. By many writers, the sweet and the hitter Orange are con- sidered as belonging to the same species, the qualities of the former being; the effects of cultivation and ffraftina;. The seed of the sweet Orange comes up, indifferently, either a tree resembling that from which it was taken, or one producing hitter fruit. There is, however, this fact to be taken into consideration, that the seed of the hitter Orange is never known to grow into a tree of the sweet variety. In this respect, the Orange resembles the Apple; the seed of the Crah producing a tree of its own kind ; whilst that of the Golden Pippin, or any other cultivated variety, gives birth to a fruit of both descriptions ; the one, though inferior to the fruit of the parent tree, yet sweet, and the other small and sour, and though not corresponding exactly, yet making a near approach to the Crah. We may partly account for this distinction among Oranges, by inquiring whether there be any circumstances which favour the raising of the sweet Orange from seed. It may be remarked of all fruits, into whose composition the saccharine principle enters largely, that these acquire the sweetness and flavour for which they are esteemed, most readily, in a lime- stone district. It is only in such situations that the Vine can 303 be cultivated with success. This is equally the case with the Orange. Thus, the finest in Jamaica are raised on the white limestone of the Pai'ish of St. John, and in no part of the world are sweet Oranges produced in such abundance as in Manchester. The rocks which compose the south-west boundary of Blue Mountain Valley are of the same forma- tion ; and it is remarked of an estate in that district, that the seeds of Oranges, sown by the negroes there, turn out uni- formly sweet. On the contrary, in the neighbourhood of Bath, where rocks of the trap and secondary formation prevail, all the Oranges have more or less of acridity. These facts lead us to the following conclusions: — 1st, That the sweet and the bitter Oranges are the same species, the former, in unfavourable situations, degenerating into the latter. 2dly, That the difference between these varieties has not originally existed, but that the conversion of the bitter into the sweet Orange has been the effect of circumstances extremely propitious, combined with care and cultivation. Uses. The sweet Orange is principally used for the dessert. The bitter variety is capable, by preparation, of forming a variety of agreeable confections. The rind pos- sesses a higher degree of aroma than that of any other of the genus, and the pulp is used to diminish the tendency to putrefaction. The most valuable part, however, is the flower, from which a distilled water is obtained. * 7. C. decumana, {the Shaddock.) Leaves oval, rounded at the apex, sub-emarginate, crenated, beneath pubescent. Petioles alate. Stamens 30. Fruit very large, with the rind thick. This is a tree about 18 feet in height, the crown flat, the branches divaricating. Branchlets compressed, angular, when young pubescent. Leaves 5 inches long and 2^ broad, oval, * We have to regret that the Orange is not here an object of more general cultivation. In the Floridas, it has become so profitable that, according to an American writer, one acre yields 1000 dollars per annum. X 2 304 rounded at the apex, sub-emarginate, crenated, midrib beneath pubescent, ciUated, above shining. Petiole alate, pubescent. AIcb ciliate, crenulated. Spines for the most part wanting. Flowers axillary. Peduncle pubescent. Calyx irregularly 5-fid, pubescent, with the divisions obtuse. Petals 4, linear, oblong. Stamens 30. Germen romidish, pubescent. Style pubescent. Of this fruit there are two varieties. Var. «. maliformis ; fruit globose, pulp white. Var. /3. pyriformis ; fruit pear-shaped, pulp red. Of the above two varieties of this excellent fruit, the latter abounds most in the sweet principle. Unlike the Orange^ the best Shaddocks are observed to grow in the wet districts. 8. C. Paradisi, [Forbidden Fruit.) Leaves oval, rounded, crenulated, glabrous. Petioles alate. Stamens 25. Friiit large. This is a tree of a handsome appearance, about 30 feet in height, with branches sub-erect, and the apex sharp. Leaves oval, rounded, crenulated, glabrous. Petioles subalate. Spines for the most part short, axillary. Floivers peduncled, axillary, either solitary or in a raceme of from 2 to 6. BractexB one at the base of each pedicel, concave, lanceolate. Peduncle glabrous, half-an-inch long. Calyx irregularly 5-fid, faintly ciliated. Petals 4, linear-oblong, rounded. Stamens 25-26. Fruit sweetish, subacid. There are also two varieties of this species. Var. u. pyriformis ; Barbadoes Grape Fruit. Var. /3. maliformis; Forbidden Fruit. As in the Shaddock, the pear-shaped variety possesses most of the siveet principle, and is, on the whole, a preferable fruit. James Macfadyen. 21th July, 1828. 305 NOTICES RESPECTING THE BOTANY OF CER- TAIN COUNTRIES VISITED BY THE RUS- SIAN VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY UNDER THE COMMAND OF CAPT. KOTZEBUE. By Ad. DE ChAMISSO. [ Translated from the German Edition of the Voyage.'] THE PHILIPPINE ISLES. The beautiful woods which clothe the mountains and valleys of these islands with the most luxuriant green, descend also to the very brink of the sea, in groves of Mangle Trees {Rhizo- phora), and some other species. The transitory glance which we were enabled to gain of these forests from the public route, and the short distance to which we penetrated their recesses, are insufficient to enable us to describe them properly. Fig Trees appeared to be the prevailing kind of wood: some species supporting themselves as strong trees by their singularly interwoven stems and running roots, by which they clasp the rocks and twine over them. Other plants, of very slender stalks, raise themselves to an astonishing height, and while their leafy summits are lost above the leafy roof of tiie grove, their singular fruit is seen bursting from the lower part of their trunks. Some species retain a frutescent habit, while others climb. We missed in the woods the beautiful forms of the Acacia Trees, with their variously pinnated leaves; but numerous other genera of Leguminous Plants here exhibit their peculiar characteristics. The Ferns, (particularly the arborescent ones,) tlie Climbers, the Orchideae, which, in Brazil, form almost self-supported gardens in the air, slightly attached to the summits of the trees, are here either entirely wanting, as the Cacti and BromeliacecB, or appear in very diminished numbers. The character which Nature wears is of a much tamer kind. The species of Palm are more numerous than in St. Catherine's, many of them are but inconspicuous, and the slender prostrate Rotang is indeed the most wonderful of them all. Amongst the Aroideae is the 306 Pothos scandens, whose jointed grassy stems and narrow foliage are seen creeping up the trunks of trees. The graceful Bamboo Cane gi'ows abundantly on the banks of brooks, where its thickly clustered stems are often waved by the wind, which causes these hollow reeds to emit a great variety of agreeable sounds. This plant attains its extreme height in the short course of one rainy season; during the following years it becomes woody, and shoots out lateral stems, but without any increase of size. The young sprouts are eaten like asparagus. There are several species described by Loureiro as natives of this place, but not having seen their inflorescence, we could not ascertain this point. The plains consist alternately of woods and savannahs; but nothing can be poorer than the vegetation of the latter; consisting chiefly of two species of grass, which grow about eight feet high, and probably ripen their seeds in autumn. There are a very few dwarf plants, mostly of the leguminous tribes, and these grow under the shade of an arborescent species of Batthinia which appears singly at considerable intervals. These savannahs are often set on fire, both to prepare them for cultivation, and that they may produce younger vegetation for the cattle. A particular species of Musa {Banana or Pisang\ of which the fruit is not esculent, is cultivated for the sake of its fibrous stem, and considered preferable to many others. The filaments (being the long vessels of its peduncle) extend the whole length of the stem, which is generally about eight feet ; and they are of various degrees of fineness, according to their outer or inner situation. Thus the same plant affords the fibres of which are made the excellent anchor cables, almost exclusively employed by the Spanish vessels here, and that more delicate flax which is used in the manu- facture of the fine striped cloths of which the cleanly people of these islands make very elegant shirts. Another Palm grows here, {Pabna de Cahello negro:) it yields a strong, black, coarse fibre, much esteemed for ropes and cables, and far preferable to what is obtained from the Rotang, which, though employed by the Chinese and many 307 of the islanders of the Pacific Ocean, is considered as of little value, and not to be depended upon. This Palm Tree, on the contrary, is much cultivated, and, with the Bamboo and Botang, constitutes one of the most useful plants of this part of the world. THE MARIANNE ISLANDS.— GUAJA. This island is well wooded, its Flora seems rich, and the vegetation luxuriant. Forests clothe its steep descents to the sea shore, and in several sheltered spots the Mangle Trees {Rhizophora) actually dip their pendent boughs in the flood. Nothing can exceed the delicious perfume which was wafted to us across the waters, while we were sailing about in search of an anchorage. The Orange Trees grow wild, as do many other kinds of fruit trees, memorials of a once flourishing cultivation. Several species of plants formerly introduced here, now vie in luxuriance with the indigenous inhabitants of the soil; such as the pvlckly Limoni a trijbliata, and the Indigo Shrub [Indigofera tinctoria\ the use of which even is now unknown. The Breadfruit, Cocoa, and Pisang {Banana), are most abundant; the Mango {Mangiferaindica) grows well where it was planted, but does not become naturalized. Of the various species of plants which prevail on the continent of Asia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean, we only found the Barringtonia speciosa and Casuai'ina equisetifolia. We wholly missed the forms of plants so characteristic to New Holland, the Proteas, EpacridecB, Myrtles, and simple-leaved Acacias. On the other hand, we found most of those that grow at Radack, many of which again were wanting atLu^on; such as the Tacca pinnatijida, which, though a native of Cochin China and cultivated, does not appear at Manilla. Two species of P«MC?a«ws and many kinds of Fig are natives of Guaja. RADACK, RALICK, REPITH-URUR, BOGHA. The Flora of these islands is very scanty. On the range of Radack we found but fifty-nine species, including those that are cultivated. Twenty-three of them, five being in 308 cultivation, we had before seen at O-Waihi; and twelve, including the Cocoa Tree, were collected at the Island RomanzofF, where we gathered in all but nineteen species. About twenty, again, we found at Guaja. Neither the Orange nor Cabbage Palm, both of which have, on doubtful testimony, been stated to grow on the Mulgrave Islands, could we find; nor learn any thing with certainty about them. We do not however believe that the vegetation of Radack is confined to the above-mentioned number of plants ; but rather think that both on this island itself, and the groupe of which it forms a part, and which we had not the opportunity of thoroughly investigating, many individuals may have escaped our search. The southern islands, in particular, which we did not visit, (Arno, Meduro, and Mille,) which have an older vegetation and much richer soil, are likely to produce many species which are wanting to the more northern and barren groupe. Vegetation appears on this chain of islands to have commenced in the south, and followed the course of the inhabitants, in a northerly direction. The most useful Palm found here is the common Pandanus or Screw Pine of the South Seas, (fVob.) It grows wild in the most arid sands, where vegetation first commences, and enriches the soil by its numerous decaying leaves, which it throws off in great numbers. In the moist lowlands of the richer islands, it thrives equally well, and numerous varieties of it are cultivated with care, being propagated by layers, and their fruit much improved by culture. All of these, if increased by seed, reassume the original characteristics of the parent species, the Eruan. More than twenty varieties are reckoned ; the difference between them existing in the various outward form of their fruit, or its compound nature, or the number of separate kernels which it contains. The male tree is always called Digar, the wild female, P,ruan ; each variety having a different name. That part of the fruit which is used for food by the people of Iladack, is by the natives of the Sandwich, Marquesas, and Friendly Islands, employed as an odoriferous and golden-shining garland. We may here remark tliat the genus Pandanus particularly 309 requires strict examination, as the characters that most botanists have used to discriminate the various species are of no weight whatever. Loureiro, in his Flora Cochinch. expressly states that the fruit of P. odoratissimus is not esculent; but it constitutes the chief food of the people of Radack. Each of the seeds of which this compound fruit is composed, contains at the base where it is affixed, an aromatic juice. To obtain this, the fruit is first knocked to pieces with a stone, and then being chewed, the fibres are rejected from the mouth. The fruit is also baked in pits, as in the South Seas; not so much for the sake of eating it in this state, but that the Mogcm may be prepared from it. This is an aromatic dry confection, which is carefully stored up for voyages. All the members of one or more families are employed together in making the Mogan. When the fruit has been baked, its concreted juice is carefully scraped out with the edge of a mussel-shell, then spread on some leaves over a gridiron and dried in the sun, or by a gentle fire. The thin cake thus formed, is closely rolled up, and the roll neatly wrapped and tied in the leaves of the tree. The almond of this fruit is pleasant, but being difficult to get out, it is often neglected. From the foliage of the Pandamis, the women of these islands prepare all sorts of mats, some to serve for their aprons, others with ornamented borders, and the coarser and thicker kinds which form the sails of their vessels, and are employed by them for bedding. Next to the Pandanus, the Cocoa Tree [Ni) holds the second rank. Not only is its nut valuable as affiarding good oil, and forming a variety of utensils for domestic purposes, in which they carry their food and drink, but the fibres that surround the stem are employed for making cordage. The Pandanus gives food, and the Cocoa Tree the materials for navigation to these people. The manufacture of ropes is the labour of the men, and the first of the natives may be seen thus engaged. The fibres of the bark are cleansed and separated by maceration in pits of fresh water, and then spun. The wood of the old trees is reduced to powder, and formed into a paste with the juice of the unripe fruit: thus prepared and 310 dressed in one of the shells, it is baked over the fire. The cocoa-nut shells are the only vessels which these people possess for carrying water ; they are placed in longish wicker baskets made on purpose, several being arranged side by side, with the eyes of the nut upwards. The Cocoa Tree is planted and propagated every where, both on the inhabited and uninhabited islands ; but in most of the young plantations, the trees only bear fruit in the inhabited islands ; where their loftv crowns are seen waving; high in the air. The Cocoa Tree bears but vei'y small nuts at Radack. The Breadfruit Tree (Ma) is not very common at Radack, and is only planted in the wet and closely inhabited islands. Old trees are however met with even on some of the poorer ones. Its wood, as well as its fruit, is valuable ; from it are made the keels of their boats ; the other planks being chiefly formed of buoyant wood, joined together with cords of the cocoa bark, and the interstices caulked with leaves of the Pandanus. The Breadfruit Tree likewise yields a gum which is useful for different purposes. There are many varieties of this tree, as is generally the case with all cultivated plants ; those produced here do not vary much from the parent species ; their fruit is small, and the seeds in it fre- quently perfect. An useful fibre is procured from the rind of three different species of plants, which grow wild, the principal being from a shrub of the Nettle family {Boemeria?), called here the Arotnii, and only found on the best moist soils. The thread which the Aromli affords is white, extremely fine and strong. The Atahdt ( Triumfetta procumhens, Forst.) is a creeping plant of the Tiliaceous kind; it is common, and, with the Cassytha, covers the driest sands. From its brown bark, the material of the men's aprons is chiefly procured ; they consist of stripes of bark hanging loose, and sewed to a girdle of matting. The ornamental borders of the finer mats are also made of it. The fine white fibrous bark of the Hibiscus pojmlneus {Lo) which we saw at Radack, but only on the groupe Am-, is used in the same way. Ropes are manufactured of this bark at the Sandwich Islands, and elsewhere. 311 A nourishing flour is obtained from the tuberous roots of Toxica pinnatifida, which grows here plentifully ; but it does not appear to be in general use. The different species o^ Arum, A. esculentum, macrorhizon, and sagittifolium, as well as the Banana and the Bhizophoi'a gymnorhiza, are severally cultivated, here and there, on the various islands. The culture of the Banana seemed to commence at Kaban ; but it was only at Aur that we saw it bearing fruit. The species o^ Arum nowhere meet here with the deep boggy soil that best suits them; indeed there is nothing growing spontaneously on these islands which forms an essential part of the food of the population. Besides these plants, there are commonly cultivated about their dwellings two of the rarest wild species, which are very ornamental; a Sida and a Crinum, whose sweet-scented flowers, with those of Guef tarda speciosa, VolkamcBria inermis, and at Aur the Ixora coccinea (?) are worn in pretty garlands around the long coiled hair and in the ears of the poor natives of Radack, who are distinguished by their general taste for elegant decorations and great fondness for perfumes. The sea throws upon the reefs of Radack great trunks o^ Fig trees from more northerly countries, with the Palms and Bam- boos of the torrid zone. It thus supplies the wood necessary for navigation, while the iron found in the wrecks of Europsean vessels affords another requisite article. The only instruments which they possess for working up the drift-wood are formed of the valuable metal thus obtained. In confirmation of the fact that much iron is thus procured, we saw a large piece of timber lying on the strand, with the iron nails still remaining, sticking in it, at a sheltered spot in Oldia, one of this groupe of islands. From the same source the natives obtain another treasure, a useful kind of very hard stone, which is found in the roots and hollows of trees cast up by the sea. Iron and stone belong to the chieftains, to whom they are compelled to deliver these articles for a trifling remuneration, under pain of punishment. The sea also wafts to these islands the fruits and seeds of many trees, of which the greater part are not indigenous. 312 Most of them appear still to be in a state for vegetation, and we have frequently, with many good wishes, committed these presents to the bosom of the earth. Among them we found the fruit of that Pandanus which only grows in the western countries, and seeds of Barringtonia speciosa, Aleurites triloba, and other trees belonging to the general Flora of Polynesia, and which we have met with near the Marianne Islands. The greater number of these seeds belong to the arborescent or climbing Leguminous Plants, which grow plentifully everywhere between the tropics. Those of Guilandina Bonduc are very common among them; but we only saw the plant itself once, on one of the Leeward Islands. We observed that such seeds as are deposited by the waves on the reefs situated in the sheltered spots of the island, seem to vegetate more freely, being more pro- tected from the blasts, and finding a better soil than those that are thrown up on other parts of the island. Among the rejectamenta of the ocean are frequently seen round Pumice-stones, with masses of closely tangled Cassytha, similar to what the Zostera marina forms on some of our coasts, and which are called in France, on the shores of the Mediterannean, Plotte de mer. THE CAROLINE ISLANDS. A variety of useful Palms from the Philippines, among them Palma brava, Palma de Cabello negro, &c., which, as well as the plants of the Pelew Islands, are cultivated here, give an idea of the richness of the Flora. Cap enjoys, with Pelew, the privilege of an elevated situation ; among its productions we find the Areca Palm [Areca Catechu,) the Bamboo, and three kinds of trees which grow on the mountains, from whose timber boats are built, for which purpose the Breadfruit tree alone is employed on the lower islands. The Aleurites triloba grows here also, and the Clove {Caryophyllus aromaticus); the latter is not, however, esteemed, for the fruit is useless and bitter, and its whole appearance mean and ugly. The Orange, the Sugar-Cane, and lastly the Curcuma, all of which are produced at Ulea and the lower islands, 313 thrive here in the greatest abundance. Kadu recognised on the Sandwich Islands, and under the reefs of Radack, in many species of seeds that were drifted there, the natives partly of Cap, and partly of the lower islands of the Caroline groupe. Of all the southern islands, Feis has the best soil and richest vegetation. The Bamboo^ whose utility caused it to be introduced there from Cap, succeeds very well ; and from the same source the other islands procure many of their desiderata. Many species not found at Radack, and boasting a more luxuriant growth, are seen at Ulea and all the southern islands of the Pacific. Luis de Torres has even carried plants from Ulea to Guaja, which were strangers to the Flora of this high district. All these islands are rich in Breadfruit trees. Bananas, and esculent roots. The natives of the low grounds subsist chiefly on the Breadfruit, of which several large -fruited varieties are cultivated under different appellations; while on the higher lands. Roots constitute the chief support of the people: particularly those of the sweet Potatoe (Camotes*) which, with seeds of other useful plants, were brought by Cayal and three of his brothers, from the Bisayas or Philippine Isles, where they are indigenous, and whence they have spread to other districts. According to Kadu, they do not succeed at Ulea. In the Pelew Islands, many varieties of Arum are cultivated, some of them attaining a great size; but they are almost confined to elevated situations, and thrive best at Feis. The Pandanus grows on all the Carolines ; but its fruit is neither eaten nor used for ornaments, and we saw none of the improved varieties. The agriculture of Cap is quite unparalleled ; floating gardens of Arum being ingeniously constructed on the waters, with wood and drift Bamboo. * The Spaniards call the sweet roots Camotes, having borrowed the name from the Philippine Islands. The Camote of the Tagales and Bisayas was cultivated here before the conquest. 314 The Pisang (Batiana) is here cultivated, but more for the sake of its fibres than fruit. Of the former, the women weave or plait elegant mat-like stuffs, or rather, perhaps, stuff-like mats. A piece of this fabric, when finished, is generally the shape of a Turkey shawl, one ell broad, and several ells long, with black threads interwoven at each end, forming orna- mental patterns, and the ends of these threads hanging loose as a fringe. These cloths are sometimes dyed with Turmeric, (Curcuma.) Another plant of the Mallow tribe yields a stringy bark, which, in some of the islands, is similarly employed in weaving. The Paper- Mulberry tree, and the bark cloths of O-Waihi were unknown to Kadu. Much of the trade of Cap consists in a powder made from the rasped roots of the Curcuma : it is a general fashion, from Tuch in the east to Pelli in the west, to dye the skin with this powder ; but this practice does not prevail in the groupe of islands situated to the south-west of the Pelews, nor at the Mariannes. The custom of preparing a sweet syrup from the sap of the Cocoa Tree is only known at Pelew ; for drinking cava and using salt are alike unpractised in these islands. THE ISLE ROMANZOFR The Flora here is poor in the extreme ; we counted only nineteen species of perfect plants, (one Fern, three Monocoty- ledones, and fifteen Dicotyledones) and we do not think that many escaped our observation. The Cryptogamoiis plants, with which, in higher latitudes, vegetation commences, appear to be wanting here. The Lichens are only seen on the older trunks of trees, like a covering of dust ; and the black powder which sprinkles the stones, seems not of a vegetable nature. Even a Moss and some Fungi which we found at Radack, did not appear at Romanzoff. The plants we saw were a Polypodium, the Cocoa tree, the Screw Pine (Patidanus), a Grass, SccBVola Konigii, Tournefortia argentea, Lythrum Pemphis, Guettarda speciosa, a Cassytha, an Fuphorhia, a Boerhaavia, and an her- baceous kind o^ Nettle; all these being plants which we had found at Radack ; and those which are wanting at the latter 315 island, are two shrubby Ruhiaceous species, and another kind of shrub; Heliotropiujn prostratiim, Portulacca okracea, a Lepidium {acre ?) and a Buchnera ? A thin vegetation, through which the ground is everywhere seen, prevails here, consisting of a few shrubs with entire- margined, simple, mostly succulent leaves and colourless flowers ; these form a kind of thin brushwood, above which the Cocoa Tree raises itself, while the Pandanns is conspicuous by its singular form, entwined with the leafless, reddish stems of the Cassytha. THE SANDWICH ISLES.— THE JOHNSTONE ISLANDS. The collections of plants which Archibald Menzies, the learned companion of Vancouver, formed in his different expeditions to the heights of O-Waihi and Mauwi, are still, with many other treasures, enshrined in the herbarium of Sir Joseph Banks; and although this venerable Nestor of naturalists throws open his Gazopliylacium to all the learned with the most unconstrained liberality, yet no one has at present undertaken to make us acquainted with the alpine Flora of O-Waihi. The vegetation of O-Waihi has nothing in common with the adjoining continent, the coast of California. The leafless form of the Acacias.^ the genera Metrosideros, Pandanus, Santalum, Aleurites, Draccena, Amo7mim, Curcuma, and Tacca, impress on it the character of their natural affinities. The families of the Rubiacecs, Apocynece, and Urticece prevail ; of the latter many wild species are used for making various kinds of bark-cloth * ; and some arborescent milky Lobeliacece are also found. The immediate margin of the island produces only a few kinds of grass and herbs. In the interior, the Flora is rich ; but it will bear no comparison with the luxuriant variety of Brazilian nature. Only low * The Paper- Mulberri/ (Droussonetia papijrifera) is cultivated in tiie Sandwich Islands, as in most of those of the South Seas, for the manufacture of cloth. But it is a mistake to suppose that it is the only plant used for that purpose. 316 trees are found in the vallies; among them the Aleurites triloha^ whose whitish foHage forms a singular kind of brush around the base and the declivities of the mountains. Here and there, in the deep fissures of rocks, may be seen astonishing groves of Bananas, which, growing thickly, stem close-pressed to stem, cause a gloomy darkness to prevail beneath their wide spread leaves. These plants, if grown near the beach, scarcely attain a height of five feet, but in such situations as the above, they often treble that stature. The Acacias, from whose hollowed trunks the large canoes of the Sandwich Islands are made, attain on these mountains only to the size necessary for that purpose, and there alone is the Sandal-wood found, which is so much prized in China; while the ruler of these countries knows its value so well, that he makes it the means of inflicting poverty upon his oppressed people, who are obliged to collect it, and neglect the necessary art of cultivating the ground. The Tarra-root [Arum esculentum), after being boiled, is stamped into a tough pulp, and constitutes the principal food of the people. O-Wahu is that one of the Sandwich Islands which produces the greatest number of esculent plants, and part of the Tar r a used at O-Waihi is thence derived. The culture of the vallies which lie behind Hanaruru is really astonishinsr. Artificial irrigations enable the natives to form, even upon the hills, large aquatic plantations of Tarra, which are at the same time employed as fish-ponds, while all kinds of useful plants grow on the banks which form their borders. Many introduced plants are now cultivated by some of the original inhabitants; but those of the people who retain their old manners make little use of them. Among these, the Tobacco may be considered as the prin- cipal ; and it is indeed a vegetable which the natives of all parts of the globe have shown a readiness to employ. Water-Melons, Melotis, and other kinds of fruit have been gladly adopted here. Besides the destructive cava, a fer- mented liquor is prepared from the Tea-Root [Dracena ter- minalis); but the Sugar-Cane has never yet been employed for that purpose. 317 KAMTSCHATKA. THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND BEHRING'S STRAITS. The cove of Awatscha, lying between the same degrees of latitude as Berlin and Hamburgh, and the haven of St. Peter and St. Paul, in the interior, seem to be but little exposed to the influence of sea winds. The arborescent Birch grows here ; but stunted and very different from the slender elegant tree which is so much admired in the north of Europe, and par- ticularly at Petersburgh. Phius Cemhra^ which on our Alps grows at greater heights than P. Abies, and forms the boun- dary of the trees, Sorhus Aucuparia, Ahius incana, and some Willows are seen, but they remain quite shrubby. Timber may however be raised in the interior of the peninsula, where the climate is milder than on the east coast; and the seeds of the Pinus Cembra, which are eaten at the tables of Russians, come from Siberia via Ocholtzk. Grasses and herbaceous plants thrive luxuriantly, the soil being rich and the sky mild. There are but few species of vegetables, and these seem about equally distributed. In shady spots grow Spircea kamtschatica, Allium ursiimm, Mai- anthemum canadense, Uvularia amplexifolia, Trillium obovatum, 8i,c. In the pastures are a Vej'atrum, Lilium kamtschaticum, Iris sibirica, &c. On the hills, which are rocky, abound some species of Caprifoliiim, Spircea, Rosa, the Atragene alpina, and other mountain plants, as Ilhododendron kamtschaticum, Em- petrum nigrum, Trientalis europcea, Linncea borealis, Cornus suecica, Saxifragce, &c. Some kinds o^ Fern, from the num- ber of individual plants, form a considerable part of the vegetation. Urtica dioica, which was probably introduced, now seems to have established itself as a prevailing inhabitant of the soil. The peninsula of Alaska, and the adjoining island, called Unimak, which is only separated from the continent by a narrow strait, seem to have the same character of vegetation as the main land, for trees are produced there, while Una- laschka and the other islands of this range are quite bare of them. A few miserable Firs, originally brought from Y 318 Sitka and planted at Unalaschka, may still be seen, most of them decayed, and the others scarcely seem likely to live; but the plantation is yet young, and it is well known how ill trees of this kind bear a removal. As we have been thrice at Unalaschka, both in spring and autumn, and have investigated its vegetable productions with particular care, we shall make this island serve as a point of comparison whereby to describe the character of those other northerly situated countries at which we touched. At Unalaschka, under the same latitude as Lubeck, the Willows scarcely grow higher than the luxuriant grass and herbs of the moist grounds. As soon as we ascend the in- ferior hills, a completely alpine vegetation appears ; even on the least elevated regions of the mountains are some Vaccinia, resembling V. Myrtillus, which scarcely rise above the ground. Besides the brilliant, verdure due to a moist at- mosphere, which here adorns the grass, and enlivens even the summits of the rocks, the lustre of the fresh unsullied snow, and of some social plants, bestow on this dreary country a variety and beauty of hues which are quite de- lightful. Lupinus nootkensis, Minmlus luteiis (Pursh), gut- tatus (Willd. En. Suppl.), Epilohiuin angustifolium and lati- folium, Hhododendron kamtschaticum, &c. are among the most conspicuous. The fresh green of the turf even reminded us of the valley of Ursera. The vegetation here appears to have nothing farther in common with that of St. Peter and St. Paul, than as respects its alpine Flora and the coast plants of these northern shores. Besides such species as are likewise found more north, we have only the Lilium Itamtschaticum, (except indeed the variety seen at Unalaschka prove a distinct species,) and the JJvidaria amplexifolia common to both places ; while, on the contrary, we found more Kamtschatkan species of plants on the American coast, north of Behring's Straits, which we missed at Unalaschka. It is the Flora of the North- West Coast of America which descends to the base of the hills of this island, where it unites with the Arctic Flora. As examples of this, we may cite Rubus spectabilis, Liipintis 7iootke)isis, 319 (which is also found, though dwarfish, on the hills,) Epilobium luteum, and Mimulus guttatus (Willd.*), Claytonia unalasch- kensis (Fisch.), and sibirica {alsinoides? Pursh), may be also reckoned here. Sanguisorba canadensis, Lithospermum an- gustifolium, &c. belong to the common Flora of America. Many species of Grasses thrive in the low lands, with some Umbellatce, such as Angelica, Heracleum, &c. A dozen Carices, scarcely forming a larger proportion of the vegetation than in the north of Germany ; some Scirpi and Eriophora accom- pany them, with a few Junci, in the proportion of about one to two. The OrchidecB constitute a groupe of some importance, both because of the number of species and the beauty of the individuals ; they prevail both in the vallies and on the hills • and we counted eleven kinds : among them a beautiful Cypri- pediiim. Higher north, we did not observe a single plant of this family. Of the Ferns we found about eight species ; nearer to the Pole there is but one Filix, and even of this we only saw a solitary specimen. At Unalaschka there are some Lycopo- dia; in the more arctic regions but one. We found in the lakes many watei'-plants ; Potamogeton, Sparganium, Ranun- culus aquatilis, &c. ; in the higher latitudes we observed only the two species of Hippuris, and the common Callitriche. Two other Ranuncula, the Prunella vulgaris, a species of Rhinanthus, of Cineraria, Achillea, Plantago, and Geum, some RubiacecB, a Claytonia, the Menyanthes trifoliata, a Triglochin, &c. belong, with the other above-mentioned plants, to the Flora of the vallies of Unalaschka. We saw also a Bartsia, ajiparently different from the Bartsia pallida of more nor- therly situations. To a beautiful plant, which constitutes a new and distinct genus, we gave the appellation of Romanzoffia unalaschkensis, in commemoration of the noble promoter of all science in Russia. The genera Rumex, Polygonum, Aconi- tum, Thalictrum, some Alsinece, the Iris sibirica, Geranium pratense, Comarum pratense, and Montia fontana are distri- buted all over these arctic regions. * The seed of this species, which ^\as raised in the Botanic Garden of Berlin, is said to be brought from Baikal. Y 2 320 The Empetrum nigrum, with Hellehorus trifolius (Linn.), the latter being an American plant which we did not see again more to the north, are found upon most of the hills, and indicate the alpine nature of the scenery. There are also some species of Vaccinium, and the common Oxycoccos, Arbutus alpinus and Uva-itrsi, with a white-flowered Men- ziesia, (probably a variety of Erica ccsrulea,) Hhododendron kamtschaticum, Azalea procumbens, Andromeda lycopodioides, (which, nearer to the Pole, yields to A. tetragona,) the alpine Willows, Silene acaidis, Sibbaldia procumbens, Cornus suecica, Trientalis europcea, Linncea borealis, Ornithogaliim striatum,* Anthericum calyculatum (Linn., var. borealis), Konigia islandica, a Gymnandra, apparently different from that one found higher north, ten Saxifrages, three species of Pedicidaris, some Po- tentillce, two Gea, two Anemones, three kinds of Primula, a Papaver, a Drosera, a Pinguicula, two Pyrolw, a Viola, a Parnassia, a Bubus, and an Armeria. There was but one alpine Manunculus, and three GentianecB ; of these genera there are more individuals in higher latitudes. Of the class Sytigenesia, we found Aster, Hieracium, Gnaphalium, Leon- todon, and Artemisia; this class prevails greatly as we ap- proach the Pole, the genus Artemisia in particular, exhibit- ing many individuals. On the other hand, Unalaschka produces some alpine species of the genera Campanula and Veronica, which are entirely wanting in the north. There are some individuals of the order Cruciferce, scattered partly in the hills and partly in the vallies. We did not find at Unalaschka Alnus incana, Betula nana. Ledum palustre, Dryas octopetala, Diapensia lapponica, Rhodiola rosea, the genera Spircea, Astragalus, Allium, Myosotis, Corydalis, Valeriana, Ai^etia, Androsace, Dodecatheon, Delphinium, or Orobanche ; all of which are natives of more northern latitudes. The maritime Flora, which is unaltered in the arctic regions, consists particularly of Elymus mollis, (Herb. Gorenk. Trinius in Sprengel's En. 2. p. 72.) Arenaria peploides, Pisum There are two varieties of thio plant, which may perhaps be distinct species. 321 maritimimi, with various appearances o^ Pulmonaria maritima (Willd.), being probably different species, the P. parviflora (Pnrsh), Cochlearia officinalis, and Arnica maritima, which, though here very luxuriant and branched, in more northern situations is only one-flowered. To this list we may add Potentilla anserina. The sea along the coast and in the creeks is rich in AlgcB ; while the Fucus escidentus (the Sea Kale of the Russian inhabitants) is particularly observable among many gigantic species of the genus. At Unalaschka, the Mosses and Lichens begin to assume that predominant station which they hold in all the very cold districts. We took but a cursory view of the islands St. George and St. Paul, situated in nearly the same latitude as Riga. It is extraordinary how much more frigid does Nature here show herself than at Unalaschka. No sheltered vallies, no pro- tected spots favour the vegetation of the plants of milder climes ; but a perfectly alpine growth prevails, both on the hills and the beach. The high sunmiits of the desolate rocks are covered with pale and black Lichens, while those places which are irrigated with melted snow afford only Sphagnum, a few other Mosses, and some Carices. There are no springs in the soil. The various arctic plants choose, according to their nature, the rocky or the moory spots; and none elevate themselves above the ground, to which they seem closely pressed. A Lupine at the island St. George, and an Achillcea at St. Paul, remind the observer of the productions of Unalaschka; but there are also several species which are not even seen in the highest parts of the latter island, such as Ranunculus Pallasii and Gmelini, an Androsace, and a Claytonia. We found only one plant peculiar to these islands, a Cochlearia ? which is plentiful and characteristic. The alpine or arctic Flora which here (at St. Lawrence) adorns the foot of the mountains, does not appear to entwine their brows ; for when these are entirely free from snow, and the water produced by the melted snow irrigates some brilliant plants, the dry ridges and declivities of the masses of fallen rocks are only scantily attired with gray and black Lic/iens. 322 The mountains of these dreary climes being unprotected by any covering of vegetation, soon decompose. The frost bursts the rocks, every summer's gentle warmth causing fresh ruins, and so destruction hastens towards its completion. Wherever the abundance of Sphagnum has not produced a boggy turf in the deeply watered places, the ground presents only heaps of broken rocks. The aspect of Nature at the Cove of St. Lawrence is most wintry; the scanty herbage barely covering the black soil, while the dwarfish Willows do not reach to one's knee. The Andromeda polifolia which we found there, did not exceed two or three inches in height, and was one-flowered. Among the vegetables of this Cove, we found a Delphinium, a Do- clecatheon, an Aretia, and we saw there also the greatest num- ber of species belonging to those truly arctic genera, Gen- tiana, Saxifraga, Astragalus,' Artemisia, Draha, Ranunculus, and Claytonia, many of these being undescribed. The Island of St. Lawrence, situated two degrees more to the south, does not differ in vegetation from the Cove of the same name. The Andromeda tetragona, Dryas octopetala, Diapensia lapponica, with some alpine kinds of Myosotis, and a Gymnandra, clearly indicate the prevailing character of its flowers. We observed, when first arriving on this island, where the vegetation is purely arctic, that we gathered in a few minutes more plants in bloom than we had observed during many weeks on that range of islands comprising Ra- dack, &c. and situated between the tropics. Farther northwards, on the rocky island in the interior of Kotzebue's Sound, grew the Azalea procumhens, as at Una- laschka and the Cove and Isle of St. Lawrence; with the alpine Willoics, Cornus suecica, JLinncea horealis, some arctic species of Ruhus, &c. The Empetrum nigrum and Ledum palustre cover the moorland, with the Sphagnum, but the Ledum does not here form the tall shrub which decorates the turfy bogs of the north of Germany. The vcfjetation at the interior of Kotzebue's Sound is much more luxuriant than within St. Lawrence's Cove. The Willows are taller, the grasses grow stronger, all the plants 323 are more stout and succulent, while the greater number of species common to the American coast than appear in St. Law- rence's Cove, indicate a more temperate climate. On the island of that name, we gathered Alniis incana, as a very dimi- nutive shrub, and Spircea chamcedinfoUai both of which we had remarked at Kamtschatka, and not on the American Island Unalaschka ; and which a sterner atmosphere seems to have driven from St. Lawrence's Cove. An Orohanche and a Pinguicula are among the plants of this island. The Ciner- aria palustris grows with remarkable luxuriance in the well watered slopes formed at the base of the mounds of ice ; while Betula nana is seen even on the very shores. The plain country of this island is free from snow throughout the summer. [TAB. LXIII. LXIV. LXV. LXVI. LXVIL] ON THE PLANTS OF THE NATURAL ORDER UMBELLIFERiE, Detected by Dr. Gillies in the extra tropical parts of South America. The species of this genus, found by Dr. Gillies in South America, and chiefly in the Cordilleras, both on their eastern and western sides, are not numerous, and their illustration has been greatly facilitated by the recent labours of Hoff- man, Sprengel, and more especially of Koch and De Can- dolle. The country in question seems to be, more par- ticularly, the district of the MulinecB^ a subtribe of De Can- dolle, of which the genera are less satisfactorily determined than those of the other groupes of the order ; and to me it appears that Fragosa, Ruiz et Pav. and Pectophytum of Kunth, should be removed from the HydrocotylecB, where De Candolle has placed them, and arranged with the Mu- linece. 324 Trib. I. HYDROCOTYLINE^. Suhtrih. I. Hydro- COTYLE^. 1. HYDROCOTYLE. Linn. Hydrocotyle bonariensis ; foliis orbiciilatis multilobatis crena- tisque, umbellis proliferis, pedunculo foliis breviore. 1. H. bonariensis. Lainarck, Encycl. 3. p. 153. Cav. Ic. v. 5. p. 60. t 488, Cham, et Schlecht. in Linn. v. 1. p. 257. Rich. Hydrocot. p. 30. H. multiflora et H. tribotrys. Ruiz et Pav. FL Per. v. 3. t. 246. f. A. and b. H. umbellata, /3. bonariensis. Roem. et Schult. v. 6. p. 345. Hab. Locis humidis inter Mendozam et Buenos Ayres. Gillies. This appears to be found throughout ahiiost the whole of South America, and in the southern States of North America too, if Roemer and Schultes are correct in considering H. umbellata of Linn, as the same. It is indeed a very variable species in the neighbourhood of Mendoza; the young um- bels are sometimes simple, sometimes proliferous, each um- bel sending out many rays, or often only a single ray, which again becomes proliferous in the middle, and that repeatedly, so that the rays have four or six whorls of flowers, as in the H. tribotrys of Ruiz and Pavon. 2. BOWLESIA, Buiz et Pav. 1. Bowlesia geraniifolia ; stellato-pubescens, caule procum- bente gracili, foliis longe petiolatis reniformibus profunde quinquelobis, lobis ovatis obtusis bi-trifidis sinubus ob- tusis, pedunculis brevissimis trifloris, fructibus parvis. B. geraniifolia. Cham, et Schlecht. in Linn. v. \. p. 382. Hab. In regno Chilensi ad Talcaquano primum detexit CI. Chamisso. In umbrosis prope Buenos Ayres. Gillies. Stipulce majusculac, albae, scariosee, ad basin foliorum. The Bowlesia lobata of Ruiz and Pavon differs from this in the shorter lobes of its leaves, which are undivided, in the acute sinuses, in the greater length of its peduncle and much larger size of the fruit. Stems procumbent. — Schlecht- endal and Chamisso say the stem is erect, and yet " cuhitalis, 325 flaccidus." The species has a very extended range, if 1 am correct in supposing it to be the plant of Chamisso. / 2. Bowlesia tropcBolifoUa, {Gill, ef Hook.) ; stellatim pubescens, caule procumbente gracili, foliis pahnatim 5-7-partitis, laciniis lanceolatis obtusiusculis inteijerrimis sinubus acutis, pedunculis subelongatis 3-floris, fructibus parvis. Hab. In umbrosis et in fissuris rupiuni apud " el Salto de San Isidro," in convalle Andium versus Mendozam : alt. 6000 ped. Gillies. Tata planfa, sed folia juniora pedicellique prajcipue, pilis brevibus ramosis stellatisve pubescens. Caules filiformes, longi, graciles, procumbentes. Folia sublonge petiolata, (petiolo 2 ad 4 uncias longo,) unciam ad duas uncias lata, reniformi-rotundata, profunde ultra medium 5-7-fidis, etiam palmato-partitis, sinubus acutis, lateralibus minus profundis, unde folium fere palmato-pedatum. Ad basin petioli stipulcB parvae, vix, nisi oculo armato, conspicuae, acuminatae, albidse, scariosse, atque pilosae. Pediinculus subpollicaris, triflorus. Flores pedicellati. Germen petal- ague pilosa. Suhtrih. II. Muline^e. DC. 3. BOLAX. J. 1. Bolax Gilliesii ; densissime csespitosa, foliis petiolatis trifi- dis, umbella pedunculata 4-10 flora, fructibus utriculosis. (Tab. LXIII.) Hab. In valle Uspallata, Andibus Mendozae, alt. 6000 usque ad 12,000 ped. Gillies. Radix longe descendens. Caules plurimi ex eadem radice, densissime et latissime caespitosi, vix duas uncias longi, ubique foliosi. Folia siccitate rigida, opaca, basi lato-vagi- nata, concava, medio in petiolum brevem crassiusculum attenuata, superne dilatata in laminam latiusculam crassam trifidam, laciniis acutiusculis subasqualibus, raro bifidam laciniis aequalibus. Pedunculus terminalis, crassiusculus, teres, subrugulosus, superne paululum incrassatus, involu- cratus. Involucrum e foliolis 5-6 ovalibus, concavis, obtusis. 326 Pedicelli erecto-patentes. Calyx e dentibus 5, par vis. Fructus elliptico-ovatiis, basi apiceque obtusus, transversim sectus, obtuse subtetragonus, insigniter inflatus. Carpella subsemiteretia. Epicarpium laxum, membranaceum, ecostatum. Endocarpimn semini arete adherens, costis vel jugis filiformibus, fuscis, subaequidistantibus, duobus lateralibus marginalibus. Axis gracillimus, vix distinctus. I place this in the genus Bolax with much hesitation. The species indeed have been hitherto very imperfectly described, and De Candolle, in his Memoires sur les Ombelliferes, has limited them to the single B. glebaria of Gaudichaud, [Ann. des Sciences Nat. v. 5. p. 104. t. 3. f. ii.) the Hydrocotyle gummifera of Lamarck; and indeed the habit of the two plants, and the general form of their leaves are very similar; so that, were it not for the sessile umbel in Gaudichaud's figure, and the different structure of fruit, I should con- sider them to be the same species. The fruit there ap- proaches nearly to that of Mulinum, having four compressed angles, almost wings; the jugi or ridges very distinct; and the epicarp closely united to the rest of the fruit. In our plant the ridges are of a brown colour, and appear to me to be filled with a resinous fluid ; so that I should have taken them for vittcB, were it not for their situation. Our present species yields abundantly a gummy or re- sinous substance, which is gathered by the natives, and em- ployed in the cure of the headach. A similar resin exudes from the B. glebaria of Gaud, and probably from several others of this tribe. The long woody roots constitute the only fuel of travellers and herdsmen who frequent the eleva- ted regions inhabited by this plant, ^he Eragosa aretioides of Humb. et Kunth. Nov. Gen. t. 424, will rank near to this ; if we may judge from its habit and the fruit being, at least externally, without ridges. Tab. LXIII. Fig. 1, Plant: — nat. size. Fig. 2, 3, Leaves. Fig. 4, Umbel. Fig. 5, Fruit. Fig. 6, Carpel seen from within. Fig. 7, Section of the fruit: — all h\xi Jig. 1 more or less magnijied. 327 4. MULINUM. Pers. Cat. margo quinquedentatus. Pet. ovata, Integra, acuta, apice inflexa, intus medio linea longitudinali elevato. Fructus ovatus, vel subrotundus, quadri-alatus, ad rapliin valde contractus, a dorso compressus, concavus. Carpella in- insigniter compressa, intus convexa, extus subconcava, jugis 5, filiformibus, duobus intermediis ad angulum car- pelli, duobus lateralibus piano commissurali impositis, evittata. Semen antice convexum, postice concavum. — Umbellae simplices, sessiles vel suhpedunculatce. Folia {an semper ?) 3-5-partita, hasi vaginatitia, amplexicaulia. 1. Mulinum spinosum ; foliis trifidis laciniis subulatis spi- nosis lateralibus bipartitis umbella pedunculata longiori- bus, fructibus orbicularibus. Mulinum spinosum. Pers. Syn. PL v. 1. p. 309. Selinum spinosum. Cav. Ic. v. 5. p. 59. t. 487. f. 1. Bolax spinosus. Spreng. in JRoem. et Schult. SysU Veget. v. 6. p. 362. Fragosa spinosa. Ruiz et Pav. Fl. Per. v. 3. p. 27 ? Hab. Inter los " Ojos de Agua, et El Rio de los Ojos de Agua," in Andibus Chilensibus, et prope Villavicenzio. Alt. 5500 ad 7000 ped. Gillies. Besides the different structure of leaf, which appears a constant character, the fruit is much larger here than in either of the two following species. 2. Mulinum proliferum ; foliis trifidis laciniis subulatis spi- nosis, umbella pedunculata terminali lateralique folium iequante, fructibus orbicularibus. Mulinum proliferum. Pers. Syn. PI. v. 1. p. 309. Selinum proliferum. Cav. Ic. v. 5. p. 58. t 486. J". 1. Bolax prolifera. Spreng. in Roem. et Schult. Syst. Veget. v. 6. p. 361. Hab. Frequens in Andibus Mendozae, inter San Isidro et 328 Porlezuela, in declivitatibus montium. Alt. 5000 ad 10,000 ped. Gillies. This is a very variable plant, especially in the length of its leaves, and in the umbels being solitary and terminal upon a branch, or with lateral ones : all about equal in length with the leaves. This and the preceding are called Dichillo in the country where they grow. I find no umbels proliferous, as in Cavanilles' figure : but in other respects the plants entirely accord. — Near Uspallata, Dr. Gillies found a variety with purplish flowers. 3. Mulinum iilicinum, [Gill, et Hook.) \ foliis trifidiis laciniis subulatis spinosis, urabella subsessili in ramulis brevibus terminali, fructibus ellipticis. (Tab. LXIV.) Hab. Prope " La Cienega de Bonillo," in summum fere jugum montium Uspalatensium. Alt. 9500 ped. Gillies. Frutex humilis, odorifera, omnino glabra, valde ramosa, ramis primariis subdigitalibus, flexuosis, rigidis, valde intricatis, secundariis brevissimis, lateralibus numerosis, ubique dense foliosis. Folia vix uncium longa, rigidissima, basi vaginantia, amplexicaulia, utrinque, statu juniori, uni- setosa, demum linearia, ad apicem in laciniis tribus brevi- bus, divaricatis, subulatis, spinosis desinentia. UmbellcB terminales ex apicibus ramulorum lateralium, solitarise, fere omnino sessiles. Involucrum e foliolis lineari-sub- ulatis, subsex, basi in tubum brevem connatis. Pedicelli 6-8. Flores plurimi abortientes. Calyx e dentibus 5, minutis. Petala ovata, intus medio linea longitudinali elevata notata, apice acuto incurvo. Fructus elliptic us, compresso-tetragonus, fere quadri-alatus. Tab. LXIV. Fig. 1, Plant: — nat. size. Fig. 2, Leaf. Fig. 3, Portion of an umbel. Fig. 4, Petal. Fig. 5, Fruit. Fig. 6, Carpel, seen on its inner face. Fig. 7, Sec- tion of the entire fruit : — all but Jig. 1 more or less mag- nijied. 4. Mulinum albovaginatum, {Gill, et Hook.); foliis trifidis 329 laciniis ovato-lanceolatis mucronatis, umbella axillari par- viflora sessili. Hab. Apud " Cerro de la Polcura," in Andibus versus Men- dozam. Gillies. Of this very distinct species there are few and very indifferent specimens in Dr. Gillies' collection, and the root and lower part of the stems are altogether wanting. Those that exist are branched in a dichotomous manner, the branches clothed with the long, white, shining, membranaceous sheaths to the leaves. The leaves themselves are sometimes slightly hairy : the segments of the leaves greatly broader and less rigid than in the preceding species. Fruit as in M. ulicinum. In the branches and leaves this species has much similarity to the Selinum microphyllum of Cav. Ic. tab. 486, but in that plant the umbels are borne upon comparatively long terminal peduncles. 5. LARETIA. Gill, et Hook. Cat. margo 5-dentatus. Pet. ovata, Integra {Jide Cavan.) Fructus elliptico-quadratus, a dorso plano-compressus, quadrialatus. Carpella lenticularia, jugis 5 dorsalibus, 2 lateralibus marginalibus, evittata. Semen complanatum. — Umbellae sessiles, involucratce. Planta fere acaulis dense ccBspitosa. Folia Integra. 1. Laretia «ca«. p. 759. f. 187. f. 2. {male.) Delaroche Eryng. p. 51. Hab. In provincia Sancti Ludovici, in summum ferejugum montium " Cerro del Morro." Alt. 4500 ped. Gillies. Delaroche's description is made from specimens gathered at Monte Video by Commerson. They quite agree with the individuals in Dr. Gillies's herbarium ; but the figure in Lamarck's Cyclop, is a very indifferent one, it must be con- fessed. The other Utnbellijerous plants in Dr. Gillies's collection are the following; and they are probably introduced from Europe. L Apium graveolens. Linn. Mendoza and Cor- dova.— 2. Petroselinum sativum. Hofl'm. Mendoza. — 3. He- losciadium lateriflorum. Koch. Buenos Ayres. — 4. Ammi Visnaga. Lam. a. major. Maritime provinces of Chili. /3. minor. River Saladillo, in Cordova. — 5. Foeniculum vidgare. Gcsrtn. Mendoza and Buenos Ayres. — 6. Daucus Cai'ota. Linn. Mendoza. — 7. Myrrhis odorata. Scop. Vallies of the Andes of Chili and of Mendoza. — 8. Coriandrum sativum. Linn. Pampas of Buenos Ayres. z 2 336 OBSERVATIONS ON SOME BRITISH PLANTS, PARTICULARLY WITH REFERENCE TO THE ENGLISH FLORA OF SIR JAMES E. SMITH.— By W. Wilson, Esq. / 1. Salicornia herbacea. — Near Holyhead, Aug. 22, 1828. — The central Jlower (of each cluster of three) is diandrous, one anther below, and the other above the laterally compressed germen : lateral flowers with only one stamen, above the pis- til. Calyx with three rounded entire shallow segments ; one anther partly protruded. Rudiment of the seed compressed, rounded, rough-edged, the funiculus attached to the base of the germen. The joints beneath the flowers have the ap- pearance of connate leaves. It appears that all the British species of this genus are diandrous. 2. Chara. (Example C. gracilis; Llyn Idwel, May 30, 1828.) — Anther with 8 sides, splitting into as many portions, and from the centre of each, internally, proceeds a fljotstalk, supporting at its extremity a number of fibres, [pollen?) which are transversely marked with dark lines. Germen with 5 spiral strice, meeting at the summit and forming the stigma? which, in this species, is very minute, and not toothed. Seeds? pellucid, contained within an internal, roundish membrane. Chara gracilis has the whorled branches forked, or trifid, especially in the female. Pistils ? two together at the forks, sessile. Anthers on a separate plant, mostly solitary, in similar situations ; two colourless lines are seen on opposite sides of the stem and branches. This plant is dioecious in the above situation, (observed during three years;) the fertile plant twice as tall; the yellow hue of the barren plant (arising from the large anthers) readily distinguishes it from the other, when seen growing at the bottom of the lake: they grow in company, and are much intermixed. 3. Chara aspera. — Near Holyhead, July, 1828. — The stem is not striated or furrowed, as in C. hispida, nor are the whorled branches very evidently jointed. Anthers, as above 337 described in C. gracilis (with respect to their structure) ; the point of insertion is surrounded by a whorl of 5 hracteas ? two of which are placed beneath the anther. 4. Callitriche verna. — This is sometimes found without floating leaves, in which state it may have been mistaken for C. autumnalis. In C. verna the lower leaves are linear, abrupt, or erose, single-ribbed. Fruit eniarginate, nearly round and compressed, consisting of 4 semicircular flat seeds. 5. Callitriche autumnalis. — Llyn Macloy, Anglesea, July, 1825 and 1828. — Flowers separated, two barren and two fertile ones neighbours, but not always so. I cannot find any petals. Styles very long, deflexed. Leaves not quite linear, but rather broader at the base, also abrupt and single- ribbed ; they are always broader than in C. verna. Fruit orbi- cular, compressed, with a membranous margin. It is twice the size of that of C. verna ; the seeds are thinner and more closely applied to each other. I believe that petals are never present in this species. I have never seen this plant growing near the surface of the water. 6. Circaea alpina. — Perthshire, July, 1827. — The Calyx is certainly elevated above the germen, but is not tubular. I think the part mistaken for a tubular portion of the calyx is only a sort of beak to the fruit, and in that case the calyx must be two-leaved. Filaments not very evidently thickened upwards. Style reddish, but not the petals or filaments. Stigma a double globe. 7. Utricularia vulgaris. — July, 1828. — The bladders upon the leaves have an orifice closed by an elastic valve, opening inwards, and of much thinner texture than the bladder to which it is attached where the crest is placed. The crest usually consists of two short branched filaments ; the valve is sometimes bearded ; insects often enter the bladders, and are of course confined there. Anthers of one cell ; filaments much bent, thick, and somewhat compressed. Stigma two- lipped, the largest membranous and fringed (placed nearest to the anthers.) Lower calyx-\ei\^ notched, and rather larger than the other. 338 8. Lemna minor, — Anglesea, September 3, 1828. — Co- rolla monophyllous, roundish, closely investing the stamens and pistils. Stamens two, rarely exserted at the same time. Pollen globular, its diameter to the breadth of the stigma as 1 to 8. Germen with a solitary rudiment. Style curved up- wards. Stigma two-lipped, and more dilated than in L. gihha. (Seefi? transversely placed within the capsule, (the ^^'/wwi pointing toward the narrow end of the frond,) compressed, obscurely furrowed at the sides. Frond elliptical, more oblong than in L. gihha. Root a single fibre, tipped with a long sheath, which is sometimes minutely hairy. The albumen is more distinct in this seed than in that of L. gihha. Emhryo as in that species, though smaller. — I believe the frond, as well as that of Zy. gihha to be always laterally proliferous, whether the flower be present or not, the " buds" not supplying their place, but accompanying them. 9. Lemna gihha. — Near Warrington, September, 1826. — Grains o^ Pollen globular, their diameter to the thickness of the anther as 1 to 7, and to the breadth of the stigma as 1 to 5 ; they do not burst in water until after having been dried. Only one stamen exserted. Style the length of the germen. Stigma two-lipped, concave. Capsule rounded, compressed, pointed with the base of the style, four-seeded. Seed not transversely placed, but with the hilmn towards the top of the capsule, furrowed. I have never seen two flowers on the same frond. The i-oot proceeds from a part which is free from the vesicular gibbous body underneath ; these vesicles are filled with air until the plant decays. — In the same situa- tion fertile specimens were plentiful in September, 182T. 10. Cladium Mariscus. — Cheshire, August, 1825. — Stigmas generally two, which are sometimes cloven. Three flowers not unfrequent in each spikelet, but more commonly two only are found, one of which is usually abortive, yet it is not difficult to find instances in which both come to perfection, and sometimes even the third floret is fertile. Vide Engl. Fl. vol. 4. Addenda. 11. A.\\ihoyiVi\\\\\wm odoratum. — June, 1828. — I think Mr. 339 Brown correct in his view of this genus. It is diflicult to suppose that part to be the nectary which is so termed in Engl. Fl. ; it contains, not merely surrounds, the germen, and is elevated by a short stalk above the (so termed) corolla, and consequently above the germen and the receptacle of the flower. The larger aivn is inserted near the base of the glume, opposite the larger valve of the calyx, as also the larger valve of the " nectary." Germen spurred below. — No appearance of nectaries, such as are usually found in grasses. 12. Valeriana dioica. — May 19th, 1827. — The plant is fur- nished with horizontal shoots, but I do not think the 7'oot a creeping one. Fertile flowers much smaller than the others. Stigma, in the really fertile flowers, deeply three-cleft ; when stamens occur on the fertile plant, they are short, abortive, and enclosed within the tube of the corolla. Style deciduous. Stem with four winged angles. 13. Schoenus nigricans. — June, 1826. — Leaves semi-cylin- drical, with roughish edges, shorter than the stem. The " scales at the base of the germen" appear to me more like short spiny bristles, 5 or 6 in number, attached, as Smith observes, to the receptacle, but certainly placed on the out- side of the filaments ; which is the case also in various species of Scirpus, and, as I am inclined to believe, in all instances where bristles are formed at all. ( To be continued.^ [TAB. LXVII. LXVIIL] DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF MACRO- PODIUM, Found by Mr. David Douglas in North West America. The genus Macropodium was established in the 4th vol. of the 2d edition of the Hortus Kewensis, upon the Cardamine nivalis of Pallas, by our illustrious countryman Mr. Brown, and thus characterised—" Siliqua pedicellata, linearis. Coty- 340 ledones accumbentes. Calyx erectus." Hitherto, however, only one species has been known to Botanists, and that is an inhabitant of the Ahaic Mountains, near the limits of perpe- tual snow; and has a habit so unlike the Crucife?'ous plants in general, that Vahl, in his herbarium, as we are assured by De Candolle, marked it as a Cleome. Of this, the Macropo- dium nivale of Brown, I am not aware that any figure exists, except the one published in Pallas' Travels, a work probably in the hands of few Botanists, and where it is not to be ex- pected that the analysis of the fructification is exhibited with the precision that will be satisfactory to those who adopt the new arrangement of the still difficult and most extensive family of plants to which this genus belongs. On this ac- count, and because I possess no perfect fruit of the new species, I shall render my account of this genus more com- plete by representing that of M. nivale. Gen. Char. Cal. erectus, basi latiore. Petala calyce multo longiora, linearia vel lineari-spathulata. Stamina libera. Antherce lineares, vel oblongse. Stylus subnullus. Stigma parvum, capitatum. Siliqua stipitata, lineari-ensi- formis, compresso-plana, pedicellata: valvis planis, ob- scure reticulatis, medio uninerviis. Semina suborbicularia, compressa, uniseralia, vix, nisi in statu juniore, marginata. Cotyledones accumbentes. — Radix annuus vel perennis. Caulis herbaceuSi simplex vel ramosus. Folia integra vel la- ciniata. Racemus terminalis,longus,midtiJlorus. Flores alhi. 1. Macropodium nivale; foliis lanceolatis caulinis sessilibus integerrimis, radicalibus longe petiolatis obscure serratis, floribus sessilibus, petalis lineari-spathulatis. (Tab. Lxvn.) M. nivale. Br. in Hort. Kew, ed. 2. v. 4. p. 108. De Cand. Prodr. V. 1. p. 149. Cardamine nivalis. " Pall. It. 2. Append, v. 113. t. U." mild. Sp. PI. V. 3. p. 482. Arabis nivalis. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 2. p. 893. Hab. In alpibus Altaicis, unde recepi ab amicissimis. Le- debour, Fischer, Prescott. 341 Hadix perennis, subfusiformis, crassa, lignosa, hie illic fibris ramosis instructa. Caulis erectus, simplex, spithamaeus ad pedalem et ultra, teres, glaber, foliosus. Folia omnia lanceolata, glabra, basi apiceque attenuata; caulina sessilia, integerrima; radicalia longe petiolata, subserrata. Racemus (vel spica) terminal is, elongatus, simplex, multi- floras. Floi'es fere omnino sessiles, albi. Petala calyce subduplo longiora, linearia, apice dilatata, venosa. An- therce oblongae, siccitate curvata^. Germen lineari-ob- longum, teres, sublonge pedicellatum, pedicello hirsuto. Stigma fere sessile, parvum, capitatum. SiliqiicB pendulae, lineari-ensiformes, duas uncias longae, duas lineas latae, stipite gracili duas tres lineas longo sufFulta. ValvcB planae, membranaceae, subtorulosse. Semina, singulo loculo 6-8, transversim inserta, vel apice ad basin siliquae versa, orbiculari-compressa, fusca, (vix matura) submar- ginata, (matura) immarginata. Embryo flavus. It is singular that Sprengel should have placed this plant in the genus Arabis, notwithstanding that its habit is widely different, and that it has been so admirably defined as to genus by Mr. Brown. Tab. LXVII. Fig. 1, Flower. Fig. 2, Petal. Fig. 3, Pistil. Fig. 4, Stamen. Fig. 5, Fruit. Fig. 6, Siliqua with the valves separating. Fig. 7, Seed. Fig. 8, Sec- tion of do. Fig. 9, Embryo : — all but Jig. 5, magnified. 2. Macropodium laciniatum ; foliis omnibus petiolatis lacini- ato-pinnatifidis, floribus pedicellatis, petalis angustis line- aribus. (Tab. LXVIII.) M. laciniatum. Hook. Fl. Bor. Am., v. 1. j). 43. Hab. In rupibus siccis apud " Wallawallah" et " Priest's Rapid" fluminis " Columbia" Americas septentrionalis. D. Douglas. Radix annua. Caulis erectus, herbaceus, teres, valde ramo- sus, ut et tota planta, glaberrimus, duas ad quinque pedes altus, foliosus. Folia omnia petiolata, circumscriptione lanceolata, vel ovato-lanceolata, profimde pinnatifida, 342 basin versus praecipue, ubi laciniis remotis horizontalibus, integris vel dentatis, superne subangulalo-dentata, laciniis brevibus, valde insequalibus. Folia suprema marginibus sinuato-dentatis. Racemus terminalis, elongatus, palmaris ad spithamasum, erectus, multiflorus. Flores pedicellati. Pedicelli graciles, duas tres lineas longi. Calyx e foliolis erectis, oblongis, obtusis, basi paululum dilatatis. Petala linearia, calyce triplo longiora, flexuosa, et ssepe recurvata, apice Integra, nunc bi-tridentata, alba. Stamina : Fila- menta libera, edentula: Antherce lineares, dorso, paulo supra basin, affixae. Pistillum : Germen lineare, superne attenuatum, basi pedicellatum, stipite gracili glaberrimo. Stigma obtusum, integrum, parvum, subsessile. In the long spiked raceme and the general structure of the Jlowers, this has a very close affinity with the preceding species ; but there the affinity ceases : for, even in the inflores- cence, when it comes to be minutely examined, a very marked difference will be discovered. In M. nivale, the petals are spoon-shaped, scarcely more than twice the length of the calyx; the anthers are oblong, the germen thick (compara- tively) and almost cylindrical, its pedicel or stipes hairy, and there is only a sort of tubercle, scarcely to be called a foot- stalk, which supports the flower. In M. laciniatum there is a distinct footstalk to the flower ; the petals are linear, thrice as long as the calyx ; the anthers are linear ; the germen is linear-filiform, attenuated, and placed upon a glabrous stipes or pedicel. — I regret that there is rvo fruit upon the specimens found by Mr. Douglas. Judging from the more advanced pistils, it would be much longer than that of M. nivale. M. laciniatum has been found by none of our American travellers except Mr. Douglas, and only in the spots here mentioned, at the Columbia River. Tab. LXVIII. Fig. 1, Flowering summit of a plant. Fig. 2, Stem-leaf: — nat. size. Fig. 3, Flower. Fig. 4, Sta- mens. Fig. 5, Pistil. Fig. 6, The same, in a more advanced state : — magnijied. 343 [TAB. LXIX.] FIGURE AND DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPE- CIES OF CARDAMINE, FROM NORTH WEST AMERICA. CARDAMINE ANGULATA. 1. Cardamine angulata ; foliis omnibus petiolatis ternatis rarius quinato-pinnatis, foliolis angulato-dentatis angulis mucronatis, caulinis ovatis lanceolatisve, radicalibus ro- tundatis. (Tab. LXIX.) Cardamine angulata. Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. v. \. p. 44. Hab. Locis humidis ad flumen Columbia^ in plaga occiden- tali Americae Septentrionalis. Douglas. Scolder. Planta tota glaberrima. Radix perennis, crassa, longe repens, hie illic fibrosa. Caidis erectus, pedalis, etiam bipedalis, erectus, simplex, teres, (siccitate) striatus, herbaceus, nitidus, parce foliosus. Folia sublonge petiolata, ternata, rarissime subquinato-pinnata, glaberrima, membranacea : foliolis radicalium subrotundis vel cordatis, caulinorum ovatis vel lanceolatis inferne attenuatis, omnibus acumin- atis, angulatis vel inciso-lobatis, angulis vel lobis denti- busve obtusiusculis cum mucrone brevi molli, lateralibus non raro brevi-petiolatis, alternis vel oppositis, terminali plerumque majore. Flores corymbosi, pedunculati, ter- minales et axillares, majusculi. Pedicelli graciles, 3-4 lineas longi, glabri. Petala obovata, unguiculata, sepalis plusquam duplo longiora, pallide rosea, iis similia C. pratensis. The present plant will rank next to C. macrophylla of Gmelin's Fl. Sibirica, v. 3. t. 62, a native of the Altaic range. But that plant differs from ours in its truly pinnated leaves of from 5-7 leaflets, which are smaller than those of C. angu- lata, and distinctly and with considerable regularity serrated : whereas in our plant there are few and distant large angular teeth or segments. It is a species that seems to be confined to the lower part of the river Columbia. Tab. LXIX. Plant : — nat. size. 344 [TAB. LXX.] SOME OBSERVATIONS ON A NORTH AMERI- CAN PLANT, SUPPOSED TO BE THE LEW- ISIA OF Mr. PURSH. In the 2d vol. of Mr. Pursh's Flora Americce Septentrionalis, p. 368, that author has given a new plant under the name of Lewisia rediviva, and the genus he thus distinguishes : " Cl. and Ord, Polyandria Digynia. Cal. 7-9-phyllus, scariosus. Pet. 14-18. Stylus 3-fidus. Caps. 3-locularis, polysperma. Semina nitida." I am not aware that authentic specimens of this exist in any Europaean herbarium ; and all we know for certain of it, therefore, is from Mr. Pursh's description. It is a plant, he says, " with a fusiform, branched, and blood-coloured root, bearing radical, linear, and somewhat fleshy leaves; a single or 2-flowered scape; the 7?ec?{ce/ jointed at the base. Calyx coloured, scariose, from 7-9-leaved, patent; leaflets ovate, acute, concave, the interior ones narrower. Petals 14— 20. Filaments 14-18, shorter than the calyx. Anthers erect, oblong. Style filiform, trifid above. Stigmas 3, bifid. Capsule oblong, 3-celled; the cells 2-seeded. Seeds lenticular, shin- ing, black." He farther observes, that the specimens were so tenacious of life, that roots taken from the herbarium of Mr. Lewis, and planted in a garden at Philadelphia, vegetated and continued to grow for a year; when they appear to have been lost. Pursh did not find the plant growing, but describes it from the herbarium of M. Lewis, Esq. who gathered it on the banks of Clark's River. Mr. Nuttall does not appear to have seen the plant; for, in his Genera of North American Plants, he adopts Pursh's character, and expresses his regret that that author did not give a figure of this very interesting plant. On Mr. Drummond's return from his arduous travels among the Rocky Mountains, he brought with him some small bags of a dried root, white and brittle, which are col- lected and dried for food by the natives of the western side of the Rocky Mountains, and which they take with them on 345 their journeys, whence it has become well known to the Canadian hunters, and to tlie officers of the Hudson's Bay Company. On these roots being shown to Mr. Douglas, he immediately recognised them as belonging to a plant which he had gathered on the banks of some of the tributary streams of the Columbia ; and which he considered to be the Lewisia of Pursh. His specimens, brought home in the herbarium, having no flower, and showing signs of life, were planted in the garden of the Horticultural Society; but, like those at Philadelphia, they vegetated for a short time, and then perished. Upon searching carefully among the dried roots col- lected by Mr. Drummond, many were found to have the leaves in a tolerably perfect state, and not a few their scapes and unexpanded Jlowers ; but much injured in the process of drying, and by having been packed in bags. Some of the best of them were partially recovered by immersion in hot water; and from these the following description and the sub- joined figure have been made. l^eviisia. rediviva? /3. radice alba. (Tab. LXX.) Radix perennis, subfusiformis, descendens, alba, fragilis, ramosa. Folia plurima, omnino radicalia, stellatim pa- tentia, duas uncias longa, linearia, carnosa, glabra, sub- teretia, superne sulcata, apice valde obtusa, intus fasci- culo fibrillarum tenui percussa. Scapi plurimi ex eadem radice, bi-triunciales, erecti, teretes, glaberrimi, uniflori, sub florem articulati, involucrati; bracteis vel foliolis subulatis, membranaceis. Flos inapertus : Calyx e foliolis 7, arete convolutis, submembranaceis. Corolla polypetala. Petala 9-12, foliolis calycinis subsimilia sed tenuiora, interiora sensim minora. Stamina 12-16, erecta, hypo- gyna. Filamenta brevia. Antherce lineares, flavse, apice breviter apiculatae. Pollen triangulari-subrotundum, e granulis tribus constans. Pistillum: Germen globosum, obscure trilobum. Stylus sexpartitus, laciniis longis, erectis, filiformibus. Stigmata obtusa. Ovula plurima, receptaculo centrali libero inserta. 346 If this character and figure be compared with the descrip- tion of Mr. Pursh, making allowances for their being all ex- ecuted from dried specimens, I think it will appear that the two plants in question, if not the same as to species, are in all probability so as to genus, and that they will rank in the Nat. Ord. Portulace^, very near to Talinum. Indeed, I have some species of Talinum^ gathered by Dr. Gillies in the South American Andes, which approach very nearly to this in habit. As a species, the present appears to differ from L. rediviva in its rose-coloured flower (Douglas), not white veined with pink; and in its white, not sanguineous roots, which are crisped and brittle. Mr. Douglas found the plant to be abundant at the junc- tion of the " Spokan River" with the Columbia, in dry stony soils, also on the " Flathead " and " Salmon Rivers," ^" in similar situations. The roots, Mr. Douglas informs me, are gathered in great quantities by several of the tribes who inhabit the country skirting the subalpine regions of the Rocky Mountains, on the west side, and are known among those who use the lan- guage of the Spokan tribes, by the name of Spatulum. The mode of using them is simply to boil them in water, when they form a substance similar to Salep, or boiled Arrow-root. Owing- to their highly nutritive quality, these roots are ad- mirably calculated for carrying on long journeys; two or three ounces per day being sufficient for a man, even while undergoing great fatigue. In June 1826, Mr. Douglas gathered flowering specimens, . but lost them from his boat while descending a rapid. In March 1827, those were secured which revived after having been pressed in the Herbarium, and were planted in the Horticultural Society's Garden, as above mentioned. Tab. LXX. Tig, 1, Plant o^ Lewisia rediviva, /3 : — nat size. Fig. 2, Unopened flower. Fig. 3, The same, all the calyx-segments being removed, and the petals, except the inner one. Fig. 4, Front view of a stamen. Fig. 5, Back view of do. Fig. 6, Pollen. Fig. 7, Pistil. Fig. 8, 347 Pistil with the germen cut open to show the situation of the young seeds. Fig. 9, Portion of a leaf, the central part filled with a thread-shaped tough bundle of fibres or vessels : — more or less magnified. [TAB. LXXI.] JABOROSA CAULESCENS. Pentandria Moxogynia. Nat. Ord. Solane;e. Gen. Char. Cal. 5-fidus. Co7\ campanulata sen tubulosa. Filamenta brevissima, versus apicem tubi inserta. Bacca bi- (tri- Commerson) -locularis. v/' 1. Jaborosa caulescens, (Gill, et Hook.); caulibus pluribus decumbentibus, foliis lyrato-pinnatifidis spinuloso-den- tatis petiolatis, bracteis subulatis verticillatis, corollis cam- panulatis intus hirsutis. (Tab. LXXI.) Hab. In convallibus Andium versus Mendozam. Alt. 6400 ad 10,000 ped. Gillies. Radix longe descendens, subfusiformis, hie illic fibrosa. Caules plurimi, prostrati, teretes, vix ramosi, glaberrimi. Folia longe petiolata, oblonga, lyrato-pinnatifida, nervosa, spinuloso-dentata, glaberrima; radicalia caulinis similia, sed plerumque majora. Pedunculi axillares, solitarii vel bini, uniflori, duas tres uncias longi, erecti, demum fructiferi deflexi, ad basin bracteati, bracteis subulatis, sub-verticillatis, patentibus. Calyx profunde quinquefidus, inferne pubescens, laciniis lanceolatis erectis appressis. Corolla anguste campanulata, tubo mediocri, extus glabra, intus hirsuta, limbo patente, segmentis acutis. Stamina fauce inserta. Filamenta brevissima. Antherfse oblonga^, basi affixae. Germen subrotundum. Stylus brevis. Stig- ma oblongo-capitatum, apice transversim sulcatum. Cap- sula globosa, bilocularis. Iteceptacula dissepimento lon- gitudinaliter affixa. Semina numerosa, nigra. 348 The o-enus Jahorosa was established by Jussieu, and de- rived from the Arabic word Jahorose^ which was applied to the Mandragora or Mandrake, a plant of the same natural family; and two species have been described, J. integrifolia and J. runcinata, both of them natives of the plains on the eastern side of South America, near the mouth of the river La Plata. The present species, widely differing from these in character, inhabits the Andes on the side next Mendoza, and was met with particularly at " Los Hornillos," " alto de las pomas," and by the banks of the river " Tanyan." Tab. LXXI. Fig. 1, Flower. Fig. 2, Stamen. Fig. 3, Pistil. Fig. 4, Capsule. Fig. 5, Section of do. : — all but Jig. 4 more or less magnified. Dr. Gillies has been equally fortunate in finding the two other species of the genus, which I shall thus characterise. 2. Jaborosa integrifolia; acaulis, foliis petiolatis ovalibus subintegerrimis, corolla longe tubulosa limbi laciniis valde acuminatis. Jaborosa integrifolia. Lam. Encycl. v. 3. p. 189. Illustr. t. 114. Roemer et Schultes, Sgst. Veget. v. 4. p. 690. Hab. Ad vias, locis humidis prope Buenos Ayres. Gillies. 3. Jaborosa runcinata ; plerumque acaulis, foliis petiolatis oblongo-obovatis sinuato-pinnatifidis, corolla campanu- lata limbi laciniis acutis. Jaborosa runcinata. Lam. Encycl. v. 3. p. 189. Hoem. et. Schultes, V. 4. p. 690. Link et Otto, Ic. PL Select, p. 103. t. 48. Hab. In planitiebus " Pampas" dictis, prope Buenos Ayres. Gillies. In Dr. Gillies's specimen there is no stem whatever, but the leaves and peduncles spring at once from the root, as described by Lamarck. Link and Otto's figure, on the other hand, represents the plant with a stem 4-5 inches long, from which both the flowers and leaves have their origin. 349 [TAB. LXXII. LXXIII. LXXIV.] ON A NEW GENUS OF PLANTS OF THE NAT. ORD. CRUCIFERiE, From the Andes of Chili and Mendoza. In the year 1827, my valued friend and correspondent Mr. Cruickshanks sent me from Chili a Crucijeroiis plant, of a very peculiar aspect, which I have now called Hexaptera cuneata; but which having no fruit, I could not then venture to pub- lish, though its decidedly 6-winged germen seemed to separate it from every other genus of its tribe. About the same time Dr. Gillies sent me another plant, also without fruit, which I considered, from the structure of its germen, to belong to the same genus. That gentleman's return to Europe has put me in possession of perfectly fructified specimens of this latter individual, and has enabled me to figure and describe it as the type of a new genus of which he has been so fortunate as to find a third species. In all the three, the fruit or ger- men is furnished with six longitudinal broad wings, from which circumstance I have derived the generic name. In our species, indeed, there are not unfrequently from 1-4 in- termediate lesser wings or crest-like appendages. The place of the genus is amongst the LepidinecB, seu Notorhizce angus- tiseptce of De Cand., which that learned author thus charac- terises : " Silicula septo angustissimo, valvis carinatis aut valde concavis. Semina in loculis solitaria aut pauca, ovata, immarginata. Cotyledones planae, incumbentes, septo paral- lellae;" and it may rank near to JEthionema^ from which it differs in its valves having three distinct wings, instead of one dorsal one, and in these valves being pendulous from the style, as in Cremolohus. With this latter genus I am unacquainted, save by the figures and descriptions of De Candolle; but that which follows it, in the Sy sterna and Prodromus of that author, Men- onvillea, I find to have incumbent cotyledons, contrary to the figure in De Lesserfs Ic. t. 56. yi 11, 12. Hence it must VOL. I. 2 a 350 be removed from the ThlaspidecB to the LepidinecB, and it will come very near Hexaptera, differing in the absence of dorsal wings to the valves of the capsule, and in its linear petals. HEXAPTERA. Nov. Gen. Calycis foliola erecta, basi subaequalia. Petala obovata, un- guiculata, integra. Stam. 6, omnia libera, vel 4 longiora per paria ultra medium unita. Silicida breviter stipitata, stylo stigmateque incrassato Iseviter sulcato terminata, bi- locularis, bivalvis, valvis ad suturas insigniter contractis, scutatis, e stylo demum pendulis, dorso lateribusque late alatis, monospermis. Septum angustissimum, sen obso- letum. Semen obovatum, immarginatum. Cotyledones incumbentes. — Flores albi. * Stamina majora per paria ultra medium connexa. 1. Hexaptera />mwa^/^c?a, [Gill, et Hook.) ; foliis pinnatifidis, caulinis paucis. (Tab. LXXII.) Hab. Apud " Quebrada de Rios " in Andibus Chilensibus : prope " Ladera de las Vacas," in valle " Hermosa," et prope ripas fluminis " Tonyan," in valle Tennyanensi Andium versus Mendozam, alt. 10,000 ped. Gillies. Radix descendens, subfusiformis, ut videtur, annua. Caulis solitarius, erectus, superne ramosus, teres, pubescenti-pi- losus, parce foliosus. Folia praecipue radicalia, oblonga vel ovalia, profunde pinnatifida, subglabra vel pilosa, nunc etiam hispida, laciniis ovatis lanceolatisve, acutis vel obtusis, integris vel sinuatis, non raro pinnatifido-lobatis, interne in petiolura longum attenuata: caidina sensim minora. Flores corymbosi, demum racemosi, parvi. Calyx tetraphyllus, foliolis ovatis, concavis, dorso (pedi- cellisque) hispidis, erectis, basi aequalibus. Petala calyce duplo longiora, obovata, subunguiculata. Stamina 6, 4 longiora filamentis per paria ultra medium connexis : Antherce oblongae. Pistillum : Germen breviter stipitatum, hexapterum : Stylus germinis longitudine: Stigma eras- sum, vertice sulcatum. Fnictus : Silicula, circumscrip- 351 tione elliptico-subrotunda, e valvis duabus discos effor- mantibus, parallelis, ad suturam valde contractis, marginibus utrinque dorsoque insigniter menibranaceo- alalis : nunc intra alam marginaleni et dorsalem iterum ala vel crista parva instructis: — demum a basi dehis- centibus et ex apice styli persistentis pendulis. Dissepi- mentum angustissimum, fere nullum. Receptaculum mar- ginale in axin filiformem contractum. Semen solitari- um quoque loculo, obovatum, pendulum, immarginatum, fuscum. Cotyledones incumbentes. Fig. 1, Flower. Fig. 2, Stamens and pistil. Fig. 3, Longer united pair of stamens. Fig. 4, Pistil. Fig. 5, Capsule. Fig. 6, Section of do. Fig. 7, Capsule with the valves or cells separating. Fig. 8, Capsule, one valve being re- moved, the other suspended from the style. Fig. 9, Seed. Fig. 10, Embryo: — all more or less magnified. In this genus, the general appearance of the fruit, when come to maturity and separating, is, at first sight, more like that of an Umbelliferous than a Cruciform plant. Each valve is so contracted at its edges, as to form in itself a distinct cell or capsule : the only opening is that minute one, by means of which the seed is connected with the placenta. It falls away, therefore, with the cell or valve, which is indehiscent. * * Stamina omnia libera. 2. Heii-aptera. spathulata, {Gill, et Hook.) ; sufFruticosa, cauli- bus ramosis foliosis, foliis spathulatis pilosis. (Tab. LXXIII.) Hab. Locis elevatis Andium, intra Chile et Mendozam. Gillies. Planta parva, radice perenni. Caules, basi praecipue, suf- fruticosi valde ramosi; ra)ni foliosi. Folia spathulata, in- tegerrima, pilis appressis utrinque tecta, inferne ciliata. Calyx fructusque purpureo tincti. In this species, the inner face of the cells or valves are not so closely applied as in the preceding, and the marginal ^ 352 wings are not parallel ; but the general structure of its fruit is precisely the same. Tab. LXXIII. Fig. 1, Flower. Fig. 2, Stamens. Fig. 3, Pistil. Fig. 4, Capsule. Fig. 5, Section of do. Fig. 6, Leaf: — all more or less magnified. 3. Hexaptera cuneata, {Gill, et Hook.); suiTruticosa, cauli- bus ramosis foliosis, foliis cuneatis appressi-hirsutis tri- dentatis. (Tab. LXXIV.) Hab. Inter " Cortaderas et Rio de las Vacas," Andium versus Mendozam, legit amicissimus Cruickshanks. In convalle fluminis Mendoza, prope Ladera de Jaule. Alt. 7000 ped. Gillies. Much larger than the last in all its parts, with the leaves truncated at the extremity, and cut into 3 or rarely 4 teeth. Neither Dr. Gillies nor Mr. Cruickshanks have been so for- tunate as to gather the fruit of this species. Tab. LXXIV. Fig. 1, Flower. Fig. 2, Pistil: — magnified. [TAB. LXXV.] GYMNOSTOMUM amblyophyllum. Gymnostomum amblyophyllum, {Gill, et Hook.) ; caule inno- vationibus ramoso, foliis ovatis patulis obtusissimis inte- gerrimis minute reticulatis, nervo valido paulo ante apicem evanido, seta elongata, capsula ovato-oblonga, operculi rostro elongato. (Tab. LXXV.) Hab. Ad ripas circa Mendozam, American Meridionalis. Gillies. Planta coespitosa. Caules breves, erecti, innovationibus ra- mosi. Folia patentia vel erecto-patcntia, ovata, pallide viridia, onniino integerrima, concava, obtusissima, caidina basi dilatata margine recurva, ramormn magis exacte ovata, margine minus recurva, minute reticulata, nervosa, 353 nervo paulo infra apiceni evanescente, valido. Seta In caule terminalis, vix semi-unciam longa, gracilis, flavo- rubicunda. Capsula ovato-oblonga, supra medium leni- ter contracta, rufo-fusca. Operculum conico-acuminatum, in rostro, capsula subaeque longo, terminatum. Calyptra dimidiata, pallide flavo-fusca. I am not aware of any species of Gymnostomum that ap- proaches this in character ; nor do I know that it has been found by any Botanist except Dr. Gillies, in the place above mentioned. Tab. LXXV. Fig. 1, Tuft:— wa<. size. Fig. 2, Single Plant. Fig. 3, Stem-leaf. Fig. 4, Leaf of an innovation. Fig. 5, Portion of a leaf to show the reticulation. Fig. 6, Capsule. Fig. 7, Operculum. Fig. 8, Calyptra: — all but Jig. 1 more or less magnijied. NEW BRITISH FLORA, BY DR. HOOKER. It has often been a matter of surprise to us, that notwithstanding: the very numerous Floras of Great Britain which have appeared, not one has been published under such a form as to comprehend, in the smallest space, all that is essential (excluding as much as possible all superfluous matter) for determining the classes and orders, the genera and species of our native plants. Those which are most valuable, and too much cannot be said in their praise, are unquestionably the English Flora of Sir J. E. Smith, and the Compendium Florm Britannicce. of the same learned author. But without any disparagement to their merits, it may be stated, respecting the former, that its bulk forbids the study of it elsewhere than at home ; Avhile the latter, expressly designed for use in the field, is too circumscribed in the characters of its species, (rarely extending to more than two or three lines,) to afford essential assistance, except to those already well versed in the science. An attempt to steer a middle course between these two extremes— that is, to give, besides specific characters of every species, such descriptive matter and diagnosis as may be requisite to its further elucidation — was made by Dr. Hooker in his Flora of Scotland; and the progress of his own Students in the University of Glasgow, who have been in the daily habit of using it during the session, together with the rapid sale of a very 354 large impression, demonstrated that he was not deceived in his expecta- tion of its utility. Hence, he has been led to extend the same, or a very similai* plan, to the Flora of the whole British Empire. This work is now in a considerable state of forwardness. The author's own ex- perience cannot but have suggested many useful alterations and amend- ments on the method pursued in the Flora Scotica. Thus, for example, by excluding all needless synonymy, and arranging the subject-matter in as compact a form as possible, without rendering it obscure to the reader, he is enabled not only to embrace the whole of the British Phcenogamous Plants and Ferns, in one moderately-sized duodecimo volume, but to give some interesting details, relative to the properties and uses of plants. The language adopted is the English, and in the general employment of terms, he has endeavoured to adhere as closely as possible to those of Sir J. E. Smith ; for they may well serve as models, both in regard to the accuracy and purity of expression. The derivation of every genei-ic appellation is stated, with the Natural Order to ^^'hich it belongs ; all the names, both generic and specific, are accented ; for, in no work, surely, can these modern improvements be so serviceable, as in one mainly in- tended to aid the pi'ogress of beginners; with which view, also, the mean- ing of the terms applied to the classes and orders, are explained — Dr. Hooker being fully persuaded that every thing tending to simplify the technicahties of science, assists in rendering it attractive, and increasing the number of its votaries. The arrangement adopted is that of Linnaeus ; but since a knowledge of the Natural System ought to be the great end and aim of those who have leisure to devote to this subject, and eminently to such as are destined for the practice of Medicine, there will be added, at the conclu- sion of the work, a short sketch of the Jussieuan Method; under each respective order of which the most important genera will be mentioned, with some notice of their peculiar properties and qualities. The work will appear very early in the ensuing spring, (1830), and is published by Messrs. Longman & Rees. The CryptogamitB, exclusive of the Ferns, are to form a separate volume, which will constitute the fifth of Smith's English Flora, or the second of the British Flora. ALPHABETICAL INDEX TO VOLUME L Adenocaulon bicolor, 1 9, t. xv. Asteriscium chilense, 332, t. Ixvii. (a.) — A. polycephalum, 332, t. Ixvii. (b.) Astelia alpina, 5, t. iii. Atropa rhomboidea, 135, t. xxxvii. Bolax Gilliesii, 325, t. Ixiii. Botany of Countries visited by the Russian Voyage of Discovery, under command of Kotzebue, by Chamisso, 305. Botanical Society of Germany, 78. Bowlesia, two species, 324. Brachymenium pulchrum, 136, t. xxxviii. British Flora announced, 353. Bryum giganteum, 37, t. xx. — B. Gilliesii, 3, t, ii. — B. Menziesii, 36, t. six. Byttneria heterophylla, 291, t. Ixi. Cardamine angulata, 344, t. Ixix. Castanosperraum australe, (in 7iote,) 241, t. li. Iii. Castela Nicholsoni, 271, t. Ivi. Citrus, remarks on the species cultivated in Jamaica, by Dr. Macfadyen, 295. Colletia, account of its species and allied genera, 150, t. xliii.-xlv. Colliguaja (of Molina) the genus and species, 138, t. xxxix. xl. Dicranum phascoides, 39, t. xxi. Dipyrena glaberrima, (under the name of Wilsonia,) 173, t. xlix. Discaria americana, 156, t. xliv. (d.) — D. australis, {in note,) 157, t. xlv, (a.) Draba alyssoides, 126, t. xxxii. Drummond, (Mr. Thomas,) his Musci Jtnericani announced, 93— his sketch of a Journey to the Rocky Mountains, 178. Eryngium, four species, 334. Flora of the British Possessions in North America announced, 92. Fraser, his Botany &c. of Swan River, Cape Naturaliste, &c. 221 — his Two Months' Residence near Brisbane and Logan Rivers, New Holland, with account of the most interesting Plants, 237, t. li. -liv. Grimmia crispata, 133, t. xxxvi. Guildingia psidioides, 122, t. xxx. Gymnostomum amblyophyllum, 352, t. Ixxv. — G. Wilsoni, 143, xli. Gyrosteraou attenuatum, {in note,) 243, t. liii. Habenaria cordata, 270, t. Iv. Hexaptera cuneata, 352, t. Ixxiv. — H. pinnatifida, 350, t. Ixxii. — H. spathulata, 351, t. Ixxiii. Hydrocotyle bonariensis, 324. Jaborosa caulescens, 347, t. Ixxi. — J. integrifolia, 348. — J. runcinata, 348. Jack's Malayan Miscellanies, 273, t. Ivii.-lx. Amomum biflorum, 274.— Calla angustifolia, C. humilis, 288, C. nitWa, 289.— Clerodcndrum moUe, 283.— Curculigo sumatrana, 277.— Flacourtia inermis, £8').- (Jmclina villosa, 284.— Lorantlnis coccineus, 278, t. Iviii. L. fcrrugiiieus, U79, t. lix.— Mclia cxcclsa, 281.— Microcos glabra, 282, M. tomentosa, 281, t. Ix.— Mimosa jiringa, 282.— Ncphelium lappaccum, 279.— Phyteuma begonifulUim, 276, t. Ivii.— Psychotria malayana, 275.— Ilondelctia coryrnbosa, 276.— Kottlcra alba, 290.— Sapindus rubiginosus, 280.— Sphenodcsme pentandra, 28,5.— Ster- cuUa angustifolia, 287, S. coccinea, 286.— Vitex arborea, 285.— Zingiber gracile, 273. Jungermannia serrulata, /3. 13, t. x. 356 Laretia acauHs, 329, t. Ixv. Ledebour, his Travels and Illustrations of Russian Plants announced, 219. Lemna gibba, remarks on its structure and germination, by Mr. W. Wilson, HS, t. xlii. Lewisia, (of Pursh?) observations on, 34-4, t. Ixx. Lippia, two species, 171. Lowe, Rev. R. T., his Natural History of Madeira announced, 88. Macrsea, its species, 174 t. 1. Macropodium, two species, 340, t. Ixvii. Ixviii. Mahogany Tree, its nature and uses, 21, t. xvi. xvii. Menyanthes Crista- Galli, 45, t. xxiv. Monoclea crispata, 117, t. xxvii. Mulinum, four species, 327, t. Ixiv. Mutisia ilicifolia, 7, t. iv. — M. inflexa, 9, t. vi. — M. linearifolia, 11, t. viii. — M. linifolia, 12, t. ix. — M. runcinata, 8, t. v. — M. subspinosa, 10, t. vii. Neckera Douglasii, 131, t. xxxv. Oxleya xanthoxyla, (in note,) 246, t. liv. Parmelia enteromorpha, 1 27, t. xxxiii, Parnassia fimbriata, 43, t. xxiii. Phascum tetragonum, 124, t. xxxi. Poinciana Gilliesii, 129, t. xxxiv. Pozoa coriacea, 330, t. Ixvi. Priva Isevis, 1 72. Retanilla Ephedra, 157. Riccia natans, 41, t. xxii. Rice Paper, account of the substance so called, 88. Saccharum officinarum. Botanical Characters and Culture, by Dr. Macfadyen, 95, t. xxvi. Schultes, his Botanical Visit to England, 48. Scouleria aquatica, 33, t. xviii. Sinapis frutescens, 119, t. xxviii. Spiridens Reinwardtii, 1, t. i. Sticta macrophylla, 17, t. xiii.— S. Humboldtii, 18, t. xiv. Sugar- Cane, its Botanical Characters and Culture, by Dr. Macfadyen of Jamaica, 95, t. xxvi. Swietenia Mahagoni, 21, t. xvi. xvii. Trevoa quinquenervia, 158, t. xlv. (b.) — T. trinervia, 159. Verbena, several species of, and allied genera, of South America, 159, t. xlvi.— xlix. Vincentia triflora, a new genus from Mauritius, 293, t. Ixii. Vohiria aphylla, 46, t. xxv. (a.) — V. tenella, 47, t. xxv. (b.) Umbelliferous plants, found by Dr. Gillies in South America, 323, t. Ixiii. -Ixvii. Usnea fasciata, 14, t. xi. — U. sphacelata, 15, t. xii. Weissia reticulata, 121, t. xxix. Wilson, (William, Esq.) Localities of rare Scottish Plants, 81. — observations on plants in Sir J. E. Smith's English Flora, 336. Wilsonia,* a new genus, 172, t. xlix. * Now called D/pj/rena; the name fr«7*07iia being preoccupied. 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