in our plate. It was raised, by Mr. J. H. Masters, from 
seed of P. alata, a native of the West Indies, fertilized bv 
the common hardy P. cerulea, at the Nursery of Mr. Wil- 
liam Masters, St. Peters Street, Canterbury. 
The stem of this hybrid bears an evident resemblance to 
that of P. alata, being square ; the membrane of the angles 
is, however, nearly obsolete, except in vigorous young 
shoots. Its leaves are of much the same texture and co- 
lour as those of P. alata, but are three-lobed, and very 
different from those of any other hardy creeper. The 
flowers are sweet-scented and extremely beautiful, the ray 
being of a rich purple, the petals pink, and the sepals of a 
delicate white. The plant began to flower against a wall, 
in the open air, early in July, and continued to expand till 
the end of October. It is probably nearly hardy, having 
sustained the cold of the winter of 1823-4 without injury. 
Mr. Masters raised at the same time, from the same seed, 
two other varieties, one with paler flowers than that now 
figured; the other much less in all its parts, but of the 
same colour in the flower as the present plant. 
For the drawing and accurate account of this variety 
we are obliged to Mr. William Masters. 
The circumstances that such distinct plants as the two 
species of Passiflora, from which the subject of this article 
has been obtained, are capable of cross-impregnation, and 
that, in the case of the mule Passion-flower raised by Mr. 
Milne, equally distinct plants, P. racemosa and P. cerulea, 
have not only produced a healthy, but, for one generation 
at least, a fertile progeny, we think amount to a conclusive 
proof that distinct species of plants will breed together, and 
that therefore mere breeding together is not, as has been 
for a long time supposed, an absolute test of a species. 
But, admitting thus much, we still are of opinion, that, 
although really hybrid plants may be obtained by art, yet 
that they cannot be perpetuated beyond, at the most, three 
generations ; and we are quite persuaded, that the nume- 
rous fertile productions among the tribes of Amaryllidez, 
which have been called hybrid, are either mere casual va- 
rieties of particular species, or raised, as in the genus 
Crinum, from the mixture of plants, not distinct species, 
but accidental aberrations from a common type. 
" 
