MR. H. TBIMEN ON BO^A COMMEKSONII. 163 



Note on Boea Commersonii^ R. Br. 

 By Henry Trim 1 ^, M.B., F.L.S. 



[Read Feb. 3, 1875.] 



This plant, the type of the genus*, was discovered by Com- 

 merson, and originally named by Lamarck t B. magellanica, under 

 the idea that it was collected in Magellan Straits, where Com- 

 merson spent some time when naturalist to Bougainville's voyage. 

 It is figured from his specimens in Lamarck's * Illustrations 'J. 

 R. Brown, in 1838 §, in his revision of Cyrtandracece^ having 

 obtained authentic specimens, found their locality to be " isles 



Praslins ;" and he accordingly altered the erroneous specific name 

 to that which is now used. The precise locality on one of the 

 labels attached to the specimens (now in the British Museum) is 

 "in rupibus sylvosis portum Praslinise coronantibus, Julio, 1766" 

 (in Brown's hand, but no doubt copied from the original). Pras- 

 lin being the name of one largest of the Seychelles, all subsequent 

 writers on the plant have given it as a native of that group, 

 where, however, no collector has since met with it. Brown placed 

 three other species in the same genus, the Dorcoceras of Bunge 

 from JN'orth China, and (doubtfully) two Indian plants \\. No ad- 

 dition is made to this in De Candolle's ' Prodromus 1 (1845) ^[; but 

 since then four or five more species have been described, natives 

 of India, Celebes, and one from N.E. Australia. 



Quite lately Baron von Mueller, of Melbourne, was so good as 

 to send me one of the three specimens of a Boea collected on 

 coral cliffs in the Duke-of- York's Island, a miniature Isle of Man, 

 lying in St. George's Channel, between New Britain and New 

 Ireland* This was gathered by Mr. C. Walter, who, under the 

 auspices of the young Baron von Huegel, visited the islet in the 

 Wesleyan Mission-ship. Dr. von Mueller requested me to com- 

 pare the specimen with Commerson's plant, with which he was 

 inclined to put it, in spite of some discrepancies (which will be 

 immediately alluded to) between it and the published description, 

 to which alone he had access. There can be little hesitation in 



* Named by Commerson in honour of his brother-in-law, the Rev. Dr. Beau, 

 of Toulon. 



t Diet. i. p. 401. J Illust. i. p. 53, t. 15. § PI. Jaran. Ear. p. 120. 



|| B. ? Wallichii and B. ? multiflora The latter is not the same (as has been 

 thought) as the Championia multiflora of C. B. Clarke, Cy rtand. Bengal, t. f>8. 

 f DC. Prod. ix. p. 271. 



