73 
garden of the Horticultural Society from acorns received 
either from Mr. Hartweg or the Hon. W. F. Strangways. 
They are all species with beautiful foliage, and will be a 
great acquisition to this country if they should prove hardy. 
This is however uncertain, and it is to be feared improbable, 
except in the southern parts of England and in Ireland. It 
may be expected that Q. sideroxyla, or the Ironwood Oak, 
will be the hardiest among them. 
169. BETA (also Betula) Bhojpattra. Wall. cat. no. 2792. Pl. As. rar. 
-p- /- 
This Birch, the finest of the Himalayan species, has at 
length been introduced by the East India Company, who pre- 
sented its seeds to the Horticultural Society. It will doubt- 
less be perfectly hardy, as, according to Dr. Royle (Zllustra- 
tions, p. 343), it, and the other species of that country, occupy 
the loftiest situations in the mountains. 
Dr. Wallich has given the following account of the species 
in his Plante Asiatica rariores, vol. 2. p. 7. 
“The epidermis of this species of Birch is used by the 
mountaineers instead of paper for writing upon. It is of a 
very delicate texture, and peels off in large masses, of which 
great quantities are brought down into the plains of Hindustan, 
where it is employed for covering the inside of the long flex- 
ible tubes of the apparatus used for smoking tobacco, com- 
monly called Hooka. The Sanscrita name of the substance is 
Bhoorja; in the Bengali language, Bhoorjapattra ; and in 
the Hindustani, Bhojpattra. My worthy friend, Mr. Graves 
Haughton, Oriental Examiner to the Honourable East India 
Company, to whom I am indebted for the above synonyms, is 
of opinion that the word Bhoorja is the etymen of Birch, and 
that it is one of the many proofs of the descent of the Saxon 
art of the English language from the Sanscrita.” 
At the same time were received seeds of another Indian 
Birch, which I do not find described among the Himalayan 
species; it is remarkable for the softness of its round heart- 
shaped leaves, and has received the provisional name of B. 
mollis. I however suspect it to be a mere variety of the Paper 
Birch of N. America. 
170. SPIRJEA fosa. 
A name given to a species of Spirma from Mexico, re- 
October, 1840. Py 
gr. 
