systematic pomt of view. Nor did Gaudichaud’s labours tend 
much to advance our knowledge in that direction.’ That botanist 
did not see the plant growing wild, and his three plates of it, 
published in the ‘ Partie Botanique, Voyage de Ja Bonite,’ unac- 
companied as they are by any explanatory description, are almost 
unintelligible, and moreover they show that he held extravagant 
notions respecting the species of which the genus is composed ; 
he fancying that it was a congregate of no less than ten, all of 
which he seems to have thought sufficiently characterized by the 
shape of the seeds—a most variable organ in this instance. In 
1845 and 1846 Purdie, acting upon instructions from the Royal 
Botanic Gardens at Kew, did a great deal towards clearing the 
mist in which the Ivory plant had been so long enveloped. In 
1848, Martius, in his famous work on Palms, gave, partly from 
Gaudichaud’s figures, partly from imperfect specimens in his 
possession, a generic character of Phytelephas (Mart., Hist. Nat. 
Palmarum, vol. iii. p. 306), which greatly tended to place the or- 
ganization of this remarkable plant in a clearer light. Morren 
(Dodonzea, vol. iii. part ii. p. 74) also wrote some valuable remarks 
on the seeds of it. In 1849, Sir W. J. Hooker contributed his 
share towards the perfection of our knowledge (Hooker’s Journal 
of Botany and Kew Gard. Mise. vol. i. p. 204) by reproducing not 
only the pith of nearly all that had been written upon the sub- 
} ject, but also added some valuable observations of his own, as 
well as a detailed description of the fruit and seed ; and he illus- 
trated his paper with two plates, the one representing a view of 
a grove of Ivory-plants on the banks of the Magdalena (from a 
sketch of Edward Mark, Esq.); the other, the fruit, seed, and 
several toys made from the albumen. In December, 1847, whilst 
ascending the river Cupica, I had the good fortune to fall in with 
the Ivory-plant, and afterwards met with it in various other parts 
of Darien. A selection from the notes taken on those occasions 
was subsequently published (Hooker’s Journal of Botany and 
Kew Gard. Misc. vol. iii. p. 303, and ‘ Narrative of the Voyage 
_ of H.M.S. Herald,’ vol. i. p. 222). It contained a general de- 
scription of the plant, and dwelt upon the close relationship of 
Phytelephas with Pandanee. Since then there has not been, so 
far as I know, any additional information given to the world; 
and it only remains for me to draw up an account of this re- 
markable production, as perfect as the various materials, pub- 
lished and unpublished, at my disposal will permit. 
The Ivory plant is confined to the continent of South America, — 
where it grows between the 9th degree of north and the 8th of 
south latitude, and the 70th and 79th of west longitude. It in- 
habits damp localities, such as confined valleys, banks of rivers 
and rivulets, and is found not only on the lower coast region, as 
