370 AN ATTEMPT TO DEFINE 
sian., Mack et Griff. in Hb. Hook. Hook. fil. et Thoms. B. Napalia. 
Sikkim, Cathcart, Ic. pict. y. Napalia. 
This is the queen of the genus, if not of the whole order, both as re- 
gards the general aspect, the stature and foliage, and the exquisite ele- 
gance as well as fragrance of the ample inflorescence. While I write this, 
several large patches of the typical form are in full bloom at the Hor- 
ticultural Society’s Garden at Chiswick, thriving luxuriantly in a tem- 
perate glass-house, without any extraordinary supply of water; and last 
year I saw them in equal perfection. What can be the reason that a 
plant so charming and desirable as this, is not more frequently seen 
in the stoves of the great and wealthy? .Surely there exists not an Or- 
chidea which exceeds it in any respect, especially in facility of cultiva- 
tion. I regret to say, the figure in my * Plante Asiatic Rariores ' does 
by no means justice to the plant, the original drawing having been 
taken from the first specimen that was sent down to me by post, from 
the Kasia range, by the late Mr. M. R. Smith, nearly forty years ago. 
The magnificent series of specimens, even as to colour, preserved by 
Drs. Hooker and Thomson, with the fine drawings of the former and 
the excellent figure in Roscoe’s work, prove that my H. speciosum and 
my H. Gardnerianum are identically one and the same species. I retain 
the latter name, being that of a very valued and honoured friend, who, 
himself ardently attached to flowers and gardening, has done a great 
deal of service to the cause of botany in its most extended sense. 
During a number of years in which the Hon. Edward Gardner (son of 
the late distinguished Admiral Lord Gardner) lived in Nipal, as the 
Hon. East India Company’s Resident at the Court of Katmandu, he 
contributed greatly to the riches of the Botanic Garden of Calcutta, 
and through it, to the gardens and herbariums of England. . It was 
through his local influence, and afterwards also of the late Mr. Robert 
‘Stuart’s, the officiating Resident*, that I was permitted to send per- 
manent collecting parties into that country, where they enjoyed his 
unceasing support and encouragement ; and afterwards to visit it my- 
self during a whole year, which I spent under his friendly and hospi- 
table roof+. Would that the cause of Natural History could boast 
: "e Stuartii, we Flor. Ind. ii. p. 20. cana 
‘that distinguished benefactor of Tuda cv which wae fs pobliched py 
burgh's Fl. Ind. i. p. 400, and ii. p. 317 and 318. In this second volume, as well 
as in my Plante Asiatice Rariores and the Catalogue of the East Indian Herbarium, 
