250 Information respecting Botanical Travellers, 



Arbor elegans sempervirens, viginti pedalis et infra ; ramis teretibus gla- 

 bris, cortice rugose. Folia (4 — 5 uncialia) alterna, petiolata, exstipulata. ad 

 summitatem ramulorum ssepe verticillato-conferta, elongato-lanceolata, acu- 

 minata, obtusiuscula, coriacea remote calloso-serrata, utrinque glabra, su- 

 perne nitida, subtus pallidiora. Flores albi, terminales, corymbosi, pedun- 

 culis (uncialibus) plerumque trichotomis. 



One of the most remarkable plants of New Zealand, where, however, 

 it is of very rare occurrence, and in affinity approaching nearer to 

 Brexia of M. du Petit Thouars than to any other published genus. 

 With it our plant accords in the aestivation and forms of the calyx 

 and petals, in its hypogynous stamens and the figure of the anthers, 

 and in its superior pentagonal quinquelocular ovarium with a disk at 

 its base. In the form of these latter, however, our genus differs es- 

 sentially ; having neither, in the one, an indefinite number of ovules 

 attached in two rows to placentse in the axis, nor in the other the 

 toothed or fringed lobes between the bases of the stamens, as bota- 

 nists have described the genus of M. du Petit Thouars. The ma- 

 tured fruit of Ixerba has not yet been examined, so that the structure 

 of the seeds remains to be ascertained. Its nearest affinity appears 

 with Celastrinece, with which it agrees in the aestivation of the floral 

 envelopes, the number of the stamens, and their alternating with the 

 petals, but differing in the insertion of the stamens ; these, in that 

 family being perigynous, and the ovules, for the most part, ascend- 

 ing from the axis of the ovarium. 



[To be continued.] 



XXXII. — Information respecting Botanical Travellers, 



Mr. Gardner's Journeys in Brazil. 



The following extracts of letters lately received from Mr. Gardner 

 cannot fail to give pleasure to those who take an interest in his tra- 

 vels and collections, which promise to throw great light on the hi- 

 story of the vegetable productions of a very extensive and hitherto 

 little explored region of tropical South America. — Edit. 



Villa do Ico, Sertao of the Province of Seira, 

 August 25, 1838. 



About the middle of last month I did myself the pleasure of writing 

 to you from Pernambuco, stating that it was my intention to pass 

 into the interior from Aracaty, a sea-port in this province, and pro- 

 bably to try to reach the mountains to the west of the province of 



