071 the Hortus Malaharicus^ Part II. 201 



plant : " Notandum est quod in Hort. Malab. calyx brevis et 

 quinquedentatus tantum exhibeatur, quum in nostra planta sit 

 tenuis — in quinque radios longitudine floris productus, longus, 

 hirsutus." He also supposes that Rheede represented the Be^ 

 lilla as smooth ; but does not lay much stress on this circum- 

 stance, because, as he justly observes, the pubescence of plants 

 is often omitted in the figures of the Hort. Malaharicus. That 

 however does not seem to me to be the case in the figure of the 

 Belilla, the leaves of which at least are represented as hispid. 

 The other parts, indeed, which in Burman's figure (t. 76.) are 

 represented hirsute, appear smooth in the H. Malaharicus, pro- 

 bably from the carelessness of the draughtsman, as Burman 

 observes. Burman justly distinguishes his plant from the Folium 

 Principissa of Rumphius. This indeed he does upon bad 

 grounds ; because, judging merely from the figure (liable to the 

 same error with the Hort. Malab.), he supposes the plant of 

 Rumphius to be smooth ; but in the description already quoted 

 Rumphius expressly calls the leaves hairy, {pi losa). When how- 

 ever Burman published the Herbarium Amboinense, he retracted 

 this distinction, and adhered to all the synonyma except the 

 Belilla, which he does ffot mention. ; nor does he notice any dif- 

 ference between the F. Principissa latifolium and angustifolium. 



Linnaeus in the Flora Zcylanica (84.) describes the Musscenda 

 of Hermann, which should therefore have yellow bracts ; and ac^ 

 cordingly he adds as synonymous the plant of Ray with bracts of 

 this colour : but, like Burman, he also quotes Ray for his Frutex 

 indicus baccifer, fructu oblongo polyspermo, which may be diffe- 

 rent from the Musscenda arbor Indira, and the same with the 

 Mussanda Zeylanica of Burman, which is also quoted ; as is even 

 the Belilla, which Burman seems to have abandoned. It is im- 

 possible, therefore, from the synonyma alone to say which plant 

 Linnaeus meant. 



When 



