RECENT REVISIONS OF CEYLON BOTANY. 163 



The discrepancy in Hermann's figure was noted by Com- 

 melinus, who, in Hortus Malabaricus, XI., p. 21, stated 

 " Delineatio Do. Hermanni etiam deficit, et cum ilia nostri 

 authoris minime conveniens, prsesertim in progressu floris." 



Dryander (Trans. Linn. Soc, II., p. 212) wrote that the 

 figure of a single flower given by Hermann " is exactly like 

 that of Manja Kua in the Hortus Malabaricus, but it cannot be 

 copied from thence, as Hermann's book was pubUshed before 

 the eleventh volume of that work. I can no otherwise account 

 for this similarity than by supposing that Hermann had seen 

 the drawing before the publication. The reduced figure of 

 the whole plant given by Hermann is also erroneous, represent- 

 ing the scapus at a distance from the leaves ; whereas it 

 appears by the acctimts of the Hortus Malabaricus, Rumphius, 

 Koenig, and Jacquin, that the scapus comes out between the 

 leaves." 



Hermann's figure of the flower of Curcuma longa is similar 

 to that of Manja Kua, Hortus Malabaricus, XI., tab. 10, but 

 one could scarcely maintain that it is a copy. Manja Kua is 

 Kaempferia pandurata. 



The explanation of Hermann's mistake may possibly be 

 that he gathered and pressed the flower of Kaha, and obtained 

 jhizomes of Kaha later, shortly before his departure. The 

 name Kaha merely means yellow ; it is the common name of 

 the Turmeric, but it is applied, with prefixes, to other plants, 

 e.g., Curcuma Zeodaria is Haran-kaha, and Curcuma aromatica^ 

 is Wal-kaha or Dada-kaha. Moon obtained Curcuma Zeo- 

 daria as Kaha, and assumed it was Curcuma longa L. Nothing 

 is more common than to be given the Sinhalese plant name 

 without its prefix. But the name Kiiha is not confined to 

 plants of the genus Curcuma ; it has been applied to Bixa 

 Orellana. 



At present it is not known what Curcuma longa L. is. 

 Hermann's specimen may be the common Ceylon Turmeric, 

 but the figure in Hort. Acad. Lugd. Bat. is not. The nearest 

 approach to the latter known in Ceylon would appear to 

 be Curcuma aromatica Salisb., which, though often culti- 

 vated, was not among Hermann's specimens. Hermann 

 collected Haran-kaha, Curcuma Zeodaria Rose, but the 



