73 



garden of the Horticultural Society from acorns received 

 either from Mr. Hartweg or the Hon. W. F. Strano-ways. 

 They are all species with beautiful foliaije, and will be a 

 great acquisition to this country if they should prove hardy. 

 This is however uncertain, and it is to be feared improbable, 

 except in the southern parts of England and in Ireland. It 

 may be expected that Q. sidcroxyla, or the Ironwood Oak, 

 will be the hardiest among them. 



169. BETULA (also Betula) Bhojpatfra, Wall. cat. no. 2792. PI. As. rar. 

 2. p. 7. 



This Birch, the finest of the Himalayan species, has at 

 length been introduced by the East India Company, who pre- 

 sented its seeds to the Horticultural Society. It will doubt- 

 less be perfectly hardy, as, according to Dr. Royle {Illustra- 

 tions^ p. 343), it, and the other species of that country, occupy 

 the loftiest situations in the mountains. 



Dr. Wallich has given the following account of the species 

 in his Planted Asiaticce rariores^ vol. 2. p. 7- 



" The epidermis of this species of Birch is used by the 

 mountaineers instead of paper for writing upon. It is of a 

 very delicate texture, and peels off in large masses, of which 

 great quantities are brought down into the plains of Hindustan, 

 where it is employed for covering the inside of the long flex- 

 ible tubes of the apparatus used for smoking tobacco, com- 

 monly called Hooka. The Sanscrita name of the substance is 

 Bhoorja ; in the Bengali language, Bhoorjapattra ; and in 

 the Hindustani, Bhojpattra. My worthy friend, Mr. Graves 

 Haughton, Oriental Examiner to the Honourable East India 

 Company, to whom I am indebted for the above synonyms, is 

 of opinion that the word Bhoorja is the etymon of Birch, and 

 that it is one of the many proofs of \h.Q descent of the Saxon 

 part of the English language from the Sanscrita." 



At the same time were received seeds of another Indian 

 Birch, which I do not find described among the Himalayan 

 species ; it is remarkable for the softness of its round heart- 

 shaped leaves, and has received the provisional name of B, 

 mollis. I however suspect it to be a mere variety of the Paper 

 Birch of N. America. 



170. SPIRJlA/ssa. 



A name given to a species of Spiraea from Mexico, re- 

 October, 1840. e 



