Notes upon Burlingtonia Candida, fol. 1927. 



Since the appearance of the last number of this work, I 

 have been favoured by the following memorandum from 

 Mr. Bateman : — 



" Tlie plant to which you formerly gave the name of Roilriguesia 

 Batemanni, and which you now call ' Burlingtonia Candida,' is a naiive 

 of Demerara, from whence it was sent to me in 1834 l)y Mr. Colley, and 

 it is, I think, without exception, the most beautiful new species that lias 

 hitherto made its appearance amongst his collections. 



" It produces its flower-spikes freely, twice every year, and their large 

 blossoms, sus])ended over the margin of the pot in which the plant grows, 

 have a singularly delicate effect, resembling nothing so much as white 

 satin trimmed with gold. 



" While at Vienna last year, I was shewn, by the kindness of 

 M. Endlicher, some of the drawings belonging to his and Dr. Pceppig's 

 work on the plants of Peru ; among the number was a species bearing so 

 strong a resemblance to our present subject, that I did not hesitate to 

 pronounce it to be Ilodriguesia Batemanni, and it was accordingly pub- 

 lished bv those gentlemen under that name in their admirable 'Genera et 

 Species Plantarum.' I have now before me, through the liberality of 

 Dr. Pceppig, wild specimens gathered in Maynas by that intrepid tra- 

 veller, and on comparing these with specimens of the Demerara species 

 produced in my stove, I am satisfied that I erred in supposing them to be 

 the same. The following are among the more prominent difterences. Dr. 

 Poppig'sRodriguesia Batemanni (now Burlingtonia rubescens) has stiff, up- 

 right many-flowered spikes ; B. Candida few-flowered, entirely pendulous 

 ones. Theflowers of the latter are nearly twice the size of those of the former, 

 and streaked with gold instead of being spotted with red. The column 

 of B. Candida is nearly half the length of the lip ; while in B. rubescens 

 it is not one-third. In B. rubescens, too, there is a sort of tooth jilaced 

 on the under side, at the extremity of the lip, which is wholly wanting in 

 B. Candida." 



To this I would add, that it must have been difficult 

 for the most experienced Botanist to have distinguished 

 Burlingtonia rubescens from B. Candida, under the circuin- 

 stances by which alone Mr. Bateman could compare them. 

 They are very similar in appearance : no one could have 

 anticipated that so many beautiful species, distinct as they 

 nevertheless are from each other, would have been suddenly 

 discovered to form a new genus ; and only an actual 

 comparison of specimens could have shewn that the Rodri- 

 guesia Batemanni of Poppig and Endlicher was distinct 

 fi-om Burlingtonia Candida, to which I once applied the 

 former name. 



