EFFECT OF A TROPICAL CLIMATE UPON PLANTS. 



well, and frequently bear flowers, especially the Devonshire Rose, 

 which possesses an exquisite scent under the tropics. 



The beauty of the large panicles of rose-coloured flowers of the 

 Lagerstrcemia indica cannot be imagined by any person who has 

 seen that handsome plant merely in our hothouses. Here it 

 reaches the height of a moderate-sized tree. It is called by the 

 Spaniards Almira. The other flowers mostly cultivated are : 

 Garden Balsams (Impatiens Balsamina) ; Four o'clock flowers 

 (Mirabilis Jalapa), of all possible colours ; Indian Cress (Tropseolum 

 majus); a large variety of the common Pink; Periwinkle (Vinca 

 rosea and alba) ; Marigolds (Tagetes) ; Chinese Aster ; Chrysan- 

 themums ; Centaureas ; Zinnias ; Tuberoses ; Amaryllis formo- 

 sissima, and a few other tropical bulbs, all of which, as far as 

 enumerated, may be called acclimatised. 



The acclimatisation of a plant under the tropics, either indi- 

 genous or already inured to a temperate zone, is as interesting as 

 the acclimatisation of a tropical plant in a temperate zone. My 

 observations and experiences in this respect may prove therefore 

 acceptable, the more so since among the plants to which my 

 attention was directed, were some that originally belong to a warm 

 climate, but which had been raised in a hothouse. 



When I left England in December, 1848, I received, through 

 the kindness of the Director of the Pioyal G ardens at Kew, several 

 plants which seemed qualified for the West Indies. Before I 

 enumerate such as arrived in good order in Santo Domingo, I 

 will observe that the Consulate lies a few hundred yards from the 

 sea shore, and that the little spot which I have turned into a 

 garden consists of coralline limestone, covered with about twelve 

 inches of good soil ; however, since the coral rock has numerous 

 crevices or fissures, the roots may penetrate much deeper. The 

 mean annual temperature is about 78° Fahr., and an 18-inch 

 terrestrial thermometer (the only one which I brought safely to 

 Santo Domingo out of four of different sizes) gives me as the mean 

 temperature of the soil at that depth about 75° Fahr. The 

 elements which I possess for a more exact calculation of the mean 

 annual temperature of the air and the soil have not been calculated 

 as yet in detail, but the above may be assumed as a close 

 approximation. 



A Wardian case was filled with so-called fashionable flowers. 

 Among these were some Fuchsias, which arrived in a tolerably 

 good state, but with the exception of one, they died before they 

 came into flower. This refers likewise to the Pelargoniums. 



VOL. VIII. D 



