225 



HOUSTOUN'S CENTRAL AMERICAN LEGUMINOS^. 

 By James Britten, F.L.S., and E. G. Baker, F.L.S. 



Among the large nurabei* of species established in Miller's 

 Gardeners' Dictionary (ed. 8, 1768), a considerable proportion are 

 based upon specimens sent by Dr. William Houstoun from Vera 

 Cruz, Campeachy, and Jamaica, or upon plants raised in Chelsea 

 Garden from seeds forwarded by him. Many of these have been 

 referred, often incorrectly, to other species subsequently described ; 

 others have never been identified. 



The British Museum Herbarium, the historical value of which 

 is becoming more and more recognized, affords material for clearing 

 up the obscurity which surrounds these plants ; for it contains 

 (1) Miller's own herbarium, in which were a large number of 

 Houstoun's specimens, many of them having MS. names attached 

 in Houstoun's hand ; (2) a large number of plants from Chelsea 

 Garden sent by Miller to Sloane ; (3) many of Houstoun's specimens 

 in Herb. Banks; Houstoun's MSS. (five books) and drawings, from 

 which the ReliquicB HoiistouniancB was selected : the MSS. contain 

 many full descriptions of species, and, as well as the specimens, 

 were annotated by Dryander. It would thus be no difficult task to 

 identify a large number of Miller's descriptions, especially as some 

 one. (probably Dryander) has marked off in the Gardeners' Dictionary 

 the species received from Miller. 



As was pointed out in this Journal many years back,* it is 

 matter for regret that Mr. Herasley did not include the plants in 

 the British Museum Herbarium in the Botany of the Bioloqia 

 Centrali-Ameyicana. By so doing he would not only have largely 

 added to the completeness of his enumeration, but he would have 

 cleared up a number of doubtful plants, and so have secured the 

 solution of a number of puzzles which at present remain unsolved 

 in the Index Kewensis. Nor does it appear that he extracted all the 

 Mexican plants from the Gardeners' Dictionary ; so that his handsome 

 book, although a summary — we can hardly say a handy summary — 

 of what was known at the time of its publication of the Central 

 American flora, might have been rendered more complete biblio- 

 graphically as well as botanically. 



Our attention having lately been called to two or three of Hous- 

 toun's Leyionitiosce, it seemed to us that it might be useful to examine 

 the remainder of the order, with a view to ascertaining what pro- 

 portion of specimens upon which Miller founded his species existed 

 in the Herbarium, and how far they were capable of identification. 

 The outcome of our investigation seem worth putting on record, as it 

 has resulted in the determination of plants which have until now 

 remained obscure ; and the clearing up of obscurities is hardly less " 

 ini2)ortant than the description of novelties. 



We give first give a tabular enumeration of the plants under 

 Miller's names, with identifications : this is followed by notes upon 



' Jvurn. Bot. 1880, p. 90. 



Journal, of Botany. — Vol. 35. [June, 1897.] 



