ox THE GENUS HEDYCHIUM. 13 



successive drawings made of them, imagiuing that they were spe- 

 cifically distinct, whereas they were in reality one and the same 

 plant, only arrayed in various fancy guises. Now, all this may 

 110 doubt be ascribed to my own want of discernment. I am 

 consoled however by finding, that the immortal Roseoe has been 

 similarly misled in many instances; and my friend Dr. Hooker 

 has also several varieties among the exquisite sketches of Hedy- 

 chium, made by him on the spot. Few species only admit of 

 being somewhat rigorously defined ; the rest slide suddenly, or by 

 gradations, into each other, so as to elude all endeavours to fix 

 them with any sort of botanical precision. The fact is that, like 

 other very natural gi'oups, ours point-blank refuses to disclose the 

 exact limitations of its members, and leaves the systeraatising 

 botanist to grope his way through the maze as best he may. 

 Probably there exist in reality but a very limited number of 

 distinct species ; the problem to be solved being, \\hich are those 

 species? Botanically speaking, the genus may be called poor, — 

 such, at least, I believe it will be pronounced hereafter; jillhough 

 to the horticulturist and florist it is exceedingly rich, abounding 

 in transient forms, shades, and varieties. Tn the meantime I 

 have followed the beaten track, leaving the subject to be taken up 

 by abler hands than mine, who may have favourable opportunities 

 for studying it. I attribute the cause of the great variableness 

 alluded to, to the facilities of multiplication by the rhizomas or 

 roots, and of propagation by the ordinary means of seeds, wliich 

 the plants produce not unsparingly ; and also perhaps to the 

 natural intermixture of varieties of the same species. Thus far 

 only can I admit of any cross-breeding (if indeed it can be so 

 called) taking place in that part of the globe, where most of my 

 years have been spent. Amidst the natural facilities — I had 

 almost said inducements — which the amazing luxuriance of an 

 Indian vegetation frequently offers for the production of mule 

 breeds, scores of genera crowding their species together into a 

 narrow area of only a few square yards, their pollen transported 

 by winds, animals, and other means, among the hundreds of 

 vegetable occupants : never have I seen a single instance of a 

 hybrid plant. For the validity of this assertion I appeal, without 

 hesitation, to ray brother labourers in the field of Indian botany. 

 There, at least, nature repudiates divei'sifying her creation by 

 means which would violate the sanctity of the process of 

 fecundation. I can imagine that two plants, specifically different 

 soisu hotanico, may mix together and produce a third, similarly 



