PREFACE. 11 



in I was struck with what I then considered a wonderful 

 plant, a laro-e-leaved Fan Palm ; and I found there was 

 another of the same kind and size at the other end of 

 the house .... There is no record of their intro- 

 duction in the Garden books .... Probably they 

 formed a part of the great collection of plants introduced 

 by Admiral Bligh in 1793, on his return home after 

 having introduced the Bread Fruit tree into the West 

 Indies." The history of the palm has, however, always 

 been enveloped in confusion. Its native home has been 

 shown in the Botany of the Challenger Expedition 

 (Part I ,pp. 70-3) to be Bermuda. A figure of the Kew 

 plant is given on Plate Y. of that work. 



A few other old specimens may be mentioned. The 

 ]arge plant of Juhcea spectahilis in the Temperate 

 House is no doubt one of " several plants raised from 

 seeds collected in Chili by the botanical collector, 

 Thomas Bridges, and purchased from his agent, II. 

 Oumming, in 1843" (Smith, Records, p. 111). 



Trachycarpus martiana is represented in the Tem- 

 perate House by two fine specimens purchased " at the 

 sale of the collections that ornamented the Conservatory 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens, South 

 Kensington, in 1889. They are supposed to have been 

 originally purchased from the garden of the Duke of 

 Wellington at Strathfieldsaye." One is figured in the 

 Bot,Mag.{t. 7128). 



Howea helmoreana. — "This palm was discovered 

 by W. Milne, botanical collector (1852-9) for Kew on 

 the surveying ship ' Herald,' Captain Denham. One 

 plant was received at Kew." (Smith, Records, p. 115.) 

 It is peculiar to Lord Howe's island and was long grown 



