203 



1 



account of the tree and its timber. He then goes on to speak 



of " another Cedrela " discovered by Mr. Houston near the Gulf 



of Honduras, which is apparently identical with Swietenia. mac- 

 rophylla. 



In 1824 Kunth mentions Swietenia Mahagoni as growing in 

 Mexico (Syn. PL ^Equinoct. iii. p. 219). The references cited 

 are correct, but the diagnosis and habitat evidently belong to 

 & humilis, Zucc., for he describes the leaflets of the p 

 collected by Humboldt and Bonpland as " a4mminato-fiiibidatis r V 

 and remarks " Crescit prope Acupulco Mexicanorum, portum 

 Oceani Pacifici." 



In the same year De Candolle alluded to figures by Gaertner 

 and Mo^ino & Sesse as showing the fruit dehiscing at the apex> 

 and asked whether two species might not have been confused 

 or whether the dehiscence was variable (Prodr. i. p. 625). The 

 figure of Mogino & Sesse we have not seen, but that of Gaertner 

 represents the West Indian Swietenia Mahagoni, and is 

 dehiscing at both ends, like specimens now preserved at Kew, 



In 1830 Sir William Hooker published an exhaustive account 

 of the Mahogany tree, accompanied by two plates prepared from 

 drawings made in St. Vincent by the Rev. L. Guilding (Bot 

 Misc. i. pp. 21-32, tt. 16, 17), and here, after an account of 

 the extensive use of Jamaica Mahogany, he remarks: a Jfow, 

 I believe, a very large portion of the Mahogany imported into 

 Great Britain is derived from the Honduras, where it is un- 

 questionably produced in most abundance. " On a later page 

 allusion is made to Browne's remarks, and it is added> " If 

 this be what we call the Honduras Mahogany, and different 

 from that of Jamaica, it is much to be lamented that its 

 botanical characters are not vet known to us." This is the 

 plant now known as S. macrophylla, King. 



In 1879 Hemsley enumerated Swietenia Mahagoni as Central 

 American (Biol. Centr.-Amer. i. p. 183), but the Honduras 

 specimens cited belong to S. macrophylla, King, and those from 

 Acapulco and Nicaragua to S. humilis, Zucc. 



Complete materials of a Swietenia, which has long been culti- 

 vated at Calcutta under the name of S. humilis, have been sent 

 to Kew by Lt.-Col. A. T. Gage, and seem to represent a dwarf 

 form of S. Mahagoni, the leaflets and fruits being very similar 

 in general character. It is not the S. humilis, Zucc. 



The following are references to the literature and synonymy 

 of S. Mahagani, including such figures as are accessible to us:- 



Swietenia Mahagoni, Jacq., Enum. PI. Carib. p. 30; Linn. 

 Sp. PI. ed. 2, p. 548; Cav. Diss. p. 365, t. 209; Gaertn. Carp, 

 ii. p. 89, t. 9G; Hayne Arzn. Gewiichse, i. t. 19; DC. Prodr. i. 

 p. 625; "Woody. Med. ed. 2, iii. p. 620, t. 220; Desc. Antil. 

 ii. p. 125, t. 99; Diet. Sc. Nat. xxviii. p. 81, t. 170; Tussac. 

 Antil. iv. p. 65, t. 23; Hook. Bot. Misc. i. pp. 21-32, tt. 16, 17; 

 Spach, Hist. Nat. Veg. iii. p. 164, Atlas, t. 21; Schnitzl. Ic. 

 Fam. Nat. iii. t. 226, fig. 1; Nutt. Sylva, ii. p. 45, t, 75: DC. 

 Monogr. Phan. i. p. 723, t, 8, fig. 11; Engl. & Prantl. Pflan- 

 lenfani. iii. p. 274, fig. 153. 



The species is widely diffused, occurring in the Keys of S. 



