33 
Hildebrand experienced some difficulty in procuring seeds ot this 
plant owing to the fact that its fruits, which are nearly as large 
as a walnut and have a sweet pulp, are eaten by rats, squirrels 
and birds. However, he at length succeeded in getting some 
seeds which were received at Kew in September, 1892, but these 
failed to germinate. From a consignment received in September, 
1893, some plants were raised, and in January, 1894, a Wardian 
case containing 49 seedlings of the Lonicera reached Kew, from 
which some were distributed to various establishments, including 
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, where the plant first 
flowered in August, 1898. In 1899 a plant flowered in the 
Temperate House at Kew, and material obtained from this was 
used in the preparation of the plate in the Botanical Magazine (t. 
7677). Lonicera Hildebrandiana was afterwards discovered at 
Mengtze and Szemao in Yunnan, by Mr. Augustine Henry, but 
in the Chinese specimens the corolla is rather shorter than in the 
Burmese. It is only in very favoured localities, such as 
Cornwall, that this honeysuckle will thrive out-of-doors in these 
islands, and only a greenhouse of large dimensions will accommo- 
date so robust a grower. It is, therefore, never likely to become 
a popular plant. This remark applies still more forcibly to 
Rosa gigantea, Collett (Bot. Mag. t. 7972), which, though intro- 
duced into this country some years before Mr. Hildebrand com- 
menced his correspondence with Kew, was the subject of some 
interesting comments in his letters. We learn from these that in 
Burma the rose sometimes forms a bole as thick as a man’s thigh, 
and its stems overtop trees 60 to 80 ft. high, when, its branches 
hanging from the tree-tops, it blossoms profusely, its flowers 
appearing as a sheet of white and filling the air around with a 
delightful fragrance. 
Amongst other plants sent to Kew by Mr. Hildebrand were 
Bulbophyllum comosum, Collett & Hemsl. (Bot. Mag. t. 7283), 
originally introduced into this country by Colonel Sir H. Collett 
in 1889; Aeschynanthus Hildebrandii, Hemsl. (Bot. Mag. t. 
7365), and Orchis monophylla, Collett & Hemsl. (Bot. Mag. t. 
7601). Perhaps his best introduction was Dendrobium Hilde- 
brandii, Rolfe (Bot. Mag. t. 7453), which he sent to Messrs. Hugh 
ow & Co., of Clapton, who forwarded plants to Kew. This is 
a handsome and remarkably floriferous species allied to D. tor- 
tile, Lindl., with light yellow flowers, or, in the variety oculatum, 
with two maroon blotches on the disc of the lip. It is a parent 
of several interesting hybrids, including D. Elwesii, D. Ellisii 
an . Haywoodiae. 
to him from Kew. 
Mr. Hildebrand retired in March, 1902, and returned to his 
English home at Devizes, Wiltshire. He died at Puddletown, 
near Dorchester, at the age of 65. | | gies 
¢ 
