387 



Museum; we are therefore only able to guess at the species 

 intended. All the large Asiatic armed leguminous climbers thai 

 have 2-pinnate leaves belong to the tribe Eucaesalpinieae, and as 

 these never have papilionaceous corollas and always have free 

 stamens, it is clear that Loureiro has either described the flowers 

 of Genista scandens incorrectly or has mistaken the flowers of 

 another plant for those of his species. The fact that Genista 

 scandens has 1-seeded pods considerably narrows the field of 

 enquiry. The only genus of Eucaesalpinieae in which the pod is 

 uniformly 1-seeded is Pterolobium ; this genus we are able to 

 exclude since its pods are samaroidly winged and not subrotund. 

 In the remaining Asiatic genera of this tribe there are only three 

 species with 1-seeded pods, viz. : — Mezoneuron cucullatum, 

 W. & A., a species as common in Cochin-China as it is in India ; 

 the species described as Mezoneuron sinense, HemsL {Journ. Linn. 

 Soc. Bot., vol. xxiii., p. 204), a Central Chinese plant, which is 

 really a species of Caesalpinia § Nugaria {Journ. As. Soc. 

 Beng., vol. lxvi. 2, p. 470) ; and Caesalpinia {Nugaria) Nuga, 

 Ait., a species widely spread throughout South-eastern Asia, and 

 especially plentiful along the swampy margins of tidal rivers. 

 Mezoneuron cucullatum is the species which the remarks of 

 Loureiro as to the size of his plant and to the pleasing effect pro- 

 duced by its masses of yellow flowers most naturally suggest. 

 This species nevertheless is to be excluded owing to the fact 

 that its pods are oblong and much longer than broad. Goes- 

 alpinia sinensis, Prain {Mezoneuron sinense, Hemsl.) may also 

 be excluded since it does not extend so far southward as Cochin- 

 China, and it is almost safe to conclude that Butea Loureiru, 

 Spreng. {Genista scandens, Lour.) is Caesalpinia Nuga, Ait. 

 {Guilandina Nuga, Linn.). The element of doubt which must 

 necessarily exist owing to the account given by Loureiro of the 

 corolla and stamens should be removed without difficulty by 

 observation in the field since the species intended is said by 

 Loureiro to be plentiful in Cochin-China near the banks of rivers, 

 climbing to the tops of the highest trees ; Loureiro gives besides 

 a vernacular name, ' Cay Gieng-gieng,' which ought to facilitate 

 the identification of his plant. 



D. Prain. 



s 



XLVIII.-SOME CONTINENTAL GARDENS AND 



NURSERIES. 



W. J. Bean. 



, In June last, at tbe instance of the Director, I B £** ^^ 

 the Continent visiting as many famous gardens, parks and ™***>« 

 as time permitted. The objects of this journey ^J^™™* 

 to observe new and different methods of culture ; to not P an s 

 not in the tree and shrub collections at Kew mth a ™? * ^ 

 acquisition , and to study landscape effects The chief to| * ana 

 cities I visited were Brussels, Rotterdam Leer ™^nov ^ 



