JVallich's Plantce Asiatics Raribres. 211 



suits of this nature he is devoting every moment of leisure which his exten- 

 sive professional duties afibrd him, with a degree of ardour and success 

 which is far beyond my feeble praise, and which must soon place his name 

 high among naturalists." 



No. IV. contains 



76 to 100. — Argyreia festiva. A superb shrub, sent from China to 

 the botanic garden at Calcutta. — Melhania Hamiltoni««a. — Pongdmia 

 atropurpurea; Leguminosae. " This very stately tree constitutes a large 

 portion of the dense forests on the shores of Martaban and Tenasserim. I 

 found it growing in great abundance at Amherst and Moalmyne, and on the 

 sea-sides towards the river, called Chappedong. Nothing can be imagined 

 more beautiful than the crown of the tree, when thickly covered with its 

 dense panicles of deep purple flowers. The wood is much esteemed by the 

 Burmese and Taleyn people, who employ it for beams and rafters in their 

 houses. I was told that they eat the tender leaves." 



Bombax insigne. Smaller than the common cotton tree of India. — 

 Wightia (Richard Wight, a zealous cultivator of East Indian natural his- 

 tory, especially botany) gigantea ; Bignon;ffc'f<^. An arborescent climber, 

 attaining a very gigantic size, overtopping trees of considerable height, and 

 nearly overwhelming them with its numerous branches. — Barlen'a poly- 

 tricha. Ornamental, with large lilac flowers. — Iluelh'« Neesi««a. A 

 charming species. — Apostasia (rt/jo5/«5«, defection ; third. stamen abortive) 

 Wallichii. A species of a very remarkable genus, most nearly related to 

 Orchideae. — A. nuda. — /Vis decora. " This plant and /'ris nepalensis 

 {Bot. Reg., 818.) are the only two species of Pns which I have found in 

 Nepal, and they are quite distinct from the European species. — C'orylus 

 ferox. The nut is small, but like the common nut in taste. " This is one 

 of the commonest as well as most elegant plants of the tribe of Melasto- 

 maceae inhabiting Nepal, where it grows on almost all the hills surrounding 

 the great valley, delighting in shady and moist situations, and producing 

 its numerous large and red panicles during the rainy season. " 



Myristica sphaerocarpia and omvgdalina. — Piper i-ibeimdes. A gigantic 

 species of pepper. — Justic/« palatifera and ventricosa. — Desmodium pen- 

 dulum; Leguminosse. Bign6n;« multijuga. — Begonia pedunculosa. — 

 Clematis grata. — Thomson/a (in honour of Professor Anthony Todd 

 Thomson, M.D., and not to be confounded with Thompsonia, belonging 

 to the family of Passifloreae, which Mr. Brown named in honour of John 

 Vaughan Thompson, Esq., surgeon to the forces, author of Zoological 

 Pesea relies, &c., now, however, Deidamia Thompson/a««) nepalensis; 

 ylroideae. A singular and handsome plant. — Polygala arillata. 



This number completes the volume, and contains the title, preface, &c. 

 From the latter we give the following very interesting extract. Dr. 

 Channing has well remarked, that cooperation is a characteristic of the pre- 

 sent age. Dr. Wallich states, that having, in 1828, obtained permission to 

 leave for a time the duties of his situation as superintendent of the Cal- 

 cutta Garden, and to take his collections with him, in order to present 

 them in person to the Court of Directors of the East India Company, 

 " that enlightened bod}', with a munificence never equalled, and which has 

 already been appreciated and gratefully acknowledged, not only in this 

 country but throughout Euix)pe, immediately directed me to proceed to the 

 distribution of the duplicates anjong the principal public and private mu- 

 seums in Europe and America. They were pleased to order a similar dis- 

 tribution of the herbariums of continental Indian plants in their museum, 

 made by Drs. Patrick Russell, Roxburgh, and Hamilton, the Tranquebar 

 missionaries, the late Mr. Finlayson, Mr. Wight, and myself. The assist- 

 ance which I have already received, in the laborious details connected with 

 the above distributions, has placed me under the greatest obligations to 



P 2 



