PKEFACE. 13 



Indian Oceans. Including Cyclanthacece, some 115 

 species are known, and of these about half are in cul- 

 tivation at Kew, mostly in the Palm House. According 

 to Smith (Records, pp. 126-7) in 1864 the number of 

 species grown in the Koyal Gardens was 15. 



The collection has been much increased by the plants 

 raised from seeds brought from Rodriguez in 1874 by 

 Professor Bayley Balfour when attached as naturalist to 

 the Transit of Venus Expedition. 



Two notable plants which were long perhaps the 

 most striking features in the North Wing of the Palm 

 House no longer exist. Their prospective removal on 

 account of size was foreshadowed in the Kew Report for 

 \ 876 (p. 4), but it was not accomplished, and in the one 

 case not by design, till nearly twenty years later. The 

 following particulars respecting them were given in the 

 Kew Bulletin for 1895, pp. 319-321. 



" Pandanus odoratissimus. — There is no record of the 

 original introduction of the striking plant which, under 

 this name, occupied a conspicuous position at the ex- 

 treme end of the north wing. Smith mentions its 

 existence (Records^ p. 96) in 1823. Unfortunately 

 screw pines grow only from the extremities of their 

 branches, and do not when cut in produce new growths 

 by the development of adventitious buds. No ordinary 

 horticultural building can therefore eventually accom- 

 modate them, and their removal on account of un- 

 manageable size is only a question of time. Before its 

 removal the great Kew Screw Pine ' had about 40 

 branches, each bearing a huge tuft of foliage, and it 

 measured 30 ft. in height, with a diameter of 40 ft. Its 

 weight would be about 6 tons.' 



