LINN^US. 347 



'' Remember me to the immortal Banks and So- 

 lander. 



"P. S. — I can never sufficiently thank you and I\Ir 

 Gordon for the beautiful and precious trees of Mag- 

 nolia, both the Gardeniae, both the Kalmia?, and the 

 Rhododendrum ; all now in excellent health. But 

 the Calycanthus, and a tree of a new genus allied to 

 Hamamelis, I am sorry to say, are no more. They 

 were very sickly when they came, nor did they put 

 forth any new roots. Dionsea died, as might be ex- 

 pected, in the voyage. 



-' My Lord Baltimore passed a day with me about 

 a year ago, at my country-house. I read over to 

 him whatever he desired. After his departure, he 

 sent me a most elegant vase of silver gilt, certainly 

 worth more than 150 guineas. I never received so 

 splendid a present before. No Frenchman, nor per- 

 haps any other person, was ever so bountiful. The 

 English are, doubtless, the most generous of all men. 



" My second Mantissa is at length published. 

 After it was finished, I received from Surinam what 

 I call Hypericum Lasianthus, so similar to your Gor- 

 donia that at first I thought them the same. Tlie 

 flower is, in like manner, internally hairy ; the stem 

 is shrubby, and the leaves similar. But the stamens 

 are in five sets, separated by five hairy nectaries. 

 On a careful examination, I conclude your Gordonia 

 Lasianthus to be really a different plant, agreeing 

 with that of Plukenet, in having winged seeds, as 

 you rightly describe it. The synonym of Plukenet, 

 therefore, does not belong to my Lasianthus, which, 

 however like it, is truly a species of Hypericum ; 

 but that synonym must be referred to your plant." 



