304. 



Botanical Miscellany. 



The descriptions and figures come first in order, and are as follows : — 

 1 to 45. — Spiridens \sj)ira, a spire, dem, a tooth ; spiral teeth of the 

 peristome) Reinwardtzi; ilfusci. "The most noble of all mosses," from 

 the Molucca Islands. The essential characters of this genus bear consider- 

 able relation to those of i/ypnum. — ^ryurn GilliiJse^ A curious little moss 

 from the Andes. — Astelia alpina ; between Jsphodeleae and .^linceae. A 

 Carex-looking plant, from Mount Wellington, in Van Diemen's Isle, where 

 it grows at an elevation of 4000 ft. above the level of the sea, forming 

 densely matted patches. — Mutisia2licif61ia(/g. 64.) ; Compositae. A climb- 

 ing plant from Chile, with varied and sin- ^4 

 gular leaves terminating in tendrils, and 

 showy red flowers. The Mutisias are re- 

 commended to the horticulturist, " as no 

 plants can be more worthy of a place in 

 our stoves." — Mutism runcinata, inflexa, 

 subspinosa, linearifolia, and /inifolia, all 

 gathered by Dr. Gillies, and W. Cruick- 

 shanks, Esq., in Chile, are also figured. — 

 Jungermann«a serrulata /3 ; Hepaticae. A 

 beautiful variety of a species found in Ja- 

 maica, and in the Isle of France. — U'snea 

 fasciata and sphacelata ; iichenes. From 

 the antarctic regions, and the latter found 

 also upon Table Mountain inVan Diemen's 

 Island. — Sticta macrophylla; iichenes. 

 From the Mauritius. — Sticta Humboldtii. 

 From New Granada. — Adenocaulon(arfe?2, 

 a gland, itfi!2</os, stalk ; glands on the stalks) 

 bicolor ; Compositae. A curious herba- 

 ceous plant, brought by Dr. Scouler from 

 Colombia. — Swietenia Mahdgoni, the 

 Mahogany Tree ; i!f eliacese. Mr. Robert 

 Brown suggested to Dr. Hooker that the Honduras mahogany tree may be 

 a species different from the mahogany tree of Jamaica ; Dr. Hooker laments 

 that the botanical characters of the Honduras tree should not be known to 

 botanists, though workmen consider the Jamaica mahogany as much the 

 most valuable wood. From these observations it seems impossible to de- 

 cide whether the Jamaica, or the Spanish mahogany (as it is called by the 

 London cabinet-makers)^ was first introduced into notice in Europe. " The 

 first discovery of the beauty of mahogany wood is attributed to the car- 

 penter on board Sir Walter Raleigh's ship, at the time that vessel lay in some 

 harbour in the Island of Trinidad, in 1 595. Dr. Gibbons brought it into notice 

 in England. He was an eminent physician about the end of the seven- 

 teenth, or beginning of the eighteenth, century; and a box for holding 

 candles, and then a bureau, made of a block of mahogany, were given to 

 him by his brother, a West Indian cai)tain." At Honduras a tree is not consi- 

 dered fit for cutting till it has attained 200 years. " The season of cutting is 

 August ; gangs of from twenty to fifty men are employed, headed by what 

 is called a huntsman, who searches the bush, or woods, for trees. He 

 does this by climbing up the tallest tree he] can find, and from thence 

 surveying the surrounding country; the leaves of the mahogany at this 

 season being of a yellow-reddish hue, he can discern proper subjects for 

 cutting down at a great distance. The tree is commonly cut about 10 oi- 

 ls ft. from the ground; the trunk is considered the most valuable part ; 

 but the wood of the limbs is much closer in the grain, and the veins more 

 rich and variegated. " A sufficient numbei*. of trees being now felled to 

 occupy the gang during the season, they commence cutting the roads, which 

 may fairly be estimated at two thirds of the labour and expense forming the 



