16 THE HISTORY OF AITON's ' HORTUS KEWENSIS ' 



various gardens to Solander and Dryander for names. The Kew 

 entries, which are by far the most numerous, extend from April, 

 1777, to July, 1797 ; the early portion is mostly in Solander's 

 hand, the remainder in Dryander's," the notes attached to the 

 names, many of which are followed by ** MSS.," are often of 

 interest, containing notes on habit, queries addressed to Alton, &c. 

 On the first page is the entry : " Vaccinmm fuscatum MSS. This 

 was described 1774 from specimens from Kew Garden." A refer- 

 ence to the MSS. shows the description in Solander's hand, with 

 the note "floruit in Horto Kewensi ad finem Maji 1774" and 

 in the Banksian Herbarium we find the specimen named in 

 Solander's hand and endorsed by him " Hort. Kew. — 74." f 



It has been supposed that this Herbarium is typical only for 

 plants actually grown in Kew Gardens, but those from the other 

 gardens entered in the day-book are also included in it, whether 

 grown at Kew or not. The title HorUis Keioensis is perhaps some- 

 what misleading, for the book, as Stokes remarks, contains plants 

 " cultivated in Kew Chelsea Upton and Islington gardens," and 

 " perhaps ought rather to have been stiled Hort. londinensis." \ 

 A typical instance may be cited — that of Ancistrum lucidum, 

 w^hich is stated in Hort. Kew. i. 16, to have been " introduced by 

 John Fothergill, M.D." A reference to the MS. description in 

 the Solander-Dryander MSS. shows that the date 1777 should 

 have been 1779 — the entry is " Floruit in Horto D. D. Fothergill 

 ad Upton, Majo 1779"; and a reference to the day-book shows 

 that it was brought from that garden § on May 20 of that year. 

 The entries in the MSS. and the descriptions published in Hort. 

 Kew. admirably illustrate the intimate collaboration of Solander 

 and Dryander: the entry ''Ancistrum lucidum MSS." in the day- 

 book is in Solander's hand, and so is the diagnosis in the MSS., 

 subsequently published in Hort. Kew. ; but in these MSS. the 

 name and locality are written by Dryander, as is also the detailed 

 description published in the Hortus. 



* A few entries and one or two lists (pp. 10, 42, 61, 62, 85) are written by 

 Bacstrom (see Journ. Bot. 1911, 92), and there are pencil entries by Banks on 

 pp. 62, 63. 



t V. fuscatum is referred in Index Kewensis to V. corymhosum L. : it is 

 interesting to note that Solander in his MS. queries the identity of his plant 

 with the Linnean species. 



\ Bot. Commentaries, p. cxxvi. 



§ See ante, p. 3. 



\H2^^^ 



