9 



here, and every information possible under the circumstances 

 was given to them, Guide Books were freely distributed and as 

 freely made use of. I was especially pleased to meet with Prof. 

 Dr. A. Engler, a botanist who is well known all over the world, 

 and in the short time that he was in the Gardens he was good 

 enough to give me the names of three plants which he saw 

 growing, and which we have had many years, but of which we 

 knew the order only, but not the names; they are, Philodendron 

 radiatum, Schott, a native of Mexico, Syngodium auritum, 

 Schott. from S. America ; and Rhaphidophora decursiva, Scott. 

 native of E. Indies, all belonging to the Order Aroideae, a class 

 of pla r )ts with which Dr. Engler is very familiar. It may be 

 thought strange that in a Botanic Garden we should not know 

 the names of the plants growing in it, but one of these 

 plants was here unnamed when I took charge of the Gardens 

 in 1882, another was given to us without a name by the late 

 Mrs. Schultz, and the third was purchased at a sale also 

 unnamed, and our Library is not yet sufficiently supplied with 

 books to enable us to identify specifically plants belonging to 

 this difficult order. Another plant which Dr. Engler noticed 

 we had from the late Col. Bowker also without name, and he 

 told me that it belonged to a new genus Pcedilanthus, nearly, 

 related to Euphorbia, but the specific name I do not know, nor 

 does the generic name appear in any book in our Library ; the 

 plant is I believe a native of Cape Colony. 



Another singular plant belonging to the same Order, from 

 the higher districts of Cape Colony, has been presented by Mr. 

 J. Thode, but without name ; it has not yet borne flowers, nor 

 shall we be able to identify it until the part of the Fl. Cap. 

 including this Order is published. 



I regret to have to say that we again failed to rear plants 

 of Victoria Regia, the giant water lily ; seeds were planted, some 

 of which germinated, but the plants died before becoming large 

 enough to be put out. I hope for better success next summer. 

 The Nymphaeas in the tank have been in flower most of the 

 season, and a species of Nelumbium is doing fairly well, and it 

 is hoped will bear flowers next summer. The gold fish which 

 are in the tank keep it quite clear of mosquitoes or their larvae. 



I am sorry again to have to report that the behaviour' of 

 some of the younger visitors to the Gardens is far from being 

 what could be desired, seats and plants are defaced by initials, 

 &c, being carved upon them, labels are defaced, broken and 

 frequently removed from their places, fruit and flowers are 

 stolen, while the grassed banks are damaged by running or 

 sliding down them, and this not always by children, persons 

 who are quite old enough to know better are frequently known 

 to do the same thing. It is difficult to detect parties who are 



