By William Lord Bagot. 



£01 



Note by the Secretary. 



In 1813 ripe fruits of the Lo-quat were presented to the 

 Horticultural Society by Lord Bagot, and were exhibited 

 at a General Meeting in the spring of that year ; but from 

 accidental circumstances, the particulars were omitted to be 

 published in the Transactions, though the Minutes* of the 

 proceedings of the Society, at that period, record the opinion 

 entertained by the Council of the merit and value of this 

 novel production of the garden. 



The Mespilus Japonica is known as a native of Japan, and 

 the southern parts of China ; it is at present cultivated in 

 many parts of the East Indies, as an edible fruit ; our first 

 knowledge of the plant was from ILempfer, who, in his 

 Ameenitates Exoticce,f published in 1712, noticed it as grow- 

 ing in Japan ; and Thunberg afterwards, in his Flora Japo- 

 nica^ gave a more ample description of it. In Japan, it is 

 called Bywa, and in China, Lo-quat. It was brought to 

 Europe by the French, in 1784, and planted in the National 

 Garden, at Paris, called the PSpiniere du Roule, at that time 

 under the direction of M. Lezermes. It was first imported 

 into England, from Canton, and placed in the Royal Gar- 

 dens at Kew, under the auspices of Sir Joseph Banks, in 

 1787, since which time it has been much propagated, and is 

 now to be found in every good collection of exotics in the 

 kingdom. 



* " May 12th 1813. The silver medal was presented to the Right Honourable 

 William Lord Bagot, for many fine specimens of the Mespilus Japonica in 

 fruit, sent to the Society. 1 ' 



f Fasc. 5, page 800. % Page 206. 



