April 2, 1900.J THE TROPICAL 
To the Editor. 
NOTES OJS CEYLON BOTANY. 
NO. III. 
DfcAK' Sir, — Kerr was succeeded in 1816 by 
Ml'. Alexander Moon, a zealous botanist whose 
ingenuity and industry did much to advance 
Ceylon Botany. Atter eight years' habitualstudy 
of the local vegetation, with but few opportuni- 
ties, a scanty library, and no assistance , Moon 
published in 1824 his Catalogue, of Ceylon Plants, 
a 4to volume containing over 900 indigenous and 
a number of exotic plants. This is the first book 
on Ceylon plants which gives specific names, the 
system of binominal nomenclature having been 
invented by Linnaeus, a few years after writing 
his " Flora Zeylanica," which contains generic 
Barnes only. Moon's Catalogue was a creditable 
v<i6rk; it contains numerous notes of reference 
and a useful " Introduction to Botany," which 
being also ingeniously translated into Sinhalese 
is specially suited to local students ; whilst ap- 
pended is a Sinhalese Supplement, the names 
being arranged alphabetically in Sinhalese 
characters. In 1821 Mr. Moon selected the site, 
and formed the nucleus, of what has since 
become one of the most famous Gardens in the 
World, viz., the Royal Botanic Gardens at Pera- 
deniya. Moon was an indefatigable botanical 
collector, and the magnitude of his collections 
may be estimated from the fact that they 
amounted to " ten cart-loads." Moon died in 
1824 from fever, and to his memory has been 
dedicated, amongst others, the genus Moonia (now 
I'eferred to under Chrysogonum) by Dr. Walker- 
Arnott. To the latter well-known botanist, 
thohgh more particularly connected with the 
Botany of peninsular India in collaboration with 
Dr. Wight, must be given the credit of having 
elucidated many Ceylon species. In 1836 he 
published descriptions in Latin, of a collection of 
Ceylon plants made by Col. Walker, referred to 
below. 
Although Peradeniya rapidly became the recog- 
nised centre of botanical activity, a spirit akin 
tb botanical ardour was inspired in other quarters, 
and in 1824 the Ceylon Literary and Agricultural 
Society, the forerunner of the present Ceylon 
Bfandh of the Koyal Asiatic Society, established 
E^n Experimental Garden at Fort Macdonald in 
Uva, which however had a short and unimportant 
history. 
The next Superintendent of the Peradeniya 
Gardens was Mr. James Macrae, appointed in 1827, 
whose name is commemorated in Dendrobium 
Macrcei. He,, added considerably, especially in 
orchids, anfl grasses, to the herbarium collections 
of his predecessors, and supplied copious specimens 
atad information to Dr. Lindley in England for 
Hi^ " Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants," 
an Svo. dated 1830-40. Following in chronological 
order, a name worthy of honourable mention 
aititngst the ranks of amateur botanists in Ceylon 
is that of the enthusiastic collector Col. Walker, 
Military Secretaryin Ceylon (afterwards Brigadier- 
General in India)from 1820 to about 1837 who 
With his wife, a gifted delineator and painter, 
made one of the most valuable collections of 
Ceylon plants ever got together. This collection, 
now believed to be in possession of the Royal 
Gardens at Kew, furnished the material, as already 
referred to, for a ito. volume by Dr. Walker- 
Arnott entitled Picgillus Pletntarum Indicc Orien- 
86 
AGRICULTURIST. ■ 089 
talis, published in 1836. Mrs. Col. Walker's 
"Journal of an ascent to the summit of Adam's 
Peak " (in 1833) forms interesting reading in the 
Companion to tJic Botanical Magazim for 1836, 
Vol. I , as does also her, account of an extended 
tour made by herself and her husband in the 
Southern Provinces in 1837, whicii is given in 
Vol. II. of the Journal of Botany^ 1840. 
In 1830 the Peradeniya office seeais to have 
been again vacant, and was apparently not filled till 
1832 by the appointment of Mr. J G Watson, 
who, being specially interested in orchids, made 
a dried collection of that family, discovering 
amongst others the ground orchid Acanfhephippium 
hicolor. He however held office for only five years, 
and appears to have had two or three sucoessors 
during the next five years. 
The specific name "Championii" distinguishing 
several Ceylon plants, is in honour of Capt. 
Champion of the 95th Regiment, who was stationed 
here from 1838 to 1847, and afterwards killed at 
Inkerman in 1854. Champion made an extensive 
collection of indigenous plants, and was recognised 
as an authority on local botany, his advice and 
instruction being sought for and esteemed. 
Mr. J W Bennett, f.l.s.. Assistant Government 
Agent at Matara, having a taste for botanical 
pursuits, wrote in 1842 a Ato volume on the 
Fruits of Ceylon ; whilst in 1844 Mr. Simon 
Casie Chitty contributed to the literature of 
Geylon Botany in the shape of a Botanical 
Dictionary, a 12oto. intended to contain the names 
of all the plants of the Tamil flora, with their 
synonyms." X. Y. 
NO. IV. 
Dear Sir, — The gradual increase to the 
herbarium at Peradeniya and consequently to new 
species, had in the course of 10 or 12 years, ren- 
dered Mr. Moon's Catalogue out of date, and the 
want of a revised edition was felt. Dr. Wight, 
the celebrated Indian botanist, and author of the 
voluminous Icoites Plantarum, &c., when on a 
Tisit to Ceylon in 1836 undertook at the sug- 
gestion of Governor Sir R. W. Horton to supply 
this want. Accordingly all the material avail- 
able at Peradeniya was duly despatched to him 
in India. The work could not have been deputed 
to better hands; but these — however, unfortunately 
for Ceylon— proved to be alreadj' too full, ana 
the large quantities of dried plants Avere rekurned 
to Ceylon after an absence of eight years, without 
the object in view having been accomplished. To 
assist in the execution of this undertaking, Dr. 
George Gardner, shortly after his appointment in 
1844 as Supeiintendent of the Peradeniya Gardens, 
was sent over to India to join Dr. Wight at 
Coinibatore, where he remained for a few months. 
Under the cegis ot Dr. Gardner, who had already 
made himselt famous by his explorations in 
Brazil and elsewhere, the history of Ceylon 
Botany may be said to have entered on a ne\r 
era of activity. Gardner soon proceeded to travel 
all over Ceylon, collecting and describing native 
plants — and publishing the novelties — chiefly in 
the Calcutta "Journal of NaturBl History," for 
the botanical editorship of which he was prin- 
cipally responsible. His enthusiasm as a collector 
may be judged from the fact that whilst recruit- 
ing health for a month on the Nilgiris he col- 
lected and dried about a thousand species on his 
" own account." Cardner's energetic career was, 
however, cut short by an apoplectic fit at STuwara 
Eliya in March 1849, four years after his arrival 
in the island. 
