380 
ON CROSSES AND HYBRID INTERMIXTURES. 
nihot with its terminal spike, but witli small axillary flower- 
ing branches also. I bad likewise a cross from H. palustris 
by speciosus, but the plants were so delicate that all died 
before they had made a fourth leaf. I apprehend that 
several genera are comprehended under the name Hibiscus, 
which shews a great diversity of fruit, and an interesting 
course of experiments might be conducted to ascertain 
whether any cross can be obtained between those which differ 
in that respect, and whether they are all convertible within 
certain demarcations. Cultivators are too apt to believe they 
have obtained the cross they have been desirous of pro- 
ducing, when they have really a natural seedling variety. 
I can have no doubt in saying that the plant figured under 
the name Azalea Rawsoni, (Paxton, p. 123.) which Mr. 
Rawson’s gardener fancied to be a cross between Az. Indica 
and Rh. Dauricum, is not allied to the latter plant, but a 
genuine Az. Indica, perhaps from a cross between two va- 
rieties of that plant. In speaking of the varieties of Camellia, 
I should have noticed Ford's handsome variety in Paxton’s 
work, but I never saw it, and am ignorant of its origin. 
