WDIAN 
38 
Botanist. This Herbarium is very rich in beautifully preserved 
specimens of almost all the Southern Peninsular species, and includes 
several not previously described, together with a fine collection of 
coloured drawings of many. Lastly, I have been entrusted with the 
loan of the Balsams collected by Mr. W. A. Talbot, F.L.S.-, of the 
Bombay Forest Department, consisting of well-preserved specimens 
amongst which those from the Baba Budan Hills, the scene of the 
labours of the early missionaries are of special interest. 
With, the exception of /. Balsamina, which inhabits hilly districts 
all over the Peninsula, the genus is confined to the Western Ghats and 
to the mountains of Madura and Tinnevelli in the extreme south, 
and diminishes in number of species passing from south to north. No 
fewer than 24 species are endemic south of Lat. 8° S. Of the northern 
limit of the genus in the range there is no evidence. Probably no 
endemic species is found north of Mahableshwar in Lat. 18*^ N. From 
the Nilgiri Hills to Cape Comorin 54 species have been described ; of 
which only 12 inhabit the Bombay Ghats, together with 5 that are 
endemic in that Presidency, collected by Messrs. Gibson, Law, Stocks, 
and Talbot. 
In respect of sectional characters the Peninsular Balsams are in 
marked contrast tc the Himalayan and Burmese. Of the two main 
groups of the genus, the short capsuled and long capstded, not one of 
the latter, is to be found in the Ghats. Two of the sections, § Scapt- 
gerae and § Epiphyticas are (with the exception of one species of the 
first being found also in Ceylon) confined to the Peninsula, in which 
there is no representative of the East Himalayan § 9, ( — Burmese § 16,) 
with bracts on (not at the base of) the pedicels of the flowers, nor 
is there of the Eastern Himalayan § 7 (=:Burmese §15) with small 
racemose long-spurred flowers. Of species common to Noribern ot 
Eastern India there are but three in the Peninsula, /. Balsamina 
chinensis^ and oppositifolia. Seven Peninsular species are found 
in Ceylon /. acaulis^ chinensisy oppositifolia^ Balsamina^ flaccid 
Hensloviana and grandis. 
Of species that may be regarded as abnormal in character there 
are the first two sections mentioned above, [Scapigeras and 
Epiphyticas\ and seven species belonging to three sections with 
the dorsal auricle of the wings produced into the spur of the lip, 
/. Denisonii^ BarheraSy Lawsoniy ligulata, GoUghtiy viscida and 
omissa. It is remarkable that of the 61 Peninsular species, not one 
has the two additional lateral sepals which so frequently occur in both 
Western and Eastern Himalayan and in Burmese species. 
The extraordinary evolution into varieties of /. Balsamina in the 
Western Ghats especially, is a remarkable feature of that species, 
