more apparent by a comparison of their essential characters. That of 
Gilliesia has been given above; the character of Miersia is as follows:— 
MIERSIA. 
Bractece patentes, basi imbricatse : sex exterioribus petaloideis; interiori- 
bus tot bifidis coloratis depauperatis. Perianthium regulare, monophyllum, 
urceolatum, carnosum, ore constricto sexdentato. Stamina 6, minima, fauce 
perianthii inserta. Ovarium superum, triloculare. Stylus filiformis. Stigma 
capitatum. Capsula triquetra, truncata, trilocularis, ad verticem tantum 
3 valvis. polysperma. Semina ..Herba (Chilensis) bulbo 
sphcerico tunicato, nucis castanece magnitudine. Folia linearia, erecta, 
obtusa, glabra. Scapi nudi, spithamcei, foliis longiores. Umbella 4 -flora, 
abbreviata. Spatha diphylla, erecta, subventricosa, persistens. Flores 
virides, inconspicui. Bracteee exteriores in duabus phalangibus dispositce, 
quarum altera superior, altera inferior; in utrdque adsunt bractece tres ovatce 
acuminatce, intermedid interiore. Bracteae depauperatae coccinece, bipartite: 
superioribus? perfectioribus, sub perianthio insertce, sec. schedasDomini Miers 
bracteis exterioribus alternce. Perianthium leviter obliquum, striis sex pur- 
pur ascentibus. Species unica est M. Chilensis Lindl. in Miers trav. vol. 2. 
p. 529. Descriptio ex icone et mss. Domini Miers. 
The natural affinity of these two genera is extremely obscure; and till 
some accurate information can be obtained of the structure of their seeds, it 
must necessarily be a subject of much uncertainty. Even with the requisite 
information upon that point, it is not probable that they will be found to 
bear any very close relation to the other Monocotyledoneous orders at present 
known. Their tunicated bulbs, spathaceous inflorescence, and general 
appearance, place them near Asphodeleae, with some genera of which, 
especially Muscari and Puschkinia, Miersia at least agrees in the structure 
of perianthium; but we are acquainted with no genus of Asphodeleae to 
which the fructification of Gilliesieae can be otherwise compared. If the 
one-flowered species of Schoenus, in which a single naked flower is surrounded 
by several imbricated squamae, be admitted as a form of inflorescence 
analogous to that under consideration, it may perhaps be allowable to carry 
this comparison yet further, and to suggest an identity of origin and function 
between the depauperated bracteae of Gilliesia and the hypogynous setae of 
Scirpus and other Cyperaceae. But on account of the presence of a perian¬ 
thium, and of their polyspermous tliree-celled capsule, Gilliesieae may 
perhaps be with most propriety referred to the neighbourhood of Restiaceae, 
to which their imbricated inflorescence does not offer any very powerful 
obstacle. 
We have named the subject of this article in honour of Dr. John Gillies, 
a physician resident at Mendoza, in Chile, by whom the Botany of that most 
interesting country has been assiduously explored, and from whose further 
exertions we expect very important results. 
J. L. 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 
1. Flower seen in front. 2. Ditto in profile. 3. Perianthium and 
stamina, with the style in a monstrous state. 4. Ovarium, and monstrous 
style and stigma. 5. Natural stigma. 6. Transverse section of a monstrous 
ovarium, in which however the ovula are in the true position. 7. Capsule. 
8. Seed. 
