1162 



THRYALLIS * brachystachys 



Shoi't'Spiked Thryallis. 



DECANDRIA TRIGYNIA. 



Nat. ord. Malpigiiiace^. § HiptagecB. 



THRYALLIS L. — Calyx 5-fidus, inaequalis, eglandulosus. Petala 5, 

 unguiculata. Stamina decern. Ovarium 3-loculare, tristylum. Pericar- 

 pium siccuni; triquetrum, triloculare, tripartibile, trispermum, calyce in- 

 clusum. — = — Frutices scandenteSy pilis stellatis velutinu Flores lutei. 



panicu 



foliis subeequalibus. 



Rami scandentes, teretes, cinereiy dens^ pubescentes. Folia opposita, 



ovato-lanceolata^ acuminatay basi subcordata dorso utrinqxie glandulosa^ 



folii 



xfrh albida. StipulcB 0. 



undique dens^ velutinu Bractese subulatcSj deciduce. Calyx irregularis, 

 5-partituSy corollce ferl longitudine, persistens, limbo sub anthesi revoluto^ 

 Petala 5, longe unguiculata, subrotundo-cordata, erosa^ luteo-aurantiaca^ 

 Stamina 10. Ovarium triloculare^ tristylum. Pericarpium siccum^ inap'- 

 pendiculatumj calyce persistente inclusum, d-loculare ; placentis 3 magnis^ 

 fungosit. Semina 



L 



The genus Thryallis is one of the most obscure in the 

 science of Natural History. It was established by Linnaeus, 

 upon a specimen which has never been seen by any other 

 person, but to which he referred the rude wood figure in 

 Marcgraaf, p. 79. f. 3. Sir James Smith could find no 

 trace of it in the Linngean Collection. We are, therefore, 

 fortunate in having an opportunity of describing a second 

 species, which agrees well with the description of Linnaeus 



Thryallis is an ancient Greek name for something of the Mullein kind, 

 whose woolly leaves served to make wicks for lamps. It is not easy to con- 

 ceive how Linnaeus came to apply the name here, nor can we trace out any 

 thing to account for his having done so. Smith in Rees. — Sprengel con- 

 jectures the ^^vxXxU to have been the Verbascum lychnitis. Brachystachys 

 signifies short-spiked. 



