MB. G. BENTHAM ON BIXACE^ AND SAMYDACE^E. 91 



them; for the supposed distinctive characters have only arisen 

 from differences in the manner of describing them, not in the 

 characters themselves. One, indeed, of the original Kuhlias may 

 not be specifically distinct from Aublet's Banara, and other spe- 

 cies have been referred by one author to KuMia, and by another 

 to Banara, with equal correctness. I cannot, however, by any 

 means concur with Grisebach in uniting Banara with Prockia. 

 The latter genus differs essentially in its hypogynous stamens and 

 completely several-celled ovary, and I have no hesitation in follow- 

 ing Clos, who refers it to TiliaceaD. I have had occasion to revert 

 to it in some notes on the latter Order which precede the present 

 paper. 



I am unable at present to give a good diagnostic synopsis of the 

 genus, for want of authentic specimens of some of the published 

 species. When better known, it is probable that the 15 com- 

 prised in the following enumeration may be reduced to 14, 13, or 

 perhaps to 12 only. 



§ 1. Flores paniculati. Sepala irregulariter valvata, s<epe jam ante 

 anthesin aperta petala ostendentia v. cum Us subimbricata. 



1. B. parviflora. (Kuhlia parviflora, A. Gray, Bot. Amer. Expl. 

 Exped. i. p. 73.) 



Hab. Organ Mountains near Rio Janeiro, American Exploring Expe- 

 dition. 



2. B. tomentosa, Clos in Ann. Sc. Nat. Par. ser. 4, viii. p. 240. 



Hab. Brazil, province of Rio Grande do Sul, Herb. Par., quoted by Clos. 



The above two species, of neither of which have I seen authentic speci- 

 mens, must, from tbeir descriptions, be closely allied to each other, if not 

 identical. Some specimens of Tweedie's in the Hookerian herbarium, 

 from Rio Grande do Sul, may be the same as Clos's plant, but they arc 

 quite glabrous, even on the calyx. The flowers are the smallest in the 

 genus. 



3. B. ulmifolia. (Kuhlia ulmifolia,H. B. et K. Nov. Gen. et Sp. vii. 

 p. 237. t. 653.) 



Hab. New Grenada, in the Andes of Popayan, Humboldt fy Bonpland; 



in the province of Antioquia, Triana. 

 The flowers, rather larger than in Tweedie's plant, are still much smaller 

 than in all the following species. 



4. B. laxiflora, sp. n. Glabra, foliis petiolatis elliptico- v. obovali- 

 oblongis acuminatis basi angustatis et trinerviis, paniculis laxe divari- 

 catis folia suba:quantibus. — Arbor tenuis, 18-pedalis, ramis patulis. 

 Folia 4-7-poll. longa, leviter sinuato-dentata, basi sa:pius acuta, mem- 



