TERMINOLOGY IN MONOCOTYLEDONS. 495 



distinguishing the Coronariae from the Epigynae is also constant 

 within the alliance, although variable on its borders in the above- 

 mentioned Bromeliaceae ; the ovary is almost, but not quite, con- 

 stantly syncarpous ; and I know of no exception to the albumi- 

 nous seeds, although that character is so variable in Nudiflorae. 



Endlicher's class Enantioblastae was an artificial and somewhat 

 unnatural union of Commelyneae and Xyrideae with Restiaceae 

 and their allies — as previously proposed by Martius, on account 

 of the position of the minute or lenticular embryo at the opposite 

 extremity of the albumen to that of the hilum in a slight cavity 

 rather than deeply immersed in the albumen. In some other 

 instances also it has been endeavoured to distinguish various 

 Liliaceous groups by the position of the embryo with relation to 

 the hilum, but this character proves too variable for practical 

 use. In the great majority of Monocotyledons with solitary or 

 few ovules the embryo or its radicular extremity is basal with 

 respect to the fruit, and is consequently more or less distant from 

 the hilum, according as the ovule had been erect and anatropous, 

 laterally attached and amphitropous, or pendulous and orthotro- 

 pous. In Commelyneae, however, it is lateral on the side opposed 

 to the lateral hilum ; in Xantliorhea it is transverse, whilst the 

 hilum is basal ; in several Liliaceae it is variously oblique, in some 

 Alismaceae horseshoe-shaped with both ends directed downwards ; 

 but in no Monocotyledon, as far as I am aware, is the radicular 

 end or the small embryo superior with relation to the fruit ; and 

 it does not, therefore, afford that positive character which we ob- 

 serve in some Dicotyledons. 



The characters separating the three subdivisions of Coronariae 

 founded on the texture of the perianth must be taken as general 

 only, not absolute ; for in several of the smaller-flowered genera 

 the petaloid or calycine nature of the perianth is very ambiguous, 

 and the place of such genera has to be determined by general 

 affinity evinced by a combination of other characters. 



The very small order Roxburghiaceae, differing from some Lilia- 

 ceae chiefly in their 4-merous, not 6-merous, flowers, and in some 

 measure in the venation of the leaves, is placed first as showing 

 in habit some approach to Dioscorideae, the last order of Epigynae. 



With regard to Liliaceae, I have, after much consideration, 

 felt the necessity of adopting the extended view given to that 

 order by J. G. Baker in the series of papers published in our 

 Journal. There are, it is true, a number of characters which 



