Tas. 5343. 
BERBERIDOPSIS CORALLINA. 
Coral-flowered Berberidopsis. 
Nat. Ord. BerperIDE®.—ENNEANDRIA MonoGYNIA. 
Gen. Char. Berseripopsis, Hook. fil. mss.—Bracteole, sepala et petala 
9-15; externa (bracteole) patentia, parva, triangulari-ovata; interiora (sepala) 
orbiculata, concava; interna (petala) obovato-cuneata, erecta. Torus crassus, 
elevatus, cupularis. Stamina 8-9, intra torum inserta. Anthere sessiles, line- 
ares, apiculatze, 2-loculares, rimis lateralibus dehiscentes. Ovariwm sessile, an- 
guste oblongum, 1-loculare; sfylws crassus, columnaris, cum ovario continuus; 
stigmata obtusa, 3-loba; ovula 6-10, placentis 3 parietalibus supra medium 
ovarii insertis, fere orthotropa, funiculo curvo. Fructus ignotus.—Frutex gla- 
berrimus, sempervirens. Folia alterna, simplicia, petiolata, coriacea, oblongo- 
cordata, grosse spinuloso-dentata. Flores lonye pedicellati, penduli, axillares et 
in racemos terminales nutantes multifloros dispositi, eoccinei. 
The subject of our present Plate is not only one of the most 
beautiful hardy shrubs introduced of late years into this country, 
but botanically one of the most interesting ; for it so completely 
unites the two Orders, Berderidee and Lardizabalee, as fully to 
justify the union of these as tribes of one Order, a step already 
taken, previous to its discovery, in the ‘Genera Plantarum’ of Bent- 
ham and Hooker fil. In its scandent habit and foliage it is rather 
more Lardizabaleous than Berberideous. The stamens are those 
of the former most conspicuously. The ovary differs from both, 
being tri-carpellary, as in Lardizabalee; but the carpels, instead 
of being free, are wholly confluent into one ovary, which, but for 
its three-lobed stigma and three parietal placentae, shows no signs 
of its composition. This charming novelty was discovered by 
Mr. Pearce in the forests of Valdivia; and it is not a little re- 
markable that so striking a plant should hitherto have escaped 
the notice of all botanists and collectors who have explored a re- 
gion now so well known to us as Chili. 
NOVEMBER Ist, 1862. 
