A. Gray, of California, and in Eastern by the Ameri- 

 can Bladder-nut, 8. trifolia, Linn. There are two 

 notable features iu this distribution, one that the 

 limits of no two species overlap, and the other, and 

 the far more remarkable, that the S. Emodi, which is 

 confined to a comparatively very narrow range in the 

 Himalaya and Affghanistan, is so closely allied to the 

 Eastern American S. trifolia, that Mr. Hiern, in the " Flora 

 of British India," says of the former, " probably a form 

 of trifolia, differing only in the less pubescent foliage, and 

 anther-tips less obtuse." It is, in fact, another instance of 

 the well-known affinity of the N.E. American Flora with 

 the Asiatic. 



8. colchica is closely allied to S.pinnata, which has long- 

 peduncled, drooping racemes, broader sepals, which are 

 not revolute, and connivent styles of the fruit ; the seeds 

 also are much larger, being the size of a pea, whilst those 

 of 8. colchica are described as no bigger than a pepper- 

 corn. Both species have long been in cultivation at Kew, 

 where they flower in May. The specimen of 8. colchica here 

 figured was sent to Kew for naming from the garden of W. 

 Brockbank, Esq., of Brockhurst, Didsbury. It has of late 

 years been largely grown for forcing, pot-plants of it being 

 very ornamental. 



Descr.— A shrub, six to ten feet high ; branches opposite, 

 slender, green, terete. Leaves opposite, 3-5-foliolate ; 

 leaflets 2|-3^ in. long, ovate-oblong, acuminate, serrulate, 

 bright green, glabrous, except a faint pubescence beneath 

 towards the base, lateral sessile, terminal petiolulate ; 

 petiole 2-3 in. long, slender ; stipules nearly an inch long, 

 hliform, deciduous; stipels subulate. Racemes oblong, 

 more or less compound ; bracts filiform. Sepals very pale 

 green, revolute, linear, obtuse. Petals as long, erect, 

 narrowly spathulate, white, tips recurved. Filaments 

 glabrous ; anthers apiculate. Capsule with spreading styles. 

 — J» D. H, 



Fig. 1, Portion of leaf; 2, petal; 3, stamens and ovary ; 4, ovary and disk 

 5, transverse section of ovary .-All enlarged. 



