Mr. Woops on the Species of Fedia. 429 
F. spherocarpa... Angles smooth. Calyx with 3 unequal teeth. Stem- 
leaves pinnatifid at the base. 
SRI 2 ese Angles rough. Calyx-teeth hardly distinguishable. 
gibbosa ...... Stem nearly smooth. Margins of the bractez entire. 
carinata X Angles smooth. Calyx 0. All the leaves entire. 
Neither the uprightness of the bracteæ, nor the roughness of the angles of 
the stem, appear to be very distinctly marked characters in this genus. They 
may, however, be noticed as well as the capitate flowers. With respect to the 
latter character, it is to be observed that the type of the inflorescence in the 
genus Fedia, except, perhaps, in F. scorpioides, is that of a dichotomous panicle 
with the flowers seated in its forks. This arrangement is most distinguishable 
in the Psiloceele, the flowers being there sufficiently separate from each other. 
In the Locuste it may still be traced, but the upper branches are much short- 
ened, so as to reduce the panicle to a loose head ; some solitary flowers are, 
however, usually discernible. In F. pumila the degree of condensation is about 
the same, but there are no solitary flowers. In all the species where the border 
is much expanded and nearly equal, as in F. hamata, coronata, &c., the flowers 
form dense globular heads, in which, without the help of analogy, we should 
scarcely be able to trace the typical arrangement; and in F. echinata the upper 
branches of the panicle seem to unite and to form a wedgelike receptacle, on 
. which the flowers are seated. ! 
The character of the leaves seems to have some analogy with that of the 
inflorescence. The lower leaves in all the species seem to be generally if not 
always quite entire. The upper ones, though often entire, have a tendency to 
division in the lower part. These are dentate or inciso-dentate in the Locuste 
and Psilocele ; pinnatifid in the Platycele and in F. vesicaria. "The distinc- 
tion does not depend merely on the depth of the division. "The teeth of the 
first-mentioned sections narrow gradually from the base, and are usually acute. 
Those of the latter preserve for some distance their original width, or increase 
it, and are I believe always obtuse. The uppermost leaves are again undi- 
vided, being gradually converted into bractez. These bractez in all the spe- 
cies, except F. gibbosa, are ciliato-dentate; and there is, perhaps, always a 
scariose margin, very narrow in the Locuste, but occupying nearly the whole 
bractez in most of the Platycele. 
3K 2 
