Mr. Brown, on the Proteaceae of Jussieu. 29 
nera however, as in Banksia and Isopogon, it is evidently of very 
little importance. redditae : ! 
The fleshy or scale-like bodies, which surround the ovarium in 
the. greater number of plants of. this family, are in many cases 
so manifestly secreting organs, that it is surprising Mr. Salisbury 
should hesitate in considering them as nectaria, and denominate 
them calli; a term which excludes the idea of secretion. But 
whatever. their functions inay be, great assistance may certainly 
be derived from their various modifications, in distinguishing ge- 
nera. Their importance however in this respect, like that of 
all. other. parts, not only in this, but, as I apprehend, in every 
natural family, is very unequal, and in some cases seems to be 
entirely lost. Thus, in the genus Leucadendron as it is here 
constituted, they are wanting in several species, and in some. I 
am inclined to think exist only in the males. ig, 
In most of the regular-flowered genera they are four in 
number, and alternate with the leaves or lacinie of the calyx. 
In these genera they are also generally in the form of succulent 
scales, distinct, or more rarely cohering at their base, and in 
a very few instances adhering to the calyx; but in Persoonia 
they are nearly round and fleshy, and in Bellendena, Symphionema; | 
Simsia, Agastachya, Petrophila, and Isopogon, they «are entirely 
wanting. | Anas Fiese net er A 
In the irregular-flowered genera with two or.many seeds their 
number is less than four, in most cases only one exists, in a few 
others three, and in some none. 2 Yk Tem 
-Varieties in the structure or apparent origin of the stamina, 
afford, as might be expected, important generic characters. 
Their usual insertion in ‘the order is in the concave tops of the 
lacini of the calyx ; all considerable deviations from which may 
safely be. employed in characterizing genera. In this way Rho- 
pala, 
