OMPHALOCARPUM, AND ASTERANTHOS. 19 
claim to affinity), and even there it is constituted very differently ; for in Asteranthos its 
texture is that of an ordinary monopetalous corolla, simply marked by several delicate 
nerves, with intervening reticulated veins, as, for instance, in the campanular corolla 
of some species of Cordia, which have a very similar zestivation. 
Searching among the many genera with a monopetalous corolla, we come upon Rhodo- 
dendron, where we find many unexpected points of resemblance. Asteranthos Ваз pre- 
cisely the calyx figured by Wight (in his Icones, pl. 1203) of Rhododendron Griffithsi- 
anum; that species has а broad campanular corolla, with many longitudinal nervures, 
and is divided on its margin into several teeth; the tube is plicated with a similar æsti- 
vation; though its stamens are more numerous, they have similar long slender filaments, 
seated on a thin disk, free from the corolla, and similarly formed anthers; it has a 
superior conical ovary, of the same shape, marked in like manner by salient ridges, cor- 
responding with the number of the cells, a similar long slender style, and a remarkably 
similar stigma. "There would be no difference in the anthers if, in Rhododendron, the 
apical pores were continued in a slit along the remainder of the sutures, as, indeed, actually 
occurs in Azalea, where their dehiscence is like that in Asteranthos; other points of 
analogy are found in the arborescent species of Rhododendron, where the leaves are as 
frequently alternate as they are opposite, and where the large flowers are, in like manner, 
seated upon long, slender, solitary pedicels, bracteolated at their base. There is nothing, 
therefore, to separate this genus from others of the Rhododendree, except a more rotate 
corolla, with more numerous and shorter lobes. When the fruit is known, other ana- 
logies may be found to exist; but under our present knowledge of the structure of Aster- 
anthos, it may safely be regarded as a member of the tribe just mentioned. It may be 
added that Rhododendron maximum, with a large, almost rotate corolla, is a native of 
South Carolina, a circumstance which renders the relationship more complete. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 
PLATE I. 
Fig. 1. A leaf of Napoleona imperialis, from a specimen sent by Palisot de Beauvois to Rob. Brown. 
2. A leaf of Napoleona Whitfieldii, from Whitfield’s specimen. 
3. A fruit of the same species, from Whitfield’s collection. 
4, The same in longitudinal section, to show its thin pericarp. 
5. A seed from the same, seen on its face. 
6. The same, shown on its edge. 
7. One of its cotyledons seen on its inside face, showing the radicle and plumule half immersed 
in it. 
8. A leaf of Napoleona angolensis, from Welwitch’s specimens. 
9. A fruit of the same species. 
10. A longitudinal section of the same, showing its thin pericarp. 
11. A seed belonging to the same, shown on its face. 
12. The same, seen edgeways. mae 
