SOUTH AMERICAN BOTANY. 57 
Contributions to the Botany of Sourn America; by Joun Miers, 
Ese., F.R.S., F.L.S., &e. 
(Continued from p. 26.) 
It is evident, from the foregoing facts, that Sclerophylax 
cannot be referred to any known Natural Order, and it is, there- 
fore, essential to find some place for it in the system. Some 
objections may be made to the establishment of a distinct order 
upon a solitary genus ; but we have at present no less than twelve 
natural families among phanerogamous plants, each based upon 
a single genus. Even Nolana was in a similar position, with 
only seven species, when the family of the Nolanacee was first 
proposed in 1833: the subsequent collections of Cuming and 
Bridges have increased the number of genera to six, and the 
amount of species to thirty. Under these circumstances, I have 
less hesitation in offering the genus under consideration, as the 
type of a distinct family, under the name of Sclerophylacee ; and 
accordingly, I proceed to suggest the position it will probably 
occupy in the natural system, an inference derived from the com- 
parison of its leading characters with those of the various families 
to which it can claim the smallest relation. 
In the following tabular view, the various orders there enume- 
rated, which form a very natural circle, bound together by many 
common ties, are placed in juxtaposition according to the number 
of the stamens, the æstivation of the corolla, the number and direc- 
tion of the ovules, and the relative position of the embryo. This 
selection of characters may not be the most appropriate with a view 
to methodical arrangement, and is not offered with any such inten- - 
tion; but it answers our present purpose of determining, by such — 
artificial means, the most fitting position in the system for Sc/ero- _ 
phylaz, which on account of its appargptly anomalous structure, - 
does not at first sight fall into any distinct place, and can hardly - 
be attached as a suborder to any of the families here enumerated. _ 
This table, founded upon such artificial characters, appears to — 
indicate by a gradual transition, a chain, nearly as perfect as any - 
linear distribution, based upon more methodical principles, can be - 
expected to exhibit, and certainly it does not materially differ 
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