Mr. R. B. Hinds on Geographic Botany. ^7 



among these of species co-existing in other divisions, but are too 

 rare to be of importance. In the same family, and confined to 

 the South American province, are Myrcia with numerous spe- 

 cies, Calyptranthes, Lecythis, and nearly the whole of the exten- 

 sive genus Eugenia. Asia is less remarkable, having only a few 

 genera scanty of species, as Barringtonia, Stravadiu7n, Sonneratia, 

 &c. PortulacecB, by no means a large family, having only four- 

 teen genera and ninety species, presents Anacampseros with ten 

 species, Ginginsia seven, natives only of the Cape of Good Hope ; 

 Calendrinea fourteen, of South America; Claytonia twelve, of 

 North America and Siberia ; Aylmeria two, of New Holland. If 

 Asia possess few of the restricted genera of Myrtacece, the defi- 

 ciency is amply supplied by a large share of Cinchonacece, the 

 amount of whose species, found in the hotter parts and in the 

 Malaisian islands, is very great. Still it must yield to South 

 America. The restricted genera are chiefly Wendlandia with 

 sixteen species, Mephitidea eighteen, Chasalia nine, Danais four, 

 to Asia ; Cinchona^ as limited to sixteen species, Coccocypselum 

 sixteen, to South America ; Anthospermum with nine species to 

 the Cape of Good Hope ; and Opercularia with thirteen species 

 to New Holland, including two species belonging to New Zea- 

 land. Leguminosce contains a great number of genera, but none 

 of the larger have a limited habitat, excepting alone Aspalatlms, 

 which with eighty-four species is confined to the Cape, omitting 

 a doubtful species. There are however a number of smaller ge- 

 nera, belonging chiefly to the suborders Sophorece and Lotea, 

 the greater portion of which are natives of the Cape of Good Hope 

 and New Holland, and comparatively a few from India and South 

 America. 



Occasionally it happens that the sections into which many of 

 the genera are divided possess but a limited range. This occurs 

 with Acacia, which comprehends 258 species ; one of its sections^ 

 consisting of sixty-four species, has that peculiar structure of the 

 leaf which is called phyllodium ; nearly the whole of these grow 

 spontaneously in New Holland and the Polynesian islands, a few 

 only being met with in Africa or Asia. The other sections with 

 pinnate leaves are distributed through South America, Africa, 

 Asia and Australia, especially the former. They have also a 

 little variety in the colours of their flowers, being yellow, white, 

 and sometimes pink ; but the Australian species have all yellow 

 flowers. Vitis has two sections dependent on the union or sepa- 

 ration of the sexes in the same plant ; the hermaphrodite species 

 are natives of the warmer regions of Asia, whilst the dioecious 

 occur in North America. In Ceanothus the manner of inflores- 

 cence, to some extent, co-exists with a limited geographic range 

 of the sections. 



