446 Mr. G. Bentham's Enumeration of the Plants 



68. Cryptocalyx nepctcefolla, sp. n. — British Guiana. Schomburgk, n. 

 694. 



Also Trinidad, Anderson, and Pernambuco, Gardner, n. 1049. 

 The following are the characters I should propose for this new 

 genus and species : — 



Cryptocalyx, gen. n. Calyx membranaceus, tenuissimus, obsolete den- 



tatus. Corolla tubulosa, bilabiata, labiis erectis, superiore brevissimo hi- 



fido, inferiore elongato trifido. Stamina 4, didynama, inferiora longiora, 



omnia antherifera, antheris oblongisbilocularibus. Ovarium biloculare, 



loculis uniovulatis, ovulis a basi loculi erectis anatropis. Stylus in- 



clusus. Stigma obliquum capitatum. Fructus sponte bipartitus, peri- 



carpio calyceque subevanidis, pyrenis oblongis monospermis. Semina, 



testa duriuscula tenui, exalbuminosa, embryone recto, cotyledonibus 



magnis. 



C. nepetcefolia. Herba annua, ramosa, basi procumbens saepe radicans, 



apice adscendens. Rami crassiusculi, obscure tetragoni, glabri vel pilis 



appressis paucis onusti. Folia opposita, petiolata, ovato-rhombea, grosse 



dentata, basi cuneato-truncata et integerrima, 1 — \i pollicaria, utrinque vi- 



ridia et glabra vel pilis appressis paucis pubescentia. Spicae ovoideo-ob- 



longae, axillares, pedunculate, solitariae vel glomerate, petiolo breviores. 



Flores numerosissimi, minuti, sessiles, seriebus circiter 12densissime imbri- 



cati. Rhachis post flores delapsos cicatrizata. Bractese cuneata?, acuminata?, 



membranacese, complicato-cavinata?, margine ciliatas, flores parum exce- 



dentes. Calyx corollas tubo dimidio brevior, sub lente minutissime pube- 



scens. Corolla alba, glabra, vix ultra semi-lineam longa. Pyrenes matu- 



ritate omnino liberi, graniformes, i lin. longi. 



The extreme tenuity of the calyx, the small erect limb of the co- 

 rolla, and the more complete separation of the fruit, together with 

 the habit, distinguish this genus from Lippia. It is apparently an 

 old plant in herbaria, but I cannot find it described among Verbe- 

 nacea. Its habit is rather that of many Composite. 



69. Lippia microphylla. Cham, et Schlecht. Linnrea, vii. p. 226. Fructus 

 calyce inclusus bipartibilis sed vix sponte secedens, globosus v. pyrene al- 

 tero abortiente oblongus, pericarpio tenui sicco. — Stony places in Savan- 

 nahs, British Guiana. Schomburgk, n. 75. 



The genus Lippia, as far as I have examined it, appears best li- 

 mited by Chamisso and Schlechtendal. The pericarp is thicker than 

 in Cryptocalyx, and the pyrenes, though easily separable, are yet 

 held together by it. InRiedelia the fruit is rather that ofLantana, and 

 must therefore be kept distinct from Lippia, unless indeed this genus 

 be joined to Lantana. Dipterocalyx appears also from Chamisso and 

 Schlechtendal's description to be distinct. Aloysia is too natural a 

 group to be united to IJppia, unless nearly the whole of Verbenece 

 be considered as one genus. 



