as distifiguisfied from the Symplocaceie. 277 



nitida, dura, ovulis abortivis circa hilum magnum basalem 

 notata ; raphe primo tubularis, compressa, ossea, hili basin 

 perforans et mox in faciem intemam testae patescens, hinc 

 breviter ramosa, et cito in filamentis innuraerabilibus delica- 

 tissimis spiralibus cottoneo-implexis in telam araneiformem 

 ubique producta ; integumerUum intermedium opacum, mem- 

 branaceum ; integumerUum internum tenuiter membranaceura, 

 ad priorem subadhsesum ; albumen camosnm ; embryo axilis, 

 longitudine fere albuminis, cotyledonibus foliaceis, rotundato- 

 ovatis, imo subcordatis, nervosis, radicula tereti infera duplo 

 longioribus, et 6-plo latioribus. 

 Arbores vel firutices in Europa, America boreali, Asia et Japonia 

 crescentes, siepe pilis steUtdosis tomentosa ; folia aUema, in- 

 tegra, veldentata,petiolata ; racemi termtnales^pluriflmyfoUosi, 

 vel bracteati out axiUares et pauciflori ; flores albidi. 



Of the forty-five species of Stgrax enumerated by DeCandolle, 

 I have removed thirty-one into StrigUia, and five into Cgrta : to 

 the remaining nine (some of which yet remain to be verified) 

 must be added S, odoratissimum. Champ. (Hook. Kew Jo. Bot. 

 iv. 304), S. eUipticum and S. subpamculatum, Jungh. et Vriese 

 (Walp. Rep. vi. 459). S, Obassia, firom Japan, bears greatly the 

 habit and inflorescence of Pterostyrax ; but, as its fruit is said to 

 be drupaceous, it must be referred to the tribe Styradnea : its 

 broadish rounded petals are much imbricated in aestivation. 

 S, odoratissimum, from China, is a very distinct species; its 

 coroUa is also imbricated in aestivation, and its drupe is acutely 

 mucronated, with a tendency to split at the base into three 

 regular valves. S. Benzoin appears to differ from both in having 

 very entire leaves and a compound raceme. I have not seen its 

 flowers ; but its fruit corresponds with that of S, officinalis. 



2. Cykta. 



I have already alluded to the principal features that distin- 

 guish this genus from Styrax: its thicker and more ligneous 

 pericarp opens at the apex and splits down to the base in three 

 equal valves ; the form of its much thicker petals and the manner 

 of their aestivation are different from those in Styrax, Halesia, 

 and Pterostyrax, being valvate or shghtly introflexed, as in 

 Strigilia, Pamphilia, and Foveolaria. I have drawn up its ge- 

 neric character from observation upon most of the under- 

 mentioned species. 



Cyrta, Loureiro. — Flores hermaphroditi. Calyx urceolato-cya- 

 thiformis, margiue 5-dentatus, dentibus nervis prominulis 

 decuiTentibus hinc 5-carinatus, persistens. Petala5, lineari- 

 oblonga, acuta, crassiuscula, extus tomentella, intus glabra, imo 



