tzvo new Families of Plants. 133 



have been placed by the illustrious Jussieu among the Myrta- 

 cea, and I am not aware that any one has questioned the pro- 

 priety of this classification. That they can neither be 'grouped 

 with the Myrtacea, nor with any other family hitherto esta- 

 blished, I trust I shall be enabled satisfactorily to shew in the 

 sequel. It may be proper here to observe, that the whole of the 

 Myrtacea, require a thorough revision, as at present they com- 

 prise plants which have but little general affinity. The true 

 Myrtace/R are distinguished by their perfectly entire leaves, fur- 

 nished with numerous pellucid dots, which, when bruised, emit a 

 camphoriferous or spicy scent, and by the seeds being destitute 

 of albumen, although Gsertner has attributed a fleshy albumen 

 to the seeds of BtEchia. This I found, however, to be quite er- 

 roneous, Gaertner having evidently mistaken the embryo for the 

 albumen ; for in the seeds of several species of BacMa., which I 

 carefully examined, I was unable to trace the least vestige of 

 this substance. Whether it is present in the seeds of Imbrica- 

 ria (the Jungia of Gaertner), I have not had an opportunity of 

 determining ; but, if it is really present, as Gaertner affirms, it 

 would alone be sufficient to remove the genus from the Myrta- 

 cece, as in those families in all of whose genera its presence is 

 not uniformly constant_, traces of it may still in general be de- 

 tected in all of them, on a careful examination. Before I pro- 

 ceed farther, I shall add a description of the Philadelphece. 



PHILADELPHEiE. 



Genus Myrtaceaeum, Juss. 



Calyx turbinatus, limbo 4-fido (raro S-fido)^ persisteus. Pelala 

 4 (raro 5), calycinis laciniis alterna, in sestivatione convoluto-im- 

 bricata. Stainina 20-40, duplici serie disposita, fauci calycinae in- 

 serta. Styli 4, raro 5, inferne ssepius coaliti. Stigmata longa, 

 divaricata, obtusa, latere iiiteriore puberula, nunc spiraliter torta. 

 Capsula semi-infera, sublignosa, 4- (raro 5-) locularis, polysper- 

 ma, apice quadrifariam loculicido-dehiscens. Semina scobiformia, 

 subulata, laevia, angulis placentae tetragonae cumulatipa adnata, 

 arillo laxo membranaceo, ad umbilicum foramine fimbria lacerata 

 aperto, nucleo seminis triple longiore instructa : testa tenuissima, 

 membranacea, nucleum arete vestiens : albumen ovoideum, carno- 

 sum, album. Embryo inversus, lacteus, fere albuminis longitudi- 

 ne : cotyledon es ovales, obtusae, planiusculse : radicula teretiuscula, 

 cotyledonibus plurimum longior, supera, recta, obtusa. 



Frutiees (Europa?, Asise, et Ameriese, temporatis communes) erectt, 

 decidui. Folia opposifa, nervosa, dentata, itnpiuictata, Flores op- 

 posite axillareSj, terminalcs, subracemosi, albi. 



