4 1 Prof. Lindley's Remarks upon the 



serted that Orobanchacece have the flowers of Personates and 

 the fruit of Gentianacea?, and he accordingly stationed the 

 order between Gentianacea? and Gesneracea? (Naturliches Sy- 

 stem, p. 395) ; and two years afterwards the Russian naturalist 

 Horaninow placed the order under the name of Phetypaeacece, 

 between Monotropacece (confined to the genus Monotropa) 

 and Gesneracea?, stationing Gentianacea? next the latter and 

 separating the whole from Scrophulariacea? by twelve natural 

 orders {Prima linea Systematis Natura?, p. 73). It does not 

 however appear whether these two last botanists formed their 

 opinion from a correct knowledge of the real nature of the fruit 

 of Orobanche; it would rather seem that they were led to their 

 conclusion by the parietal placentation of that genus, a cir- 

 cumstance of no great consequence. 



The great points of resemblance between Orobanche and 

 Scrophulariacece are its monopetalous didynamous flowers and 

 bicarpellary polyspermous fruit ; and it is these which have led 

 to the general opinion that the two genera are closely allied. 

 Such marks of agreement are doubtless important; but they 

 maybe overbalanced by circumstances of disagreement of more 

 importance. One of these is the position of the carpels with 

 respect to the axis of inflorescence. In the whole category of 

 personate, labiate, or irregular plants, the carpels stand fore 

 and aft with respect to the axis ; while in Gentianacea?, and 

 those orders which form what is generally reckoned the op- 

 posite symmetrical series, we have as universally the two car- 

 pels placed laterally. In this striking character Orobanche 

 agrees with the latter series. Now as a didynamous structure 

 is not universal in the one series, while the position of carpels 

 is constant through both series respectively, we must assign the 

 greater importance to the latter character, and hence Orobanche 

 would be removed, far from Scrophulariaceae and their allies, 

 to the series represented by Gentianacea? \ of which this genus 

 would be a didynamous form, analogous to what frequently 

 occurs in the supposed opposite series. 



But there is an essential point for consideration still be- 

 hind. Botanists generally lay some stress upon the presence 

 or absence of albumen as a mark of affinity between plants, 

 even although the character, as it is usually understood, is con- 

 fessedly very subject to exceptions. I have however endea- 

 voured in another place to show, that when albumen becomes 

 so abundant as to form the principal mass of the seed, it ac- 

 quires a very different value from what it possesses when a 

 mere stratum lying between the embryo and testa. In the 

 former case it seems to be essential to the very existence and 

 reproduction of the species; in the latter it may be regarded 



