of the Ericacea, 151 



cnt corolla, the maximum of which is at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 a spot where so many families of plants are found huddJed to- 

 gether in strange confusion, as if Nature had at length deprived 

 herself of sufficient space for their more equal distribution. The 

 most easterly point to which this last group extends is the M au- 

 ritius, where the various species of Salaxis are found. The 

 maximum of Rhodorece, Vacciniea, PyrolecB, Monotropece, and 

 the aberrant Ericece, is found in North America ; these tribes, as 

 I have before stated, being also common to Asia. Van Diemen's 

 Land may be regarded as comprehending the majority of the 

 EpacridecB, Of all the genera of Ericacece, that of Gualthcria 

 is, however, the most extensively diffused, being met with in 

 almost every region of America, in New Zealand, Van Diemen's 

 Land, and other islands of the South Pacific, and in the East 

 Indies. The greater development of the calyx in this genus, 

 and its more or less adherence to the ovarium, considerably les- 

 sens the importance of the discriminating character of the Vac- 

 ci?iiece, and most satisfactorily shews that they constitute but a 

 group of the Ericacea, rather than a distinct order. As hap- 

 pens in other very natural families, the characters of the generic 

 groups in the Ericacea are not so strongly marked as in those 

 that are less so ; but we are not on that account to give up the 

 idea of dividing them, and to retain three or four hundred spe- 

 cies in one genus, as has been done in the case of Erica, which 

 I have here attempted to subdivide into a number of minor 

 groups ; and, whatever opinion may be formed of their title to 

 rank as separate genera, the arrangement of the species will, I 

 trust, be found more natural than any hitherto proposed. 



The examination of this interesting family was undertaken 

 with the view of assisting my brother in the laborious underta- 

 king * in which he is now engaged ; and as a complete account 

 of the species will appear in the forthcoming volume of that 

 work, I have omitted most of them in the following pages, as 

 they would have extended the present paper beyond the limits 

 admissible in a periodical journal. 



• General System of Gardening and Botan v. By George Don, F. L. S. 

 Vols. I. & 2. London, 1831-32. 4to. 



