60 Mr Don on the Affinities of the Empetrece. 



equal and definite number ; in having biloculacr anthers ; in their 

 superior ovarium ; in the plurality of styles ; in their divided 

 stigmas ; and, lastly, in the arrangement of the ovula, and pre- 

 sence of a copious albumen. The embryo is also nearly the 

 length of the albumen, and its cylindrical form brings it close 

 to that of Phyllanthus. The male inflorescence of Empetrum 

 album has a striking analogy to that of Buxus *, whose calyx 

 consists of 3 or 4 leafets, with the stamens equal in number, 

 and placed opposite to, not alternating with them ; — a circum- 

 stance which proves that this organ in Buxus is a true calyx, 

 and not, as Linnaeus regarded it, a corolla. In separating the 

 Empetrea from Euphorbiacea, the principal character relied on 

 is their erect embryo ; for in habit they are not far removed 

 from Micranthea of Desfontaines, some species of Phyllanthus, 

 or even of Euphorbia itself. In Phyllanthus, the calyx consists 

 of 6 segments : the filaments are 3, closely united together ; and 

 the anthers are 4 in number, 3 of which are lateral and alter- 

 nate with the inner divisions of the calyx, which are probably 

 to be regarded as petals. The fourth anther, which may 

 be considered as spurious, is placed directly in the centre 

 of the 3 lateral ones. In a decandrous species of this genus 

 from Mexico, each of the filaments is trichotomous, and each 



• In the Prodromus Flora Nepalensis^ I have very briefly noticed a plant 

 under the name of Buanis Saligna^ and which I then suspected would even- 

 tually prove a distinct genus ; but materials are still wanting to determine 

 this point satisfactorily. From the very imperfect description given by me, 

 Mr Lindley, in a late number of the Botanical Register, has been induced 

 to suspect its being only a variety of his Sarcoccoca pruniformis ; but the fol- 

 lowing description will shew that it has very little affinity to that plant. 



Buxus Saligka, Don, Prodr. Fl. Nep. p. 63. 



Flores dioici ? Foem — Calyx squamis pluribus (6-8). Ovarium eUipticum, 

 3-loculare : ovulis solitariis. Stigmata 3 (raro 4) lanceolato-subulata, acuta, 

 revoluta, supra convexa, tomentosa, sulco exarata, subtiis nuda. Fructus 

 (immaturum tantilm vidi) 3.1ocularis (raro 4-locularis), stigmatibus persis- 

 tentibus rostratis, et inter rostra foramine dehiscens : loculis monos permis. 

 Dissepimenta membranacea. Frutex erectus, ramosissimus, frondosus, sem- 

 pervirens. Folia alterna, nunc raro subopposita, petiolata, anguste lan- 

 ceolata, acuminata, integerrima, basi acuta, margine reflectente, paginS, 

 utraque di versa (ut in Buxo), coriacea, enervia, glaberrima, nitida, subtiis 

 venis parum conspicuis, 3-pollicaria, semiunciam lata. Pedunculi axUlares, 

 breves, divisi, pluriflori, subracemosi, cernui. 



