SOUTH AMERICAN PLANTS. 35 



juice and numerous seeds attached to a large central placcntation ; 

 the berry when fully ripe becomes dry with its pericarp of thin 

 and brittle texture, being easily rupture'd by an irregular lace- 

 ration. The seeds are flattened, reniform and rounded, about 

 1 line in diameter*. 



Cliocarpus. 



Among Gardner's Brazilian plants I have noticed one, which 

 in the shape of its calyx, in the structure of its fruit, and espe- 

 cially in the form of its embryo, comes near Nicandray but it dis- 

 agrees in having a woody stem and a wholly diflbrent habit ; its 

 calyx does not, as in Nicandraj become thin, membranaceous and 

 reticular, but is thick, somewhat fleshy, and densely covered 

 with stellate tomentum, approaching in its form more to that of 

 Juanulloaj although the shape of its embryo is that of the former 

 genus. Its flower is yet unTvnown, as the only specimens col- 

 lected w^ere in fruit. On account of the structure of its seed I 

 have placed it for the present next Nicandra^ but its exact posi- 

 tion cannot be known until we are acquainted with its floral cha- 

 racters, I have called the genus Cliocarpus from /cXe/o), claudo, 

 fcapTTo^y fructus, on account of its fruit being wholly concealed 

 within the enlarged enveloping calyx. The following may be 



taken for its generic character until more ample details can be 

 obtained: — 



Cliocarpus (gen. nov.). Flos ignotus. — C«% fructifer auctus, 

 5-partitiis, laciniis lanceolatis, acutis, longitudinaliter subrcpli- 

 catis, marginibus valvatim connivcntibus^ liinc tubum ventri- 

 cosum sinuosO'5-angulatum, ore 5-dentatofere clausum, simu- 

 lautibus, angulis imo saccatis. Bacca ornnino inclusa, globosa, 

 2-locularis. Semina plui'inia, placentis dissepimcnto adnatis 

 affixa, reniformia, compressa ; testa scrobiculata, hilo in sinu 

 laterali. Embryo teres, in albumen carnosum spiraliter arcuatus, 

 cotyledonibus semiterctibus, radicula angulo basali spectante, 

 hilo evitante, sub-3-plo brevioribus.— Frutex Brasiliensis, dense 

 stellato-tomentoms ; foliis alternis, oblongis, integris, brevitei- 

 petiolatis ; floribus extra-axillaribus, binis vel solitariis, pedun- 

 cu\o fructifero cernuo. 



1. Cliocarpus Gardneri (n. sp.) j— foliis obovatis, acuminatis, basi 

 obtuse rotundatis, crassiusculis, supra pubescentibus, subtus 

 dense cano-tomentosis, pilis stipitato-stellatis. — Brasilia, ad 

 Arraial das Merces, Prov. Minas Geraes, v. s. in herb. Hook. 

 {Gardner, 5042). 

 This is described as a shrub 6 to 10 feet high ; its branches 



are woody and covered with yellowish tomentum ; the leaves are 



* This plant with ekmentary details is shown in plate 43. 



