124 ILLUSTRATIONS OF 
raginacee, where, in most instances, the gynobasic point of union 
of the carpels is generally on the level with the gynophorus itself, 
several instances occur, (in Asperugo, for instance,) where the 
apical point of the gynobase is mid-way, or near the summit of the 
axile line of juncture of the carpels, at which point they are in 
fact pendulous. In other cases again, this point is at the very 
summit of the carpels, as in Mattia, Pectocarya, and others of 
the tribe Cynoglossea, where the ovaries, at first pendulous, at 
length, after development, exhibit their carpels in an absolutely 
centrifugal position upon the summit of the gynobasic point of 
their attachment. 
It is evident, from the foregoing facts, that Sclerophylax 
cannot be referred to any known Natural Order, and it is, there- 
fore, essential to find some place for it in the system. Some 
objections may be made to the establishment of a distinct order 
upon a solitary genus ; but we have at present no less than twelve 
natural families among phanerogamous plants, each based upon 
a single genus. Even Nolana was in a similar position, with 
only seven species, when the family of the Nolanacee was first 
proposed in 1833.: the subsequent collections of Cuming and 
Bridges have increased the number of genera to six, and the 
amount of species to thirty. Under these circumstances, I have 
less hesitation in offering the genus under consideration, as the 
type of a distinct family, under the name of Sclerophylacea; and 
accordingly, I proceed to suggest the position it will probably 
occupy in the natural system, an inference derived from the com- 
parison of its leading characters with those of the various families 
to which it can claim the smallest relation. 
In the following tabular view, the various orders there enume- 
rated, which form a very natural circle, bound together by many 
common ties, are placed in juxtaposition according to the number 
of the stamens, the zstivation of the corolla, the number and direc- 
tion of the ovules, and the relative position of the embryo. This 
selection of characters may not be the most appropriate with a view 
to methodical arrangement, and is not offered with any such inten- 
tion ; but it answers our present purpose of determining, by such 
