^ 235 — 



the characters of Camellia apply to the tea plant as well '). With Sweet 

 (1818) the union is an established fact, and the resulting genus is denoniinated 

 Camellia by him 2). Then Link (1822) also left only the nanie Camellia ^). 

 HOFFMANNSEGG (1824) however reduced ail species to the genus Thea^)\ 

 it is, however, plain enough that he is not entitled to priority. 



AuG. Pyr. de Candolle (1824) is again an advocate for séparation^), 

 and gives a new argument, viz., the structure of the fruit; in Camellia, 

 according to this botanist, the septa constitute protruding parts of the 

 valves, whereas in Thea they are fornied by the carpellar margins folding 

 inward and fusing together; besides, in the fruit of the former genus a 

 three-edged central column should remain standing erect, in T. no such 

 column were to be found. He gives the following descriptions: 



CAMELLIA. 



Calyx imbricatus, nempè bracteis 

 squalisve nonnuUis accessoriis cinc- 

 tus Stam.basi polyadelpha aut mo- 

 nadelpha. Antherae ellipsoideae. 

 Capsula valvis medio sepiiferis, 

 axim triquetrum liberum post dehis- 

 centiam relinquentibus. 



THEA. 



Cal. 5-6 sepalus. Pet. 6-9 imâ 

 basi subcoherentia 2-3 serialia. 

 Stam.basi sublibera. Antherae sub- 

 rotundae. Capsula 3-cocca, septis 

 valvaribus nempè à valvularum 

 marginibus introflexis formatis. 



In 1830, the matter was once more taken up by Booth ^), who was 

 for separating both groups by reason of the subséquent properties: 



CAMELLIA. 



Flowers axillary sessile. Calyx in- 

 ferior, of 7, 8 or more deciduous 

 imbricated scaleS; the inner one 

 the largest. Corolla of 5 petals. 

 Styles united nearly their whole 

 length. Capsule furrowed. having 

 as many cells as furrows, and one 

 or two seeds in each. 



THEA. 



Flowers axillary stalked. Calyx 

 inferior, of 5 deeply divided per- 

 manent roundish segments. Corolla 

 of 5, 6, or 9 petals. Styles cohering 

 at the base, dividing towards the 

 point into 3 distinct bodies. C^^psw/e 

 3-lobed 3-celled. Seeds solitary. 



Thus Booth adds two new characteristics to the earlier ones (calyx 

 and fruit), viz., the long peduncles and the united styles in Thea and the 

 sessile 3-styled flowers in Camellia. indeed, the stalked flowers of the tea- 

 plant establish a quite unmistakable différence as compared with C. japonico; 



') ,,The imbricated calyx of the latter [Camellia] niay be thought to keep them distinct, 

 ..though the former [Thea] has lii<ewise a few scales at the base, which soon fall off." 



-) R. Sweet 1818, p. 157. 



^) C. Link 1822, p. 73. 



■») |. C. GRAF von HOFFMANNSEGG 1824, p. 116. 



*) A. p. De Candolle 1824. p. 529 (Camellia), p. 530 (lliea). 



^) W. B. Booth 1830, p. 521 (Camellia), 558 (Thea). 



