174 



[TAB. L.] 



ON MACRiEA, A NEW GENUS OF PLANTS 



FROM CHILE. 



After the excellent Memoir of Mr. Lindley on the present 

 genus, published in Brande's Journal of Science, v. 25. p. 104, 

 I should not have thought of presenting any farther observa- 

 tions, only that I have for a long time had the plate en- 

 graved, and the description of two species of the genus 

 {Xeropetalon MSS.) ready for publication. Circumstances, 

 over which I had no control, prevented their appearance, 

 and now I should scarcely have thought them worthy of 

 meeting the public eye, were it not that a figure of the genus 

 is still a desideratum, and that I have been more fortunate 

 than Mr. Lindley in possessing perfect fruit. 



My first knowledge of the plant was derived from Mr. 

 Lindley himself, who kindly gave me a specimen from his 

 Herbarium, as a genus allied to Frankenia. That author, in 

 the Memoir above quoted, has alluded to its affinity with 

 FrankeniacecBi and has pointed out the differences in the struc- 

 ture of the ribs of the calyx. In examining this, and other 

 species which I have since received from the Horticultural 

 Society, and from Mr. Cruickshanks of Valparaiso, Mr. 

 Arnott and myself were forcibly struck with their similarity 

 in many points to the CaryophyllecB and Cistinea, as well as 

 the Linea. From all of these Macrcea differs in its mono- 

 phyllous calyx, and in the nature, and especially the dehi- 

 scence of the capsule, and from the latter more particularly 

 in the curved embryo. 



There is another point of resemblance to which Mr. Lind- 

 ley has alluded, namely, its affinity with the GeraniacecB. He 

 observes, " If we can understand the axis of the capsule of 

 Macraa to be an elongated torus, we have then a fruit of a 

 sufficiently similar structure to be compared to that of Ger- 

 aniacecB, Hutacece^ and other neighbouring tribes." Still I 

 must confess that the habit of our plants is so entirely at 

 variance with the GeraniacecBy as are the monophyllous calyx, 



