NoisETTiA. VIOLACE^. 135 



within, ovate-lanceolatP ; the inner superior one mostly seated on the left. 

 Upper petals a little shorter than the sepals; the claws united into a linear- 

 fihtbrm column; laininai small, roundish-obovate, distinct, equal, of a rather 

 firm texture : lower petals scarcely longer than the ovary, glabrous. Sta- 

 mens shorter than the upper petals : filaments sometimes monadelphous at 

 the base, sometimes united almost to the summit: anthers attenuate above, 

 the apex produced into a short somewhat dilated membranaceous tube. 

 Ovary densely hirsute and spinulose, imperfectly 2-celled in the youngest 

 state by the projection of the placental ridge. Style rigid, quadrangular, a 

 little declined. Immature pericarp 2-seeded ; one of the seeds perhaps at 

 length abortive. — Apparently more nearly allied to K. linearis, Poir. (K. 

 pentapetala, Ruiz ^ Par.), which has (according to the figure in the Flora 

 Peruviana) the three upper petals united throughout ; the compound lamina 

 being merely 3-toothed. In a single flower of our species we observed the 

 suppression of one of the upper petals, and in another case two of them 

 were apparently wanting. 



Order XVIII. VIOLACE^. DC. 



Sepals 5, persistent, distinct or slightly united, and often auricled 

 or produced at the base, imbricated in aestivation, the anterior and 

 two posterior being exterior, and the two lateral ones interior. Pe- 

 tals 5, alternate with the sepals, hypogynous, marcescent or deciduous, 

 on short claws, commonly unequal, the superior one (which by the 

 resupination of the flower becomes inferior) usually spurred or sac 

 cate at the base : aestivation obliquely convolute. Stamens 5, alter- 

 nate with the petals, inserted on the hypogynous disk or torus : an- 

 thers adnate, introrse, 2-celled, opening longitudinally : filaments di- 

 lated, elongated beyond the anthers ; two of them generally furnished 

 with a spur-like appendage or gland at the base. Ovary composed of 

 3 united carpels, 1-celled, with 3 parietal placentae opposite the outer 

 sepals : style usually declined, with an oblique cucullate stigma. 

 Capsule l-celled, 3-valved, loculicidal, bearing the many- (rarely few-) 

 seeded placentae on the middle of the valves. Seeds anatropous, 

 usually with a distinctly marked chalaza, and a crustaceous testa. 

 Embryo straight in the axis of fleshy albumen. — Herbs or shrubs. 

 Leaves simple, petioled, alternate or rarely opposite, with an involute 

 vernation : stipules persistent or marcescent. Flowers axillary. 



1. NOISETTIA. H. B. ^ K. nov. gen. 5. p. 382; DC. prodr. l.p. 290. 



Sepals unequal, decurrent on the pedicel at the base ; the 2 inferior ones 

 often inequilateral. Petals very unequal, persistent; the superior (or appa- 

 rently inferior) one large, somewhat unguiculate, with a long spur at the base. 

 Stamens distinct: fiilaments short: anthers sagittate, the 2 anterior ones with 

 a long subulate process at the base. Ovary Avith numerous ovules. Capsule 



