placenta ccntrali inserts. Stylus ?ria; wZ/ws. Stigma pel latum, 5-anf/uhm 

 nruinosum. Bacca magiiitudine Cerasi minoris, subglobosa, Crustacea, 

 lateribus parum cotnpressa, unilocularis, evalvis, jAerumque disperma, rarb 

 mono V, trisperma, basi calyce et apice stylo persistentibus instructa, cmsta 

 iyitks virenii nervis venisque plurimis peragratd. Semina subrotunda, sub- 

 stantid pnlposd copiosc tecta, subinde drupacea ! aqua tepida madida pulpa 

 exit voluminosa, basi umbilico ample orbiculato concaviusculo instructa : testa 

 cartilaginea ; albumen magnum, corneum, pellicula meinbranaced arete 

 adhcerenii vestilum. Embryo erectus, axilis, lacttus : cotyledones ovales, sub- 

 foliacecE ; radlcula cylindracea, obtusa, cotyledonibus subcequalis, umbilico 

 obversa. D. Don. MSS. 



This very elegant tree is a native of Caraccas, whence it was intro- 

 duced to the Imperial Gardens at Schonbninn, where it flowered for 

 the first time in November 1789, and a description and figure have 

 been given of it by the elder Jacquin in his magnificent work on the 

 plants of that garden. A number of young plants were raised at the 

 late Mr. Colvili's nursery, in 1829, from seeds collected in Caraccas 

 by Mr. Fanning, to whom I am indebted for specimens of the ripe 

 fruit. The young plants were observed to vary a good deal in the 

 breadth of their leaves, and as some of them produced flowers in the 

 spring of 1834, they were found to agree precisely with the plant 

 here fio'ured, which blossomed about the same time in the stove of 

 the Chelsea Botanic Garden, and which had been previously intro- 

 duced from the continent under the name of- Theophrasta latifolia. 



The plant loves a high temperature, and should be grown in a 

 soil composed of equal parts of loam and vegetable earth, and plenti- 

 fully supplied with water while in a growing state. 



The late Sir James Edward Smith has expressed, in Rees's Cyclo- 

 psedia, a suspicion of this species being identical with the Eresia of 

 Plumier, the Theophrasta americana of Linnseus; but the latter 

 having a large polyspermous fruit, and the former having seldom 

 more than two seeds, completely sets the question at rest as to their 

 specific difference at least. 



The Thcophrasteacecs^ consisting of Theophrasta, Clavija, Jac- 

 quinia, and Leonia, constitute a small group intermediate between 

 MyrsineoB and Sapotece, being distinguished from the former by their 

 polyspermous fruit, foliaceous embryo, extrorse anthers, and by the 

 presence of coronary appendages alternating with the stamina, and 

 which are to be regarded as the rudiments of a second series of those 

 organs. Theophrasta agrees with the present genus in having ex- 

 trorse anthers, but differs in its campanulate corolla, annular inclosed 

 crown, and free stamina. 



The dried flowers and seeds of Clavija and Jacquinia when 

 immersed in warm water emit an agreeable fragrance resembling 

 that of the Primrose. D. Don. 



For these valuable notes we are indebted to Mr. Don, who had an oppor- 

 tunity of examining the specimen from which our drawing was made. We are 

 only acquainted with the plant from the accounts of Jacquin to which Mr. Don 

 has referred. 



