62 



GAYLUSSACIA Pseudovaccinium. 



Bilberry-like Gaylussacwort. 



DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 

 Nat. Ord. VACCINACEiE. 



GAYLUSSACIA, Humboldt, Bonpland, ^ Kunth. Calyx ovario ad- 

 natus, limbo libero quinquefido. Corolla tubulosa, basi ventricosa, ovata 

 aut subglobosa, limbo 5-fido. Stamina decem, limbo calycis inserta. An- 

 thers: muticse, apice ia tubulos duos productee. Sti/lus erectus. Stifjma 

 depresso-capitatum. Drupa subglobosa sulcato-decagona calyce vestita de- 

 cem-locularis, loculis mouospermis. &?/2««a lenticularia kevissima. Spermo- 

 dermium tenuissimum albuQiini avcte adbcErens. Albumen semini couforme, 



carnosum. Embryo centi'alis axilis teres, albumine brevior. Frutices ra- 



mosi. Folia sparsa apyice mucronato-ylandulosa. Racemi axillares approxi- 

 mati. Fiores bracteaii, coecinei. — DeCand. Prod. 7. 556. 



G. Pseudovaccinium ; fruticosa glaberrima pubescensve, foliis ellipticis lanceo • 

 latis, racemis secundis erectis bracteatis, corollis cyliadraceis, ovario 

 glabro V. glabrescente. — DeCand. I. c. 



G. Pseudovaccinium, Chamisso &; SchlechtendaJd in Linncea, 1.530., 8.492. 

 Aur/. de St. Hilaire, 2. 40G. 



Andromeda coccinea, Schrader in Gottinr/. Anz, 1821. ii. 709. 



Vaccinium brasiliense, Spreng. Syst. ii. 212. 



The genus Gaylussacia, so named after M. Gay Lussac, 

 the eminent French Chemist and Philosopher, diifers from 

 Vaccinium in the same way as Arctostaphylos from Ar- 

 butus — it has but a single seed in each cell. The species 

 are chiefly found in Brazil, where they are common, Peru, 

 and the North of India, and among them are several which, 

 as this species shews, would be worth introducing to cultiva- 

 tion. 



G. Pseudovaccinium is stated to be a native of sandy 

 open plains in Brazil. Auguste de St. Hilaire says that he 

 found it on the coast from the city of Caravellos in the Pro- 

 vince of Porto Seguro as far as the island of St. Catharine, 

 and that it forms a shrub from one to two and a half feet high. 

 At least it is to be presumed that this is the plant he means, 



December, 1844. ' 2 c 



