tion, the cells of the fruit separate into distinct folliculi, 

 and do not combine into a solid woody capsule ; and the 

 seeds are destitute of wings. 



" The fruit suggests so obviously some affinity with 

 Pterospermum, that it is next necessary to institute a 

 comparison with that genus. Stellate pubescence, a calyx 

 divided into five portions, five hypogynous unguiculate 

 petals, and fifteen fertile stamens united into a cup, seated 

 on a stipitiform torus, and surrounding the ovarium, a 

 5-celled ovarium, a woody 5-celled capsule, with a loculi- 

 cidal dehiscence, no axis, and winged seeds ; all these cha- 

 racters are common to Pterospermum and our plant : but, 

 on the other hand, the points in which they differ are of 

 much importance. The aestivation of Pterospermum is 

 valvate recurved, not imbricate ; its calyx is 5-parted, not 

 4-5-toothed ; its anthers have parallel, not divaricating 

 cells, and are seated upon long distinct filaments, not 

 sessile, upon the outside of a capituliform cup ; and, finally, 

 the petioles of the leaves are not connected with the lamina 

 by a thickened space. The seeds are also winged at the 

 apex, not at the base ; but upon this point it is not my 

 wish to insist. 



" If the comparison thus instituted with Pterospermum 

 and Sterculia be attentively considered, we cannot fail to 

 remark, that the subject of these observations is nearly 

 equally related to both ; to Pterospermum in its petals 

 and fruit, to Sterculia in its calyx and stamens. It must, 

 therefore, be stationed between those two genera; thus 

 confirming the propriety of M. Kunth's combination of 

 the Sterculiaceae of Ventenat with the Byttneriaceae of 

 Mr. Brown ; and, in fact, breaking down every barrier 

 between them." — Lindley, I. c. 



Such was the account of this plant which we commu- 

 nicated to Mr. Brande's Journal in September 1827. At 

 that time we only knew it from dried specimens. The 

 accompanying figure was made from a plant that blossomed 

 in the Garden of the Horticultural Society in January 

 1829: it had been brought from China by Mr. John 

 Damper Parks, and is in all respects the same as the 

 Chinese specimens. It is a handsome greenhouse, ever- 

 green shrub. J. L. 



