20 THE JOUENAL OF BOTATs^Y 



which is smooth, peach-shaped, and quite indehiscent. Moreover, it 

 is quite devoid of a persistent calyx, as shown by recently published 

 photographs taken by Mr. 0. F. Cook of specimens growing in the 

 Andes of Peru (see Journ. of Heredity (Washington, D.C.) xii. 189, 

 figs. 3,4; 1921). 



" Elisia mutahilis^'' described as a little shrub having serrate 

 leaves, flowers passing from a whitish to a reddish or ^^ellowish 

 colour, and a scabrous, four-valved, four-celled pericarp, can be 

 referred neither to the red-and-yellow-flowered Brugmausia hicolor 

 of Persoon nor to Brngmansia versicolor of Lagerhcim. Neither of 

 these species, nor indeed any known species of Brugmansia, has 

 leaves with serrate margins or a scabrous, four-valved, four-celled 

 pericarp. That of Brugmansia versicolor is slender and spindle- 

 shaped, terminating in a very long point. 



As to the third name, " JElisia laciniata,'^'' applied to a diminu- 

 tive wood}^ perennial with deeply-cut glabrous leaves, corollas of 

 some unknown colour " unchangeable except in the warmest part 

 of the day," and a four-valved pericarp, it is impossible to place it with 

 any species hitherto described. Certainly no Daiiira of the section 

 Brugmansia has leaves which can be called laciniate or a fruit which 

 is four-valved. 



The baneful properties attributed by Milano to his Elisias arfi as 

 imaginary as the form of their leaves and their pericarps. It is true 

 that certain tribes of Indians in South America use the seeds of tree- 

 Daturas as the source of narcotics ; but there is no warrant for the 

 statement that they extract from them a kind of starch or white 

 powder with which they stupefy and kill their enemies. A careful 

 search through the chemical literature of Milano's day has failed to 

 confirm his claim of discovering a substance called " elisine " — or, 

 indeed, to reveal the identity of Milano himself. As to his state- 

 ment that the shade of tree-Daturas is dangerous to animals and 

 injurious to plants which vegetate in their vicinity, it can be charac- 

 terized as nothing else but one of those fictitious stories which 

 travellers love to repeat, and which botanists are called upon to con- 

 tradict again and again. 



From what has been said, it is not surprising that Milano chose 

 to remain unknown. His reputation as a botanist, a chemist, or an 

 observer of nature could only suffer from the publication of a paper 

 like that which is here considered. His signature is undoubtedly a 

 pseudonym, as suggested by Dr. Rendle. It is to be regretted that 

 the name JElisia cannot with propriety be substituted for Brugmansia. 

 The name itself is beautiful, and the descriptive adjectives /brwo- 

 sissima and omitahilis are most appropriate for a hypothetical genus 

 presumably dedicated to some fair Elise. One is moved to sadness 

 by the thought that she disappeared from this earth with no otlier 

 record of her loveliness than the name Elisia, proposed by her 

 faithful Milano "in memory of a much esteemed friend." 



