268 Linnean Society. [Dec. 20, 



Read further, " Notes on the Natural Order Crescentiacece." By 

 Berthold Seemann, Esq., Ph.D., F.L.S. &c. 



The author cites first the opinions in relation to the proper posi- 

 tion of the genus Crescentia and its allies in the natural system 

 successively entertained by De Jussieu, Endlicher and DeCandolle, 

 the latter of whom associated them with Bignoniacecs. Gardner first 

 pointed out their claims to be regarded as a distinct natural order 

 allied to the family last named, and Prof. Lindley adopted this view 

 and first gave a diagnosis of the order, taken however only from a 

 single species, Crescentia Cujete, L., for which reason Dr. Seemann 

 proposes the following amended character. 



Crescentiacece. 



Frutices vel arbores, glabrae v. glabratse ; caule ramisque plus minusve 

 angulatis. Folia alterna, fasciculata, v. opposita, petiolata v. subsessilia, 

 nunc simplicia, ssepissime integerrima, nunc composita, 3-foliolata, v. 

 pari- v. impari-pinnata. Sllpulee nulte, v. interdum e gemmae axillaris 

 foliis primariis spurise. Flares hermaphroditi, subregulares, v. irregu- 

 lares, terminal es v. axillares, v. ssepissime ex trunco aut basi ramulorum 

 orti. Calyx liber, gamophyllus, persistens, 5-merus, v. varius, deciduus, 

 spathaceus, v. bipartitus. Corolla hypogjma, gamopetala, subcam- 

 panulata, infundibuliformis, v. hypocraterimorpha ; limbo 5-lobo, sub- 

 asquali v. subbilabiato ; lobis per sestivationem duplicato-plicatis v. sub- 

 plicato-imbricatis. Stamina 4, cum rudimento quinti, corollse tubo 

 inserta, ejusdem laciniis alterna, exserta v. inclusa. Filamenta sim- 

 plicia. Antheree biloculares. Discus hypogynus glandulosus, ovarii 

 basin cingens, saepe obsoletus. Ovarium liberum, 1-, 2-, v. rariiis 

 4- v. pluriloculare. Ovula indefinita. Stylus terminalis, simplex. 

 Stigma bilobum, v. bilamellatum. Fructus baccatus 1-, 2-, v. rarius 

 4- v. plurilocularis. Semina plurima, aptera. Albumen nullum. 

 Embryo rectus, v. subcurvatus. 



Crescentiacece thus defined inhabit chiefly the tropical and subtro- 

 pical regions of America and Africa : they are not found in Europe 

 or Australia, and only one species is met with in Asia. Several 

 species are cultivated, and have become naturalized in dififerent 

 parts of the Old World ; none possess any poisonous qualities. As 

 far as at present ^known, the Order is composed of about thirty 

 species, distributed under nine genera. 



Dr. Seemann next adverts to the genus Oxycladus, described by 

 Mr. Miers in the twenty -first volume of the Society's 'Transactions' 

 and referred by that gentleman to BignoniacecB, of which he regards 

 Crescentiacece as one division, while he forms another division of the 

 genus Oxycladus. Dr. Seemann, however, states his opinion that 



