78 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



calathiformem. Caracter ex Cqmmersoni sjyecimine Madagascari- 

 ensis innominato. . . . Confer cum Faramea.'" 



Gmelin (Syst. 372, 1791) gives a summary of the generic 

 characters based upon Jussieu's account; he adds a specific name, 

 C. madagascariensis, but without description. Lamarck (Encycl. 

 Meth. Illustr. 377, t. 151, fig. 1) in the same year gives a figure 

 of the genus, to w^hich we shall return presently. Willdenow (Sp. 

 PL 976, 1797) gives brief descriptions of two species, C. axillaris 

 and C. cajntata, the latter of which has since been recognized 

 as synonymous with BurchelUa capensis E. Br. The former is 

 described as " C. foliis subrotundo-ovatis, floribus solitariis axil- 

 laribus." Poiret (in Encycl. Suppl. ii. 57, 1811) gives the generic 

 characters at length as follows : — 



" Le caractere essentiel de ce genre est d'avoir : un calice 

 commun, tubule, a plusieurs fieurs; un calice propre, a cinq ou six 

 decoupures ; une corolle campanulee, a cinq ou six divisions ; 

 un fruit couronne, a deux semences. Chaque fleur offre : — 1*^. Un 

 calice commun, d'une seule piece, tubule, dent6, a plusieurs fleurs 

 separ^es par des ecailles ; un calice propre, presque campanul6, a 

 cinq ou six decoupures. 2o. Une corolle monopetale, petite, 

 campanulee, a cinq ou six lobes ovales, aigus. 3". Cinq ou six 

 etamines ; les filamens presque nuls ; les antheres oblongues, point 

 saillantes. 4^. Un ovaire inferieur, un peu arrondi, surmonte 

 d'un style filiforme, plus long que la corolle, termine par un stig- 

 mate bifide. Le fruit ... en forme de pois, couronne par les 

 decoupures du calice, a deux loges, a deux semences." 



Poiret retains Willdenow's two species : C. axillaris is thus 

 described : — 



" C. floribus sessilibus, solitariis, axillaribus ; foliis subrotundo- 

 ovatis, breviter petiolatis. Arbrisseau dont les tiges se divisent 

 en rameaux glabres, cylindriques, noueux, d un blanc-cendre, 

 garnis des feuilles opposees, mediocrement petiolees, ovales, un 

 peu arrondies, fermes, coriaces, luisantes, glabres a leurs deux 

 faces, tres entieres, longues d'un pouce et plus, un peu aigues, a 

 nervures fines, distantes, a peine rameuses, presqu' opposees ; les 

 fleurs sessiles, axillaires, solitaires, plus courtes que les feuilles." 



Poiret also points out that the plant under description was 

 collected by Commerson in Madagascar, so that C. axillaris Lam. 

 is almost certainly identical with the plant on which Jussieu based 

 his generic characters, and therefore the type,' also, of the C mada- 

 gascariensis of Gmelin. 



Poiret refers the figure (Encycl. Meth. t. 151, fig. 1) to C. axil- 

 laris ; but both figure and description are curiously inaccurate in 

 regard to the inflorescence. The organ, which is in reality a 

 common peduncle bearing a few flowers (see Jussieu's description 

 supra), is represented as a long funnel-shaped calycine structure 

 with several teeth at the margin, and at least a dozen small 

 flowers appearing in the mouth. 



A. Richard, however, in his generic description of Ganepliora 

 (Mem. Soc. Hist. Nat. Par. v. 261, 1829), refers to the organ in 

 question not as a common calyx but as a flattened branch : "flores 



