74 NEILGHERRY PLANTS. 
greater ranges of mountains. With the exception of this, and another species common in Mysore, the 
genus consists of erect growing plants the stems of which are acutely 4-sided, with the smallish flowers 
borne on axillary shoots, generally all turned to one side, some however have them, as in the accompanying, 
ranged in opposite pairs, along the branch. There is therefore nothing to separate this from them, except its 
procumbent habit, a view in which I think Nees himself will coincide on re-examining them. This 
plant is, like the preceding, found nestling among the grass, all over the Hills, but requires to be looked 
for, otherwise it may easily be overlooked by the unpractised eye. It strikes me, it might with advantage 
be introduced into gardens from the compact tufts of purple flowers which it forms. 
Anproerapuis LoBELioweEs (R. W., Erianthera, graphis under the name of Erianthera, on account 
Nees), herbaceous, diffuse, procumbent: leaves sub- of the anthers. “ Anthere loculus inferior abortivus 
ovato-orbicular, mucronulate, flowers terminal, race- in barbum laniformem solutus.” As this is certainly 
mose, not the case in either of the two species, I have 
Neilgherries, rather frequent in pastures, nestling taken the liberty of restoring both to Andrographis. 
among the grass, but quite conspicuous from its See plate 517. The tuft of wool in this species is 
tufts of brownish purple flowers. Nees has sepa- on the back of the connectivum, but not well shown 
rated this and a nearly allied species from Andro- in the figure. 
SCROPHULARIACE. 
This is one of those families which, from the uniformity of its characters and the 
vast number of its species, tend to show in a striking light the advantages of the natural 
system of botany over the Linnean sexual, or indeed any other artificial one. The family 
embraces upwards of 2000 known species, and nearly 200 genera, all, except one or two 
genera, having irregular flowers, 2 or 4 stamens, in the latter case usually didynamous, 
a free 2-celled ovary, axile placenta, and numerous minute albuminous seed. In the 
sexual system, the species are distributed among four classes, unconnected with each other, 
and grouped among genera having no relationship with each other. Here, on the other 
hand, they are all so closely associated that it is often difficult to draw the line between 
them. The genus Verbascum, not unfrequent about Ootacamund, is one of the excep- 
tions referred to above, it having regular pentandrous flowers, and to that extent is more 
justly referable to Solanacec, but is necessarily kept here through the medium of Celsia, 
a true member of the order, but which only differs from Verbascum in having 4 in place 
of 5 stamens, so that it might either be viewed as a tetrandrous Verbascum or, vice versa, 
Verbascum as a pentandrous Celsia, hence the affinities, generally, being with the Scroph- 
ulariacese it is placed in this order. This circumstance is interesting and worthy of 
notice as showing how orders that are really natural pass into each other. Leaving out 
the distinctive characters of the flowers, Solanaceee and Scrophulariacee would become 
one, but by admitting them into the respective essential characters they are easily kept 
distinct ; the flowers of Solanacece being regular and symmetrical throughout, while those 
of Serophulariacee are very generally irregular and unsymmetrical. Dr. Lindley, vies 
his “ Vegetable Kingdom,” lays great stress on this distinction, and on the strength of it 
Separates the two orders to a considerable distance, though thus actually passing into each 
other by an almost imperceptible transition, 
An order so extensive has, as a matter of course, relationships with many other 
orders besides the one mentioned, but none so very close, with the exception perhaps of 
Orobanchacee, several of the species of which have been referred here. Orobanchs differ 
in habit, all the species being parasitic leafless plants, the stems being furnished with scales 
in place of leaves, but the flowers and seed are nearly the same in both, the essential 
