94 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN BOTANY. 



SYNOPSIS OF THE Genera of Indian Composite, translated and 



ABRIDGED FROM 



De CaNDOLLe's PrODROMUS— with a few additions AND OCCASIONAL NoTES. 



IlfTRODUCTION^ 



It will be seen by those who take the trouble to com- 

 pare the following characters with the originals, that I 

 have generally departed considerably from De Candolle's 

 arrangement. My object in doing so was to render 

 them more compendious, the alteration in form better 

 enabling me to retrench superfluities, and at the same 

 time give greater precision, by placing the strongest 

 points of each at the beginning. The characters taken 

 from the capitula, flowers, achaenia, and pappus— which 

 are really the essentia} ones— occupy the first rank: 

 while those taken from the vegetation generally, in- 

 cluding the texture and duration of the stem, form, and 

 position of the leaves, peculiarities of the inflorescence, 

 the receptacle and its clothing, and the colour of the 

 flowers, are uniformly referred to the second. By fol- 

 lowing this plan, the characters are in fact completely 

 recast, and, though still made up of the original materi- 

 aJs, are, I think, rendered of much more easy applica- 

 tion m pracUce, and to that extent at least are improved. 



According to De Candolle's classification, the whole 

 Jamily IS divided into three primary groups or sub-orders, 

 VIZ. 1 ubidiJlor(By LaUaiiflortBy and Uguliflorcz. 



These are again divided into "eight tribes," each of 

 which is stiU further divided into "sub-tribes" ^divi- 

 sions" and "sub-divisions." 



^ Of all these analytical divisions I have availed mvself 

 in the construction of this Synopsis, not that I consider- 

 ed the introduction of such elaborate machinerv neces- 

 sary for the working out of the few genera I have to 

 deal with but as furnishing an instructive examnl« r.^ 



flattened, equally and minutely puberulous above; stig- 

 matic series prominent, extending almost to the origin 

 of the exterior hairs. [To this tribe 172 genera belong 

 38 of which have Indian species.] 



Tribe 4th. Senecionide^. Style of the hermaphro- 

 dite flowers cylindrical; branches linear penicillate at 

 the apex, sometimes produced beyond the penicillus 

 into a short cone, or elongated into a narrow hispid ap- 

 pendix; stigmatic series broadish and prominent, ex- 

 tending to the pencil. [This is by much the largest 

 tribe of the family: it contains 388 genera, 42 of which 

 have Indian representatives.] 



Tribe 5th. Ctnarej:. Style of the hermaphrodite 

 flowers nodosely thickened above, often penicillate at 

 the knot; branches sometimes cohering, sometimes free,* 

 puberulous exteriorly; stigmatic series not prominent, 

 confluent, extending to the apices of the branches and 

 there confluent. [To this tribe 81 genera are referred, 

 18 of which have Indian representatives,] 



** Labjatiflor^. Hermaphrodite flowers, usually 

 bilabiate. 



Tribe 6th, Mutisiace^. Style of the hermaphrodite 

 flowers cylindrical, or somewhat nodose above ; branches 

 usually obtuse or truncated, very convex, and clothed 

 on the superior part with minute hairs, which are rarely 

 wanting. [This tribe includes 54 genera, only 6 of 

 which are referable to the Indian Flora.] 



Tribe 7th. Nassauviace^. Style of the hermaphro- 



aivmui auti mcia analysis, successfnll^ hrn,„rK* *Z x. j-/ i, " ' -I-^assauviace^. Style of the hermapnro- 



on the discrimination ^oAndiXirLon^a^v^^^^ 1 I'-^rf'^ not nodosely thickened; branches hnear 



semblage of natural objectsJaU so intimafelv WeLed i-^^^-''*'' ''""'"1'^'^ ^' *^^^P^^ «^ peniciUate. [This 

 with each other that, without some such contrivance to 



aid the apprehension and memory, they never could hi 

 brought within the grasp of human corJprehension 



TuBULiFLORiE. Hermaphrodite flowers tubular 

 regular, 5- (rarely 4-) toothed. [In this division aU soS 

 of flowers occur, hermaphrodite female and male possf 



V VSrT t^^^^T' -Pit-lum-two' S 

 very generally, female and hermaphrodite— the chara«> 

 ter IS however Umited to the hermaphrodiL flowers f 



Tribe 1st VER«omACE^. Style of the hermanhm 



of which have Indian representatives.] ^ ' 



thickened or cSe Ti' ^''^f ^^.^^f lo°g. somewhat 

 pillose • sti^rnnHl ' '^^' ^^^"0^7 puberulously ^^. 



FGenera 44 ^f „T K I °^, *^^ branches of the style, 

 Luenera 44, of which 5 only are found in India.] 



longish, truncated at the apex or peniciiiaie. l-^'"' 

 tribe contains 26 genera, but has no Indian represen- 

 tative.! 



tative.] 



*** Liguliflorj:. All the flowers hermaphrodite. 



Tribe 8th. CrcHoBACEiE. Style cylindrical above; 

 branches longish, somewhat obtuse, equally pubescently- 

 loughish; stigmatic series ending above the middle of 

 the branches of the style. [This last includes 83 gen- 

 ^•■^ of which 16 have Indian species.] 



The total number of genera is extracted from Mels- 

 ner s "Genera Plantarum," as, owing to some errors in 

 the numbering of the series in D. C.'s Prodromus, they 

 could not be so correctly obtained from that work. A 

 lew genera were omitted by D. C. which, when added 

 to the above, make up the total number to about 920. 



♦if u ^ however been since added to that series, 

 so that the total number now defined in Botanical works 

 may perhaps amount to about 950. Some of these Will 

 probably require to be reduced, but others must be 

 lormed to include imperfectly known species, which are, 

 tor the present, referred to genera to which they seem 

 most nearly related, but to which they may not properly 

 "eiong, as for example OligoUpes, in this list. 



P. S. Oct. 1848. According to Lindley's Veg. King- 

 dom, published last year, but the preface dated Octo- 



f ^* J u ' ^^^^^ ^^'® **^^ 100.5. If his list was com- 

 pleted three years ago, it is probable the list of genera at 



