Cl.1. Spadicifere. Liriogamee. Orv, 10. DIOSCORIDEE. 13 
interiora parum latiora. Filamenta 6, longiuscula. Anthere ob- 
onge, emarginulate. Styli coaliti. Stigmata recurva, ob 
eminens. 
superne bag teres, rigidus at quotannis periens. Folia neee 
reniformia, i ná Soldaniliæ. Flores dioi ; masculi spicis laxi 
parum ramosis ; yag brevibus 5 erecti, viridi-flavescentes. Pedi 
celli breves. Bracteee l-riæ. Species 2. Tamus Elephantipes L'H£n. 
. aliaque a BvncnELL detecta. 
B. pe Jussrev joined Dioscoridec to Asparagee, in which he is 
followed by his illustrious nephew ; but they differ widely in other 
characters besides those above detailed; neither can I think that 
Mr. R. Brown has ju ged more correc tly i in saying that they “ con- 
stituunt familiam Smilaceis proximam" ; for the Pedicels of Smilacee 
are articulated at their ite their Petals deciduous, and the Embryo 
of their Seeds remote from ‘the Hilum in hard solid Albumen. In 
Dioscoridee on the contrary, the Leaves are occasionally decom- 
unded; Pedicels never articulated; Flowers often sessile and partly 
Shere! in the Pedunele, like those of some other Spadicifere ; 
Petals not falling off after they decay ; Embryo of their Seeds close 
to the Hilum with a sg ula more or less visible. Their affinity 
to this Class is likewise confirmed by a Species discovered in the 
fatal expedi to the hie Congo, which according to Captain 
TvckrY's narrative, required 4 day's boiling to free it from its per- 
nicious qualities. I cannot hesitate therefore to place them after 
Tacca, dividing the Order, which was first suggested to be one by 
RY. 
ules, in our : 
Communis reflexed, and somewhat like rudiments of Cirrhi; and an 
unpublished Plant allied to this, which Massox discovered in one of 
the Canary Islands, may possibly be sui Generis, having male Flowers 
of a dark purple colour, bowl-shaped, and in Panicles branched like 
those of some Menispermee, an Order to which Dioscoridee approach 
in many other points. Rajania i is ur present the only Genus of the 
ond Section, and when in Frui t, immediately known by the two 
small abortive lobes of its Capsule, that which is fertile being 
like a Samara. Inthet Section all the Genera have very simi- 
lar 3-lobed Capsules, but they differ widely in other parts. Hama 
tris is strongly characterized, the 3 outer divisions of its floral ss 
lope being so minute as to have escaped Jacavrw's notice, and the 3 
bein, 
I Petals, spreading out cibi Planets s0 cdm bifurcous 
that the lobes of the Anthers are separate as in some Ericee ; 
winged all round; a Root divided into many r adai branches, very 
