118 Mr. Brown's Observations on the 



tluced, which is the earliest notice I have yet found of this- 

 organ in Coniposita;, except in Batsch's Analysis Florum, pub- 

 lished in 1790, where it is both described and figured in Coreopsis 

 tripteris. Tiie merit, however, of establishing its nearly univer- 

 sal existence in the hermaphrodite florets of this extensive clas& 

 belongs to M. Cassini. 

 Both Von Rohr and Richard in their characters of Melananthera 

 have described the antherae as shorter than the corolla, which is 

 indeed the case in a particular state of the flower; immediately 

 after its expansion, however, they project considerably, and 

 again become inclosed in the more advanced stage. This fact 

 has been noticed by Jacquin*, who considers the final inclo- 

 sure of the antherae to be owing to the elongation of the corolla. 

 But the actual increase in length of the corolla is very slight, 

 and by no means sufficient to account for the appearance; the 

 real cause of which is a considerable, and I believe a gradual, 

 contraction of the filaments. This ceconomy is not unfrequent 



referred to it. The following characters, however, prove it to he sirfficiently distiiict. It 

 may be named 



LlPOTRICHB^ 



Involucrum duplici serie imbricatum, subaequale, Receptaculum convexum, paleis folia- 

 ceis, distinctis. Capitulum radiatum. Ligulce (simplici serie) femineae. Flosculi her- 

 maphroditi, stigmatibus appendice acuto hispidulo. ^c/ifnia subuniformia, turbinata j 

 Pappo setaceo, caduco. 



Herbae (Africae aequinoctiahs) FoHa opposita, hid'wiia. Pedunculi terminales, terni. Invo- 

 lucra hrevia, foliacea. Paleae receptaculi carinatcn, nervosce, acutcs. CoroUulse flav<B, 

 \J\^\Ax. elongalcB, 3-dentatcB. Anthem nigrkantes, subi/iclusce, hasimuticce. Achenium 

 obtuse tetragonum. Pappus, in disco verticis depressi, brevis, e selulis simplici serie, 

 numerosis (8 — 10), distinctis, dcnticulatis, caducis vel deciduis. 



Melanantherae proximo accedit : affinis quoque Ecliptae Lhin. Wedeliae Jacq. et Dioine- 

 deae Cassini{\n Journ. de Phys. tome Ixxxii. p. 145.) sed ab his omnibus satis distincta 

 videtiur. 



* Collect, ii. p. 291. Ic. Rar. iii. t, 583. 



in 



