90 Mv. J. Miers on the Solanacese. 



sac protruding ; b, a thickened rib of tissue (analogous to the 



raphe ?). 

 Fig. 4. Chiococca angiiifuga, — an ovary in longitudinal section. 

 Fig. 5. Bannisteria sp., — a transverse section of an ovary. 

 Fig. 6. An ovary of a Sarcocolla in longitudinal section, two of the ovules 



being removed from each cell. 

 Fig. 7- A transverse section of half the ovary. 

 Fig. 8. A transverse section of the ovary of Penaa fruticulosa. 

 Fig. 9. Aster sibiricum ; a floret of the ray as seen laterally, a part of the 



wall of the ovary being removed. 



VIII. — Observations on the Solanacese. By John Miers, Esq., 

 F.R.S., F.L.S. 



[Concluded from p. 14.] 



Having animadverted upon M. Dunal's general arrangement 

 of the Solanacece, I now proceed to offer a few comments on 

 some of the genera. In p. 449 we find Cacabus included in Phy- 

 salis : it is nearly four years since (huj. op. iv. 252) I pointed out 

 the characters by which the former differs from the latter, one 

 of the most striking features being, that in Cacabus the inflo- 

 rescence is fasciculated, while in Physalis the axillary flowers are 

 invariably solitary. In this last-mentioned genus the calyx is at 

 first more urceolate, 5-toothed, afterwards it becomes greatly 

 enlarged, inflated, pentagonously globular and subreticulated : 

 in Cacabus at an early stage it is tubular, inflated below by five 

 salient saccate lobes, and narrowed towards the mouth, where it 

 is divided into five acute segments; it is then delicately thin in 

 texture, finely and elegantly reticulated, and afterwards increases 

 in size, but less in proportion, when it always retains its delicate 

 texture, form, and almost araneoid appearance. In Physalis the 

 corolla is broadly and roundly campamilar, generally of a yellow 

 colour, and is either immaculate, or more usually marked with 

 five large purple spots in its lower moiety; it is seldom more 

 than twice the length of the calyx : in Cacabus the corolla is 

 large and conspicuous, tubular, and slender at base, suddenly 

 expanding into a funnel-shaped campanular form, with a nearly 

 entire limb, like the flower of a Nolana or Convolvulus, being 

 like them of a delicately pale blue, marked with five long linear 

 rays, each ray formed of three nearly parallel nervures ; it is at 

 least three times the length of the calyx. M. Dunal states 

 that Cacabus has the habit and the corolla of Atropa. On this 

 point he appears to me clearly under a mistake, for its habit 

 is certainly more that of a Nolana, being a prostrate herba- 

 ceous plant, with a fleshy angular stem, and its corolla, as above 

 shown, bears no resemblance to that of Atropa. One of the 

 peculiar features which I have pointed out in this genus, is the 



