Mr. J. Miers on the Solanacese. 91 



remarkable fleshy epigynous gland, seen on the summit of the 

 ovarium, like the same feature seen in Thinogeton, to which ge- 

 nus it closely approaches in its general habit, and in the form 

 and colour of its flowers : there is indubitably much analogy 

 in this peculiar feature, observable in both these genera, with 

 the still more conspicuous fleshy enlargement of the summit of 

 the ovarium in Hyoscyamus : there is nothing approaching to 

 this structure in Physalis. It is for these reasons that I pre- 

 ferred placing Cacabus among the Hyoscyamece next to Thino- 

 geton, although I have not discovered that its fruit possesses an 

 opercular dehiscence, nor been able to ascertain the aestivation of 

 its corolla. M. Dunal does not appear to have been aware of 

 these facts, but Prof. A. DeCandolle in a note of the Appendix 

 to the ' Prodromus ' (p. 690) adheres to the views of that bota- 

 nist on this subject, and reverses the conclusions to which I ar- 

 rived, without attempting to subvert the facts above-mentioned, 

 or annul the reasonings founded on them : he quotes the character 

 I published of Cacabus nolanoides under the name of Physalis 

 nolanoides. These facts remain submitted to the judgement of 

 botanists, and it appears to me that any one who will carefully 

 compare the analysis given of that plant in plate 49 of my 

 ' Illustrations ' with any species of Physalis, will admit that it 

 cannot possibly belong to the latter genus, and that Cacabus is 

 justly entitled to claim a generic distinction. Physalis, indeed, 

 possesses such well-marked features, that it seems a pity to mar 

 its simple and prominent characteristics by combining it with a 

 group so essentially distinct as Cacabus. 



The ample generic character of Witheringia, as defined by 

 M. Dunal (p. 402), and the details he has given from an exami- 

 nation of good specimens of L'Heritier's typical species, W. sola- 

 nacea, confirm the opinion I long ago expressed in regard to 

 this genus : these details, if carefully compared, will be seen to 

 difier in no respect from the characters presented by most spe- 

 cies of Saracha of the ' Flora Peruviana.^ The reasons for this 

 conviction were given nearly four years since [huj. op. iii. p. 142 

 et 451), when I considered the typical plant above-mentioned as 

 a species of Saracha : to this inference I was led by its striking 

 resemblance to another species closely allied to it, which I fig-ured 

 in my ' Illustr. South Am. Plants ' in plate 39 A, under the 

 name of Saracha glandulosa, the only structural difi'erence be- 

 tween these species being that L'Heritier's plant is tetramerous, 

 while all other species of Saracha are pentamerous. As M. Dunal 

 considers this difference to be of no generic value, it is clear that 

 under such circumstances the Witheringia, L'Herit. (non alio- 

 rum), and Saracha, R. and P. (with a single species excepted), 

 must merge into one genus, and according to the rule of priority 



