94 Mr. J. Miers on the Solanacese. 



Witheringia ciliata, H. B. K. ; W. dumetorum, H. B. K. ; W. 

 mollis, H. B. K. ; W. I'homboidea, H. B. K. ; W. riparia, H. B. K., 

 and W. diversifolia, Klotsch, referred by M. Dunal to his genus 

 Fregirardia, had been long before placed by me in Brachistus 

 {huj. op. iii. 263-268). 



The Witheringia of Von Martins, which I had proposed to 

 restore for a group of plants of which the type is W, picta, Mart., 

 must consequently be suppressed, and we shall presently see to 

 what genus these must now be referred. This last-mentioned 

 plant has been oddly arranged by M. Dunal in Withania, for 

 what reason it is difficult to conjecture, as it offers no analogy 

 whatever with that genus : it is associated with other kindred 

 species, placed by Dr. Sendtner in his genus Athencea, which is 

 made to form a distinct section of Withania under that name 

 (Prodr. p. 458-459). The Witheringia hirsuta, Gardn. (No. 239), 

 from Tejuca, a plant that I collected in company with that active 

 botanist, was long ago shown by me {huj. op. iii. 145) to be iden- 

 tical with the Witheringia picta, Mai-t. {Withania picta, Dun. 

 Prodr. p. 458). This same plant however is again referred by M. 

 Dunal to Bassovia under the name oiB. Gardneri (Prodr. p. 409). 

 I was always struck by the strong analogy between the Withe- 

 ringia picta. Mart., and the drawing of Bassovia sylvestris (Aubl. 

 tab. 85), but in the absence of more precise evidence in regard 

 to the latter plant the reflection was passed over, as I found this 

 species had been referred by M. Dunal to the genus Solanum 

 (Dun. Syn. 22). Now, however, that Bassovia has been restored 

 by this distinguished botanist, and its characters displayed at 

 some length, this reflection returns with additional force, especially 

 as the genus Aureliana of Dr. Sendtner is at the same time made 

 to be identical with it. If we compare the Aureliana velutina, 

 Sendtn. (Flor. Bras. tab. 19) with the figure oi Athencea anonacea, 

 Sendtn. (tab. 18 of the same work), and these again with the 

 Witheringia picta, Mart. (Nov. Gen. et Sp. tab. 327), and my de- 

 tails of Gardner's plant (in Illust. S. Am. Plants, ii. pi. 35), and 

 keep in recollection that the same species has been referred by 

 M. Dunal, at the same time, both to his section Atheneea of 

 Withania and to the genus Bassovia of Aublet, we must come to 

 the conclusion that the genera Witheringia, Mart., Athenaa, 

 Sendtn., Aureliana, Sendtn., and Bassovia, Aubl., are identically 

 one genus, and of these the latter must claim the priority, on 

 account of its long previous existence. To the species of Bas- 

 sovia enumerated by M. Dunal (Prodr. 405-411) we must there- 

 fore add B. picta (of which B. Gardneri, Dun., must be regarded 

 as a synonym), B. pogogena, B. mollis, B. micrantha, B. pyri- 

 folia,B. Pohliana, B. Schottiana, B. ? Novo-Friburgensis, B. Mar- 

 tiana, B. oocarpa, B. hirsuta, and B. anonacea, nob. 



