Mr. J. Miers on the Solanacese. 101 



extensive and difficult genus Solanum has been fully adopted by 

 M. Dunal in the ' Prodromus,' in preference to the unscientific 

 arrangement in Don's 'Dictionary/ previously in use among 

 botanists. The system of Dr. Sendtner is founded in great 

 measure on the structure of the stamens, which afford valid cha- 

 racters, as I had long before observed and adopted for my own 

 purposes. Dr. Sendtner has therefore rendered much service to 

 science by this work, which everywhere displays originality of 

 observation, his materials being classically and ably elaborated. 

 His ordinal diagnosis of the Solanacece is infinitely preferable to 

 that of M. Dunal, but notwithstanding this admission it is not 

 free from some defects, among which may be mentioned the 

 assertion that in the position of the embryo the extremity of the 

 radicle points to the hilum. His synopsis of the distribution of 

 the few genera indigenous in Brazil answers the purpose there 

 intended, but is one quite unfitted for a classification of the 

 whole family. The Nolanacece are here very properly excluded, 

 although Grabowskya is placed in the Solanacece upon an erro- 

 neous principle, as explained in a former page {ante, p. 3). The 

 Cestrineee are likewise excluded from the Solanacece on account 

 of their straight embryo, and, as suggested by Schlechtendal, 

 placed in a separate family, while Nicotiana, Petunia and Nie- 

 rembergia, also with a nearly straight embryo, are retained in 

 the latter order ; this is inconsistent, at the same time that the 

 peculiar mode of sestivation in these genera, so different from 

 Solanacece, is unnoticed. The Brazilian Cestrineee, according to 

 these views, are confined to Cestrum and Metternichia ; the em- 

 bryo in the former is said to be hemianatropous, in the latter 

 anatropous, but I can perceive little difference in this respect, as 

 in both cases the hilum is somewhat ventral and removed from 

 the radicle, which points to the base of the seed as in Nicotiana : 

 the only real distinction that I can perceive in the ordinal cha- 

 racters of Dr. Sendtner is that in Solanacece the calyx is " opistho- 



dromicus ( • O • \i.e. sepalo secundo postice verso, atque locum 



in mediana inter axin secundarium et primarium obtinente," 



and in the Cestrineee the calyx is " emprosthodromicus I • O • j > 



i. e. laciniis 3 anticis et 2 posticis." These are hard words that 

 might be better expressed by the more simple terms of ' posticeps' 

 and 'anticeps' : this character, if it be general, has certainly escaped 

 my observation, and we might almost infer that it is not constant, 

 since M. Dunal, who has evidently studied Dr. Sendtner's work, 

 nowhere alludes to this feature. I have searched in vain for 

 its constancy in dried specimens, and it must be confessed that 



