I 



Mr. J. Miers on t/ie genus Anthocercis. 369 



with the intent of showing that it possessed many pecuUar 

 features not before observed, quite distinct from Salpiglossis and 

 its allied genera, for which reason I suggested its association with 

 Duboisia and Anthotroche, in a separate tribe {Duboisiece), form- 

 ing a section of an extensive group, distinct as well from true 

 Solanacece as from Scropkulariacece, and which group I proposed 

 as an intermediate family {Atropacea:) between the large natural 

 orders just mentioned. The reason of its being placed in Scro- 

 pkulariacece by Mr. Bentham was obviously on account of its 

 didynamous stamens, notwithstanding the presence of a rudi- 

 mentary fifth : at that time, however, the closely allied genus 

 Anthotroche, with five regular fertile stamens, was not known. 

 I have since shown that nearly half the genera heretofore placed 

 in Solanacece present unequal stamens, with a strong tendency in 

 many to assume a didynamous character; while, on the other 

 hand, several unquestionable Scrophulariaceous genera have five 

 regular and equal stamens. The obliquity of the corolla and 

 irregular dimensions of its segments, and the unequal size of the 

 stamens or partial suppression of the fifth, are therefore no longer 

 found to offer unerring limits of demarcation between those 

 families, and I have pointed out the existence of other characters 

 that can be more safely relied upon for this purpose, viz. the 

 sestivation of the corolla and structure of the seed : these, taken 

 in conjunction with the usual ordinary distinctions, afford a 

 more certain guide. Judged by these rules, Anthocercis will be 

 seen not to belong to Scrophulariacece, and the position assigned 

 to it above mentioned appears to me the most natural that can 

 be suggested. 



One very remarkable feature is the peculiar jestivation of its 

 corolla, which I find to be a constant feature in every species : 

 the somewhat unequal segments of its border are rolled inwards, 

 with their margins overlapping one another respectively ; in some 

 the dextral, in others the sinistral edge remains uppermost, and 

 the segments thus folded are drawn closely together into a long 

 conical bud, with the apices somewhat imbricately interlaced : 

 this very peculiar mode of sestivation will be best understood by 

 reference to the diagrams I have given {loc. cit. p. 170). 



It has always four fertile stamens arranged in pairs, of which 

 one pair is longer than the other, with a shorter sterile filament 

 or a mere rudiment of one, or else a vacant space in the interval 

 between the longer stamens : the filaments originate near the 

 base in the throat of the short constricted portion of the tube of 

 the corolla, where they are most frequently ciliated and much 

 geniculated at their origin, forming a fornix that conceals the 

 ovary ; they then assume a more erect position around the style, 

 curving outward towards the summit, and are all slightly inchned, 



