436 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Anthotroche^ 



as a genus to be excluded from Solanacece, and referred to Scro- 

 phulariace(B, because of its unilocular reniform anthers ; its ge- 

 neric character there given is literally copied from the original 

 diagnosis of Endlicher, entirely omitting the remarkable features 

 indicated by me {huj. op. iii. 171). The unilocular anther, as in 

 Verbascum, is however not peculiar to the Scrophulariacece, for 

 though occurring in several cases, it is there more an exception 

 than a general rule, being at the same time common in other 

 families, for instance in the Myoporacece : indeed, abundant 

 evidence has been given to prove, as I have remarked in regard 

 to Anthocercis, that neither the structure of the anther, nor even 

 the didynamous character of the stamens, are by themselves 

 sufficient to retain a doubtful genus within the limits of the 

 ScrophulariacecE. The fact, in combination with other circum- 

 stances, that manifestly determines the position of Anthotroche 

 among the Atropacece, rather than in Scrophulariacea, is the 

 structure of the seed ; this resembles that of Anthocercis, Cyphan- 

 thera and Duboisia ; it is cylindrical, slightly curved, containing, 

 enveloped in albumen, a nearly straight cylindrical embryo, with 

 minute cotyledons, and a terete radicle pointing to the base of the 

 seed, the hilum being on the lateral ventral sinus. TVTiatever may 

 be its true position, one conclusion is certain, that where Antho- 

 cercis is placed, Anthotroche must accompany it. This agreement 

 is evident, not only in their similarly extrorse stamens, but in 

 the aestivation of the corolla ; this last feature is not so easily 

 distinguished in the last-mentioned genus, on account of the 

 shortness of the lobes of it's border, and their being densely 

 covered on both sides with long branching hairs, which, being 

 closely interlaced, conceal the margins. It differs however from 

 Anthocercis and Cyphanthera in the more expanded and almost 

 rotate form of its corolla, its shorter and more obtuse lobes, and 

 in its stamens being all perfect and equal in number to the seg- 

 ments of the border, although one of them is somewhat shorter. 

 The peculiarity in the form of its anther consists in its being, 

 like that of Cyphanthera and Duboisia, roundly discoid and deeply 

 reniform ; its attachment to the filament is in the deep sinus 

 upon the side looking toward the style, while the external face 

 is marked by a nearly annular groove that runs concentrically 

 near the margin : along this line it bursts widely open, in an 

 almost peltate form, by its two nearly equal gaping valves, 

 showing a globular prominence in the middle, which is the re- 

 ceptacle of the pollen. This structure is the result, as I have 

 already shown (p. 370), of the total abortion of one of the lobes that 

 ordinarily constitute an anther, and not, as generally supposed, 

 of the confluence of the two lobes. Anthotroche offers another 

 distinguishing feature, in its pei-fectly free cup- shaped disk, that 



