Mr. Woods on the Species of Fedia. 429 



F. sphcerocarpa . . . Angles smooth. Calyx with 3 unequal teeth. Stem- 

 leaves pinnatifid at the base. 



olitoria Angles rough. Calyx-teeth hardly distinguishable. 



gihbosa Stem nearly smootli. Margins of the bractese entire. 



carinata Angles smooth. Calyx 0. All the leaves entire. 



Neither the uprightness of the bractea;, nor the roughness of the angles of 

 the stem, appear to be very distinctly marked characters in this genus. They 

 may, however, be noticed as well as the capitate flowers. With respect to the 

 latter character, it is to be observed that the type of the inflorescence in the 

 genus Fedia, except, perhaps, in F. scorpioides, is that of a dichotomous panicle 

 with the flowers seated in its forks. This arrangement is most distinguishable 

 in the Psilocoelce, the flowers being there sufficiently separate from each other. 

 In the Locustce it may still be traced, but the upper branches are much short- 

 ened, so as to reduce the panicle to a loose head ; some solitary flowers are, 

 however, usually discernible. In F. pumila the degree of condensation is about 

 the same, but there are no solitary flowers. In all the species where the border 

 is much expanded and nearly equal, as in F. hamata, coronata, &c., the flowers 

 form dense globular heads, in which, without the help of analogy, we should 

 scarcely be able to trace the typical arrangement ; and in F. echinata the upper 

 branches of the panicle seem to unite and to form a wedgelike receptacle, on 

 which the flowers are seated. 



The character of the leaves seems to have some analogy with that of the 

 inflorescence. The lower leaves in all the species seem to be generally if not 

 always quite entire. The upper ones, though often entire, have a tendency to 

 division in the lower part. These are dentate or inciso-dentate in the Locustce 

 and Psilocaelae ; pinnatifid in the Platyccela; and in F. vesicaria. The distinc- 

 tion does not depend merely on the depth of the division. The teeth of the 

 first-mentioned sections narrow gradually from the base, and are usually acute. 

 Those of the latter preserve for some distance their original width, or increase 

 it, and are I believe always obtuse. The uppermost leaves are again undi- 

 vided, being gradually converted into bractese. These bracteae in all the spe- 

 cies, except F. gibbosa, are ciliato-dentate ; and there is, perhaps, always a 

 scariose margin, very narrow in the Locustce, but occupying nearly the whole 



bracteae in most of the Platycoelce. 



3 K 2 



