NOTE ON VAV^A AND RIITTIDANDRA. 331 



hergia, &c. ; and in Mcdlca * it is as completely adnate as in Vavcca, while the 

 andrcecium is as deeply divided. The only remaining peculiarity, that of the 

 increased number of stamens, is now found not to be a constant one, nor is it 

 wholly irreducible to the type of the Meliaceous andrcecium, whatever particular 

 hypothesis may be adopted in respect to the nature of its interposed lobes or naked 

 teeth. 



Although no doubt remains that Vavcea is a truly Meliaceous genus,f it is by no 

 means surprising that Mr. Rich, without investigating the ovules and seeds, should 

 have even referred these diplostemonous specimens to Styrax. The floral envelopes 

 equally vary from four to seven in both, even in the same species ; the general confor- 

 mation of the pistil is similar ; the uniserial stamens, monadelphous below, and even 

 the beard on the inner foce of the filaments, are equally points of resemblance ; while 

 the freedom of the andrcecium from the corolla, both organs being hypogynous, has 

 its counterpart in Styrax Benzoin and some other species. | 



* Adr. Jussieu, Mem. Meliac. t. 15, f. 6, and t. 17, 18, &,c. 

 t The completed character of the genus is subjoined : — 



VAViEA, Benlh. 



Calyx 4-7-fidus, persistens : lobis triangulari-ovatis sestivatione leviter imbricatis. Petala lobis calycis nu- 

 mero Eequalia, hypogyna, ligulato-oblonga, utrinquc sericeo-puberula, rostivatione convoliito-inibricata, deci- 

 dua. Stamina numero potalorum dupla vel sropius tripla aut subtripla, ab iis libera : filamenta plana, linearia, 

 basi glabra in tubum disco hypogyno cupuliformi tenui adnatum monadelpha, superne libera, intus barbato- 

 villosissima, apice acuto antheram bilocularem (loculis longitudinaliter dehiscentibus) introrsam fere basifixam 

 gerentia. Pollen globosum. Ovarium ovoideum, basi lata sessile, 3- 4-loculare : stylus columnaris : stigma 

 peltatum, 3- 4-radiatum. Ovula in loculis gemina, angulo central! prope basim inserta, coUateralia, adsccn- 

 dentia, subamphitropa ; micropyle supera. Bacca globosa, 3 - 4-locularis. Scmina in loculis abortu solilaria 

 rariusve bina, ovalia, adscendentia, exarillata ; testa la:vi cliartacea ; hilo lincari clialaza? magnro basiiari prox- 

 imo ; rhaphe brevissima. Albumen nullum. Cotyledones carnosoe, plano-convexoB, suborbiculares, sinu 

 profundo cordatae, radiculam gracilem superam prorsus includentes. — Arbuscula glabella ; foliis simplicibus 

 integerrimis alternis obovato-oblongis obsoletissimc punctalis ; stipulis nuUis; pedunculis axillaribus multi- 

 floris ; floribus cymosis parvulis (forte polygamis). 



Vavcea, Benth. in Loud. Jour. Bof. 2. p. 212 ; Gray, Bot. Phanerog. U. S. Expl. Expcd. 1. p. 244, t. 16. 



I Endlicher (Gen. p. 743), following Jussieu, assigns to Shjrax a free calyx and a perigynous corolla ; — 

 two characters which I have not found to coexist in this genus. Alph. De Candolle, following Richard (in 

 Michaux, Fl. 2. p. 41), describes the base of the calyx-tube as adherent to the base of the ovary, which is 

 the case in the North American species, and most others. Zucoarini (Fl. Japon. 1. p. 54, t. 23), indeed, de- 

 scribes and figures S. Japonicum, a species of the same group as the North American ones, with both the 



