272 Ml- D. Don on the Characters and Affinities 



necting link between the Eupatorece and Lahiatiflorcc. The Lia- 

 iridece, in which the accurate Richard thought he had remarked 

 a peculiarity in the stigmata sufficient to separate them as a 

 distinct group, must likewise be reduced to the Eupatorece; 

 for there is not any thing, either in the form or structure of 

 their stigmata, differing from the normal group of that fa- 

 mily. While on this subject, I may mention a remarkable fact, 

 apparently of universal application throughout Compositce, and 

 one which does not appear to have been before noticed, — name- 

 ly, that the stigmata of female flowers are uniformly smooth, 

 being destitute both of papillae or bristles, which are only to 

 be observed in those of hermaphrodite flowers, as is well ex- 

 emplified in Baccharis and Antennaria, and certain other ge- 

 nera, where the capitula are exclusively composed of female 

 flowers, and in Aster, &c. where the ligulate florets of the cir- 

 cumference only are female ; and it may be set down as an esta- 

 blished fact, that the presence of papillae on stigmata do not 

 necessarily prove their fertility ; for in Aster, the florets of the 

 disk rarely perfect seeds, although the stigmata are thickly be- 

 set with bristly papillae, while the female florets of the circum- 

 ference, with smooth stigmata, are uniformly fertile. These 

 smooth stigmata absorb the fecundating particles by means of 

 the numerous pores on their upper surface, which, in the early 

 stage of maturity, is always moistened with a glutinous fluid. 

 Haxtmiia *, however, is an exception to the above rule, as in 

 this the florets, both of the circumference and disk, are equally 

 fertile. 



" Haxtonia. — Involucnim polypliyllum, imbricatum. RecepUumlum subfa- 



vosum. Floiculi radii fbeniinei, ligulati, sligmatibus linearibus, obtusis, 

 sulco exaratis, margine incrassatis ! Isevibus ; disci hermaphroditi, tubu- 

 losi, 5-denlati. Filamenta articulo superiore brevissimo crassiore. An- 

 tlierce basi muticoe. Stigmata hermaphroditis crassa, obtusa, subclavata, 

 copiose papillosa, nee hispida. Aclienia sulcato-angulata. Pappi radiis 

 persistentibus, ajiice penicillatis. 

 I'rutices (Novse-Hollandite) sempervirentes, pule plerumque stellata vestiti. Fo- 

 lia alterna, subtiis tomentosa. Flores terminales, paniculati. Pappus scepe 

 rufescens. 

 Hue Aster argophyllus. Lab., viscosus, Lab., phlogopappus, Lab., stellulatus, 

 Lab., tomentosus, Willd, et Hort. Kew. 

 Obs. Joannes Haxton hortulanus peritus Legationi Macartneianse ad 



Chinam olim adjunetus. 

 Haxtonia noinen Asteri avgo\ihy\\o Bilkmlieri iMmum iniposuit b. Geor- 



gius Caley. 



