152 



PITTONIA 



E 



writer, with his advantnges of long residence in the regions 

 inhabited by these phants, is not yet acquninted with any 

 transitions between the capsules of DipJacus and those of 

 either Mimidus on the one hand, or Ennanns on the other; 

 and, during the five years which have elapsed siuce he pro- 

 posed the reinstatement of both these geuera,' he has met 

 with no facts not confirmative of the view then set forth. 



Mimuhis in all its several i)hases has its placeiitse (theo- 

 retically two) firmly, and in so far as I know permanently, 

 coherent, thus forming a central column in the midst of the 

 capsule, whose valves at first separate by a slight parting of 

 their edges at the natural suture, ultimately breaking away 

 irregularly and piecemeal from the placeutiferous central 

 axis. In Diplaciis there is no such axis. The firm valves, 

 parting at first only by the upper suture, lie open like a boat- 

 shaped follicle, each bearing its own distinct placenta, and 

 that with a broad thin spreading margin which almost 



conceals the seeds. That this pod, at first boat-shaped by a 

 partial dehiscence, is held in this shape by a tubercular 

 enlargement of the base of the style, I have stated in the 

 earlier paper cited in the foot-note. The close-fitting calyx 

 oi Diphicus is ruptured by the dehiscence of the pod. In 

 3Iiiuulus the calyx invests the capsules very loosely, and the 



capsules liave neither a texture nor a dehiscence to interfere 

 ivith the calvx. 



The corolla of Diplacus, though varying mucli in the differ- 

 ent species, has what may be called its own generic cut ; and 

 there is no approach to this general kind of configuration in 

 either Mimulus or Eunanus, though in both these genera, 

 each now embracing scores of species, there is great diversity 

 m respect to the shape of this organ. 



The vegetative characters of Diplacus are excellent ; and 

 there are no transitions to either of the aforenamed genera 

 through these. There are no shrubby, or even suffrutescent ' 



Bn\\. Calif. Acad. i. 94 & 96. 



