18 
REVISION OF THE NATURAL ORDER BIGNONIACE. 
By BerTHOLD Seemann, PH.D., P.L.S., F.R.G.S. 
The principal object of my revision of the Bignoniacee, previous to 
recasting and rearranging the whole Order, has been to bring the syno- 
nyms together, and make out the limits of the already established genera 
and species. With this view, I shall publish the results of my inves- 
tigations as the complete materials come to hand. 
TECOMARIA, Fenzl, Seem. 
Jussieu founded the genus Zecoma upon species (T. pentaphylla, 
radicans, and stans) offering three distinct types df generic structure ; 
and he derived the name from the Aztec word Zecomazxochitl, which I 
found out to mean a flower (wochitl) resembling a certain earthenware 
vessel (¢ecomatl), and which Jussieu believed to be applied by the 
Mexicans to several species of Bignoniacee. But neither T. pentaphylla 
nor T. radicans grow in the Mexican territory, hence the vernacular 
name could not apply to them; nor is it borne by 7. stans, the only 
Mexican species with which Jussieu was acquainted. Hernandez has 
furnished a rude figure and description of the Tecomacochitl, a plant 
with simple leaves, identical with Solandra guttata, Don. (Conf. Seem. 
Nomenclature of the American Flora, p. 45.) Thus, finding that no 
Bignoniacea has any genuine claim to the name Tecoma, and that if 
retained at all, T. pentaphylla has no more right to bear it than either 
T. radicans or T. stans, we violate no principle when we consult our 
convenience and give it to that type which represents the greatest num- 
ber of species (viz. T. pentaphylla), especially as, in doing so, we escape — 
the necessity of coining new names for the other genera which it will 
be necessary to restore or establish, viz.— 
* Monostictides, 
l. Tecomaria, Fenzl (type: Tecomaria Capensis, Fenzl, = Bignonia 
Capensis, "Thunb. = Tecoma Capensis, Lindl). Erect shrubs with 
imparipinnate leaves, inhabiting America, and naturalized in the Old 
World. 
2, Stenolobium, D. Don, non Bth. (type: Stenolobium castaneafolium, 
D. Don, = Tecoma stans, Juss.). Erect shrubs with imparipinnate 
leaves, inhabiting America. 
3. Tecomella, Seem. (type: Tecomella undulata, Seem. = Tecoma 
