Finlayana:. N. O. Ternstroemiacea?. 



TAB. CCLIII. 



VlSNIA MOCANERA. L. 



Mocanera Canariensis, Juss. DictrSc. Nat. v. 31. J9. 505. 

 Has. Canary islands; whence Dr Kirkman Finlay brought the 

 specimen here figured. It inhabhs the Laurel region, accord- 



ing to Mr Webby who notices it among those plants of the 

 Canaries **qui sont des monotypes des genus qui n*ont pas 

 encore des analogues." 

 irw^^^glaberrimus. ^awzjuniores^angulati, fusci. Folia alterna, 

 perennantia, subcoriacea, brevl-petiolata, elliptico-lanceolata, 

 obtusa, obsolete serrata, nervosa, nervis indistinctis. Pedunculi 

 axillares, bini, breves, recurvati, uniflori. Calyx profunde 

 5-partitus, basi bibracteatus, segmentis ovalibus, obtusis, sub- 

 scabris. Petala 5, obovata, obtusa, patentia, basi coah'ta 

 staminifera. Stam. 20, petalis breviora. Filamenta nuda, 

 libera; Antlierce basi affixae, ovatse, longe acuminatse, ad 

 margines longitudinaliter dehiscentes. Ovarium ovatum, basi 

 constrictum, obscure 10-angulatuni,pilosum,3-loculare; loculis 

 biovulatis, ovulis pendentibus. Styli 3, filiformes, suberecti. 

 Stigmata obtusa. 



The fruit I have not seen. It has been by some writers sup* 

 posed to be the *^ Mocan'' of the Guanches, or ancient inhabi- 

 tants of the Canaries, who made a kind of syrup of it, which was 

 much used with their, daily food and in medicine: hence the 

 specific name applied to it by Linnaeus. But Bory de St 

 Vincent seems to think that the fruit of the Carob-tree, or of the 

 Myrica Foya^ was the famous Mocan. We doubt not but that 

 Mr P. B. Webb will discuss the subject with his usual ability, 

 in a forthcoming number of his valuable work on the Canary 

 Isles. The place of the Genus in the natural arrangement has 

 been much questioned; indeed the plant is known, we apprehend, 

 to very few Botanists : but it seems rightly referred to 2er«- 



strcemiacece. 



Fig. 1. Flower. /- 2. Corolla. / 3. The same laid open. 

 f. 4. Stamens. / 5. Pistil. / 6. The ovary cut through verti- 

 cally. J\ 7. The same cut through transversely, f. 8. Ovules : 

 magnijied. 



