262 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Brachistns. 



brauHceous, with numerous seeds attached on each side. The 

 ovarium is also surrounded at its base by a distinct annular disc, 

 and is not seated simply upon a fleshy torus as in Acnistus. 

 These plants appear to me closely allied to the Physalis arbo- 

 rescens, Willd, which, on account of its arborescent habit and its 

 different form of flower, I propose to separate from that genus 

 and attach to this group. They may thus be made to constitute 

 a distinct genus under the name of Brachistus, from ^pd')(^LcrTO<;, 

 brevissiinus, on account of the shortness of the tube of their 

 corolla. As lochroma (which I have made to include Chmiesthes) 

 differs from Acnistus principally in the length of the tube of its 

 corolla, so Brachistus on the other hand is not less distinct from 

 that genus on account of the extreme shortness of the tube of 

 the corolla, and its deeply cleft rotate border. This genus will 

 first include all the species of Witheringia of Prof. Kunth (of 

 which I will give below amended characters) with the exception 

 of W. riparia, which from its infundibuliform corolla is evidently 

 an Acnistus, and W. angustifolia, which from its racemose blue 

 flowers and other characters evidently does not belong to this 

 genus, appertaining more probably to the same group as Solanum 

 montanum. For the same reason are excluded the W. crassifolia, 

 Dun., and W. pendula, R. and Sch. The IF. salicifolia, Hook., 

 is a Capraria according to Mr. Bentham, although it offers re- 

 gular pentandrous flowers : it evidently belongs to the genus 

 Xuaresia of R. and P. : the six herbaceous species of Witheringia 

 of Dunal and Sprengel enumerated by Dr. Walpers (Repert. iii. 

 pp. 31, 32), as I have before remarked, appear to me to belong to 

 Solanum. The following I consider to be its generic characters : 



Brachistus (gen. nov.). — Calyx parvus, urceolatus, margine 

 integro, vel rarius 4-5-dentato, persistens et non augescens. 

 Corolla subrotata, tubo brevi, limbo 4-5-partito, lobis oblongis 

 acutis, ^stivatione valvata. Stamina 4—5, erecta ; filamenta 

 imo subdilatata, paulo supra basin corollse adnata ; antherce 

 oblongse, submucronulatse, 2-lob?e, lobis arete adnatis margine 

 exteriore dehiscentibus. Ovarium ovatum, disco annulari imo 

 cinctum, 2-loculare, dissepimento tenui utrinque in placentam 

 membranaceam bifidam ovuligeram producto, ovulis plurimis. 

 Stylus simplex, longitudine staminum. Stigma clavatum, sub- 

 2-lobum. Bacca parva, globosa, calyce parvulo suffulta, 2- 

 locularis. Semina compressa, in pulpo aquoso nidulantia, 

 subleuticularia, testa aspero-scrobiculata ; cjetera ignota. — Ar- 

 bores vel frutices Americoe^quinoctialis: folia alterna velsapius 

 gemina, altera multo minori et heteromorjiho, subintegra vel an- 

 gulato-dentata ; flores axillares, fasciculato-congesti, perpauci, 

 vel rarius solitarii, pedicellis 1-floris, gracilibiis, ercctis, demum 

 cernuis. 



