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PLANTjE WRIGIITIAN^. 



29 



consists of very sliort bristly hairs from a papillose base, The flowers, &c. are 

 nearly as in M. sempervirens ; except that the petals are not erose-denticulatc, but 

 are minutely ciliolate under a lens, with a pubescence much like that of the leaves, 

 though finer and apparently glandular, and which also covers their surface ; the 

 disk is not lobed nor manifestly repand ; the fruit is rather shorter, and so is the 

 style. The oblong cotyledons are, perhaps, less fleshy. 



ScH.EFFERiA cuNEiFOLiA, Gvay, Pl. WngJit. p. 35. Stony prairies, from the San 

 Felipe to the San Pedro, Western Texas ; May, in fruit. (028. 



Pachystima Myrsinites, Raf. ; Gray, Pl. Fendl. p. 29. Mountain-sides, at the 

 copper mines, New Mexico ; Oct, in flower. (929.) 



GLOSSOPETALON, Nov. Gcn. 



Flores hermaphroditi. Calyx profunde 5-fidus, persistens; lobis ovatis obtusis 

 sestivatione imbricatis. Petala 5, lineari-ligulata, calyce multo longiora, sub mar- 

 gine undulato-10-crcnulato glanduloso disci tenuis perigyni inserta, marcescentia. 

 Stamina 10, sinubus disci inserta, calyce breviora : iilamenta subulata : antlierie 

 didymce, mutic^e, filamento ^equilongse, loculis longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ova- 

 rium liberum, ovoideum, obliquum, apice acutum, stigmate sessili orbiculato deprcs- 

 so simplicissimo coronatum, uniloculare. Ovula 2, e basi fere loculi erccta, sub- 

 collateralia, anatropa. Fructus oblique ovoideus ^'el oblongus, apiculatus, coriaceus, 

 multistriatus, 1 -"2-spermus, tandem bivalvis ] Semen obovoideum, comx^ressiuscu- 

 lum, liilo exciso arillo parvo carunculseformi bilobo munitum; testa lccvi crustaceo. 

 (Embryo liaud visus.) — Frutex 2 - ^-pedalis, ramosissimus, glaber ; ramis viridibus 

 striatis spinescentibus ; foliis alternis oblongo-Iinearibus spathulatisve integerrimis 

 parvis, vel ramulorum florif. ad squamulas subulatas minimas reductis; stipulis 

 nullis ; floribus albis secus ramulos sparsis axillaribus breviter pedunculatis. 



Glossopetalon spinescens. (TAB. XII. B.) — In a mountain ravine near Fron- 

 tera, New Mexico ; April. (1347.) — The general aspect of this singular shrub is 

 so nearly that of Adolphia infesta, that It was mistaken for it by Mr. Wright, and 

 therefore was only sparingly gathered, in flower, with a few immature fruits. It is 

 to be hoped that the botanists of the Boundary Commission will yet obtain it in 

 greater abundance and perfection. The detailed character given above will show 

 that it belongs to an entirely new genus, and probably to tlie order Celastraceae. 

 To tliis order I venture to refer it, notwithstanding two decidedly exceptional 

 characters, namely, the stamens of twice the number of the petals, and the strictly 

 simple pistil. The fruit, whicli is probably dehiscent at maturity, is a good deal 

 like one of the sepai-ate carpels of Euscaphis staphyla^oides, although niany times 

 smaller (only two lines in lengtli) ; and the seed resembles that of Staphyla?a, except 

 that it is appendaged at the hilum with a small, rather fleshy arillus. In these 

 respects, therefore, (but in no other,) our plant appears to be intermediate between 

 Celastracea? and Stapliyleacese. Ordinarily only one seed matures ; but in a speci- 

 men gathered by Dr» Bigelow, two full-grown (superposed) seeds are occasionally 

 found. In none have I found a perfect embryo. In the few secds examincd, tliere 

 is a bulge of the crustaccous testa on eacli side, whicli corresponds to a dcfined 



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PL. WR. 0, 



