500 lx. samydace.e (masters). [Byrsanthus. 



cemose ; rachis twice the length of the petiole. Flower-tube cup- 

 shaped, longer than the 5 deltoid valvate downy calyx -lobes. Petals 5 

 ovate, acute, very thick, valvate or slightly infolded at the margins, 

 hooded at the apex, spreading slightly, exceeding the sepals. Fila- 

 ments rather shorter than the petals, thread-like, incurved and often 

 spirally twisted in aestivation : anthers globose, didymous ; connective 

 slightly prolonged. Ovary completely adherent -to the flower-tube, 

 1-celled, many-ovuled; styles 5, awl-shaped, distinct to the base, and 

 shorter than the stamens. 



Upper Guinea. Gambia, Park. 



Lower Guinea. Congo, Chr. Smith! 



This no doubt is the plant intended by Brown, as it occurs in Prof. Smith's herba- 

 rium. It differs from the preceding in the spreading petals, completely inferior ovary, 

 and other minor points. I have not seen Park's specimen, but judging from the habitat 

 I consider it possible that that may belong to the former species, which is known to be 

 a native of the Gambia. 



Order LXI. LOASEiE. (By Dr. Maxwell T. Masters.) 



Flowers regular, dichlamydeous, hermaphrodite. Flower-tube adnate 

 to the ovary, 10-ribbed ; limb 5-lobed ; lobes persistent. Petals 10, in 

 two rows, perigynous. Stamens indefinite, arranged in five parcels ; 

 anthers 2-celled, introrse, opening longitudinally ; staminodes petaloid 

 or none. Ovary inferior, 3-celled, free at the apex; style filiform. 

 Ovules solitary in each cell of the ovary (in the African species), ana- 

 tropal, pendulous from the apex of the cavity} Fruit dry, 1-3-celled, 

 1— 3-seeded. Seed exalbuminous ; embryo straight ; radicle superior ; 

 cotyledons flat, thick. — Bristly undershrubs or (climbing) herbs, with 

 flowers in cymes. 



A family the whole of whose species are natives of Tropical and subtropical America, 

 except the one hereunder described. 



1. KISSENIA, R. Br. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 803. 



Flower-tube bristly, 10-ribbed ; limb 5-parted ; lobes leafy, oblong, 

 persistent, and enlarged in fruit. Petals 10, deciduous, attached in two 

 rows to the throat of the flower-tube, 5 outer alternate with the sepals, 

 roundish or obovate, concave, slightly keeled at the back; 5 inner 

 smaller, opposite to the sepals, linear-oblong, bent in the middle. 

 Stamens numerous, in five phalanges ? inserted with the petals ; fila- 

 ments thread-like ; anthers didymous. Ovary inferior, 3-celled. Ovules 

 1 in each cell, pendulous from the apex. Style filiform, spirally twisted 

 near the top. Fruit bristly, 10-ribbed, surmounted by the persistent 

 calyx-lobes, 2-3-celled with fibrous partitions. Seed solitary in each 

 compartment, compressed or slightly convex on both surfaces; testa 

 membranous, veined, rough ; embryo straight ; cotyledons leafy, thick ; 

 radicle very short, superior. — An undershrub, covered with rough, 

 stinging bristles. Leaves exstipulate, alternate, stalked, irregularly 

 pinnately lobed. Flowers in terminal leafy cymes. — Fissenia (errore), 



