Dichroa.] saxifragacejs. 129 



to vary from 5 to 6 and very rarely 7. To each petal are two stamens, one alternating and 

 erect in the bud, the other opposite and inflected in the bud, and I have sometimes seen 

 an additional 1 or 2 stamens in the flower. Loureiro's character, to which attention has 

 recently been called by Planchon, is good, with the exception of the number of stamens, 

 which may be easily explained ; and I have therefore, after the example of Miquel, adopted 

 his name as the oldest. 



2. ITEA, Linn. 



Calyx free, short, 5-lobed. Petals 5, perigynous, valvate in the bud. Sta- 

 mens 5, perigynous. Ovary 2-celled, free. Ovules in 2 series near the axis. 

 Style simple, splitting at length into 2. Stigma capitate or 2-lobed. Fruit 

 a capsule, separating septicidally into 2 carpels, which open inside by a lon- 

 gitudinal fissure. Seeds linear, acuminate at both ends, with albumen. — 

 Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, without stipules. Flowers in simple 

 racemes. 



A genus of few species, from central and eastern Asia and North America. 



1. I. chinensis, Hook, and Am. Bot. Beech, t. 39 ; Hook. fit. in Joum. 

 Linn. Soc. ii. 77. A shrub, either wholly glabrous or with a slight tomentum 

 on the young branches and racemes. Leaves obovate or oval-oblong, usually 

 shortly acuminate, about 3 in. long, entire or slightly serrate, elegantly marked 

 with transverse veins between the principal pinnate ones. Flowers white, 

 about 1^ lines long, on pedicels scarcely as long, in dense axillary racemes, 

 seldom exceeding the leaves. Calyx- teeth or lobes not half so long as the 

 erect petals. Capsules 3 to 4 lines long, surrounded at the base by the per- 

 sistent calyx-teeth. 



In the Happy Valley, Champion and others. Also on the continent of S. China and in 

 the Khasia hills. The I. macrophylla, Wall., from the Himalaya, is also nearly allied, but 

 has much larger leaves, more slender racemes, the petals reflexed from a little below the 

 middle, the capsules shorter, and the calycine teeth wear off, leaving a prominent ring a little 

 above the base of the capsule. 



3. DROSEEA, Linn. 



Sepals 5, or very rarely 4, 6, or 7, free from the ovary but shortly united 

 at the base. Petals and stamens as many, hypogynous or slightly perigynous. 

 Ovary 1 -celled, with 3 to 5 parietal placentas, and several ovules to each. 

 Styles as many as placentas, but sometimes divided to the base so as to ap- 

 pear twice the number. Capsule 1 -celled, opening in 3 to 5 valves bearing 

 the placentas in their centre. Seeds several, with albumen. — Herbs with a 

 short perennial stock, sometimes lengthening out into leafy stems. Leaves 

 either radical or alternate, more or less covered with long glandular hairs or 

 bristles. Peduncles radical or axillary, terminating in a simple or forked one- 

 sided spike. 



A considerable genus, found in nearly all parts of the world where there are bogs. It is 

 the type of a group of genera, or Suborder, usually classed as an independent Order among 

 Thalamijlora, but which is really very closely allied to the herbaceous genera of Saxifragacece. 



Styles 5, undivided. Leaves broad, with a short petiole 1. D. Burmanni. 



Styles apparently 6, really 3, divided to the base. Leaves narrow- 



cuneate, with rather a long petiole 2. D. Loureiri. 



1. D. Burmanni, Vahl ; Planch, in Ann. Sc. Nat. Par. ser. 3, ix. 190 ; 

 Wight, Ic. t. 944, Ilhistr. tf, 20. Leaves radical, rosulate, obovate, spathu- 



K 



