272 OBSERVATIONS OK PLANTS 



usual sources of distinction are less available, might be 

 noticed. 



Hesperis nitens of Yiviani is sparingly in the herba- 

 rium, both in flower and fruit. The seeds, though not ripe, 

 are sufficiently advanced to show that the direction of 

 the cotyledons is in this stage accumbent ; and, as I have 

 found in Cruciferse generally that the ultimate agrees with 

 the early state of cotyledons, I conclude they are likewise ac- 

 cumbent in the ripe seed. The plant is also abundantly 

 different from Hesperis in other respects, and does not 

 appear to be referable to any genus yet published. This 

 new genus'* I have dedicated to the memory of Dr. Oudney, 

 who found the present species in many of the wadeys 

 betAveen Tripoli and ]\lourzuk, and remarks that camels 

 and mules eat it. 



220] Hesperis ramosissima, which is also in the herbarium, 

 was found in Pezzan. This plant differs in aspect from 

 most of the otlier species of Hesperis, approaching in some 

 points to Malcomia, in others to Mathiola ; and as its coty- 

 ledons are very obhquely incumbent, it may form a section 

 or subgenus, with a name, Hesperis (Plagiloba) ramosissima, 

 indicating that character. 



Capparide^, of which eight species occur in the col- 

 lection, is the family next to be noticed. I consider this 

 order as belonging to the same natural class with Cruciferse ; 

 and that this class includes also Resedaceae, Papaverace^, 

 and Fumariacese. 



M. De Candolle, in defining Capparidese, appears to 



1 OUDNEYA. 



Chae. Gex. Cal^x clausus, basi bisaccatus. TUamenta distincla, cdcnlula. 

 Stigmata conua^a apicibus distinct is. Siliqna sessilis linearis rostrata, valvis 

 plauis miinerviis, funiculis adnatis, septo aveuio areolarum parieiibus sub- 

 parallelis. ^SV^/z/if uniseriatia. Cotyledones accumbentes. 



SufFrutex (O. Africana nob. Hesperis iiitens, Viv. lib. p. 38, tab. 5, /. 3), 

 glaberrimus, ratnosus. Eolia integerrima sessilia avenia, wfericra oborata, supe- 

 rior a siiblinearia. ^^CQ.m\iermi/iaIes,ebracteati. Eiores mediocris magnitt'.dinis, 

 pefalomm taminis obovatis vowsis. 



Obs. Oudneya ab Arabidi difTert stigmatis forma, siliqure rostro, et dis- 

 sepimenti areolarum figura. Parrya ad quam genus nostrum accedit diversa 

 est dissepimeuto binervi venoso ! calyce baud clauso, siliquae forma, et semiui- 

 bus biseriatis testa corrugata. 



