PLANTS JAVANICiE RARIORES. G19 



most remarkable circumstance in his character of Sterculiece, 

 is his describing the embryo as erect, which, if I rightly 

 interpret his meaning, although applicable to a few species, 

 is directly contrary to the more usual structure. Sterculia 

 as a genus he distinguishes from Heritiera by the existence 

 of albumen, which, however, is not universally present, and 

 dehiscence of the follicles ; the direction of embryo is not 

 noticed in his characters of either of these two genera. 



In 1827 M. Auaruste de St. Hilaire, in the < Plantes 

 Usuelles des Brasiliens,' gives, appended to his account of a 

 supposed new species of Sterculia, an improved character of 

 the genus, though in this character he describes the albu- 

 men as a coat of the seed ; the " embryon antitrope ' is 

 considered as common to the whole genus. In the remarks 

 that follow he supports Linnseus's account of his classifi- 

 cation of the genus, in opposition to the observations of 

 Jussieu which he refers to, but which he does not seem to 

 be aware were adopted from Cavanilles, and perhaps also 

 from Forskael, with whom a similar account originated. 



In the same year he published a Livraison of his ' Flora 

 Brasilia^ Meridionalis/ in which work, as in the 'Plantes 

 Usuelles/ owing to the state of his health, he was assisted by 

 MM. Adrien de Jussieu and Cambessedes. In the ' Flora 

 Brasilise ' 1 an enlarged, and in many respects improved 

 character is given of Sterculia, of which the principal dif- 

 ference from that in the ' Plantes Usuelles ' is, his admit- 

 ting the existence of albumen divided into two equal seg- 

 ments, which, he correctly states, frequently cohere with 

 the corresponding cotyledons, the first distinct notice I 

 believe of that remarkable economy : he states also, that 

 where the seeds are ascendent, the radicle of the embryo 

 points to the hilum, and where they are transverse, in the 

 diametrically opposite direction. His character, therefore, 

 of the genus is so framed as to include every species of 

 Sterculia of DeCandolle, as far as the author was acquainted 

 with their structure. It will hereafter appear, however, 

 that neither is the existence of albumen universal, nor is 



1 Vol. i. p. 277. 



