Mr. J. Miers on the genus Lycium. 185 



inserted about the middle of the tube, and are hirsute towards 

 the base, smooth above, reaching the extremities of the border- 

 segments*. 



*** Staminibus imo fascicula pilorum barbatis. Sp. 43 ad 47. 



43. Lyciwnvulga?-e,Dxma\ in DC.Prodr.xiii.509,cum omn.synon. 

 ibi citat. Lycium Chinense, Miller, Dunal in DC. ibidem, 510, 

 cum suis respectivis synon. Lycium megistocarpum, Dunal, 

 ibid, cum synon. Lycium subglobosum, Dunal, ibid. Lycium 

 Cochinchinense, Lour. ; Dunal ut sujjra citat; — fruticosum, 

 erectum, glabrum, inerme, vel ssepe sparse spinosum, ramulis 

 angulatis, virgatis, arcuato-nutantibus ; foliis subalternis, 

 rarius fasciculatis, ovatis, vel ellipticis, apice subacutis, vel 

 obtusis, imo cuneatis, vel in petiolum tenuem spathulatis, 

 junioribus lanceolatis : floribus ex axillis solitariis, aut 2 ad 

 6, pedicello filiformi, nore longiori, calyce tubulari, breviter 

 5-dentato, ssepe in laciniis 2-3 rupto, glabro, textura tenui, 

 dentibus margine subciliatis, corolla? tubo imo coarctato, mox 

 infundibuliformi, limbi laciniis oblongis, striato-reticulatis, 

 violaceis, expansis, tubo fere sequilongis ; staminibus 5, fere 

 sequalibus, exsertis, filamentis in tubi constrictionem insertis, 

 hinc geniculatis et glabris, mox fascicula densa pilorum bar- 

 batis, superne glabris et filiformibus, apice laciniarum attin- 

 gentibus : bacca rubro-aurantiaca, ovata, vel conico-oblonga, 

 seepe incurva, calyce fisso suffulta. — Ubique in Europa australi, 

 Africa et Asia, prsesertim in China. — v. s. in herb, variis, spe- 

 cim. plurimis ex Europa. In herb. Hook., China {Fortune, 48 

 et 57). Loo-choo (Beechey). 



On comparing original specimens from China with those of 

 European growth and those of Western Asia, I cannot detect 

 the smallest essential difference between them ; and on examining 

 carefully all the details registered concerning the various species 

 above comprehended in this one, I cannot discover any character 

 that can possibly separate them, except such small variations in 

 the shape of the leaves as we frequently meet with in the same 

 specimen : in the length and number of the peduncles, the form 

 of the calyx, the structure of the corolla, and especially of the 

 stamens, and in the size, shape, and colour of the fruit, they 

 closely resemble one another : under such circumstances it ap- 

 pears to me desirable to unite them all under one common spe- 

 cific character. The observation of M. Dunal almost confirms 

 this, for he states that this species has in all likelihood been in- 

 troduced into Europe from the East, which is rendered more 



* This species is shown (loc. cit.) plate 7^ A. 



