Miscellaneous. 301 



those of a Dianthus, and who described them as borne within a ghi- 

 niaceous involucre. From this same resemblance, G. Baiihin placed 

 the AjjhijUanthes in his section Canjophyllus sylvestris, under the 

 name of CaryophyUus cceruleus monspeliensis. 



Tourncfort established the genus Aphyllnnthes, placing it in the 

 class of LUiacea, and considering the involucre as a scaly and nearly 

 tubular calyx ; he gave a plate containing an analysis of the flower 

 and even of the capsule. Linnseus retained the genus Aphyllanthes, 

 and ui the first editions of his 'Genera Plantarum,' it is placed beside 

 the genus J?<«CM5 ; for Linnseus regarded the Aphyllanthes as nearly 

 a rush, saying in the observations upon this plant, " Junciis esset si 

 corolla careref." 



In the ' Genera Plantarum ' of Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu, 

 Aphyllanthes is arranged in the first section of the order of Junci, 

 in which we also find the genera Eriocaulon, Restio, Xyris, and 

 Juncus, each of which has since been raised to the rank of a family. 



DeCandoUe continued to regard the Ajihyllanthes as a plant 

 belonging to the family Juncece, although with him this family had 

 not the same limits as with Jussieu. This opinion has been followed 

 by several recent botanists, — as by Ventenat, Bartling, Reichenbach, 

 and others. 



Labillardicre ha^■ing discovered the genus Borya in New Holland, 

 an"angcd it also amongst the JuncecB, as it is allied to Aphyllanthes; 

 but Mr. Robert Brown, m his celebrated ' Prodromus,' whilst re- 

 marking that the aspect of Borya is that of a rush, indicated the 

 differences existing between the testa and alhumen of the seeds and 

 those of the Juncece ; this led him to arrange Borya in the family 

 of the Asphodelece, which, with him, includes a great part of the 

 Asphodeli and Asparagi of Jussieu. 



Endlicher, in his 'Genera Plantarnm,' Tplaced Ajjhyllanthes, Borya, 

 Johnsonia, Laxma?inia, and a new genus which he calls Alania, at the 

 end of the LiliacecB, considering them as genera allied to the Asphodels 

 {genera Asphodeleis affinia) ; this has been followed by Kuuth and 

 Schnitzleiu ; and the latter has formed for these plants a tribe of 

 LiliacecB wliich he calls Juncopsidece. Thus, three different opinions 

 now exist as to the family in which the Aphyllanthes should be 

 placed : according to one of these it is a rush ; according to another, 

 an Asphodel ; and the third approximates it to the Asphodels or the 

 LUies, according to the extension given to the limits of the great 

 family Liliacece. 



Few have, however, carefully studied the Apihyllanthes mons- 

 pelierisis in the living state, at least to judge from the publislied 

 figures and descriptions, which are partially false. In the researches 

 upon the monocotyledonous plants, which I have followed for several 

 years, I have examined the Aphyllanthes, which presents a singular 

 structure, especially in the parts of the flower. Tlie most remarkable 

 characters of the jjlant are the following : — 



1. A rhizome with branches in the form of leafless stems. 



2. Solitary flowers, or flowers united two or three together, borne 

 at the apex of the branches, and accompanied by scale-like bracts. 



