214 



GENTIANE^l. XLVI. DESFONTAINIA. XLVII. PALLADIA. BIGNONIACEA). 



and quite entire at the base, with spiny-toothed margins ; teeth 

 large, 7-14 in number. Calyx glabrous, hardly shorter than the 

 peduncles. Corolla 4 times longer than the calyx. Berries 

 white, size of cherries. 



.Spiny-toothed leaved Desfontainia. Shrub 1 feet. 



2 D. PARVIFOLIA (D. Don, in edinb. phil. journ. July, Sept. 

 1831.) ribs of leaves pilose beneath; calycine segments oval, 

 ciliated. Pj . G. Native of Peru, on the mountains at Munna, 

 Ruiz. D. spinosa, Ruiz, herb, but not of fl. per. A much 

 branched, compact, evergreen shrub, with quadrangular branches ; 

 angles prominent. Leaves cuneated, 5-7-toothed, rarely tri- 

 cuspidate, shining above ; teeth spiny. Bracteas connate at the 

 base, having the edges and ribs pilose. Lobes of corolla ciliated. 

 Stigma furnished with 4 tubercles, pruinose. 



Small-leaved Desfontainia. Shrub 5-10 feet. 



Cult. The species of Desfontainia are shrubs worth cultivat- 

 ing in every collection, for the elegance of their foliage, as 

 well as the brilliancy of their flowers. We would recommend 

 them to be grown in pots filled with a mixture of peat, loam, 

 and sand, if they ever should be introduced to our gardens. 

 Young cuttings will probably strike root in sand under a bell- 

 glass. 



XLVII. PALLA'DIA (meaning unknown to us.) Lam. ill. t. 

 285. Blackwellia, Gartn. fruct. 2. t. 117. 



LIN. SYST. Octdndria, Monogynia. Calyx funnel-shaped, 

 coloured ; with a short tube, and 4 obovate segments. Corolla 

 funnel-shaped ; tube long, with 8 plaits ; limb in 8 oblong seg- 

 ments. Stamens 8, united to the tube of the corolla for more 

 than half its length, permanent : anthers unknown. Ovaria 2 ; 

 style simple, compressed, situated between the ovaria, and parallel 

 to them, and connected with their base; its edges finely-toothed ; 

 stigmas 2, spreading. Capsules 2, club-shaped, prismatic, erect, 

 parallel, close together, membranous, stiff, obscurely angular 

 at one side, and marked with a deep furrow on the other, each 

 of 1-cell, and 2 finally spiral valves. Seeds numerous, minute, 

 roundish, rather angular ; placentas spongy, as long as the cap- 

 sule, to the edges of whose valves, at the furrowed side, it is 

 attached, being marked there by a similar furrow ; while its 

 other side is convex, and its whole surface rough with minute 

 tubercles. 



1 P. ANTARCTICA (Lam. I. c. Smith, in Rees' cycl.) Native 

 at Cape Horn. ? 



Antarctic Palladia. PI. small. 



Cult. For culture and propagation see Gentiana, p. 183. 



ORDER CLVIII. BIGNONIA'CEjE. R. Br. prod. p. 470. 

 H. B, et Kunth. nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 132. D. Don, in edinb. 

 phil. journ. July, sept. 1823. Bignonise, sect. II. Juss. gen. 

 139. edit. Usteri, p. 154. 



Calyx divided or entire, sometimes spathaceous. Corolla 

 monopetalous, hypogynous, usually irregular, with a 4-5-lobed 

 limb. Stamens 5 ; filaments unequal, 4 of which usually 

 bear anthers, and sometimes only 2 of them, seldom all fer- 

 tile, therefore there are either 1 or 3 of them sterile ; an- 

 thers 2-celled ; cells equal in insertion, usually divaricate. 

 Ovarium girded by a glandular disk, 2-celled, or falsely 4- 

 celled, many-seeded. Style 1 ; stigma bilamellate. Capsule 

 2-valved, 2-celled, sometimes falsely 4-celled ; dissepiment 

 parallel or contrary, at length free, bearing the seeds at the com- 

 missures with the valves. Seeds transversely foliaceous, com- 

 pressed. Albumen none. Embryo straight, foliaceous ; with a 



centrifugal radicle. Trees or shrubs often twining or climbing. 

 Leaves opposite, rarely alternate, usually compound, rarely 

 simple, exstipulate. Inflorescence terminal and axillary, some- 

 what panicled. 



This is readily distinguished from the allied orders, in the 

 fruit, structure, and placentation of the seeds. The showy, 

 trumpet-shaped flowers of all the species render them objects of 

 admiration. The greater number of them are tropical. Tecoma 

 is a hardy, climbing shrub, of great beauty when in blossom ; 

 and the species of Jacardnda are resplendent with blue or 

 purple flowers, and elegant supra-decomposed leaves, which 

 emulate those of Acacia. The wood is said to resist the attack 

 of worms. Nothing is known of their qualities. 



Among the numerous tribes of vegetables which people the 

 regions of equinoxial America, the Blgnoniacece hold a distin- 

 guished rank, whether as regarded for the beauty of their flowers, 

 and the diversity of their forms, which give to the vegetation 

 peculiar features, or as objects highly deserving the attention and 

 investigation of the botanist. Perhaps in no tribe of plants, does 

 the form of vegetation assume such variety as in this family. 

 In the beautiful genus Jacardnda are contained the loftiest trees 

 to be met with either in this or any of the neighbouring orders. 

 These splendid trees, which are entirely wanting in the ancient 

 continents, form one of the brightest ornaments of the forests of 

 tropical America. The genus Bignonia, as constituted by 

 Linnaeus, contained an assemblage of plants, which, generically 

 considered, were widely different from each other. To Jussieu 

 we are indebted for having set us an example worthy of imita- 

 tion, by his judicious division of this overgrown genus. It is the 

 great advantage which a natural system possesses over all artifi- 

 cial methods in the studying of vegetables, that it teaches us to 

 examine and group them according to their respective affinities ; 

 and to give to the different parts their relative importance, in 

 characterizing genera. Willdenow, and almost all those bota- 

 nists who have followed the Linnsean artificial method of classi- 

 fication, have left the genus Bignonia untouched, without even 

 adopting the important divisions proposed by M. de Jussieu. 



Synopsis of the genera. 

 TRIBE I. 



BIGNONIE'*. Capsule 2-valved, 2-celled. sometimes falsely 

 4-celled. Dissepiment parallel or contrary to the valves, at 

 length free, bearing the seeds at the commissures with the 

 valves. Seeds transverse, compressed, winged on the margins. 



1 . Stamens 4, didymous, with the rudiment of a sterile one. 



1 BIGNONIA. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla with a short tube, 

 a campanulate throat, and a 5-lobed limb. Stamens 4, didy- 

 namous, with a fifth sterile one. Lobes of anthers divaricate. 

 Capsule silique-formed ; dissepiment parallel. 



2 SPATIIODEA. Calyx spathaceous, cleft on one side, and 

 toothed or entire on the other. Corolla funnel-shaped, with a 

 5-lobed, somewhat bilabiate limb. Stamens 4, didynamous, 

 with a fifth sterile one. Lobes of anthers divaricate. Capsule 



