THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



[THIRD SERIES.] 

 No. 39. MARCH 1861. 



XIX. — Observations on the Bignoniacese. 

 By John Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. 



This beautiful family, the species of which impart a glory to the 

 tropical forests of both hemispheres, but more especially to those 

 of the New World, Has been hitherto imperfectly investigated, 

 and a more complete examination of the order is still a great 

 desideratum in the science of botany. It has occurred to me 

 that the few observations I made long ago upon several points 

 of structure in this order may be of use in the pursuit of such an 

 investigation ; and in this hope the following remarks are offered 

 as a small contribution towards that end. It is to be wished 

 that some able botanist would take the trouble to re-examine care- 

 fully all the materials existing in the principal herbaria, re-model 

 entirely the disposition of the order, determine the more essential 

 characters and limits of the genera, and identify the species : he 

 will find this labour amply rewarded by the interesting results 

 which such an investigation will assuredly afford. At the time 

 when Prof. Lindley published his 'Introduction ' (in 1836), he 

 remarked that the order " is in great confusion, and requires to 

 be carefully revised by some good botanist.^' The renowned 

 elder DeCaudolle made the first step towards this inquiry in his 

 * Revue des Bignoniacees,' in 1838, and again, on a more ex- 

 tended scale, in his ' Prodromus,' in 184-5 ; but the materials at 

 his command at that time seem to have been far from complete ; 

 consequently we there find the greater part of the individuals of 

 the family massed together in the genus Bignonia, all of which 

 require sifting and separating into their proper places. This 

 valuable contribution to the knowledge of the order in the 'Pro- 

 dromus' was enriched by many notes relating to structural 

 points of great importance, furnished by his eminent son. Prof. 

 A. DeCandolle. Few additions to our knowledge of the family 

 Ann. S^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. vii. 1 1 



