540 



CALYCANTHACE/E. 



[Perigynous Exogkns. 



Order CCVII. CALYCANTHACE^.— Calycanths. 



Calycanthese, Lindl. in Bot. Itrq.foL 404. (1S19) ; DC. Prodr. 3. 1. ; Endl. Gen. cclxxi. : Mcisner Gen. 

 p. 106.— Calycanthina», Link. Enum. 2. 66. (1822;. 



Diagnosis. — Rosal Exogcns, wltose flowers consist of numerous imbricated scales, and have 



convolute cotyledons. 



Shrubs, with square stems, having 4 woody imperfectaxes,surrounding the central ordi- 

 nary one. Leaves opposite, simple, scabrous, without stipules. Flowers axillary, solitary. 

 Sepals and petals confounded, indefinite, imbricated, combined in a fleshy tube. Stamens 



3 6 



Fig. CCCLXVIII. 



indefinite, inserted in a fleshy rim at the mouth of the tube, the inner sterile ; anthers 

 adnate, turned outwards. Ovaries several, simple, 1-celled, with one terminal style,adher- 

 ing to the inside of the tube of the calyx. Ovules anatropal, solitary, or sometimes 2, of 

 which one is abortive, ascending. Nuts inclosed in the fleshy tube of the calyx, 1- 

 seeded, indehiscent. Seed ascending ; albumen none ; cotyledons convolute, with their 

 face next the axis ; radicle inferior. 



Jussieu originally placed this Order at the end of Roseworts ; he subsequently re- 

 ferred it to Monimiads ; and I afterwards formed it into a particular family. With 

 Monimiads it is less nearly related than it appears to be, the principal points of resem- 

 blance being the collection of several nuts within a fleshy calyx in both Orders ; for 

 Calycanths can scarcely be considered apetalous, as some Monimiads are, on account 

 of the obvious petals of Chimonanthus. The imbricated sepals, in Calycanthus chocolate- 

 coloured and becoming confounded with the petals, the fragrance of the flowers, and the 

 plurality of ovaries, seem to indicate an affinity with Magnoliads, and especially with 

 Jllicium ; but the decidedly perigynous stamens and fleshy calyx inclosing the ovaries 

 in its tube, the highly developed embryo, and want of albumen, are great objections to 

 such an approximation. Myrobalans agree in having an exalbuminous embryo, with 

 convolute cotyledons ; but with this their resemblance ceases. Myrtleblooms also agree 

 in this same particular, in the case of Punica ; and their opposite leaves, without sti- 

 pules, and frequent fragrance, strengthen the affinity indicated by the embryo. Rose- 

 worts, however, to which Jussieu originally referred Calycanthus, agree much more 

 nearly in the perigynous insertion of their stamens, in the peculiar structure of their 

 calyx, the tube of which in the Rose is entirely analogous to that of Calycanths, in the 

 superposition of their ovules when two are present, and in the high development of 

 their exalbuminous embryo ; upon the whole, therefore, no Order appears to have so 

 much affinity with Calycanths as Roseworts ; and the sagacity of Jussieu, in originally 

 referring Calycanthus to that Order, is completely confirmed by the discovery recently 

 made by Lowe, that the cotyledons of Champemeles, a genus of Appleworts, are convo- 

 lute. This, I think, fixes the station of Calycanths in the neighbourhood of Roseworts, 

 from which they are distinguished by the imbrieated sepals, and the anthers, partly 



Fig. CCCLXVIII.- Calycanthus floriuus. 1. a flower; 2. the same without the sepals and petals ; 

 3 . a perpendicular section of the last ; 4. a section of an ovary ; ft. a nut ; 6. an embryo ; 7. a transverse 

 section of it. 



