Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermaceae. 13 



albumen. Their fourth tribe consists of my subdivision Cissam- 

 pelida, which they separated from the rest of my Leptogonece, 

 They abohshed my tribe Tiliacorea, which oflfers such distinct 

 characters, and united the only Indian genus belonging to it 

 with the rest of the Leptogonea : these, together with my Platy- 

 gonece, constituted their third tribe, Cocculea — a name especially 

 objectionable on account of its old association with Anamirta 

 Cocculus (the Cocculus of commerce), and thus likely to lead 

 many persons into error : in this group diflferent forms of em- 

 bryo are mixed together, and the important distinctions between 

 accumbent and incumbent cotyledons are totally disregarded. 

 Their fifth tribe is adopted upon my Pachygonea, with little 

 alteration. 



Messrs. Bentham and Hooker, in their ' Genera Plantarum/ 

 published a few months ago, have followed in the steps of the 

 authors of the ' Flora Indica,' but have avoided some of their 

 errors, and properly discard the Cosciniea ; they have, however, 

 followed the same principle of distribution. They adopt my 

 HeterocliniecE (under the name of Tinosporeee) as their first tribe, 

 and my PachygonecB as their fourth tribe ; they also separate my 

 subtribe Cissampelidea from the rest of the Leptogonea as their 

 third tribe ; while for their second tribe, under the objectionable 

 name of Cocculea, they confound together my Anomospermea, 

 TiliacorecB, the remainder of the LeptogonecB, and all the Platy- 

 gonece, thus mixing up heterogeneously opposite conditions of 

 albumen, and different forms of embryo, and totally disregarding 

 • the important distinction of accumbent and incumbent coty- 

 ledons — characters fully appreciated by them in other families. 

 This, no doubt, has been done with a view to concentration ; 

 but it cannot be denied that it is effected at the sacrifice of con- 

 sistency. It appears to me that, if we profess to adopt a principle 

 as a basis of division, it should be carried out strictly. The 

 feature of ruminated albumen is too peculiar to be so overlooked; 

 and hence the Anomospermece and Tiliacorea are deserving of 

 special places, and should be held distinct, not only because of 

 having quite a different direction of the condyle, but on account 

 of one having accumbent, the other incumbent cotyledons. It 

 is for this latter reason that I have ventured to add a new tribe, 

 HypserpecB. The marked contrast between the slender thread- 

 like embryo of the Leptogonea, as contradistinguished from 

 those with foliaceous cotyledons, many times the breadth of the 

 slender radicle, is too important to be passed over ; and hence 

 the necessity for maintaining the Platygonece as a distinct tribe. 

 The differences in floral structure are of secondary importance ; 

 and for this reason the Menispermece and Cissampelidea have been 

 retained by me as subtribes, and conjoined into a single tribe 



