12 Mr. J. Miers on the Tribe Colletiese. 
which are about a-line apart; they are very minute, scarcely 
more than a half-line in length and diameter*. 
Species dubia. 
4. Scypharia tetragona ;—Colletia tetragona, Brongn. Ann. Se. 
Nat. x. 366 ;—ramosa, ramis ramulisque elongatis, virgatis, 
patentibus, tetragonis, angulis prominulis, spmosis, glaber- 
rimis, nodis remotis sepius aphyllis, spinis validis, subulatis, 
valde divaricatis, apice calloso-pungentibus ; stipulis rudi- 
mentariis, calloso prominentibus, apice (e petioli delapsi 
articulatione) cicatricosis, sub spinis ortis, foliis deficienti- 
bus; racemis aphyllis, spina longioribus, inter stipulas et 
spinas enatis, tetragonis, sub-6-floris; floribus decussatim 
oppositis, pedicellis brevissimis, imo articulatis, calyce persis- 
tente, breviter campanulato, membranaceo, 15-striato, mar- 
gine breviter 5-lobo, lobis obtusis, mucronulatis.—“ Peruvia.” 
—»v. s. in herb. Mus. Paris. (Dombey). 
I have seen the above-named original specimen, which has nei- 
ther flower nor fruit ; but its racemes remain, showing a few of its 
persistent calyces. After examining it attentively, | have come 
to the conclusion that it is not a Colletia, though probably be- 
longing to the same tribe. Attached to the sheet in which it is 
enclosed is a small cartouch, containing some loose drupes, and 
labelled “ Volkameria calva.” These drupes are without any 
calyx, are fleshy, dark-coloured, apiculated by the base of the 
style, and 5 lines in diameter ; they contain each two nuts, which 
quite correspond with the structure of that genus. We may 
therefore inquire, do these drupes belong to the specimen 
in question? It appears to me they do not; for if they had 
been there when Brongniart described his “ Colletta tetragona,” 
he would not have failed to notice so manifest a clue to the 
nature of the plant. It is therefore most probable that these 
seeds have been since placed there by mistake. This conclusion 
is confirmed by an examination of the specimen. In Volkameria 
and other Verbenaceous plants of the same tribe, the occasional 
presence of spines is owing to the growth of the petiole of abor- 
tive leaves; and we invariably find in all such cases both the 
inflorescence and young branchlet sprouting out from above 
such spine. But in the specimen m question, as in all the 
Colletiee, the spine is not produced from a petiole: it is superior 
not only to the floriferous branch, but also to the peculiar process 
which served as a support to the fallen leaf; for that calloid 
process shows a scar upon its extremity, indicating the articula- 
tion of the petiole upon it, similar to the same structure seen in 
* A drawing of this species will be given in PI. 42 c of the ‘ Contributions.’ 
