eae Eee NE er es Nt ee ee Ne rE en 
SSR Se 
Mr. J. Miers on the Calyceracez. 185 
getable Kingdom,’ p. 701. Many circumstances have prevented 
the publication of these details till the present moment. 
Nine species are here enumerated, all being of a similar and 
very distinct habit, somewhat resembling our alpine Cirsium 
acaule in their cespitose hemispherical shape. They all grow in 
very elevated situations, in dry rocky soil, much exposed to rough 
weather, in the lofty Cordillera of the Andes of Chile, on both 
the eastern and western slopes. : 
The generic name is derived from vactos, confertus, avOos, 
flos, because of the densely aggregated flowers and achzenia in 
each of its capitula, which, again, are so closely crowded as to 
give to the plant the appearance of a cauliflower-head half im- 
bedded in the ground. 
Nastantuvs, nob.—ZJnvolucrum gamophyllam, ex foliolis pluri- 
mis (10-12) uniserialibus, oblongis, obtusis, sinuato-subtrilo- 
bis, crassiusculis, imo in tubum brevem confiuentibus constans, 
-et margini receptaculi adnatum. Receptaculum magnum, 
carnosum, subconvexum, paleolis lineari-spathulatis, inter 
flores exteriores, paucis aut sepe abortivis. Flores dissimiles. 
Calycis adnati dentes 5, zequales, rotundati, concavi, carnosi, imo 
saccati.—Flores fertiles: corolla tubo brevi, crassiuscula, in- 
fundibuliformis, limbo campanulato, 5-partito, lobis carnosis, 
oblongis, subcucullatis, erectiusculis. Stamina 5, inclusa; 
filamenta imo in tubum brevem monadelphum cum glandulis 
totidem fauci insertum coalita, superne libera: anthere in 
tubum 5-dentatum syngenesium connate. Stylus longe ex- 
sertus, filiformis, apice incrassato-cylindraceus. Stigma glo- 
bosum, papilloso-rugosum. Ovarium cylindraceum, 5-sulcatum, 
calycis tubo arcte adnatum, et ejus lobis coronatum. <Ache- 
mum oblongum, profunde 5-lobum, lobis obtusis spongiosis, 
in umbone apicale breviter conicum, 1-loculare, monosper- 
mum. Semen ordinis, pendulum.—Filores steriles : corolle tubo 
gracillime elongato, 2—3-plo longiore, fauce infundibuliformi, 
limbo campanulato, 5-partito, lobis tenuibus, oblongis, acutis, 
3-nerviis, erectiusculis. Stamina inclusa ; filamenta fertiliorum ; 
anthere vix connate et polline destitute. Stylus subexsertus 
cylindraceo-clavatus, apice vix stigmatosus. Achenium semi- 
inferum, consimile. 
Herbz Chilenses Andicole cespitose, radice fusiformi ; folia radi- 
calia plurima, pluriserialia, exteriora petiolata, oblonga, inciso- 
dentata vel laciniata, carnosa aut submembranacea, glaberrima, 
1—3-nervia ; scapi plurimi folio equilongi, monocephali, carnosi, 
late compressi, extus convexi, sepissime ad medium extus folium 
solitarium sessile gerentes ; capitula magna in caput magnum 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. vi. 13 
