Mr. J. Miers on the TricuspidarieaB. 41 



The Tricuspidariece may be divided into two sections : the 

 first, having a baccate fruit, mostly indehiscent, comprises the 

 genera Aristotelia^ Friesia^ and Vallea] the second, with a 

 capsular fruit, consists of Tricuspidaria and Crinodendron^ — 

 in all, five genera. Having studied their structure with much 

 care^ I proceed to describe each genus separately. 



1. Aristotelia. 



This genus, established by L'H^ritier upon the well known 

 Maqui of Chile, was referred by the late Mr. Brown and De 

 Candolle to the HomaUnece ; by Endlicher it was made into a 

 suborder attached to Ternstrmmiacece ; Von Martins also made 

 it a suborder [Maquince) , which he placed near Pittosporece 5 

 Lindley considered this suborder allied to PMladelphiacece ^ 

 Reichenbach placed it in Escalloniece ; but Don was the first 

 who rightly indicated its affinity with the ElceocarpecBy to 

 which alliance it unquestionably belongs. The genus for 

 many years was confined to its single typical species ; but 

 Dr. Hooker, in his ^ Flora Zelandica,' associated with it the 

 genus Friesia. There are so many points of structure in the 

 Chilean plant at variance with the several species of Friesia^ 

 that it appears to me this genus cannot remain amalgamated 

 with Aristoteliaj for the following reasons. 



In Aristotelia the petiole is always 2-glandular at its apex ; 

 and the teeth of the leaves have each a glandular termination. 

 In Friesia no indication of any gland is seen either on the 

 leaves or petioles. 



In Aristotelia the flowers are usually 5-merous, with a 3- 

 celled ovary, and always hermaphrodite or else polygamous, 

 with only a partial depauperation of the male or female organs. 

 In Friesia the flowers are 4-merous, with a 4-celled ovary 5 

 and they are described as being dioecious in most instances. 



In Aristotelia the petals are not divided at the apex, being 

 only slightly emarginated or truncated; and the absence of 

 this feature led botanists to believe, for a long time, that it 

 could not belong to Elceocarpece ; they are white, with a slightly 

 yellowish tinge. In Friesia^ on the other hand, they are more 

 or less deeply 3-lobed at the apex, as in other Tricuspidariece j 

 and are generally marked with a deep purple colour. 



In Aristotelia there is a large, deep, cup-shaped disk fixed 

 on the thickened apex of the pedicel or torus, to which the 

 sepals are agglutinated by a broad line of attachment. In 

 Friesia there is no circular disk ; but in lieu of this we see 

 four small free fleshy glands emanating from the narrow torus 

 and placed opposite to the sepals. 



In Aristotelia the stamens are inserted upon the pentagonal 



