TRANSACTIONS 
OF 
THE 
LINNEAN SOCIETY 
I. Synopsis Crescentiacearum : an Enumeration of/all the Crescentiaceous Plants at 
present known. By Berthold SeeMxINn, Esq., Ph.D., F.L.S. 
Read November 17th, 1859. 
IN 1853 I had the honour of laying before the Linnean Society a short paper on 
Crescentiacea (conf. Proceedings Linn. Soc. ii. p. 268), accompanied by a promise of a 
more elaborate treatise on the same subject. As it was absolutely necessary to pay visits 
to Vienna, Berlin, and Paris, in order to compare the herbaria of those places with the 
notes made on the London Collections, I find myself only now in a position to fulfil my 
promise. I have seen eleven species of Crescentiacea in a living state, five of them wild 
in their native countries ; and have besides carefully examined the various herbaria, but 
regret that these materials are not so complete as could be wished. Of some species 
there are 
only 
single specimens preserved, and the fruit of most species is merely 
superficially known. The generic characters are therefore in some instances left 
incomplete, and the limits of a few species await further settlement. 
That the Crescentiaceous plants, or rather the genera Colea, Phyllarthron, Tanacium, 
Parmentiera, Crescentia, and Kigelia constitute a closely associated group of the Personatce> 
needs, as a universally accepted fact, no demonstration, — the views of Jussieu, who regarded 
them as Solanacea?, not having found any modern supporters. But it will be necessary 
to say a few words respecting the diversity of prevailing opinions as to the affinity and 
rank they hold in the natural system. It is still a matter of debate whether this group 
should be regarded in the light of a separate order, or merely as a suborder of either Bigno- 
niacea? or Gesneracece. Bojer (Hort. Maurit. p. 220) placed it with Bignoniacem (in which 
he was followed by Don,DeCandolle,Penzl*,Miers, and others) ; Endlicher and Miquel with 
* 
foreign elements with Crescentiacece : viz. Spi 
thacea ( = Onchycanthus Cumingianus, Nees). 
VOL. XXIII 
B 
