230 3Ir. Bentham's Observations on some Genera of Plants 



shining in S. udenophylla, Wall., large, oblong, and rough in S. ceras'ifoUa, 

 Wall., large, globular, and rough in .S'. mollis, Wall., which appears very near 

 to S./erruginea, Roxb. I have not seen the fruit of tlie other species, but I 

 have no doubt that, when better known, the carpological characters will afford 

 good sectional distinctions. 



Of the remaining published species, the Si/tnplocos nuda, Lbnonc'illo, and 

 mncronatd, Humb. et Bonpl. PI. ^ï^quin., and »S'. Schiedeana, Schlechtendal, 

 (Liniuea, viii. 52/.) must remain doubtful, as their corolla has not been seen. 

 S'. pentagfjna of Sprengel must be omitted altogetlier, having certainly no 

 connexion with Si/tnplocos. It would be impossible, indeed, without seeing his 

 specimen, to say what it might be, but at a guess his character reads most 

 like that of a flsmia. 



The above genera, with Sti/rax, Strigilia, and Halesia, form a small ordei-, 

 or perhaps a tribe of Ehenaceie, established by Richard under the name of 

 Sti/raceiv, and more or less adopted by most subsequent botanists, but with 

 very different ideas as to its extent. D. Don, followed by some others, esta- 

 l)lished three distinct orders, Sytnplocineœ, Styracece, and Hulesiaceœ, the di- 

 stinctions between which are thus stated by (î. Don : Styracineœ are " very 

 nearly allied to Halesiacea\ but differ by the decidedly superior ovarium and 

 the more deeply-cleft corolla, and from Symplocinea- in the superior ovarium 

 and entire or slightly- lobed calyx, and in the stamens being fewer and niona- 

 delphous." (Gen. .Syst. of Gard, and Bot. iv. p. 4.) Halesiacece come " nearest 

 to Symplocineœ, from which they differ in the inferior ovarium, in the fruit 

 being a hard dry winged nut, and in the corolla being more decidedly mono- 

 petalous." (Ibid. p. 6.) 



It is difficult, however, not to agree with Richard in neglecting in this in- 

 stance, notwithstanding its great importance in other cases, the degree of 

 adherence of the calyx to the fruit: for it will be found that at the time of 

 flowering the calyx adheres to tlie ovary at its base even in Styrax, and is 

 rarely completely adherent even in Halesia ; whilst in the different species of 

 Symplocos and Hopea almost every intermediate degree may be observed. 

 The chief difference lies in this : that, as the fruit swells, it is the adherent 

 part of the ovary that is developed in Symplocos, Hopea, and Halesia, and the 

 free portion only in Styrax ; and it is, I believe, generally recognized, that a 



