390 MR. G. BENTHAM ON FISSICALYX AND PRIORIA. 



apice longe, basi brevius attenuatus, summo apice minute penicillatus. Petala 

 aurantiaca, calyeem pauUo superantia, breviter unguiculata. Vexillum basi com- 

 plieatum, nee auriculatum nee appendiculatum, ereetum, lateribus reflexis, glabrum. 

 Alte et petala carinalia basi liinc rotimclato-aiiriculata, supra basin trausversim rugu- 

 losa, versus apicem pilosa. Legumen breviter stipitatum, puberulum, cum alis 2 poll. 

 Ion gum, 1^ poll, latum, apice late rotundatum et emarginatum, valvulorum alis 

 membranaceis, trausversim parallele venosis. Cotyledones in semine examinato inse- 

 quales, longior apice uncinata. 

 Hub. In A'^enezuela, between Turmero and Maracai, at an elevation of l700 feet above the level of the 



sea [Fendler, n. 2223). 

 Tab. XXXIX. fig. 1. Flower; fig. 2. the same with the petals removed, showing the stamens; fig. 3. 

 Vexillum ; fig. 4. one of the Alas ; fig. 5. one of the Petals'of the Carina ; fig. G. a Stamen, front view ; 

 fig. 7- the same, back view ; fig. 8. Ovary and Style ; fig. 9. Ovary, longitudinal section showing the 

 ovules; fig. 10. Fruit; fig. 11. the same, cross section; fig. 12. the same, longitudinal section 

 showing the seed; fig. 13. Seed, showing the hilum ; fig. 14. Embryo; fig. 15. the same with one 

 cotyledon removed, showing the plumula. 



2. Prioiiia copaipera, Griseb. 



This plant, forming a distinct genus allied to Copaifera, was dedicated by Dr. Grisebacli 

 to Dr. Alexander Prior, so well known for bis botanical researches at the Cape, in the 

 West Indies, and Southern Europe, and was described by hun in the last Part of his ' Plora 

 of the British West Indies,' p. 215, from specimens gathered by Mr. Wilson at Bachelor's 

 Hall, near Bath, in Jamaica. The tree is there rare, and the fruit was unlvnown. Since 

 then, however, we have received specimens, both in flower and in fruit, of evidently the 

 same species, from Mr. Sutton Hayes, who found it growing in swamps in Panama, near 

 the Barbacoa station of the Panama Railroad. He states it to be there known under the 

 name of Cativa. The tree, which was felled to obtain the specimens, was near 100 feet 

 high, and the trunk measured 5 feet in diameter. The pod confirms in many respects 

 the afiinity of the genus with Copaifera ; it is, however, very much larger and flatter, 

 woody rather than fleshy ; the single seed is very flat, without any albumen ; the cotyle- 

 dons, of a somewhat hard fleshy consistence, adhere so closely that, after thoroughly 

 boiling and soaking the seed, I was unable to separate them except close round the edge ; 

 the radicle forms only a slight protuberance, at no great distance from the hilum ; and 

 altogether the seed shows none of that approximation to the Connaraccous seed observable 

 in Copmfera. We find in the Kew Museum some of the same fruits, deposited there by 

 Dr. Seemann as those of the " Amanza muger " of the Isthmus of Panama, sold in the 

 markets there for their exciting properties. They do not, however, agree with the 

 description of the "Amanza muger" fruits given in the "Botany" of the 'Voyage of 

 the Herald ' (p. 90), which are there referred to a Ilippocratea. 



The following are the technical characters of the plant. 



Priokia, Griseb. 

 Char. Gen. — Calyx tubo brevi cupulato, lobis 5 orbiculatis subpetaloideis valde imbricatis, infimo ex- 

 teriore. Petala 0. Stamina 10, libera, subfcqualia. Anthera versatiles, 2-loculares, 2-rimosae, con- 



