THE riTTOSPOIlUM TlilBE. 29 



will be obvious enough that they are in ftiet very nearly 

 related. Sollya and Billardiera climb ; so do Vines ; 

 they have all alternate leaves without stipules, their 

 stamens are 5, their petals 5, their ovary superior and 

 two-celled, their embryo a minute body lying in albu- 

 men ; and the Vine and Billardiera agree in having 

 soft fruit, not that that is of much importance. These 

 points of resemblance are so numerous, among the 

 most important parts of the structure, as to render the 

 relationship of the tribe before us and Vines unques- 

 tionable. They differ, however, too much to be 

 actually included in the same tribe ; for these plants 

 have not stamens opposite the petals, nor erect seeds, 

 nor glands below the ovary, all which are distinctive 

 marks of the Vine tribe. They have therefore been 

 collected into an assemblage called the Pittosporum 

 Tribe after a ^enus of which no mention has as vet 

 been made, and which you do not often meet with in 

 gardens. Its species are very different in habit from 

 Sollya and Billardiera, being upright evergi'een bushes, 

 and not climbers, and having a capsule that opens into 

 valves, and not a soft berry. The most common of 

 the genus is the Tohira Tree (Pittosporum Tobira), 

 an evergreen laurel-like bush, with cream-coloured 

 sweet-scented flowers. It is not rare in extensive 

 collections, and in some warm situations will even 

 grow in the open air without protection in the winter. 

 Nothing can be more unlike a Vine than Pittosporum 

 itself; but it is closely allied to Sollya, which is next 

 akin to Billardiera, the affinity of which to the Vine 

 has been demonstrated. 



