180 CAPPARIDACE/E. 



Geographical Distribution, &o. A genus of several tropical or sub- 

 tropical species, some of which belong to Equinoctial America (Gynan- 

 dropsis proper, R. Br.) and have the petals imbricated in aestivation ; while 

 the others, with the aestivation of the corolla open, as in Reseda, which form 

 the section or genus Gymnogonia, R. Br., are probably all exclusively na- 

 tives of the Old World, as Mr. Brown supposes. G. pentaphylla, therefore, 

 although spontaneous in the Southern United States, as in the West Indies, 

 was most likely introduced by the negroes, "who use it both as a potherb 

 and in medicine," and therefore should not have been included in this 

 work. 



Note. Our figure, made from poor dried specimens, erroneously repre- 

 sents the flower-buds as if with closed petals, which is the case with tiie 

 truly indigenous American species only. 



PLATE 78. Gynandropsis (Gymnogonia, R. Br.) pentaphylla, DC; 

 — from Georgia ; the summit of a stem in fruit and flower, of the 

 natural size. 



1. A flower, enlarged. 



2. Magnified vertical section through the torus, gynophore, and pistil. 



3. A magnified seed. 



4. Section of the same, and of the embryo. 



