OP PLANTS CALLED COMPOSIT^E. 397 



Obs. In Von Rohr's natural character of Melanthera 

 the Nectarium, or glandular body sheathing the base of 

 the style, is introduced, which is the earliest notice I ois 

 have yet found of this organ in Compositse, except in 

 Batsch's Analysis Plorum, published in 1790, where it is 

 both described and figured in Coreopsis tripteris. The 

 merit, however, of establishing its nearly universal exist- 

 ence in the hermaphrodite florets of this extensive class 

 belongs to M. Cassini. 



Both Von Rohr and Richard in their characters of Mela- 

 nanthera have described the antherse as shorter than the 

 corolla, which is indeed the case in a particular state of the 

 flower; immediately after its expansion, however, they 

 project considerably, and again become inclosed in the 

 more advanced stage. This fact has been noticed by Jac- 

 quin,^ who considers the final inclosure of the antherse to 

 be owing to the elongation of the corolla. But the actual 

 increase in length of the corolla is very slight, and by no 

 means sufficient to account for the appearance; the real 

 cause of which is a considerable, and I believe a gradual, 

 contraction of the filaments. This economy is not unfre- 

 quent in Compositse, especially in the tribe of Helianthece, [ii9 

 to which Melananthera belongs. 



In M. Cassini's Memoir on the Stamina of Compositse 

 the retraction of antherse is not expressly noticed. This 



ripe seeds only, it would certainly have been referred to it. Tlie followinp; 

 characters, however, prove it to be sufficiently distinct. It may be named 



LlPOTMCHE. 



Involuerum duplici serie imbricatum, subsequale. Receptaculum convexum, 

 paleis foliaceis, distinctis. Capitulum radiatum. Ligula (simplici serie) 

 feminese. Flosculi hermaphroditi, siigmatibus appendice acuto hispidulo. 

 Aehenia subuniformia, turbinata ; Pappo setaceo, caduco. 



Herbse (Africse sequinootialis) Folia opposita, indivisa. Pedunculi terminales, 

 terni. Involucra brevia, foliacea. Paleae receptaouli carinatm, nervosa, acuiee 

 Corollulae flaxice. Ligulie elongata, Z-dentattS. Antherse nigricanies, sub- 

 inclusa, bad muiicm. Achenium obtuse teiragonum. Pappus, in disco verticis 

 depressi, brevis, e seiulis simplici serie, numerosis (8 — 10), distinciis, denticulaiis, 

 caiwcis vel deciduis. 



Melanantherse proxime accedit : affinis quoque Ecliptee Linn. Wedeliae Jacq. 

 et Diomedess Cassini (in Journ. de Phys. tome Ixxxii, p. 145), sed ab his 

 omnibus satis distincta videtur. 



1 Collect, ii, p. 291, Ic. Rar. iii, t. 583. 



