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TURNERA ELEGANS. 



{Elegant Turnera.) 



LINNEAN SYSTEM. NATURAL ORDER. 



pentandria trigynia. turneracejE. — {Be Cand. Prod.) 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Turnera (Linn.) Calyx 5-fidus, infundibuliformis. Petala 5, sequalia, calycistubo inserta. 

 Stigmata multifida. Capsula 1-locularis, trivalvis, apice ad medium dehiscens ; valvis medio 

 seminiferis. 



Calyx 5-cleft, funnel-shaped. Petals 5, equal, inserted into the tube of the calyx. Stigmas 

 many-cleft. Capsule 1-celled, 3-valved, opening from the apex to the middle ; seeds attached 

 to the middle of the valves. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



T. Elegans ; foliis elliptico-lanceolatis, brevi pubescentia vestitis, dimidio anteriore obtuse 

 serratis, posteriore subcuneatis integerrimis, basi biglandulosis. Staminibus pistillis longioribus. 



Descr. — Leaves elliptico-lanceolate, clothed with very short hairs, their anterior half 

 obtusely serrated, their posterior half somewhat wedge-shaped, very entire, with two glands at 

 the base. Stamens longer than the pistils. 



Turnera Elegans. — Otto. Loudon, Encyc. PI. 



A slender evergreen shrub, about three feet high, with round green branches, 

 covered with short, simple, somewhat appressed hairs. Leaves obscurely scabrous, 

 with short simple pubescence, more especially on the veins and margins, and 

 furnished at the base with two circular depressed glands. Flowers sessile, petiolar, 

 with two subulate, slightly hairy bracteoles. 



From a close examination of this plant, we are inclined to believe that it is 

 perfectly distinct from Turnera Trioniflora of Sims (Bot. Mag.), though De 

 Candolle in his Prodromus considers them the same. T. Trioniflora appears to be 

 stouter in its habit, with leaves larger, and more acutely and coarsely serrated. 

 Still it is difficult to make out any distinctive character, except in the stamens, 

 which in T. Elegans are considerably longer than the stigmas, while in T. 

 Trioniflora they are much shorter. Our drawing was made from a plant in the 

 collection of George Barker, Esq., of Springfield, near this town. 



The genus Turnera was so named by Plunder, in memory of William Turner, 

 M.D., a man no less distinguished in the church than in the profession of medicine, 



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