438 
PHYTOGRAPHY. 
BOOK IV. 
Tubus calyce brevior ; Limbus 4-partitus, inaequalis, lobis 
indivisis. Stamina 2, antherifera, sterilia nulla. Capsula 
valvis medio septiferis v. bipartibilis . Herbse v. Frutices. 
Folia opposita, quandoque verticillata, v, alterna, scepe dentata 
V. incisa. Inflorescentia varia. Calyces ebracfeati, 
1. Capsula bipartibilis, 
"1. V. formosa, fruticosa, foliis perennantibus decussatis 
lanceolatis integerrimis glaberrimis basi acutis, ramis bifariam 
pilosiusculis, corymbis axillaribus paucifloris." (Prodr. 434.) 
In these characters it is difficult to say which is most to be 
admired, — the skill with which every thing superfluous is re- 
trenched, or the ingenuity with which every thing essential is 
introduced. Nothing that is general to the order is intro- 
duced into the generic character; and nothing that the generic 
character comprehends is discoverable in the specific. By 
making the peculiarity of Capsula bipartibilis the distinction 
of a section, the necessity of introducing that circumstance 
into the specific characters of any of the species compre- 
hended in the section is avoided. 
Compare with this the following generic and specific cha- 
racters taken from Labillardiere's Sertum Austro-Caledoni- 
cum: — 
"Microsemma; a genus of Ternstromiaceae (?). Cal?/x 
5-phyllus, rare 6-phyllus, persistens, foliolis tribus interiori- 
bus. Coro?2z«Za petaloidea, petalis 10 — 12 distinctis. Stamina 
numerosa (30 circiter), hypogina, filamentis inter se basi 
subconnatis, antheris bilocularibus reniformibus. Germen 
globulosum, super um, stylo simplici, stigmate 5-6-fido. C«/?- 
5wZaovata, 10 — 12 — locularis, valvis medio septiferis, 10 — 12 
— ■ valvis. Semina solitaria, in summo valvularum intus affixa, 
perispermo carnoso, radiculd supera." (P. 58.) 
Upon this character it may be observed, that the calyx is 
described awkwardly, and at a greater expense of words than 
is necessary : if he had said, calyx 5-6-phyllus imbricatus, 
the same idea would have been expressed : rare should be raro. 
In the next place, " coronula petaloidea" is a bad term, con- 
veying no precise notion of the organ it is intended to de- 
