( 499 .) 
DIO'TIS * *. 
Linnean Class §• Order. Syngene'sia f, Polyga'mia, /Equa- 
lise 
Natural Order. Compo'sit.-f.§, tribe, Corymbl'feras ||. Juss. — 
— Lindl. Syn. pp. 1-10 & 142. ; Introd. to Nat. Syst. of Bot. pp. 197 
and 199. — Mack. FI. Ilibern. p. 142. — Hook. Brit. FI. (4th edit.) 
p. 410. — Compo'sita: ; subord. Cardua'ce/E ; Loud. Hort. Brit, 
pp. 520 & 521. — Synanthf.'rea: ; tribe, Corymbifer.e, Rich, 
by Macgilliv. pp. 454 c; 455. — Corymbifera?, sect. 2. Ju^s. Gen. 
PI. pp. 177 & 180. — Sm. Gram, of Bot. pp. 121 and 123. — Sv- 
ringales; subord. Asterosas ; sect. Asterin/e; subsect. As- 
teriaya;; type, Asteraceae, Burn. Outl. of Bot. pp. 900, 901, 
920, 924, 5: 926. — Compo'sit.f., Linn. 
Gen. Char, Involucrum ( common calyx ) (fig. 1) hemisphe- 
rical, imbricated, scales oblong, convex, blunt, unarmed. Corolla 
(fig. 2.) compound, uniform, of numerous, tubular, level-topped, 
perfect, regular florets (see figs. 3 & 4.), about the length of the 
involucrum ; their limb in 5 broadish, equal, spreading segments; 
tube contracted at the summit; elongated at the base on each side, 
below its insertion, into 2 opposite, compressed, equal, nectarifer- 
ous spurs, which finally separate from the rest of the tube, 3nd 
remain attached to the Germen. Filaments 5, hair-like, very short. 
Anthers in a cylindrical tube, equal to the corolla. Germen oblong-, 
slender, between the spurs. Style thread-shaped, the length of the 
floret. Stigmas 2, spreading, blunt. Seed-vessel none but the 
unchanged involucrum. Seed (see fig. 5.) oblong, compressed, 
tapering at the base, bordered at each side with the compressed, 
blunt spurs of the floret. Pappus none. Receptacle (see fig. 9, a.) 
convex, nearly globular, small, beset with oblong, concave, downy- 
tipped scales (fig. 9, b.) nearly as tall as the florets (see fig. 3,5). 
The hemispherical, imbricated involucrum ; the florets with two 
ears at the base, which border the germen and remain upon the 
fruit ; the convex, chaffy receptacle ; and the want of pappus ; will 
distinguish this from other genera with discoid florets, in the same 
class and order. 
Only one species known. 
DIO'TIS MARITIMA. Sea-side Cotton-weed. Sea Cudweed. 
Chaffweed. Petty Cotton. 
Spec. Char. 
Diotis maritima, Hook. FI. Lond. t. 137. — Sm. Engl. Fl ; v. iii. p. 403 — Lindl. 
Syn. p. 150. — Hook. Brit. FI. p. 354. — Macr. Man. Brit. Bot. p. 129. — B ib. Brim. 
FI. Sarn. p. 51. — Irv. Lond. FI. p. 274. — Diotis candidissima , Desfont. Atlant. 
v. ii. p. 261. — De Cand. FI. Fr. v. iv. p. 201. — Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 451. — 
Santolitia maritima, Ilnds. FI. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 356. — Engl. Bot. t. 141. — Sm. 
Fig. 1. Involucrum. — Fig. 2. Corolla. — Fig. 3, a. A separate Floret, accom- 
panied by a cbaflfy Scale of the Receptacle, b . — Fig 4. A Floret with its 2 spurs. — 
Fig. 5. A Seed, with its ear-like appendages. — Fig. 6. A Seed divested of its ap- 
pendages. — Fig. 7. Transverse section of a Seed. — Fig. 8. Embryo. — Fig. 9. a, 
Receptacle ; b. one of its chaffy Scales. 
* So named by Desfontaines, from dis, Gr. two ; and ous, otos, Gr. an ear ; 
from the ear-like appendages to the fruit. 
f See fol. 91, note f. } See fol. 147, note X. 
$ See fol. 27, a. 
