( 161 .) 
VILLA'RSIA*. 
Linnean Class and Order. Penta'ndria*; Monogy'nia. 
Natural Order. Gentia'neas, Dr. R. Brown . — Lindl. Syn. 
p. 177. ; Introd. to Nat. Syst. of Bot. p. 215. — R ch. by Macgilliv. 
p. 444. — Loud. Hort. Brit, p.526. — Lystmachial, afpnia, Juss. 
Gen. PI. pp. 95 & 97. — Svringales ; subord. Primulcis/e ; sect. 
Gentianinte; Burn. Outl. of Bot. pp. 900, 958, and 1008. — 
Precise, Linn. 
Gen. Char. Calyx (fig. 1.) inferior, permanent, of 1 sepal, in 
5 deep segments. Corolla of 1 petal, somewhat wheel-shaped, 
tube short; limb spreading, deeply 5-parted, smooth in the disk, 
bearded or scaly at the base, with an indexed margin. Filaments 
(see fig. 2.) 5, alternate with the segments of the corolla. Anthers 
(fig. 2, a.) upright. Germen (see fig. 2, b.) conical. Style 1. 
Stigma 2-lobed, the lobes toothed. Glands 5, hypogynous, al- 
ternate with the stamens. Capsule (fig. 3.) 1-celled, 2-valved,and 
many-seeded, (in the floating species the capsule is indehiscent) ; 
the valves bearing the seeds in their axis (see figs. 4 to 7). Leaves 
simple. Lindl. Syn. 
The wheel-shaped, 5-parted corolla , smooth in the disk, bearded 
at the base, with an inflexed margin ; the 1 -celled capsule ; and 
parietal seeds ; will distinguish this from other genera in the same 
class and order. 
One species British. 
VILLA'RSIA NYMPH ACOI'DES. Nymphaea-like Villarsia. 
Fringed Buckbean. Fringed Water-lily. 
Spec. Char. Leaves roundish-heart-shaped, floating. Pedun- 
cles aggregate, single flowered. Corollas ciliated. Hooker. 
Hook. FI. Lnnd. t. 168. — Brit. FI. p. 92. — Lindl. Syn. p. 179. — Walk. FI. of 
Oxf. p. 53. — Pamplin’s PI. of Battersea and Clapliam, p. 5. — Menyanthes 
nympheeoides , Engl. Bot. t. 217.— Linn. Sp. PI. p. 207.— Iluds. FI. Angl. (2nd 
ed.) p.85. — Sm. FI. Brit. v. i. p. 226. Engl. FI. v. i. p. 275. — With (7 1 li ed.) 
v. ii. p.292. — Siblh. FI. Oxon. p. 73. — Relh. FI. Cantab. (3rd ed.l p.85. — 
Part. Midi. FI. v. iii. p. 18. — Limnanth.es peltata, Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 
3 10.— Nympkeea lutea minor, /lore fimbriato, Ray’s Syn. p. 368. 
Localitiis. — In ponds, slow streams, and the marginal recesses of large 
rivers. Rare. — Oxfordsh. Abundant in many places about Oxford, especially 
in the Isis, and watery ditches near it. At Hinksey Ferry. Near the third bridge 
from Botley Toll-gate. In a broad shallow piece of water opposite to Medley 
Lock; and in a branch of the Isis opposite the draw bridge at the back of Je- 
richo. Near Godstow Bridge. In the Cherwell at the further corner of Mag- 
dalen W’ater Walks; and in the Isis between Sandford and Nuneham : 1835, 
W. B. In ponds at Sarsden : H. Woolcombf., Esq. — Berks; In the Thames 
Fig. 1. Calyx and Germen. — Fig. 2. Stamens, Germen, Style, and Stigma. — 
Fig. 3. Capsule.. — Fig. 4. Transverse section of the same. — Fig. 5. A vertical 
section of ditto, showing the situation of the seeds. — Fig. 6. A seed.— Fig. 7. 
The same magnified.— Fig. 8. A Seed divested of its skin or testa. 
* A genus divided from Menyanthes, and named in compliment to M. T)f. 
Villaiis, a distinguished French Botanist, and Professor at Strasburg ; he care- 
fully examined the Alps which divide Italy from Switzerland, the Vosges, and 
the South of France, along with Chaix, a clergyman at Gap, and Ci-AriEn, 
Physician at Grenoble. He was author of the classical Histoire des Plantes 
de Dauphine, Grenoble, 1786 — 1789, in 3 vols. 8vo. ; with 55 Copper-plates. 
He died in 1813. Eight exotic species of this genus are enumerated in Loudon’s 
Hortus Britannicus. f See Anchusa sempervirens, folio 48. 
