12 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY. 
Conspectus generum. 
, Lobi calycini imo amplejd et concavi. 
a. Lobi rotundati incrassati. Capitula magna, 
subscaposa. Receptaculum magnum, carno- 
sum. Involucrum polyphyllum 1. Nastanthus. 
aa. Pales inter se accrets ; lobi obovati integri. 
Capitula minora et subscaposa. Involucrum 
polyphyllum 2. Gamocarpha. 
aaa. Pales omnino libers. Involucrum gamo- 
phyllum. 
* Lobi lanceolati, scariosi, denticulati. Achs- 
nia consimilia 3. Boons. 
** Lobi oblongi, aristati, in nonnullis immu- 
tati, parvi, in aliis demum excrescentes et 
spiniformes. Acbsnia bine dissimilia ... 4. Anomocarpus. 
Lobi calycini subplani et fere subulati, demum 
elongati et spiniformes. 
b. Acbsnia libera. Receptaculum magnum, latum 
et depressum 5. Calycera. 
bb. Acbsnia sspius agglutinati. Receptaculum 
parvum, sspius cylintlricum 6. Acicarpha. 
1. Nastanthus. 
In my last journey over the lofty range of the Cordillera of 
Chile, in 1825, I noticed a very singular plant, of which I then 
made detailed drawings ; these, together with othere of much 
interest, I showed to several botanists during my visit to London 
in that year : the plant alluded to is the Calycera Andina men- 
tioned in my ^Travels,’ ii. p. 531. On my return to England 
in 1838, 1 proposed it as a new genus, under the name of Nast- 
anthus, which genus was adopted by Prof. Lindley in his ‘ Ve- 
getable Kingdom,' p. 701. Many circumstances have prevented 
the publication of these details till the present moment. 
Nine species are here enumerated, all being of a similar and 
very distinct habit, somewhat resembling our alpine Cirsium 
acaule in their csespitose hemispherical shape. They all grow in 
very elevated situations, in dry rocky soil, much exposed to rough 
weather, in the lofty Cordillera of the Andes of Chile, on both 
the eastern and western slopes. 
The generic name is derived from vaerro?, confertus, dv6o<i, 
flos, because of the densely aggregated flowers and achsenia in 
each of its capitula, which, again, are so closely crowded as to 
give to the plant the appearance of a cauliflower-head half im- 
bedded in the ground. 
Nastanthus, nob. — Involucrum gamophyllum, ex foliolis ]fluri- 
mis (10-12) uniserialibus, oblongis, obtusis, sinuato-subtrilo- 
bis, crassiusculis, imo in tubum brevem confluentibus constans, 
et margin! receptaculi adnatum. Receptaculum magnum. 
