202 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY. 
ing branches, which are terete, covered with a yellowish, 
shining epidermis. The fasciculated leaves are very small, 
somewhat glutinously rugulose, 1 or 2 lines long, scarcely 
i line broad ; the terminal inflorescence has its spicated branch- 
lets 6 lines long ; the calyx is broadly tubular, 1 line long, 
cano-pubescent outside, divided halfway into five triangular 
teeth ; the tube of the corolla is a trifle longer than the calyx, 
cyhnch-ical and pilose outside ; the pistil is as long as the tube 
of the corolla ; the ovary semiglobose, seated upon the disk ; 
the stigma, annular at base, is rather longer than the style, 
conical, and divided at its apex into two short obtuse segments. 
The glabrous fruit consists of two nucules, each 2-celled. 
MeSSERSCHM I DTI a. 
The late Mr. Robert Brown (in 1810) pointed out the neces- 
sity of constituting a distinct genus for those species of Tourne- 
fortia which differed from all the others in having the border 
of the corolla cleft into subulate lobes, a baccate fruit contain- 
ing four nucules (each unilocular and monospermous), the seed 
with a very cmwed embryo and a superior radicle (Prodr. 
p. 496) ; but he omitted giving a name to the genus. In 1819 
Romer and Schultes adopted this view, calling the genus 
Messer schmidtia^ a name previously given by Linneeus to 
those species of Tournefortia which have a fruit with two 
nucules, each 2-celled. As such characters, according to their 
showing, belonged to Tournefortia proper, the Messerschmidtia ■ 
of Linnseus natoally fell to the ground. Adopting it, there- 
fore, for the group in question, they enumerated eleven species, 
all natives of the N-ew World, mostly climbing or subscandent 
plants ; but it is strange that among these there appears only 
one species that answers to the essential characters of their 
own generic diagnosis. G. Don (1837), following the same 
train, amplified the species to twenty-four, in total disregard 
of the distinguishing featm'es of Messerschmidtia^ associating 
with them several belonging to Heliojdiytum. Endlicher (1838) 
acknowledged the genus, and gave it a tolerably coiuect dia- 
gnosis, though with some few errors. By some authors the 
name has been applied to other very different groups, selected 
from Tournefortia ; and this has caused no little confusion. 
DeCandolle, in his elaboration of the Bori-aginece (in 1845), 
([uite ignored Messerschmidtia as a genus, admitting neither 
that of Linnaeus nor of Romer and Schultes ; but he retained 
this name, as a section, for a small number of species of Tour- 
nefortia possessing veiy different characters (Prodr. ix. 528). 
