CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY. 
221 
would still occupy the place assigned to them by De Can- 
dolle; but if we transpose the Polemoniacew, Convolvulacece ^ 
and Erycibece (all with an inferior radicle) to a more suitable 
position, a more satisfactory arrangement will be attained. 
The EhretiacecR osculate with the Bori-aginecB^ and approach 
the Heliotropiece in their distinct carpels and simple style. 
Though it may be impossible to express the relative degrees 
of affinity of these several groups in a lineal series, the follow- 
ing would be a nearer approach to it than any hitherto pro- 
posed. Thus we should have — Cyrtandracece^ Hydrophyl- 
lacece^ Ehretiacece^ Borrayinece^ Heliotropiaceoey Cordiacea;^ ^ 
Hydroleacece^ Erycibece, Convolvidacece^ Polemoniacece, Scro- 
phulariacece, &c. In this manner the pentandrous hypogynous 
Monopetalece with two or four caiiiellary ovaries and a supe- 
rior radicle all fall into one continuous series, with more har- 
monious steps of transition, while those with an inferior 
radicle are made to follow. 
Rhabdia, Mart. ; — Ehretia in parte auct. — Sepala 5, sub- 
aequalia, lanceolata, persistentia, lestivatione imbricata. Co- 
rolla subcampanulata, imo tubulosa, ad medium 5-loba, 
lobis oblongis, subacutis vel rotundatis. Stamina 5, lobis 
alterna, ad basin tubi inserta ; filamenta filifoiTnia, tubf) 
longiora ; antherce ovatae, erectae, 2-lobae, lobis ovatis, col- 
lateraliter adnatis, rima longitudinali introrsum dehiscenti- 
bus. Discus minimus, glandulosus, simplex aut nullus. 
Ovarium superum, conico-ovatum, semiseptis 2 incompletis 
e parietibus oppositis protrusis, mox divaricatim bifidis, mar- 
ginibus singulatim ovulum ambientibus et dein expansis 
septa 2 parallela incompleta formantibus, hinc pseudo-4- 
loculare, ovulis appensis, micropyle supera : gynobasis seu 
columella centralis septis intermedia, tubulosa, vacua, vasis 
ad ovula pertingentibus munita. Stylus filiformis, longitu- 
dine staminum. Stigma parvum, 2-lobum et subpeltatum. 
Drupa ovato-globosa, nitida, parce succosa, calyce persis- 
tente inclusa, 4-pyrena ; pyrenes oblongo-ovatae, dorso con- 
vexiores, per paria (medio lineas placentaris fungosae) mar- 
gine semiadhaerentes, mox liberie, subosseie, uno margine 
rima longitudinali pro intrusione vasorum oblique fissie, 
l-spermae : semen loculum implens, Idlo punctiformi con- 
spicuo inter medium et summum appensum ; integumenta 
tenuissima, alba, opaca, raphe ab hilo ad chalazam parvam 
basalem percursa ; embryo intra albumen camosum ortho- 
tropus, cotyledonibus foliaceis, ovatis, faciebus diametro 
• In this interval should be placed a new family, the Au-xemmacea, 
which will be shortly described. 
