CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY. 
329 
had recognized, though Schreber had erroneously referred it to 
Ochna. At the time above mentioned I defined several genera 
whose seeds were destitute of albumen, which I classed with 
this genus in a distinct tribe : in this list some errors existed, 
owing to want of sufficient materials ; but among the many ge- 
nera that are still valid is Pachi/gone, the type of which is Cocculus 
Plukenettii, DC. The authors of the ‘ Flora Indica’ and of the 
‘ Genera Plantarum ’ fully acknowledged this genus, confined, as 
I had proposed it, to plants of Asiatic origin ; but Dr. Eichler, 
in his monograph of the Brazilian MenispermacecB, has quite 
misunderstood the structure of Pachygone in amalgamating with 
it the South- American genus HyperbcEna. He has suppressed 
the many species I have particularized of the latter genus, 
making of them two species of Pachygone, establishing as a third 
species a Columbian plant which also belongs to Hyperbana. 
Misapprehensions of this nature are to be regretted, because 
they make confusion and create many useless synonyms. The 
genus may easily be distinguished from Hyperbcena by the shape 
of its petals and of its stamens, by its more osseous putamen 
having a cochleiform condyle with external apertures, by the 
shape of its seed, by the general habit of the plants, and more 
especially by the venation of its leaves, which is always a cha- 
racter of primary importance. In its floral structure, both ^ 
and $ , there is scarcely any difference between it and Cocculus ; 
and in the shape of its osseous putamen, as well as in its con- 
dyle, there is a great resemblance. 
< 
Pachygone, nob. — Flores dioici. Masc. Sepalu 6, alternatim 
disposita, interiora majora, obovata, submembranacea, con- 
cava, apice eroso-denticulata, sestivatione imbricata. Pe- 
tala 6, sepahs interioribus minora, oblonga, concava, apice 
incurva, rotundata et denticulata, imo 2-auriculata, lobis 
crassis, filamentum amplectentibus. Stamina 6 , petalis op- 
posita, et ad unguem iis affixa; filanienta 6, libera, lequalia, 
tenuia, apice vix crassiora, petalis subbrcviora; antherce glo- 
boso-4-lobae, subpeltatim affixse, 2-loculares, utnnque rima 
transversali 2-valvatim dehisccntes. Ovaria rudimentaria 3, 
punctiformia. — Foem. Sepala et pet ala ut in masc. Sta- 
mina sterilia 6, petalorum dimidia longitudine, iis opposita. 
Ovaria 3, gibboso-ovata, glabra, gymecio central! insita, 1- 
locularia, ovulo unico facie interna appenso. Stylus brevissi- 
mus, excentricus, subito incurvus. Stigma teres, breve, hori- 
zontale, superne subsulcatum. Drvpce 3, ovatse, carnosse, 
stigmate persistente basin versus signatse; putamen 
reniformi-orbiculatum, subcompressum, utrinque interrupte 
et curvate sulcatum ; condylus internus, excentralis, sub- 
VOL. III. 2 u 
