71 
Order LII. MALESHERBIACE^. 
MaleshkrbiacE:®, Don in Jameson’s Journal, 321. (1826) ; Martins Conspectus, No. 240. 
(1835). — PASsiFLOREiE, § Maleshcrbicse, DC. Prodr. 3. 337. (1828). 
Essential Character. — Calyx tubular, membranous, inflated, 5-lobed, the lobes with 
an imbricated aestivation. Petals 5, alternate with the segments of the calyx, persistent, 
with a convolute aestivation, arising from without a short membranous rim or corona. 
Stamens 5 or 10, perigynous; filaments filiform, distinct, or connected with the stalk of the 
ovary; c/nf/icrs versatile. Ocary superior, stipitate, 1 -celled, sometimes with the placentae 
at the base, from which the ovules arise by the intervention of umbilical cords ; styles 3, 
filiform, very long, arising from distinct points of the apex of the ovary ; stigmas clavate. 
Emit capsular, 1 -celled, 3-valved, membranous more or less, many-seeded. Seeds attached 
by umbilical cords to placentae arising either from the axis of the valves, or from their 
base ; testa crustaceous, brittle, with a fleshy crest, and no aril ; embryo taper, in the midst 
of fleshy albumen, with the radicle next the hilum. — Herbaceous or half-shrubby plants. 
Leaves alternate, lobed, without stipules. Flowers axillary or terminal, solitary, yellow or 
blue. 
Affinities. According to Don, by whom these plants were first consi- 
dered the rudiments of an order, “ they agree on the one hand with Passiflo- 
raceae, and on the other with Turneraceae and I am persuaded that this is 
their true position. From the former they differ in the insertion of their 
styles, in their versatile anthers, taper embryo, want of aril and stipules, 
and altogether in their habit : from Turneraceae, to which their habit quite 
allies them, they differ in the presence of a perigynous membrane, in the re- 
markable insertion of the styles, and in the want of all trace of an aril ; agree- 
ing with that order in the aestivation of the corolla, and in the principal other 
points of their structure. In their thin-sided fruit they approach Smeathman- 
nia in Passifloraceae. At least two genera of the order are known. 
Geography. Natives of Chili. 
Properties. Unknown, except as objects of great beauty. 
GENERA. 
Malesherbia, R. et P. 
Gynopleura, Cav. 
Order Llll. TURNERACE.E. 
Loaseae, § Turneraceae, Kunth. N. G. et Sp. 6. 123. (1823).-^TurneracejE, DC. Prodr. 
3. 345. (1828). 
Essential Character. — Calyx inferior, often cploured, with 5 equal lobes, imbricated 
in aestivation. Petals 5, inserted into the tube of the calyx, equal, with a twisted aestiva- 
tion. Stamens 5, inserted into the tube of the calyx below the petals, with which they are 
alternate ; distinct ; anf/im oblong, erect, 2-celled. Oyary superior, 1 -celled, with 
3 parietal placentae ; ovules indefinite ; styles 3 or 6, cohering more or less, and sim})le 
branched or multifid at the apex. Capsule 3-valved, 1 -celled, opening from the point 
about as far as the middle, the valves bearing the placentae in the middle. Seeds with a 
thin membranous aril on one side, crustaceous, reticulated; embryo slightly curved, in the 
middle of fleshy albumen ; radicle turned towards the hilum ; cotyledons somewhat plano- 
convex. — Herbaceous plants, having sometimes a tendency to become shrubby, with a sim- 
ple pubescence, which does not sting. Leaves alternate, simple, without stipules, with 
occasionally 2 glands at the apex of the petiole. Flowers axillary, their pedicel either dis- 
tinct or cohering with the petiole ; with 2 bractlets. Petals yellowish, rarely blue. 
Affinities. Placed by De Candolle between Loasaseae and Fouquiera- 
ceae, chiefly, it should seem, on account of its manifest relation to the former, 
