380 Holm. — On Obolaria virginica . 
of our earliest bloomers, its flowers are developed some time 
before the foliage of the surrounding trees and shrubs unfold, 
thus being fully exposed to the sunlight, against which it 
is protected by its waxy cuticula and the large amount of 
anthocyan contained in the leaves. 
The absence of root-hairs in Obolaria is of course somewhat 
surprising in connexion with the non-development of the 
primary root. On the other hand, however, there are truly 
saprophytic Orchideae, that is, Corallorhiza and Epipogon , 
which have organs that perform the same function as root- 
hairs, and the European species of the saprophytic genus 
Monotropa possesses a primary root. 
On account of the many intergradations between the 
Autophytes and the Saprophytes, it is almost impossible to 
draw any general distinctions. In regard to the Gentianaceae, 
most of which are Autophytes, it may be said that the genus 
Obolaria is a connecting link between the autophytic and 
the saprophytic genera ; and although it has several characters 
in common with the Saprophytes, we are inclined to consider 
our plant an autophyte. 
In regard to its systematic position, it is, as above stated, 
closely related to Sweertia and Pleurogyne : to the first by 
the presence of nectaries, and to the latter by the position 
of the ovules on the entire inner surface of the carpels. 
