33i 
Meconopsis and Cathdartia . 
at first sight trivial as compared with any of those enumerated, which can 
be used without violating the limits of any of the groups. This is derived 
from the nature of the hairs which compose the indumentum ; these are 
sometimes simple, at others barbellate. 
By the use of this character we are able to aggregate five of the 
natural groups into a section, Bumeconopsis , all the species of which have 
simple hairs ; and into a second section, Polychaetia , the four remaining 
groups, all the species of which have barbellate hairs. 
The five groups included in the section Eumeconopsis arrange themselves 
in two sub-sections, with the stems in one case slender and branching, in the 
other stouter, scapose and unbranched or altogether suppressed. The groups 
with slender stems that are or may be branched are the Cambricae , includ- 
ing only M. cambrica , perennial in duration, with no disk, a native of 
Europe ; and the Anomalae , which are annuals, have the vertex of the 
capsule flattened and disk-like, and are natives of California. In these 
groups the indumentum is so sparingly present that the species are usually 
described as glabrous ; we, however, always find hairs on the sepals of M. 
cambrica , and in the Anomalae we always find hairs on the margins of the 
leaves where they taper into or run along the sides of the petioles. The 
groups with unbranched stems or simple radical or pseudo-radical scapes 
are further easily sub-divided into the Acideatae , which are prickly and may 
have either pinnately lobed or simple leaves ; and into two unarmed groups, 
the Primulinae , monocarpic, with simple leaves, flowering one year from 
seed, and the Bellae with dissected leaves, a perennial habit, and only 
flowering after two or more years from seed. The four groups included in 
the section Polychaetia likewise arrange themselves in two sub-sections ; one 
with the stems simple and scapose or altogether suppressed, the other with 
the stems branched. The groups with simple stems or no stems are two in 
number ; the Grandes without a disk and with the stigmatic lobes radiating 
and divaricate, and the Torquatae with a true and well-developed disk and 
with the stigmatic lobes decurrent and contiguous. The two groups with 
branching stems are the Robustae , a very distinct group with stout much- 
branched stems with numerous flowers, monocarpic, with persistent crowns, 
flowering in the second year from seed ; and the Chelidonifoliae with 
slender stems, few flowers, and a perennial habit. This last group consists 
of two species so remarkably alike that they can only be distinguished by 
their fruits ; one of them has a stigma like that met with in the group 
Grandes , the other a stigma like that met with in all the groups except the 
Grandes. The Chelidonifoliae resemble, in general appearance, the group 
Cambricae , with which the writer at one time associated them. The 
affinity of the two groups outside the genus is, however, rather different ; 
M. cambrica but for its capsule is a Stylophorum , the Chelidonifoliae but for 
their capsules are Cathcartiae . 
