553 
Example of Water-calyx. 
So far as I am aware, the present note is the first record of the 
occurrence of a water-calyx in the Natural Order Gesneraceae. The closely 
allied Bignoniaceae, however, include most of the plants with water-calyces 
so far described. The genus Besleria comprises some sixty species, spread 
over the West Indies and Central and South America, more than a quarter 
of the whole being natives of Brazil. Few of these are to be met with in 
cultivation, as their flowers are generally small and dully coloured, and the 
habit of the plants is ungraceful. B. Imray , Hook., is figured in ‘ Bot. Mag.’, 
Tab. 6341, and its calyx, as depicted there, strongly recalls that of B. lutea , 
Linn. A comparative study of the calyx within this large genus would in 
all probability throw fresh light on the origin and significance of water- 
calyces in general. 
I wish to record my indebtedness to the Royal Society of London for 
a grant in aid of the expedition on which the material of Besleria lutea , 
Linn., was obtained. 
