more apparent by a comparison of their essential characters. 
Gilliesia has been given above; the character of Miersia is as follows :— 
MIERSIA. 
Bractee patentes, basi imbricatee: sex exterioribus petaloideis; interiorj- 
bus tot bifidis coloratis depauperatis. Perzanthium regulare, monophyllum, 
urceolatum, carnosum, ore constricto sexdentato. Stamina 6, minima, fauce 
perianthii inserta. Ovarium superum, triloculare. Stylus filiformis. Stigma 
capitatum. Capsula triquetra, truncata, trilocularis,’ ad verticem tantum 
—Herba (Chilensis) bulb 
3 valyis, polysperma. Semina .............. rba (Chile: 
spherico tunicato, nucis castanee magnitudine. Folia linearia, erecta, 
obtusa, glabra. Scapi nudi, spithamei, foliis longiores. Umbella 4-flora, 
abbreviata. Spatha diphylla, erecta, subventricosa, persistens. Flores 
virides, tnconsprcut. Bracteee exteriores in duabus phalangibus disposite, 
quarum altera superior, altera inferior; in utrdque adsunt bractee tres ovate 
acuminate, intermedid interiore. Bracteve depauperate coccinea, bipartite : 
superioribus? perfectioribus, sub perianthio inserte, sec. schedas Domini Miers 
bracteis exterioribus alterne. Perianthium leviter obliquum, striis sex pur- 
purascentibus. Species unica est M. Chilensis Lindl. in Miers trav. vol. 2, 
p- 529. Descriptio ex icone et mss. Domini Miers. 
The natural affinity of these two genera is extremely obscure; and till 
some accurate information can be obtained of the structure of their seeds, it 
must necessarily be a subject of much uncertainty. Even with the requisite 
information upon that point, it is not probable that they will be found to 
bear any very close relation to the other Monocotyledoneous orders at present 
known. Their tunicated bulbs, spathaceous inflorescence, and general 
appearance, place them near Asphodelew, with some genera of which, 
especially Muscari and Puschkinia, Miersia at least agrees in the structure 
of perianthium; but we are acquainted with no genus of Asphodclez to 
which the fructification of Gilliesieew can be otherwise compared. If the 
one-flowered species of Schcenus, in which a single naked flower is surrounded 
by several imbricated squame, be admitted as a form of inflorescence 
analogous to that under consideration, it may perhaps be allowable to carry 
this comparison yet further, and to suggest an identity of origin and function 
between the depauperated bractec of Gilliesia and the hypogynous sete of 
Scirpus and other Cyperaceze. But on acccunt of the presence of a perian- 
thium, and of their polyspermous three-celled capsule, Gilliesiee may 
perhaps be with most propriety referred to the neighbourhood of Restiace, 
to which their imbricated inflorescence does not offer any very powerful 
Obstacles a uaa ‘ 
We have named the subject of this article in honour of Dr. John Gillies, 
a physician resident at Mendoza, in Chile, by whom the Botany of that most 
‘interesting country has been assiduously explored, and from whose further 
exertions we expect very important results. 
: J. L, 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 
1. Flower seen in front. 2. Ditto in profile. 3. Perianthium and 
stamina, with the style in a:monstrous state. 4. Ovarium, and monstrous 
style and stigma. . 5. Natural stigma. 6. Transverse section of a monstrous 
ovarium, in which however the ovula are in the true.position. 7. Capsule. 
8. Seed. 
That of 
