rollæ alterna; autheris sæpissime conniventibus, apice poro gemino dehiscentibus. B a c ca \
2 - (rarius 4 - ) locularis. S m in a a lbuminosa; embryone corvato.— Herbæ v . fru tic e s; fo liis a lte rn is, in dU
v isis, lobatis p in n a tis e c tis v e ; inflorescentia sæpius cymosa, ex tra -a la r i.
About thirty Australian Solana have been described, the majority o f which are natives of the subtropical
eastern parts of the contment, but there are also many extratropical species. The genus has the peduncle o f the
flowers (which are usuaUy in cymes) often adnate to the branch for a considerable distance above the axü o f the
leaf to which it belongs.— Qifyx quinquefld or quadrifld. Corolla with four or five plaited lobes. Stamens five,
with the long anthers generally placed so closely together as to form a cone in the middle o f tbe flower, theii- cells
bursting by terminal pores. Fruit a two- to four-celled berry, with nnmerous albiuniiious seeds, containing a
cyUndrical, curved embrjm. (Name o f doubtful origin.)
1 . Solaniun nigrum (Lin n . Sp. PI. 2 6 6 ) ; pubescens v. glabratum, caule herbáceo anguiato angulis
subalatis, foliis gracile petiolatis ovatis eUipticisve sinuato-angulatis acutis membranaceis, cymis lateralibus
subumbellatis, floribus parvis, baccis g lob o sis.— D r . B ro d r. 4 4 5 ; FL N . Z eal. i. 1 8 2 . {Gunn, 5 1 .)
H a b . Throughout th e Islan d , in waste places (especially near th e sea), by roadsides, etc .— (F l. all
summer.) {v. v.)
D i s t e i b . Common in m ost temperate and tropical countries. (A native o f En g lan d .)
An extremely common and variable plant.— 5?«» herbaceous, angled, tbe angles sometimes slightly winged.
Branches slender. Leaves membranous, on long petioles, lamina 1 - 3 inches long, ovate or elliptical, acute, variously
angled, smuate or coarsely toothed. Cymes peduncled, few-flowered. Flowers white or yeUowish, subumbeUate,
smaU, about i inch across. Sepals blunt. Corolla tnincate. Berry about the size o f a pea, whitish, yeUow, black,
or red, but I have seen only the yeUow and black varieties in AustraUa and Tasmama.
2 . Solanum aviculare (Forst. Prodr. 1 0 7 ) ; herbaceum, basi fruticosum, glabrum, foliis membra-
naceis lineari-lanceolatis v. ovato-lanceolatis subacutis integr is v . varie profunde pinnatifidis laciniis lineari-
elongatis brevibusve, cymis axillaribus v . extra-alaribus, calyce breviter 5-fido, corollæ lob is acutis obtusis
emarginatisve, antheris non conniventibus, baccis subglobosis v . ovoideis.— FL K Z eal. i. 1 8 2 ; I k in a l in
B C . P ro d r . x iii. 6 9 . S . laciniatum, AU . H o r t. K ew . i. 2 4 7 ; B r . P ro d r . 4 4 5 ; B o t. M a g . 3 4 9 ; L o d d .
B o t. Cab. 7 1 7 . {Gunn, 3 7 6 .)
H.ab. Common in damp, shaded woods, etc .— (F l. O c t .-D e c .) {v. ?>.)
D i s t e i b . Tropical and temperate Eastern Au stra lia ; T im o r ? ; N ew Zealand. (Introduced in to E n g -
land.)
A verj' handsome plant, which Gunn states is tender, and annuaUy kiUed by the frost at Launceston : this
however is not the case at Hobarton, where it is very common. I t is also a very variable plant, and Gmm suspects
that the Tasmanian species may not be the same as a Port PhiUip one, though he adds that they are undistinguish-
able in a dry state. It is only natural to suppose that so considerable a difference of latitude and other features as
the opposite sides o f Bass’ Straits present, should be accompanied with a recognizable difference in the liabit
o f a succulent, herbaceous plant, belonging to so variable a genus as Solanum. On the other hand, Mueller distinguishes
two Y^ictoria species,— one, the common S. laciniatum, and the other, his S. vescum (the Ounyang o f the
aborigines), which is probably the typical S. aviculare of Forster, which I have considered not specifically distinct
from S. laciniatum, and which is eaten abundantly in New Zealand by man. Whether, then, there are two species
or one, or, what is most probable, several well-marked varieties o f one, must be left to the local botanist to determine
; what characters there may be must be very insignificant, to be destroyed in the operation o f a careful drying.
The length and breadth of the lobes o f the corolla seem to be particularly liable to vary.— A stout, succident, glabrous,
branched herb, 1 -3 feet high, with woody base to the stem. Leaves 2 -8 inches long, narrow-lanceolate and
quite entire, or laciniate with many long or short lateral lobes, and then more or less pinnatifid. Cymes two- or
more-flowered, axillary or lateral. Flowers large, 4 - l | - inch across, geuerally of a dingy blue. Berry as large as a
marble, spherical or ovoid, yellow or green or purplish. Anthers not forming a cone.
N a t . O r d . L I X . S C R O P H U L A R I N E Æ .
One o f the most extensive Orders o f Dicotyledonous plants, abounding in most temperate and tropical
countries, bu t remarkably sparingly represented in Australia, where only about e igh ty species have been
detected. O f these a considerable number are tropical weeds, and be long to genera found commonly in
In d ia ; such are species o f H erpestes, G ratiola, and Van d e llia : one large genus is wholly Australian, namely
A n th o c e rc is; o f M im u lu s, which is principally an American genus, there are flve or six species, w h ilst o f
F irónica and Eu ph ra sia there are a considerable number. Near ly one-third o f the Australian species are
tropical, about a dozen are natives o f South-we ste rn Australia, and the remainder inhabit the soutli-eastern
quarter, in c lu d in g T asmania; very few are common to th e south-eastern and south-western quarters.
Gen. I . A N TH O C E R C IS , Lab.
Calyx 5-fidus. Corolla campanulata, fauce ampia, limbo subæquali, lobis acutis æstivatione leviter
induplicatis. S tam in a 4 , didynama, inclusa, antherarum locu lis dorso appositis apice, subconfluentibus.
S ty lu s apice dilatato-bilobus, lobis in tu s stigmatosis. Capsula oblonga v. subglobosa, valvis chartaceis v.
subcoriaceis, integris bifidisve, septo tenui. Embryo rectus v. leviter curvatus.— Frú tice s g la b r i v. ste lla to -
p u b e sc en te s; foliis a lte rn is in teg ris v . a n gu la to -d en ta tis ; p e d u n c u l i s l-Z -J lo r is ; corollis
a lb is V. ochroleucis, in tu s sæ p issim epu rp u reo -lin ea tis. {Benth. in B C . P ro d r.)
An Australian genus, with about fifteeu species, some of which have been removed by Mr, Miers to another
genus, Cyphanthera, founded on tbe one-ceUed anther and four-valved capsule, but which appears to Bentham and
myself to be only a section of Anthocercis. The species are aU natives of extratropical Australia, and chiefly of
the south coast; some however are confined to New South \Vales, and others to the Swan River colony. AU*^are
shrubs, with alternate leaves, glabrous or covered witb stellate pubescence. Tbe peduncles are subafrUaiy, one-
to three-fiowered, and the flowers are in some species large and showy. The corolla lias a slightly induplicate
æstivation, whence the genus has been placed in Solaneæ, from wbich the stamens distinguish it. The Tasmaniau
species (which belongs to tbe section Cijphanthei-a) is a slender shi-ub, 8 -1 0 feet high, covered witb stellate pubescence.
Mr. Gunu ibaws my attention to its being alluded to in Backhouse’s notes as being probablv a bi-perennial,
that is, flowering in perfection during the second year, and declining gradually for the following two or three years.
— Branches terete. Leaves about an inch long, lanceolate, obtuse, eutire, minutely seaberulous above, tomentose
beneath, veins prominent, mai-gius strongly recurved. Peduncles erect, one- or two-flowered, bracteolate. Caly.r
five-lobed, lobes narrow. Corolla erect, pale yellow, streaked with purple, campanulate, with a long tube, twice as
long as the calyx, pubescent externally, lobes linear-oblong. Stamens foui-, didynamous, included. Anther unilocular.
Capsule globose, fom--valved, four-seeded. (Name from av0o%, a Jlower, and KepKts, a r a y ; in allusion to
the spreading lobes of tbe corolla.)
1. Anthocercis Tasmanica (Hook, f i l ) ; dense stellatim tomentosa, ramis teretibus, foliis lineari-
ob lon g is eUipticisve subobtusis marginibus recurvis supra scaberulis subtus albo-tomentosis venis promi-
nentibus, pedunculis gracilibus calycibusque cano-pubescentibus, corollæ lobis Uueari-oblougis.— Cyphan-
thera Tasmanica, M ie rs in Ann. N a t. H is t. xi. 3 7 7 . {Gunn, 1 9 9 2 .) (T a b . L X A X Y 'I I I . A.)
H a b . Kelvedon, Great Swan Port, amongst Gum-trees, B a ckh ou se ; Cygnet River, .S??/«/-?.— ( P I . N o v .)
P l a t e LX X X Y H II./. Fig. 1 , flower; 2 , same, with tbe corolla expanded ; 3 , the same, with tbe corolla laid
open; 4 , upper, and 5, lower stamens; 6, anther; 7, p istil; 8, stellate hairs :— <?/?
Gen. I I . Y IB IU L U S , L .
C alyx tubulosus, 5 -dentatus, 5 -gonus. Corollæ labium superius erectum v . reflexum, 2 -lob um infev
o L . I . q