characters, which I shall notice hereafter. Is this plant, then, sui generis ? ought it to be united with Alyssum, the character of that genus being modified to receive it ? or does not Alyssum require subdivision, and may not our plant be referred to one of the genera so formed ? A brief result of the examination of these questions, so far as they are connected with the subject under consideration, will be found annexed to the character which is given of the genus formed by the union of Lunaria libyca with Alyssum maritimum, a plant also in the collection, from the neighbourhood of Tripoli. Alyssum maritimum, which is described both as an Alyssum and as a Clypeola by Linnams, is the Konig of Adanson, who founded his generic distinction on the monospermous cells and supposed want of glands of the receptacle ; and M. Desvaux, admitting Adanson’s genus, has named it Lobu- laria. In the second edition of Hortus Kewensis I included this plant in Alyssum, which M. De Candolle has also done in his great work. For the genus here proposed I shall adopt Adanson’s name, altering only the termination, and wishing it to be considered as commemorating the important services rendered to botany by my friend Mr. Konig, of the British Museum *. * ICONIGA. Konig. A iam ./am. 2. p. 420. Lobularia. Desvaux in Journ. de Bolán, appi. 3. p. 172. Alyssi sp. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. vol. 4. p. 95. De Cand. Syst. Nat. 2. p. 318. Lunari* sp. Vie. Libya. p. 34. Farsetiae sp. Spreng. Syst. Veg. 2. p. 871. C h a r. Gen. Calyx patens. Pétala integerrima. Glandola hypogyn* 8 ! Filamente omnia eden tula.. Silicu la subovata, valvis planinsculis, loeulis 1-polyspermis, funieulis basi septo (venoso, nervo deliquescenti,) adnatis. Semina (seepissime) marginata. Cotyledones accumbentes. Herb* (annua o. perennes) pule bipartita appressa incana., Folia integerrima subünearia. Racemi terminales, nunc basi j oliati. Flores albi. Calyx basi subasqualis. Petalorum lamin * dilatata. Anthera ovat®. Glandularum quatuor per paria filomenta longiora lateraliter adstantes ; reliqu* quatuor abbreviato geminatim filamento breviora atipantes. Diseepimentum, prmtcr areolas ultimas (lam in* duplicis) transversim lineares parietibus (tubulis) rectis subparollelis, venie crebre anastomozantibus a nervo descendenti e duobus arete approximatis formato supra basin evanescenti in monospermis obsoleto ortis descen- dentibus. Funiculi in dispermia polyspermisque in diversis loculis alterni. O b s . Koniga ad Alyssinearum tribum De Cand. pertinens, bine Alysso auctorum inde Farsetto accedit. Sed Alyssum, uti in Hort. Kew. et De Cand. Syst. Nat. constitutum sit, certe aivisionem eget. Aly s sum nob. facile distinguendum sequentibus notis. Silicula subrotunda, disco convexo, limbo compresso, apice retuso, loculis dispermia, funieulis basi septo adnatis et post lopsum seminimi In comparing these two species of Konigap their agreement is very striking in habit, in leaves, in the closely pressed bipartite pubescence, in the calyx, petals, stamina, and stigma. They correspond also in some other points, less obvious'but equally important; which I shall separately notice. The first of these is in having eight glands on the receptacle ; a character peculiar, I believe, to these plants, and which first suggested the generic name Octadenia. The glands in Alyssum maritimum were entirely overlooked by Adanson, are not noticed by M. Desvaux, and M. De Candolle has described only the four that subtend the longer stamina. These certainly are much more conspicuous than the remaining four, which, however, occupy the place of the only glands existing in several of the most nearly related genera. The number and position of the glands in this genus give some support, perhaps, to the hypothesis which I have formerly advanced, of the divisions of an hypogynous disk being in most cases formed of abortive filaments ; an opinion more strikingly confirmed; however, in this family of plants, by their form and texture in Alyssum calycinum, and minimum. The second point in which the two species of Koniga agree is in the structure of the septum. On this, which I consider as a new source of character in Crucifera, I shall offer some remarks in speaking of Farsetia. . The third point of agreement is the adhesion of the funiculi umbilicales to the septum. This adhesion, though really existing, is not very obvious in the monospermous cells of Koniga marítima; but in the supposed variety of this species from Teneriffe, in which the cells are occasionally dispermous, it is manifest, and is very remarkable in all states of Koniga libyca. I first introduced this adhesion of the funiculi to the septum, as a generic character, in distinguishing Petrocallis from Draba. It has since been advantageously employed in the character of Lunaria by M. de Candolle, who, however, supposes this structure of much rarer occurrence in Cruciferae than it really pcrsistentibus, supra liberis et cum iisdem deciduis, iu diversis loculis oppositis, in eodem a styli basi equidistantibus: Petalis emarginatis : Filamentis omnibus nonnullisve appendiculatis in speciebus omnibus prreter A. calycinum in quo filamento filiformia Simplicia sunt et glandularum loco setuto quatuor filaments nana »mulantes exstant. Ad Alyssum sic constitutum et lierbas plerumque annuas pube stellari fbliisque integer^ rimis complectens pertinent A. campestre et calycinum Linn, strigosum Russell, minimum Willd. et strictum ejusd. a quo densiflorum Desfont. vix differt; fulvescens Smith, umbellatum Desv. ros- tratum Stev. micropetalum Fisch. hirsutum Bieb. aliasque species inéditas.
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