Elægneæ, in which the tendency to cohesion of the calyx and ovarium is still more obvious than in Franklandia, approach very near to Proteaceæ in most respects, and the single difference in fructification between these two orders, consisting in the stamina being opposite to the laciniæ of the calyx in the latter and alternating with them in the former, is not an insuperable objection to their union; for Drapetes, which evidently belongs to Thymeleæ, has, in opposition to the rest of that order, its stamina alternating with the divisions of the perianthium.
SYNAPHEA.
Ord. Nat. Proteaceæ.
Syst. Linn. Triandria Monogynia.
Char. Gen. Perianthium tubulosum, 4-fidum, ringens. Antheræ tres, inclusæ: inferior didyma cum lateralibus dimidiatis primo cohærens in vaginam bilocularem, lobis proximis vicinarum loculum unicum constituentibus. Stigma filamento superiore sterili connatum. Nux.
Synaphea dilatata. Tab. 7.
Synaphea foliis apice dilatatis trilobis: lobis inciso-dentatis, petiolis spicisque villosis, stigmate bicorni. Lin. soc. transact. 10, p. 156. Prodr. fl. nov. holl. 370.
Conospermum reticulatum. Smith in Rees Cyclopæd.
In exposed barren situations, near the shores of King George's Sound; gathered in flower and fruit, in December, 1801.
DESC. Fruticulus procumbens teres crassitie pennæ corvinæ, subramosus, villis patulis mollibus tomentoque appresso cinereus. Folia alterna, elongato-petiolata, adscendentia, cuneata, basi valde attenuata, apice dilatato trifido, lobis 607] incisis, segmentis brevibus acutis mucronulo sphacelato; trinervia, nervis lateralibus margini approximatis simplicissimis et infra apicem folii desinentibus, nee in lacinulas extimas productis; medio trifido, ramis lateralibus subalternis; utrinque pulchrè reticulata, areolis minutis subtus magis conspicuis; adulta glabrata, novella villosa. Petioli teretes, basi dilatata oblongo-lanceolata scariosa. Spicæ axillares solitariæ simplicissimæ erectæ 3-4-unciales folia vix æquantes, basifloræ, rachi tomentosa, floribus alternis sessilibus unibracteatis; bracteis cucullatis ovatis acutis persistentibus. Perianthium coloratum flavum deciduum: ungues inferne connati in tubum demum 4-partibilem: laminæ in limbum bilabiatum dispositæ, lanceolatæ; dorsali labium superius
