From Ferdinand von Mueller to Berthold Seemann   29 Mar 1868

Having deprived the Buettneriaceae, some time since, of the genus Macarthuria,¹ I make some return in referring to that Order Lachnostachys (Pycnolachne, Turcz.).² I had lately occasion to study the fruit, which shows the embryo to be straight, and lodged in the axis of amygdaloid albumen. Indeed the genus is truly Buettneriaceous, though constituting a separate tribe. The aestivation is valvate. The branched indument is that of many members of the Order. The leaves of one species resemble those of Guichenotia, of one or two of the others certain Thomasiae. Opposite, moreover, they occur also in Lasiopetalum, while in the latter genus the petals are also frequently wanting. A solitary carpel is likewise shown by Waltheria, while a simple series of filaments arises from a staminal tube also in Heritiera, Helicteres, etc.

If Dasymalla and Spartothamus (Teucridium) are excluded from Myoporinae, the ordinal characters of the latter become far more clear. Indeed Spartothamnus, if not both, are truly Verbenaceous. Lachnosephilus³ is identified with Mallophora.

The genus Villarsia counts in Australia 18 species, many of which afford excellent characters in their fruit. It is in many respects allied to Velloya,⁴ among Goodeniaceae. Menyanthes differs solely in the simply valvate aestivation of the wingless lobes of the corolla, and in trisected leaves.

FRED.⁵ VON MUELLER

Melbourne, March 29, 1868.

Buettneriaceae

Dasymalla

Goodeniaceae

Guichenotia

Helicteres

Heritiera

Lachnosephilus

Lachnostachys

Lasiopetalum

Macarthuria

Mallophora

Menyanthes

Myoporinae

Pycnolachne

Spartothamnus

Teucridium

Thomasia

Velloya

Villarsia

Waltheria