Abstract
WE have so recently reviewed the first volume of Baillon's “History of Plants” (see NATURE, No 2, p. 52) and discussed his mode of treating the subject, that we need scarcely more than mention the publication of his monograph of the important order or sub-order of Cæsalpineæ. The boundary-line between this sub-order and the Papilionaceæ is very difficult to be accurately laid down. M. Baillon describes the Cæsalpineæ to be, in general terms, those Leguminosæ which have a straight embryo and the æstivation not vexillary in the bud; but neither of these diagnostics can be relied on as absolutely constant. All the other characters dependent on the regularity or irregularity of the corolla, the cohesion of the stamens, the number of seeds, the presence or absence of albumen, &c., are still more uncertain. There are even species so far removed from the normal type of the order as to have undivided leaves, indefinite stamens, diclinous flowers, and herbaceous stems.
Baillon's Cæsalpineæ.—Histoire des Plantes:—Monographie des Legumineuses Cæsalpinées.
Par H. Baillon. (Paris: Hachette, 1869. London: Williams and Norgate.)
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B., A. Baillon's Cæsalpineæ.—Histoire des Plantes:—Monographie des Legumineuses Cæsalpinées . Nature 1, 456 (1870). https://doi.org/10.1038/001456b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/001456b0