THIS bush is common in the fields around Rio-Janeiro, where it blossoms the whole year. Its branches are erect, somewhat sarmentose, slightly pubescent .at their extremi- ties, with alternate, glabrous, somewhat undulate leaves. Flowers small, scattered over long axillary or terminal spikes ; perianth persistent, herbaceous, with four linear divisions. Stamens four, alternate with the divisions of the perianth and a little taller. A single ovary, surmounted by a style, divided into ten reflexed stigmata. Capsule flattened, containing a single seed. The roots are branching and very fibrous ; they smell strongly of garlic. We employ the recent root. PETIVERIA TETRANDRA. 171 Prover : Dr. Manuel Duarte Moreira.