a genus of plants belonging to the syngenesia clas; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, Compositae. The common calyx consists of distinct florets, between each of which are short squamules, the whole forming a round head. The partial calyx is bivalved. The corolla is small and funnel-shaped, the tube small as a thread, the laciniæ short and acute. The stamens are five; the style bifid. It has no other seed-vessel except the partial calyx, which contains a long three-sided seed. Of this there is only one species, viz., the Argentea; a native of the West Indies, and found in copses and waste lands.