ARRANGEMENT OF THE PARTS OF THE FLOWER. 477 



petalous stamens are longer than those superposed to the sepals, 

 though all in the same row, it is possible that one set of five is 

 interposed between the others. There is, however, little or no 

 evidence in support of this opinion. 



In the genus Olax itself the arrangement varies in different 

 species : thus in O. zeylanica and O. scandens the arrangement is 



sometimes 



S 

 P 



St X ; 



and at other times, especially in the last-named species, it is 



S 



P 



x 



St; 



while Roxburgh, in his ' Coromandel Plants,' figures it as 



s s s s s 

 p p p 



St x St x St x , 



there being, according to this author, three bifid petals and stami- 

 nodes interposed between the stamens. 

 In Olax nana, O. acuminata, and O. merguensis the arrangement 



is 



S5 



P3 

 x5 St3 



In O. Wightiana the disposition is 



S5 



P5 



St 3 x 5. 



It is possible that the arrangement in Ptychopetalum and Olax 

 is due to the existence of branched stamens, whereby the number 

 M stamens is increased. This notion is borne out by the order 

 °f disposition in Ochanostachys, Mast., a newly described genus*, 



thu 



s 



S S S S S 



P P P P P 



St 3 St 3 St 3 St 3 St 3, 



* Mast, in Hook. Fl. Brit. Tndia, i. p. 576- 



