148 MR. J. MIERS 01S" MARUPA, 



- 



having a nearly plane face where they meet in front of the axis. 

 In some seeds the folds form an acute angle with each other ; in 

 other cases a rounded floor lies between. An idea of this forma- 

 tion may be taken by supposing a reniform flat cotyledon, such as 

 is commonly seen, the upper half and lobes of which are folded 

 upwards by a transverse line and then thickened to assume the 

 form of these seeds. 



Germination takes place in about a fortnight after sowing ; tbe 

 small cotyledon soon falls away, while the larger of the two persists, 

 and in one case w T as exhausted only at the end of nearly six months. 



In the Kew Museum are germinating seeds of a species of Pa- 



chira which show, but slight deviation from the usual structure of 



seeds ; cotyledons similar in all particulars. They show, however, 

 an approximation to the structure of which the present case is an 

 extreme. One cotyledon is half the size of its fellow, is attached 

 a little higher up, and the larger is slightly corrugated. For 

 further comparisons, consult the figures described in the accom- 

 panying Plate. The materials are preserved in No. 1 Museum of 

 the Royal Gardens. 



Pachira belongs to the tribe or suborder Bombacese of Malva- 

 ceae, and comes betw r een the well-known genera Adansonia and 



Bomb ax. 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VIII. 



Fig. 1. Commencement of germination, showing position of small cotyledon. 



2. Section through large cotyledon, showing attachment and the relative 



position of small cotyledon. 



3. Upper-face view of small cotyledon. 



4. A side view of the same. 



5. Young plant with cotyledon still attached. 



6. Cotyledon of same plant reduced to three fourths natural size. A 



rounded floor is seen between the folds, in contrast to fig. 2, where 

 the folds make an acute angle with each other. 



7. Pachira, sp., in Kew Museum above referred to. It shows the adhe- 



rence of two others of arrested growth, resulting from the production 

 of several embryos on the same seed. 



On Marupa, a Genus of the Simarubacese. 

 By John Mie^s, F.K.S., F.L.S., &c. 



[Read May 2, 1878.] 

 (Plates IX. & X.) 



en's Journal ■ (1873) I gave a hasty and very incomplete 

 Marupa, and I now contribute more complete details of 



