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MR. C. H. WRIGHT ON THE GENUS STEMONA. 491 
not produced until after the racemose scape. Next to this come 
two species also with erect habit, but whose flowers are pro- 
duced on the leafy stem, viz., S. sessilifolia, Miq., and S. erecta, 
C. H. Wright. All the other species are climbers. The 
leaves, as shown by the subjoined key, are either verticillate, 
opposite, or alternate. In appearance they much resemble 
certain species of Dioscorea, but are at once distinguished by 
the primary veins of the leaves being connected by numerous 
approximate transverse ones, a character also possessed by the 
South African Liliaceous genus Behnia, whose floral structure, 
however, is quite different. 
The species of this genus occur chiefly in Eastern Asia, six 
being found in the Malayan Peninsula and Archipelago, two in 
India proper, four in China, two in Japan, while two extend to 
Australia. 
Stemona, Lour., Fl. Cochinch. p. 404 (1790). Roxburghia, 
Banks, in Roxb. Pl. Corom., i. p. 29, t. 32 (1795). 
Herbacea vel suffruticosa. Caulis erectus vel sepius scandens. 
Folia alterna, opposita vel verticillata, petiolata, nerviis 
pluribus transversalibus approximatis. Pedunculi axillares, 
liberi vel ad petiolos adnati; flores tetrameri; perianthii 
segmenta distincta, imbricata. Staminorum connectivum inter 
et ultra antherarum loculos longe productum; anthere longi- 
tudinaliter dehiscentes. Ovarium parvum, uniloculare; stigma 
sessile, punctiforme; ovula 3-0, erecta; capsula bivalvata ; 
semina 2-0, albuminosa; funiculus sepe elongatus, apice 
appendiculatus; embryo rectus, axillaris. 
CLAVIS SPECIERUM. 
A. Folia hysterantha lL. S. Griffithiana, 
B. Folia eodem tempore ac flores producta. 
1. Folia verticillata. 
a. Caulis erectus. 
Folia ovata. Perianthii segmenta 
late lanceolata e 
Foliaelliptica. Perianthiisegmenta 
anguste lancevlata 
8. Caulis scandens. 
Folia acuminata, basi rotundata, 
pedicelli ad petiolos adnati .. 4. S. japonica. 
Folia acuta, basi profunde cordata, 
pedicelli liberi .. - .. oO. S. acuta, 
2. S. sessilifoliu. 
3. S. erecta. 
