CXXXII. BURMANNIACEE (WRIGHT). 11 
capsular, crowned by the persistent part of the perianth-tube, dehiscing 
by slits.—Slender colourless herbs. Stems simple. Leaves (in the 
tropical African genera) reduced to minute scales. Inflorescence 
terminal, cymose. 
An order containing about 50 species dispersed through the tropics of both hemi- 
spheres. 
Perianth-tube winged. Ovary 3-celled : ; . 1. BURMANNIA. 
Perianth-tube not winged. Ovary l-celled . 5 : . 2. GYMNOSIPHON. 
1. BURMANNIA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. iii. 457. 
Perianth-tube with 3 prominent wings; 3 outer lobes induplicato- 
valvate, 3 inner small. Anthers 3, subsessile in the tube below the 
inner perianth-lobes; connective produced above the cells. Ovary 
3-celled, with axile placentation ; ovules very numerous; style included, 
shortly 3-lobed. Capsule with 3 wings, dehiscing by slits between the 
wings. Seeds small; testa reticulate or striate.—Erect herbs. Stem 
simple. Leaves reduced to small scales. Cymes terminal. 
Species about 20, spread through the tropics of both hemispheres. 
1. B. bicolor, var. africana, Ridl. in Journ. Bot. 1887, 85. Stem 
erect, thin, wiry, 2-3 in. high Leaves few, lanceolate, acute, the lower 
3 lin. long. Inflorescence cymose, 1—7-flowered. Perianth-tube violet, 
with 3 wings narrower at the base, giving an obcordate outline; outer 
lobes 3, yellow keeled with purple, inner linear-lanceolate, pale yellow. 
Stamens 3, inserted at the middle of the perianth-tube ; anthers with 
2 distinct, subglobose cells. Ovary 3-celled, many-ovuled ; style filiform ; 
stigma capitate. 
Lower Guinea. Angola: Huilla, Welwitsch, 6474! Johnston! 
Mozamb. Dist. Lower Plateau north of Lake Nyasa, Thomson ! 
B. africana, J. Braun and Schum. in Mitth. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. 1889, p. 162, 
from the Cameroons, is mentioned without description. 
2. GYMNOSIPHON, Blume; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. iii. 458. 
Perianth-tube elongated, not winged, circumscissile a short distance 
above the ovary; limb with the 3 outer lobes wide, induplicato-valvate, 
the 3 inner small or wanting. Anthers 3, subsessile near the throat of 
the perianth, with 4 globose cells. Ovary inferior, 1-celled; placentas 
3 parietal, sometimes bifid. Ovules very numerous. Capsule globose, 
crowned by the persistent base of the perianth-tube. Seeds very small ; 
testa inappendiculate.—Weak annual herbs, sometimes hyaline. Stem 
erect, usually simple. Leaves reduced to small scales. Flowers small 
1n terminal, lax or congested cymes. 
Species about 12, inhabiting principally the Malayan Archipelago, a few extending 
to Tropical America. 
