OLACINE.E. 309 



ovate-oblong, laterally subcompressed. Carpids with 5, equal, entire ribs. Albumen sul- 

 cate on the commissural side. — Perennial herbs: roots tuberose; leaves l-'d-pinnaiisecl ; 

 umbels compound: flowers whitish?' 



9. A. esculenta, DC. " Leaves pinnatisect : inferior segments divided into ovate, 

 acuminate, coarsely serrate lobes • involucre ; carpidribs obtuse." — Hab. Trinidad ! ; [New 

 Granada !, Peru!]. 



XC. BALANOPHORE.E. 



Flowers unisexual, apetalous. Calyx valvate or 0. Ovary inferior or naked, simple : 

 ovule mostly single and naked : styles 2-1. Embryo small, usually undivided, enclosed 

 within copious endosperm.— Aphyllous herbs, "parasitical on roots, devoid of chlorophyll} 

 stems fleshy, simple from a branched or tuberose rhizoma ; flowers collected on a terminal 

 spadix, often separated by filiform scales. 



The affinity of Balanophorea with Gunnera, and through Hippuris with Haloragea, has 

 been proved by J. Hooker. Hence they are inserted here, as the latter Order, not repre- 

 sented in the West Indies, seems rather more connected with Umbelliferce than with Ona- 

 grariea, which is their usual place in the system. 



1. HELOSIS, Rich. 



Spadix ovoid or globose, androgynous, covered with peltate, hexagonal bracts. $ Calyx 

 tubular, 3-lobed : column 3-androus, tribranched below the synantherous, 6-12-celled body 

 of the anthers, inserted into the calyx-throat : anthers introrse ; $ calyx obsolete. Ovary 

 simple : ovule 1, " erect " (Hoffmeist.), naked : styles 2. Seed adhering to the crustaceous 

 pericarp. — Rhizoma branched : stems inserted to its knobs, naked, usually with an annular 

 sheath. 



1. H. guianensis, Rich. Stems surrounded at the base by a 3-4-lobed (or 5-7-lobed), 

 involucral sheath. — Mem. Mas. 8. t. 20. — Cynomorium cayennense, Sw. — Stems 2"-6" 

 (1"-12") high ; spadix ovoid-oblong, enclosed (before the development of the stem) by the 

 sheath : $ flowers serotinous. — Hab. Trinidad !, Pd., Cr., in the mountains of Tamana, 

 Arena ; [Guiana, Brazil !]. 



2. PHYLLOCORYNE, /. Hook. 



Spadix oblong-cylindrical •. bracts imbricate, deciduous. Flowers of Helosis, but column 

 tri-branched below the globose, 6-celled body of the synantherous anthers, which opens at the 

 top. — Rhizoma thick, branched; stem covered with closing, 4-6-slichous scales, which 

 pass into the bracts, tubercled above with rudimentary flowers. 



2. P. jamaicensis, J. Hook. — J. Hook. Bafanophor. in Linn. Transact. 1855, t. 11 ; 

 Desc. Fl. 2. t. 26. — Cynomorium, Sw. C. coccineum, Desc. — Stem red, a few inches high, 

 or spithameous; spadix 1"-2V long ; scabs and bracts ovate-deltoid. — Hab. Jamaica!, At., 

 Pd., M'Nab, Wullschl., in mountain woods; [eastern Cuba!]. 



XCI. OLACINE.E. 



Calyx persistent. Corolla valvate, often villous inside. Stamens definite, hypogynous or 

 epipetalous. Ovary simple, mostly superior, usually unilocular or divided below by tissue 

 between the ovules : ovules few (-single), naked, hanging from the free central placenta or 

 from the summit of the cells. Drupe l-seeded. Embryo mostly minute, in the top of the 

 endosperm. — Woody plants ; leaves alternate, entire, glabrous, exstipulate. 



The drupes of Ximenia are eatable. 



1. XIMENIA, L. 

 Calyx minute, not enlarged. Petals 4 (-5), distinct. Stamens twice as many, all fertile, 



