220 BOTANY 01' THE VOYAGE OE n.il.S. HERALD. 
usually from oue to one and a lialf, or perhaps a little more, that of the woody zone. In this respect 
it resemhles the Honduras Sarsaparilla, and, according to Schlcidcn, also all those sorts of Sarsapariila 
■which are obtained from Central America. The cells of the liber, or, aa it is called by Schleiden, 
the nucIcus-slicafJi, arc elongated radially or from "within outwards, and have walls which are thicker 
on the inner than the outer side. In this respect it resembles the South American and Mexican Sarsa- 
parillas, which Schleiden says always present this peculiarity. This microscopical appearance is re- 
markable, because, according to Schleiden, the Honduras and all the Central American sorts of Sarsapa- 
rilla are characterized by having the cells of the nucleus-sheath either square or somewhat elongated truus- 
vereely, and all their walls of nearly eijual thickness ; and he believes that he can distinguish Central 
American from South American and Mexican Sarsaparillas by the appearances thus presented, combined 
■with the different relative proportions of the woody layer and the pith ah^eady allnded to. But if this be 
true generally (which, so far as my experience goes, is not absolutely the case, having observed some sorts 
of Brazilian Sarsaparilla in which the cells of the nucleus-sheath were elongated somewhat in a direction 
from within outwards, and so far therefore agreeing generally with the anatomy of South American Sarsa- 
parillas according to Schleiden, but yet had then- outer and inner walls of nearly equal thickness, and thus 
agreeing with the Honduras variety), it is certainly not true in the present sort; for here we have a Central 
American Sarsaparilla which agrees with Schleiden' s arrangement generally as regards the relative propor- 
tions of pith and woody layer, but differs from it in the cells of the nucleus-sheath being elongated from 
within outwards or radially, and having walls which are thicker on the inner than the outer side." 
I may therefore safely conclude that the greater portion of Sarsaparilla is the produce of one species of 
Smilaxj and that species is S. ojicinalis,!!. B. et K. (S. papi/racea, Duham.,.?. medica, Cham, et Schlecht.). 
But I do not wish it to be believed that, by showing the identity of these three supposed species, I intend 
to abolish the commercial distinctions now so universally acknowledged in the Sarsaparilla trade. As long 
as the Brazilians continue to strip the roots of the beard, and put them up in the same long rolls they 
now do, there will always be Lisbon Sarsaparilla in the market ; as long as the inhabitants of the Spanish 
Main continue to preserve the rootlets, we shall ha^e Jamaica Sarsaparilla ; and as long as the climate and 
other physical circumstances of Guatemala remain unchanged, we shall always receive from that locality 
Sarsapai'illa distinguished by its abundance of starchy matter. 
PONTEDERACEiE. 
982. Heteraxtuera reniformis, Ruiz ct Pav., Kunth Enum. vol. iv. p. 123. In swamps, about 
Chagrcs (Fendler, no. 29-1) and Panama. 
BUTOMACE.E. 
983. LnixociiARis Plumkrii, L. C. Richard, Kunth Enum. vol. iii. p. 167. In rivulets near 
the city of Panama. 
ALISMACE^. 
984. Sagittaria Gvyanensis, Humb. Bonpl. et Kunth, Kunth Enum. vol. iii. p. 161. Swamps, 
near Panama. 
COMMELYNE^. 
985. CoMMELYNA agraria, Kunth, Enum. vol. iv. p. 38. Panama, on roadsides, and in fields, 
