PLATE X. 
DECAISNEA INSIGNIS, wy ce 7 
Nat. Ord. LarpizaABALEA. 
Char. Gen.—Sepala 6, subimbricata. Petala 0. Stamina in fi. mas. monadelpha, tubo cylindraceo, antheris oblongis, 
connectivo in processum subulatum producto; in hermaphroditis parva, antheris parvis, filamentis liberis brevibus. 
Ovaria 3, stylo disciformi obliqua. Ovada numerosa, placentis 2 filiformibus suture ventrali approximatis inserta, 
indefinita, anatropa. Folliculi pulpa repleti. Semina indefinita, biserialia, horizontalia, obovata, compressa ; festa 
crustacea, nitida, leevi—Frutex erectus, subsimplex ; foliis impari-pinnatis ; inflorescentia racemosa, terminall. 
Ducaisnza insignis, Hf. et 7. ; foliis patentibus impari-pinnatis, petiolo basi articulato, foliolis 6-8-jugis oppositis ovato- 
lanceolatis acuminatis subtus glaucis, floribus polygamo-dioicis racemosis, sepalis lineari-lanceolatis, folliculis car- 
nosis cylindricis recurvis.—Hooh. Jil. et Thoms. in Linn. Soc. Proc. 1854, et in Flora Indica, v. 1. p. 218. 
Has. In Himalaya orientali interiore, regione temperata: Sikkim et Bhotan, alt. 6-10,000 ped. #7. Mai. ; fr. Oct. 
OO nrnnnnrnrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 
The genus Decaisnea is on many accounts one of the most remarkable in the Himalaya mountains, for 
it belongs to a very limited and peculiar Natural Order, of which all the other known species are climbing 
plants, and it differs in other and more important characters from its allies. It inhabits wooded valleys in 
the central regions of the Himalaya, and has not hitherto been found near Dorjilng. I gathered it first 
in the Lachen and Lachoong valleys, at elevations of 7-8000 feet; and afterwards at Chola, where it 
ascends to nearly 10,000. Its green flowers appear in May, and are scarcely visible amongst the leaves ; 
the fruit, on the other hand, which ripens in October, is very conspicuous and handsome, of a pale yellow 
colour, and full of a white juicy pulp, that is very sweet and pleasant; its fruit is eagerly sought after by 
the Lepchas, who call the plant “ Nomorchi,” and it is the “ Loodooma” of the natives of Bhotan. 
Dr. Griffith was the discoverer of this plant, which he called Slackia in his manuscript journals 
(liinerary Notes, p. 187), after an eminent microscopical observer; but before his death he transferred that 
name to a genus of Palms. Dr. Thomson and I have dedicated it to our friend Professor Decaisne, of Paris, 
one of the most learned botanists of the present day, and the author of a monograph of the natural family to 
which this plant belongs, which is a model of sagacity in botanical investigation. Decaisnea is well worthy 
of cultivation in England, for the sake of the fruit alone; it would require protection from the spring frosts, 
but will no doubt prove otherwise hardy. 3 
Many of the botanical peculiarities of Decaisnea are extremely curious. Such are especially the erect 
habit, and the pinnated leaves jointed at the base of each pair of leaflets, as in the pinnate Berberries. 
The pith is very large, in which respect, as in habit and general appearance, it much resembles an Aralia- 
ceous plant. The ovules, instead of growing from the surface of the cavity of the ovary, as in the allied 
Himalayan genus Hollbdllia, are confined to two placentee near the ventral suture, and instead of being 
orthotropous and imbedded in cavities of the fleshy ovary, they are superficial and anatropous. As the 
