OF THE MATTO GROSSO EXPEDITION, 1891-92. 297 
oblonga paullulum brevioribus, omnibus obtusis; staminibus circa S-seriatis parvis, 
subsessilibus, antherarum loculis basi obliquis. 
Hab. Crescit in sylvulis juxta Santa Cruz, ubi flores priebet mens. Sept. (N. 310.) 
Ramuli usque 0:4 cm. diam., ultimi vero vix 0'1 cm., fusco-grisei, longitrorsum rimosi, 
minute lenticelliferi. Folia 5:'5-11:0 em. long., 2°0-4°5 em. lat., supra vix nitidula, 
subtus paullo pallidiora. Pedunculi 0'2 cm. long. Bractew basi late inserte, infimze 
exiguz, superiores majores, illæ equidem 0:08 em. long., intermedie infimas plus 
quam duplo excedentes, summe 0°35 em. long., omnes coriacese. Flores circa 
0'8 cm. diam., dilute virides. Sepala vix 0-4 em. long., 0°37 em. lat., coriacea, extus 
ferrugineo-sericea, intus appresse puberula et saltem in sicco castanea. Petala 
submembranacea, exteriora 0°5 em. longa, omnia intus plus minus puberula. Torus 
01 em. alt. Stamina modo 0:07 cm. long.; antherarum loculi 0:04. em. long. 
Genus verisimiliter juxta Guatteriam interponendum, abs quá optime abhorret floribus 
unisexualibus parvulis subsessilibus bracteis obtectis, petalis omnibus manifeste imbri- 
catis nec unquam subvalvatis, et toro hemisph:erico. 
This plant, on account of its «eestivation and the structure of its andreecium, is undoubt- 
edly to be referred to the tribe Uvariæ. Probably it will come nearest to Guatteria, but 
this will depend on the nature of the placentation. Should the carpels prove to be 
many-ovulate, Ephedranthus wil have to be placed in the neighbourhood of the East 
Indian Sagerea and Stelechocarpus, the former of which may have unisexual flowers, 
while the latter is dicecious. 
I have examined all the flowers it was possible to sacrifice, in order to ascertain 
whether carpels are present, but in no case could a trace of one be found. The flowers, 
therefore, if they be not dicecious, are at least unisexual; for myself I strongly incline 
to the former supposition. Upon either view, the genus would be markedly different, 
exclusive of other characters, from Guatteria,. the flowers of which are always 
hermaphrodite. 
Here follow a few notes upon various points of interest possessed by the plant :— 
The stem * (Plate XX XVIII. fig. 1) is in no way abnormal as respects its structure. 
The protoxylem is situated at the extremity of each mass of xylem, which projects some 
distance into the pith; in its immediate neighbourhood are a number of small fibres and 
tracheides, and these latter are succeeded further outwards by pitted tracheides and fibres 
of ordinary appearance; the xylem parenchyme, which is comparatively rare, shows a 
tendency to arrange itself in tangential lines. The soft bast is normal, while the hard bast 
in each phloem region is composed of two or three masses of fibres, of which the outer- 
most has the greatest thickness. These masses frequently run right across and so stop up 
the medullary rays. There is a narrow pericycle ; it is bounded externally by a layer, in 
some places double, of thick-walled cells forming a well-marked endoderm. The cortex, 
especially its outer portion, is strengthened by means of frequent thick-walled sclerotic 
parenchyme cells, a little way outside which, and close to the epiderm, is the phellogen 
* Here and elsewhere in this part of my report on the botany of our expedition only a few of the more obvious 
facts of structure have been recorded. 
SECOND SERIES.—BOTANY, VOL. IV. 2R 
