Mr. Colebrooke 07i the Indian Specks of Menispermum. 51 



constituted upon the type of Gartner's M. fenestratum, but rely 

 chiefly upon the total absence of an inner corol or nectarial scales. 

 It may seem a premature attempt to construct a generic cha- 

 racter upon the type of a dioicous plant, the male of which is 

 yet unexamined ; and in some measure it assuredly is so. But 

 in this family of plants the floral integuments or exterior parts 

 are usually quite alike in both flowers : and the female exhibits 

 sterile filaments, which in general are equally numerous with 

 the fertile stamina of the male : and for this reason the charac- 

 teristic features of both may, with a considerable degree of con- 

 fidence, be concluded from inspection of the female singly. 



COSCINIUM. 



Dioicous. Cal. 3-leaved. Petals 3. Nect. (int. cor.) none. 



Stam. 6 ! Pist. 3. Drupes (berries) 1 — 3, 1-seeded. 

 Menispermum fenestratum. Gart. i. 219. t. 46. f. 5. 

 Yeni-vell gettah. Ceyl. 



The absence of an inner corol or nectarial scales occurs like- 

 wise as a discriminative mark in another plant, which has been 

 described as a Menispermum : but the stamina, being there nu- 

 merous and monadelphous, furnish, as I think, a sufficient cha- 

 racter on which to erect a distinct genus. Though the fruit 

 appear to be that of a Menispermum , the calyx and corol are not 

 like the other Indian species of that comprehensive genus. 



The plant to which I refer is the Menispermum heteroditum of 

 Roxburgh ; from whose manuscript I subjoin a description of it. 

 Presuming the correctness of the association of the ripe fruit 

 with the male plant described, there can be little hesitation on 

 the subject. But, as the female flower has not been examined, 

 nor the plant itself figured nor described, together with the ma- 

 ture fruit, a lurking suspicion may exist that some error has 



h 2 possibly 



