belonging to the Order Nympheacee. 447 
aids, surrounded by a great variety of novel plants requiring 
immediate examination, not long after my arrival at Rangoon, 
and on the very eve of departing on a distant journey to Ava. 
I believe I have not omitted any thing that is of importance ; but 
in case I have, the accompanying rough sketches of the flower 
may perhaps serve to supply what is wanting in that respect. 
The plant grows in great abundance towards the margins of 
tanks; it is smooth and slender, not slimy; the root fixed to 
the bottom ; the leaves at first submersed, afterwards floating, 
exceedingly thin, oblong, cordate, without the slightest ten- 
dency to become peltate. I should have observed, that some- 
times, though exceedingly rarely, a leaf is to be seen having one 
or both margins marked with one or two obtuse short lobes, but 
this circumstance must be viewed in the light of a monstrosity. 
The flowers are without any beauty; but this defect is amply 
made up by their very singular structure, widely differing from 
that of Nelumbo, Nymphea, Euryale, and Nuphar ; that is, from 
any of the members of the order, to which it unquestionably 
belongs. From Podophyllee, DeCand. the plant is as remote as 
any of those genera. ‘The flowers are fleshy, smooth and green : 
the calyx on the outside purplish-green ; the raised part within 
it stained with pink; the rest of a shining sap-green colour 
without, and deep-red (atro-sanguineous) on the inside. 
The above was written yesterday.—To my great delight, a 
berry which I had placed on my table the night before has 
ripened fully, and by taking it into my hand it spontaneously 
separated into two or three pieces along the dissepiments. Each 
cell is easily separable, consisting of a soft mealy fleshy paren- | 
chyma, pinkish-white; the outer margin coated with a thin 
membrane (which forms the outside of the berry); the inner 
margin (that which looked toward the axis) oblique above and 
straight underneath; sides with obliquely-ascending furrows. 
RE XV. 3M The 
