MR. W. FAWCETT ON A NEW SPECIES OF THONNINGIA. 239 
Transactions * The other African genera of Balanophoree are extra-tropical, consisting 
of Cynomorium, Micheli, in the north of the continent, and, in the south, Sarcophyte, 
Sparrm., and Л/узё"оре оп, Нату. Т These all belong to different tribes from Thon- 
ningia, which, as I have shown, is closely related to the American genus Langsdorfiia.” 
The two species of Thonningia may readily be distinguished, for in 7. sanguinea, Vahl, 
the peduncle is long, the scales acuminate, and the male perianth consists of a few 
scales placed at different heights on the pedicel ; whereas іп T. malagasica the peduncle 
is very short, the scales obtuse, and the male flower has a regular perianth. The 
following is a fuller description :— 
T. MALAGASICA ; **rhizomate elongato, flexuoso, cylindraceo, rigido, 1-1 poll. diam.,” 
volvis irregulariter lobatis, lobis 1-5 mm. longis; capitulis brevissime pedunculatis, 
“ sparsis v. confertis, 1-14 poll. diametro, squamis 60-80, obtusis, exterioribus v. 
inferioribus brevibus rotundatis, intimis 1-2 poll. longis obovato-oblongis, scarioso- 
coriaceis apice laceris: foribus masculis 1-3 poll. longis, erectis confertis, squamis 
obtectis, perianthis regulari, lobis 3 ovato-oblongis valvatis demum reflexis ; 
antheris 3 (?), elongatis, confluentibus, filamentis in columnam connatis ; floribus 
Jemineis stratum tenuissimum vix зо poll. crassum efformantibus," ovario cum 
vicinis coalito, margine ovarii tubuloso, 21-3 mm. longo, obscure 3-4-dentato. 
Hab. In sylvis Madagascarie ( Humblot, fl. $; Deans Cowan, fl. $ anth.; Parker, tl. 9 
fruct.). 
The following is a detailed description of the anatomy of 7. malagasica, in the prepa- 
ration of which I owe very much to the exceedingly elaborate monograph of the Brazilian 
Balanophoree by Dr. A. М. Eichler 1, and also, of course, to Sir J. D. Hooker’s 
monograph * ;— 
The parts of the rhizome which we possess are cylindrical; the point of insertion on 
the host is not known; but the rhizome probably becomes tuberous there, as in Langs- 
dorffia and Helosis. 
The rhizome does not branch, but gives off flowering stems laterally. The epidermis 
is normally clothed with hairs, but frequently both epidermis and hairs are rubbed off, 
except immediately round the base of the flowering stem, where they are under the 
shelter of the capitulum. 
The anatomical structure of the rhizome shows more points of resemblance with Helosis 
than with Langsdorffia. The greater portion of the tissue is parenchyma, through which 
several fibro-vascular bundles run longitudinally. ‘There are four large bundles arranged 
in a circle near the centre, with the xylem inwards and phloém outwards. Outside these, 
there is an irregular ring of several small bundles, which are remarkable for having the 
position of the xylem and phloém reversed, that is, the phloém faces inwards and the 
xylem outwards. Schimper, in his paper on “ Die Vegetationsorgane von Prosopanche 
* Trans. Linn. Soc. xxii. pp. 29 & 42, tab. 3. 
+ To which is now added Balanophora (see above, Hildebrandtit). 
+ Mart. Fl. Bras. fasc. 47, Balanophorez. | 
