NEW INDIAN SCROPHULARINE^. 245 



3 3 



and ovary. 3. Anther. 4. Apex of style. 5. Ovary. 6. Ripe fruit. 

 7. Transverse section of ditto. 8. Seed. 9. Vertical section of ditto, 

 showing the embryo :— all but fig. 6 magnified. 



2. MiCRANTHEMUM, Rich. 



1. Micranthemum Indicum, Hook. fil. et Thorns.; caulibus simpli- 

 ciusculis, foliis subulatis, calycibus lanceolato-subulatis corollam mi- 

 nimam longe superantibus, filamentis basi inappendiculatis. (Tab. 

 VII., figura superior). 



Hab. Montibus Khasiae, submersa paludosis ad Nonkreem ; alt. 4-5000 

 ped.— (PI. Octob.) 



Ilerba pusilla, flaccida, laxe csespitosa, erecta, annua, glaberrima, dum 

 florens omnino submersa. Catties 2-3-pollicares, teretes. Folia 

 unc. longa, basi 3-nervia. Mores axillares, erecti. Sepala valde 

 elongata, foliacea, \ unc. longa. Corolla minima, subcylindrica, 

 membranacea, breviter 4-loba, lobis rotundatis, arete imbricatis, 

 genitalia tegentibus. Stamina subsessilia; filamentis brevibus, in- 

 terdum gibbosis ; antJieris 2-locularibus, loculis fere parallelis, apici- 

 bus deorsum subacutis, nunc vacuis v. deformatis. Ovarium com- 

 pressum, oblongum; stylo crasso, curvo; stigmate subcapitato, cel- 

 luloso. Capsula late oblonga, compressa, utrinque obtusa, valvis 

 bifidis v. bipartitis. Semina plurima, erecta, lineari-oblonga ; testa 

 grosse reticulata ; emb? % yone majusculo. 



A very singular and inconspicuous plant, which we have placed in 

 Micranthemum, with Mr. Bent ham's sanction. As with many of these 

 minute water-plants, the floral envelopes vary very much, and the co- 

 rolla is, in this species, so extremely minute and membranous, that we 

 have had to destroy many before obtaining an approximately accurate 

 view of its parts. In all cases we find it closely imbricating over the 

 stamens and pistils, and effectually protecting these from the action of 

 the" water, and it is very difficult to open the buds without much muti- 

 lation of the lobes ; these however appear to be usually four, alternately 

 smaller and larger. The stamens are certainly extremely variable and 

 often deformed, the filaments excessively short, and in some specimens 

 gibbous at the base, as in the American Micranthemum, but in others 

 not so. Mr. Fitch has figured the anthers as hairy, a character we did 

 not observe in any case, and suspect some mistake. 



Plate VII. (upper figure). Fig. 1. Leaves and flowers. 2. Corolla. 



