AD FLORAM INDIOAM — PARFASSIEiE. 79 



The remarkable staminodia of Parnassia demand some notice : 

 these we regard as a whorl of stamina opposite the petals: in 

 P. tenella, they appear under a very unusual form, much more 

 nearly resembling stamina than those of the other species, being 

 columnar, and terminated by a broad horizontal glandular disk ; 

 these, if not absolutely inserted in the same whorl with the sta- 

 mens, are so nearly so, that in the fully-formed flower the bases of 

 the filaments touch the bases of the staminodia on either side of 

 them. The much-divided staminodia of P. jpalustris, and which 

 have in part suggested the alliance of the genus with KypericinecB, 

 are much less usual than the simply lobed or trifid ; and the sta- 

 minodia are in some species almost entire, and so small as to escape 

 notice ; their nearest homologue in structure and position is perhaps 

 to be found in the hypogynous scales of the allied Order Grassulacecd. 



The only other anomalies we have to indicate amongst the 

 Indian kinds are, the foliaceous scape of P.foliata, a species other- 

 wise nearly related to P. palustris, and which assumes a very 

 different habit from any of its congeners, resembling Saxifraga 

 diversifoUa ; and the decidedly creeping rhizome of P. tenella, 

 whose fimbriated stipules, green flat flowers, reflexed petals, and 

 curious staminodia, render it decidedly the most abnormal species 

 of the genus hitherto discovered. It is somewhat singular, that 

 though it deviates so remarkably from the typical forms, it does 

 not throw any light upon the af&nities of the genus. 



Paenassia. 



§ I. Cojpsula supera, ovoidea. Staminodia profunde divisa, seg- 

 mentis filiformibus glanduloso-capitatis. Placentae lineares secus 

 tot am longitudinem ovarii productse. 



1. Parnassia foliosa {Hf. df T.). Caule acute quadrangulo angulis 

 alatis folioso, foliis caulinis rotundato-cordatis sessilibus lobis am- 

 plexicaulibus, petalis profunde fimbriatis, stigmatibus subsessilibus. 



Hab. Mont. Khasia regione temperata prope Moflong et Nonkreem, 



alt. 6000-7000 ped. ! rarissima. (fl. Sept.) (v. v.) 

 Herba pro genere robusta, glaberrima, spithamaea, structura floris P. 



palustri accedens. Folia radicalia non visa, caulina 6-8, alterna, 



coriacea, 1 unc. diametr., 5-7 nervia et costata. Flores |— U une. 



diametr., albi. 



2. Parnassia palustris, L. (Exempl. fructif.) 



Hab. Tibetia occidentali regione temperata ad Iskardo, alt. 7000 ped. ! 



T. Thomson, (v. v.) 

 Distr. Europa, Asia et America boreali subalpina et subarctica. 



