34 Mr. J. Miers on some yenera of the Icacinacea;. 



from the supposed embryo at the summit to the base of the 

 albumen, a fact which precisely accords with what 1 have de- 

 scribed in the preceding analysis. Upon such grounds I am 

 inchned to believe, that what I have detailed above is the real 

 structure of the seed in Stemonurus. In anatropal suspended 

 seeds with a superior radicle, it is usual to observe the raphe ter- 

 minate at the opposite extremity to the point of suspension ; but 

 in this case we find an exception to this general rule, which seems 

 opposed to the established theory : here the direction of the 

 raphe would seem to indicate a double retroversion of the ovule : 

 so singular a fact may be of more frequent occurrence, but I 

 confess that I have never met with, nor seen the record of, any 

 such development. On the other hand, again, we have an ana- 

 lysis given by Blume of the seed of Stemonurus secundiflorus in 

 his ' Mus. Lugd. Bat.,' in which the embryo is small in the sum- 

 mit of the albumen, as represented by Dr. Wight, the radicle 

 being terete and the cotyledons exceedingly small, 

 f- ,The flowers of Stemonurus are sometimes 4-, often 5-merous, 

 but I am not aware whether this can be depended on as a good 

 specific character ; all I can affirm is, that in those specimens I 

 have seen, where 4-merous flowers prevail, I have occasionally 

 met with some that are 5- or even 6-merous. Generally, the 

 inflorescence is so short, as often to appear like a cluster of ax- 

 illary fasciculated flowers; in other species it consists of long 

 branching panicles, in which the flowers are sometimes secundly 

 disposed. The flowers are always glabrous, and each articulated 

 upon its separate pedicel, which is often pubescent. I have seen 

 but few of the species on record, and those mostly imperfect spe- 

 cimens. In the following enumeration the characters are therefore 

 given as described by their several authors ; they require doubt- 

 lessly a more careful revision, for as they generally resemble 

 each other so much in the appearance of the leaves, the shape of 

 which often varies in the same species, it is probable that better 

 and more valid characters may be found in the inflorescence. 

 The outline of generic features here ofi'ered is founded wholly on 

 my own observation. 



Stemonurus, B1. Lasianthera, Pal. Beauv, Gomphandra, Wall. 



' , , — Flores hermaphroditi vel abortu polygami. Calyx parvus, 



■ brevissime cupularis, limbo fere integro, 4-5-denticulato, vel 

 4-5-fido, immutatus et persistens. Petala 4-5, hypogyna, ob- 

 longa, carnosa, summo marginibus mucroneque apicali pro- 

 pendenti inflexis, sestivatione valvata, libera, vel interdum mar- 

 ginibus imo cohserentibus, simulque cum filamentis adhsesis 



*^;'in tubum cylindraceum sic leviter agglutinatis, e medio liberis 

 et reflexis. Stamina 4^-5, cum petalis inserta, iisdem altema; 



