326 Mr. Griffith on the Root-Parasites referred to Rhizantheje, - 



Folia magna, alterna, exstipulata, oblonga, vel obovato-oblonga, subdisticha, ob dispo- 

 sitionem et magnitudinem racemos saepe omnino fere obtegentia, coriacea, obtuse et 

 breve cuspidata, breve petiolata, subtus dense pubescenti-hirta (venulis ultimis etiam 

 subtiis elevatisj, superiora majora. Racemi pauciflori, ex axillis foliorum lapsorum, 

 2-3-unciales, nutantes, pubescenti-hirti. Bracteae distichae, lineari-oblongae, subcari- 

 natae. Flores amplissimi, penduli, longitudine fere 5-uncialeSj latitudine extrema 4- 

 unciales, extus insigniter costato-venosi, hamoso-strigosi ; colore luride purpureo, in- 

 terveniis Irregulariter albo maculatis; intus purpurei, indumento arachnoideo azureo 

 flocculenti. Perianthium campanulatum, submembranaceum, ad medium vix 3-parti- 

 tum; laciniae margine revolutae, aestivatione valvatae, apice subintroflexae. Alabastra 

 inflata. Genitalia in fundo imo perianthii nidulantia. Columna brevissima, seriebus 

 binis staminum verticillatorum circumdata, apice radiatim vel stellatim lobata. Sta- 

 minum iilamenta brevissima; antherae adnatae, extrorsae, biloculares, longitudinaliter 

 dehiscentes, seriei inferioris circiter 18, superioris et suboppositae circiter 16. Pollen 

 oblongum, in aqua punctulatum. Ovarium rotundate 4-angulatum, dense hispidum, 

 4-loculare ; placenta cruciata, cruribus cum angulis ovarii alternis ; ovula pauca pen- 

 dula. Stylus liber subnullus. Stigma (vel apex radiato-lobatus columnae) sub 13- 

 partitum, convexiusculum, radiis (primariis) fundi quatuor cruciatim dispositis. Fruc- 

 tus siliquiformis, 4-6-uncialis, utrinque subattenuatus, breviter pedicellatus, subtortus, 

 subtorulosus, 4-angulatus, pube brunnea asper, 4-valvis ; valvis canaliculatis, extiis ca- 

 rinato-costatis, leviter tortis ; interjectis filamentis totidem repliformibus. Placenta 

 camosa, 4-gona, libera. Semina anatropa, pauca, oblongo-ovata, in concavitatibus pla- 

 centae liberae seminidulantia, pendula, uniseriata, angulis placentae affixa. Tegumentum 

 exterius spongioso-cellulosum, superficie irregulari ; internum induratum, subosseum, 

 superficie undulatum, brunneum, intiis nitidum. Albumen carnosum, copiosum, cavi- 

 tati tegument! interioris conforme. Embryo minimus, basilaris, ovatus, dicotyledo- 

 neus ; ra^icula versus hilum. 



Obs. I. — My first acquaintance with this plant is due to Lady Norris, to 

 whom it was brought at Ayer Punnus, while Sir William Norris and myself 

 were absent at Mount Ophir. The first European however who seems to 

 have met with it since Koenig is the Rev. Mr. White, chaplain at Singapore, 

 whose specimens, consisting of a leaf, a flower, and portion of a stem with 

 racemes, had been seen by Dr. Wallich ; the envelope bearing the following 

 in that botanist's hand-writing: — "Perhaps an ^tionacea. Can it be one of 

 the superb Magnoliacece to which Blume refers?" Subsequently I ascer- 

 tained it to be abundant throughout the Great Forest of the Malacca district, 



