and on various Plants related to them. 337 



Planta digitalis vel subspithamaea. Axis cellulosa, cellulae plerumque rubescentes ; vasorura 

 fasciculi plures, longitudinales, subbiseriati, e fibris ductubusque conflati. Cutis et me- 

 dulla nulla. Folia decolorata, adpressa, e basi latiuscula linearia, canaliculata, dense 

 imbricata, prassertim infra spicam florum, plus minus pubescentia, speciminum fructi- 

 ferorum saepius transverse fracta ; vena centralis unica. Flores subsessiles, dense spi- 

 cati, tribracteati ; foeminei inferiores, masculi superiores et pauciores. Bracteae 2 late- 

 rales, oblique carinatae, subacutae, hirtas ; antica ^ longioi", spathulata, hirta, apice bar- 

 bato-villosa. Sepala 3, e toro annulari obsolete exorientia, ima basi connata, longe 

 unguiculata, spathulata, apice cochleariformia, praeconcava ; 2 postica plus minus co- 

 haerentia, longiora, textura (saltern post macerationem in acido pyroligneo) coriacea 

 exsucca. Venula centralis unica, carinuliformis. Stamina 3 ; duo fertilia sepalis pos- 

 ticis opposita et alte cohaerentia ; filamenta (libera) brevia, subulata, axi centrali opaca 

 vasculosA. Antherae magnae, ovales, extrorsae, conniventes, sinu basilari affixae, bilocu- 

 lares,longitudinaliter dehiscentes. Stamen tertium, dum adest, rudimentarium, adnatum 

 ungui sepali tertii antici. Pollen 4-6-hedrum, angulis poro vel sulco perforatis. Ru- 

 dimentum pistilli centrale, capite glanduloso-globoso. Flores foeminei eodem more 

 bracteati. Perianthium deciduum, forma et divisione varium, modo brevissimum, tubu- 

 losum, 3-dentatum, modo longiiis ad medium usque 3-partitum, raro perianthium 

 masculum asmulans exsertum. Stamina rudimentaria (perianthiorum majorum) 2, 

 dentiformia, minuta. Ovarium globosum, parce puberulum, basi attenuata insuper 

 torum cupuliforraem subdiaphanum laxe celluloso-areolatum insertum, et reconditum, 

 ut videtur solidum et omnino cellulosum. Stylus filiformis, deciduus, obsolete 3-sul- 

 catus, basin versus subtrigonus, epigyno more angustatus discoque obsoleto amplex- 

 atus. Stigma capitatum, subtrilobum, aspectu sub lente granulosum. Fructus dense 

 spicatus, sphaericus, parce puberulus, toro immutato insidens, bracteis e maxima parte 

 fractura lapsis quasi subexsertus, in speciminibus meis subcrustaceus, apice cicatrice 

 areoliformi inconspicue notatus. Tela centralis, (embryo ?) lutescens, e cellulis irregu- 

 laribus, angulatis, nucleosis, integra vix segreganda. Inter banc telam et epicarpium 

 tela cellulosa, spongiosa adest. Torus cupuliformis bractearumque bases post fructus 

 persistunt. 



Obs. I. — For specimens of this very remarkable plant I am indebted to 

 Mr. Harvey, the founder of the genus, which appeared in the 'Annals of 

 Natural History' (lac. cit.), with a note by Sir W. J. Hooker, describing it to 

 be a genus of the natural order RhizanthecB of Blume, group Balanophorea;. 



Obs. n. — The central tissue of the fruit, although it is marked off by its 

 yellow tint, has not appeared to me to be separable as one body, breaking up 

 rather on the slight pressure occ^gioned by attempts at dissection. In this 



2 y2 



