50 MR. J. MIERS ON THE FAMILY OF TRIURIACE^E. 



2, supra discum minimum inclusum fere sessilia, laciniis alternis opposita ; filamenta brevissima; 

 antherce transversim elongatae, compressae, quadratim 4-loculares, rima verticali longitrorsum 2-valva- 

 tim et septicidim hiantes: pollen globosum, irregulariter sub-3-valvatim rumpens. Pistilli rudi- 

 mentum nullum. — Fern. Stamina nulla. Ovaria plurima, in capitulum dense aggregata, obovata, 

 sessilia, 1-locularia; ovulo solitario, erecto. Stylus lateralis et fere basilaris, pilis longis clavatis plu- 

 mosus. Stigma obconicum, truncatum, piloso-plumosum. Carpidia plnrima, baccata, radiatim 

 aggregata, obovata, stylo persistente basilari notata, monosperma. Pericarpium siccum, subcoria- 

 ceum ; semen ovale ; testa colorata, nucleoque omnino Sciaphilce. 

 Herba Amazonica in uliginosis umbrosis indigena, hyalina ; rhizomate substolonifero, jibras radicantes hinc 

 inde emittente ; caule simplici, erecto ; foliis paucis, bracteiformibus, alternis, ovatis, acutis, venis desti- 

 tutis, celluloso-rugosis ; floribus spicatis, masc. superior ibus, fern, inferioribus ; pedunculis \-floris, basi 

 bracteatis. 



1. Soredium Sprtjceanum, Miers. 



Planta subhyalina ; rhizomatis fibris elongatis, ciliatis, incanis ; caule erecto, sulcato ; foliis paucis, mini- 

 mis, adpressis ; spica simplici terminali ; floribus foemineis circiter 7, infimis ; bractea lineari, acuta, 

 pedicello aequilonga. 



Hab. Para, ad Caripi in sylvis umbrosis. 



At first sight this plant bears much the habit of Dictyostega orobcmchoides. Its rhi- 

 zoma appears somewhat stoloniferous, and to creep along the ground, throwing out at 

 short intervals bunches of long hairy rooting fibres, each fibre springing out of a small 

 cupuliform node, thus showing its endorhizal structure ; the prostrate intervals are of the 

 same thickness as the culmiform portion, and bear similar bracteiform leaflets. The spike 

 occupies one-third of the length of the single erect stem, which is slender, sulcated, some- 

 what flexuose, and from 8 to 10 inches in height ; the leaflets are few, and mostly towards 

 the base ; they are linear, pointed, 1| line long. The bracts are also linear, about the 

 length of the pedicels, 1 bine long ; the flowers expanded measure 2 lines in diameter ; the 

 ovaria are from twenty to thirty in each of the female flowers, of which there are from five 

 to seven at the lower portion of the spike. Although the pericarpial and epicarpial cover- 

 ings of the seed are here glued together into one coriaceous mass by the deposition of 

 woody matter, yet upon making a longitudinal section, the same nervures, basal support, 

 and apical strophiolar process, that form so conspicuous a feature in the arilliform cover- 

 ing of Sciaphila, may here be distinctly traced, and the darker-coloured basal support, and 

 apical strophiole, adhere so firmly to the testa, that they are with difficulty removed 

 from it. 



Having thus enumerated the facts connected with the history and structure of these 

 remarkable plants, I will now offer a few remarks upon their affinities. They evidently 

 belong to one common group, and coincide with Triuris in their general habit, their hya- 

 line cellular texture, the absence of any green colour throughout their substance, their 

 growth in damp shady places, their underground rhizoma, furnished with numerous long 

 delicate fibrillse, which probably derive much sustenance from the roots of other plants : 

 they also agree in their simple erect striated stem, composed chiefly of cellular tissue and 

 devoid of woody deposit, in their bracteiform veinless leaves, spicate bracteated inflo- 



