MR. J. MIERS ON THE FAMILY OF TRIURIACELE. 49 



half a line long, the pedicels 2 lines, and the flowers \ to f of a line in diameter. Capt. 

 Champion states that he has occasionally found all the flowers pistilliferous, and that the 

 utricles do not burst until some time after the fruit is fully ripe. 



Hyalisma, Champion. 



Char. Gen. Flores monoici vel dioici. Perianthium in utroque sexu simile, 8-partitum ; laciniis lanceo- 

 latis, aequalibus, patentibus, celluloso-rugosis, basi in urceolum coalitis, sestivatione valvatis, persis- 

 tentibus. Masc. Stamina 4, in androphorum carnosum prominulura fere sessilia, laciniis alternis 

 opposita ; filamenta brevissima ; antherm quadratim 4-loculares, peltatae, apice linea transversali 

 2-valvatim hiantes ; pollen sphaericum, simplex. Pistilli rudimentum nullum. — Fern. Stamina nulla. 

 Ovaria plurima (50 ad 60), densissime in gynaecium carnosum liberum aggregata, obovata, 1-locularia ; 

 ovulo unico erecto. Stylus fere basilaris, ovario 3-7-pl6 longior, subulato-filiformis, celluloso-articu- 

 latus, apice subobtuso, stigmate inconspicuo. Carpidia plurima, utricularia, obovata, breviter stipi- 

 tata, structura omnino Sciaphike. 



Herba Ceylanica, pusilla, hyalina ; rhizomate fibroso ; caule simplici erecto ; foliis bracteiformibus, 

 alternis, ovatis, acutis, venis destitutis, celluloso-rugosis ; spica terminali ; floribus pedicellatis, 

 sapissime dioicis, interdum monoids, et tunc superioribus masculis, inferioribus femineis; pedicellis 

 \-floris, basi bracteatis. 



1. Hyalisma ianthina, Champion (loc. cit. p. 466, cum icone) ; hyalina, caule erecto 

 striato, foliis paucis bracteiformibus acutis, floribus purpurascentibus, perianthii 

 laciniis patentibus marginibus subreflexis bullulato-rugosis. 



Hab. Ceylon, prope Galle, in sylvis humidis. 



This plant is from 4 to 8 inches in height ; the stem is slender, erect, and often flexuose. 

 Capt. Champion states that the flowers are generally monoecious, but his specimens are 

 all, without exception, distinctly dioecious. The leaves and bracts are a line in length ; the 

 capillary pedicels 4 lines long, the male flowers \\ line, the female 2 lines in diameter ; the 

 stamens are fixed upon the margin of a somewhat quadrately conical roundish receptacle, 

 very analogous to that of Triuris, from which genus Hyalisma differs in the form of its 

 anthers, the cells of which are here confluent. It is very easily distinguished from Scia- 

 phila, by the extreme length of the persistent style, and its much longer pedicels. 



Among the specimens recently sent from Para by Mr. Spruce, is one much resembling 

 the foregoing plants. The stem is in like manner simple and erect, the flowers spicate 

 and monoecious ; the perianth is however here 4-cleft, with only two stamens in the male 

 flowers : in the female the carpels are very numerous and densely aggregated, with a lateral 

 and basal style, as in SciapHla. The fruit is of the same shape, but is not utricular, as 

 the pericarpial and endocarpial envelopes are glued together with woody matter, and are 

 separated, with some difficulty, from the crimson-coloured testa, which, together with the 

 included nucleus, coincides with that above described of Sciaphila. I have proposed for 

 it the name of Soridium, from <rog og, because of its aggregated carpels. 



Soridium, gen. nov. 



Char. Gen. Flores monoici. Perianthium in utroque sexu simile, 4-partitum, basi cyatbiforme ; laci- 

 niis ovatis, acutis, patentibus, celluloso-rugosis, asstivatione valvatis, persistentibus. Masc. Stamina 

 VOL. XXI. H 



