RANALES 



401 



The Himantandraceae resemble the Eupomatiaceae most closely. The 

 calyptrate calyx, of a single appendage, the presence of staminodia both 

 above and below the stamens, the conduplicate leaves, late in unfolding, 

 suggest the Eupomatiaceae. But general flower type and anatomy — 

 cortical bundles in the flower — suggest the Magnoliaceae. However, in 

 the position of the microsporangia — adaxial or abaxial — the Himantan- 

 draceae differ from both the other families. 

 The Magnoliaceae are stipulate; the other two, 

 estipulate. The carpels of the three fam- 

 ilies differ greatly in their differentiation of a 

 stigma and in their placentation. No close af- 

 finity between these families can be seen, but 

 the Himantandraceae are clearly a member of 

 the magnoliahan plexus of families. 



Degeneriaceae 



The Degeneriaceae, a monotypic family, is 

 represented by the tropical Fijian tree De- 

 generia vitiensis, first collected in 1934, and 

 described in 1942. The large simple leaves are 

 pinnately veined. The solitary flowers are 

 supra-axillary, borne on long pedicels. The 

 perianth is differentiated into a calyx of three 

 sepals and a corolla of about twelve petals in 

 three or four series. The stamens are broad, 

 laminar organs, with no suggestion of differ- 

 entiation into anther and filament (Fig. 145). 

 The pollen is monocolpate. Above the stamens 

 are several staminodes, some with abortive 

 sporangia. The gynoecium consists of a single 

 carpel borne in a slight depression in the re- 

 ceptacle tip. The carpel is follicular, with many anatropous ovules in 

 two rows; the fruit is indehiscent, remarkable for a free, multiovulate 

 carpel. 



The carpel is conduplicately folded, with its margins joined only 

 by the interlocking of papillose, glandular cells. These hairs cover both 

 ventral and dorsal surfaces of the cohering marginal areas, which flare 

 slightly and form a two-lobed stigmatic crest, an unspecialized decurrent 

 stigma, extending the length of the carpel (Fig. 83). The method of 

 pollination is unknown. No nectaries have been described. The pollen 

 germinates among the hairs of the crest, and the pollen tubes penetrate 

 directly into the loculus and into nearby ovules. 



Fig. 145. Sketch of stamen 

 of Degcncria vitiensis 

 showing laminar form, 

 outlines ( dotted lines ) of 

 sporangia, and two-trace 

 vascular supply. ( After 

 Swamij. ) 



