new Genus of Plants from Brazil 79 



pensi. ? . Gynacium superum, e pistillis minimis numerosis uniovulatis aggregatis, sin- 

 gulo stylo libero superato, corapositum. Styli subulati. Fructus (ignotus). 

 Planta Brasiliensis omninb diaphana, albida; $ et $ in distinctis stirpibus; radice fibrosd. 

 Caulis simplex, erectus, pollicaris, striatus, subaphyllus. Folia pauca, bracteiformia, 

 adpressa, obovata, acuta, hyalina. Flores solitarii vel subracemosi ; pedunculus uni- 

 form, ^-pollicaris, basi bracteatus ; bractea folio caulino paululum major et latior, sub- 

 amplexicaulis. 

 T* hyalina. 

 Hab. in humidis Serra dos Orgaos Provinciae Rio de Janeiro. 



At the period of my quitting the Organ Mountains the female plant had not 

 attained a sufficient degree of maturity, and I was not able to observe in each 

 carpel more than what appeared to me a solitary ovule in a very elementary 

 stage, and this was so minute and indistinct as to be evident only by the 

 appearance of a darker oval form in the centre. I cannot, therefore, offer any 

 positive evidence as to the character of the embryo or structure of the seed, or 

 whether it is mono- or di-cotyledonous. I am led to place it from its general 

 aspect near to Juncaginece or Fluviales, some of which are also occasionally 

 dioecious, and Posidonia, which is sometimes polygamous, has three approx- 

 imate pairs of sessile anthers on a receptacle: the plants of these orders, 

 however, have^ no perianthium, or, at most, a very depauperated one, while 

 Triuris is remarkable for the development of this organ. There exists souk 

 resemblance in the appearance of the stems, scale-like leaves, and general sub- 

 hyaline texture, to the Burmanniaceous plants found in the same locality ; but 

 the difference of general structure removes it entirely from that family. To 

 some of the terrestrial species of Orchideae it bears a slight resemblance in 

 habit, and also in the union of the connectives or filaments into a central 

 columnar mass, in which respects it also bears a slight resemblance to Aposta- 

 siece and Aristobchiece, although in all other essential points it is quite at va- 

 riance with them. In Myristkece also we find dioecious plants with the saint' 

 character ; but in all these cases the structure and situation of the ovaries, the 

 form of the perianthium, and every general character are totally dissimilar. 

 The dioecious genus Ruscus, too, placed by some in Liliacecv, by others in 

 Smilacece. offers the male flower with three or six sessile anthers, upon a fleshy 

 central column, but its female flower is of a wholly different structure to that 



