Ba et 
VII. On the Family of Triuriacex. By Joun MiERs, Esq., F.R.S., F. L.S. fe. 
Read April 2 and 16, 1850. 
Ir is now about nine years since I offered to the notice of the Linnean Society the descrip- 
tion of Triuris hyalina, which was honoured by a place in its Transactions *. Upon that 
occasion, after giving the details of its structure, I remarked, that as it could not be 
referred to any known natural order, it might be received as the type of a distinct family, 
Which I suggested as holding a place near Fluviales, or Burmanniacee, but whose positive 
rank in the system could not be known until we obtained some information relative to the 
structure of the seed and its embryo f. 
The subsequent discovery, by my much lamented friend Mr. Gardner, of a very analo- 
gous plant with female flowers only, differing in no respect from Triuris, except in having 
six divisions instead of three in the perianthium, and in a more lateral and less pointed 
style, supplied an interesting fact; but as its carpels were not in a more advanced state of 
development, it afforded no insight whatever into the structure of the seed. That inde- 
fatigable botanist, whose recent loss we must all greatly deplore, in the paper he presented 
to the Society on this subject 1, offered several speculations upon the affinities of his plant 
and of Triuris, tending to show, as I will prove, erroneously, that they were allied to Smi- 
lace? ; and upon such unestablished data he drew out § a diagnosis of the family I had 
previously suggested. In that memoir he stated, that in juxtaposition with his plant he 
found another of similar size, presenting a single petiolar blade, much resembling the leaf 
of a Cissampelos ||. Although he failed in tracing any underground connexion between the 
roots of these two plants, he concluded too hastily that the one appertained to the other, 
and hence he inferred that his plant was related to Menispermacee or Smilacee. He 
offered at the same time an opinion, that I had overlooked a similar distinct leafy append- 
. age in Triuris; but this certainly was not the case, for on quitting the Organ Mountains 
in 1838, I carefully gathered all the specimens I could find, with the soil and moss attached, 
keeping them well moistened for two months, until I embarked for England, hoping to 
witness a further development of the ovaria: at the same time, I examined the moss for 
any remains of seed or seed-vessel of previous growth: and hence I feel assured that had 
any such leafy appendage existed in connexion with Triuris, it could not have escaped my 
frequent and searching observation. The stem of T'riuris, in the living state, is quite hya- 
line and transparent, appearing composed of simple cellular tissue, without any visible 
longitudinal vessels, except toward the centre, where it is somewhat more compact. On 
comparing Mr. Gardner’s plant with Zriuris in the dried state, both exhibit a similar struc- 
ture, appearing quite translucent externally, with central darker axile lines. The stem of 
_ * Linn. Trans. vol. xix. p. 77. + Ibid. p. 80. f Ibid. p.155. - 
§ Ibid. p. 160. 3 || Zoid. p. 156. tab. 15. fig. 4. 
| 62 
