AFFINITIES OF BALANOPHOREÆ. 21 
2. “The so-called flower of Raflesiaceæ may be regarded as an inflorescence; the 
pericarp of the fruit is a receptacle, of which the folds form the placentæ.” 
It is not my intention to discuss the second of these propositions*, and I therefore 
confine myself to the first. In his descriptions M. Weddell states that the female repro- 
ductive organ of Balanophora is the nucleus of an ovule, and that of Cynomorium, Helosis, 
Ombrophytum, and Sarcophyte, a nucleus surrounded by a peculiar envelope, which is not 
a perianth, but is formed from the axis, and is to a certain extent analogous to the inte- 
guments (pericarp) of ordinary seeds: he was led to this conclusion by a comparison of 
the fruit of Balanophora with the seed of Rafflesia; and adds, that there is no more 
fundamental difference between the pericarp with its anfractuous cavity, of Rafflesia or 
Hydnora, and the convex or peltate receptacles of Balanophora or Ombrophytum, than 
there is between the receptacle of a fig and that of a mulberry. 
In support of these views, Weddell contrasts the fruits of Rafflesia and Balanophora, 
and of Hydnora and Sarcophyte; but the comparison being maintained by the employment 
of the same terms for organs that do not appear to me to be homologous, the similarity 
becomes one of words, and not of facts. The term * styliform processes,” for what other 
authors consider the styles of the ovary, and which analogy suggests to be such, appears 
to be the most anomalous; and by describing them as almost always present in Bala- 
nophora, it is implied that they are sometimes absent, which I have never found to be the 
case. : 
In commenting upon Griffith’s theory that there is an analogy between the pistil of 
Balanophora and the pistillidium of Musci, Weddell points out that Griffith is in error in 
describing the styles as perforate, and adds in a note, * On reaching the periphery of the 
capitulum, this styliform process becomes eroded at the apex, when its internal cavity 
communicates with the external air: consequently the styliform process, being bathed in 
a mucous fluid that surrounds the capitulum, is exposed to the action of the fovilla of the 
pollen, which is mingled with that fluid, and fecundation is thus effected.” In proof of 
this it is added, that in some dicecious species of the Order, which do not secrete this fluid, 
the ovules remain sterile; such at least being the case with Langsdorffia and ‚Helosis. 
Weddell is right with regard to the imperforation of the style, for at no period do I 
find an open canal in the style either of the American or Indian species; but neither do 
I find any erosion, or other arrangement of the organs by which I can conceive an 
erosion to-be effected. The only fluid exudation I have seen on Balanophoree was a 
limpid watery one, on old capitula of Rhopalocnemis, after they had been removed from 
the ground; and this is a diœcious species, which was then in ripe fruit. 
Lastly, the structure of the hermaphrodite flowers of Cynomorium (which M. Weddell 
was not acquainted with) is conclusive against the pistil being regarded as a naked ovule. _ 
Affinities of BALANOPHOREZ. 
Polymorphism and an extreme simplicity in every organ are the prominent features of 
* No explanation of the staminal apparatus in Raffesia is given that is at all consistent with this view; and this 
therefore, as well as the presence of a discoid stigma, is adverse to the theory. Also, it is not shown how, if the 
seeds of Raflesia are truly naked, the pollen is applied to the nuclei. 
