MR. W. GRIFFITH ON THE GENUS GNETUM. 309 
G. SCANDENS, Roxb.; foliis ovato-oblongis vel ovalibus, fructibus breve stipitatis obtusis 
lepidotis. Ula, Hort. Mal. vol. vii. p. 41. t. 22 opt. Gnetum scandens, Roxb. MSS. 
Synopsis; ejusdem Icones pictæ in Horto Botanico Caleuttense asservate, Suppl. 
vol. iv. t.78; Flora Indica, vol. iii. p. 518. 
Hab. in sylvis ore Tenasserim. Legi ad Moulmein, Amherst, et Mergui. Floret Decembre, Januario. 
Frutex longe scandens. Folia coriacea, obtuse acuminata; supra atro-viridia, raro pallida. Paniculæ 
terminales. Flores utriusque sexås pilis cellulosis albidis immixti. Fructus (ovato-oblongi), præ- 
sertim juniores, pulcherrime argenteo-lepidoti. 
Under this species Roxburgh has confounded two distinct plants. In the drawing 
quoted above he has figured the fruit of @. apiculatum and of @. scandens as the pro- 
duce of the same plant. In his description of the fruit of G. scandens, he seems to advert, 
although obscurely, to some peculiarity of the superficies, at least before maturity. This 
species is at once known by the silvery scales of the fruit, which are very conspicuous 
before it begins to assume its orange colour; these scales are peltate, closely appressed, 
and composed of cells radiating from the situation of the attachment. 
I have not quoted Rumph, whose figure does not at all resemble our plant. Bu- 
chanan’s synonym in Rees’s Cyclopædia, founded on the supposed identity of Rumph's 
plant with the above, is therefore not to be taken without great hesitation. 
Note 1.—(Stomata.) The arrangement above referred to is not uncommon, but pe 
haps limited to those leaves in which the parenchyma is continued over the veins. It is 
remarkable that in these cases the stomata differ considerably in size ; those of the upper 
surface I have hitherto found to be the largest. As good instances of such distribution, 
I may mention Costus speciosus, and perhaps all species of Nymphæa. A curious, and I 
believe hitherto unnoticed singularity occurs in the distribution of these "arii m 
Nelumbium speciosum, in which the callous spot in the centre of the leaf, and opposite to 
the termination of the petiole, is crowded with stomata of a large size, to the pov of 
which the unusual colour of the spot appears to be partly owing. These a" - 
plant certainly open into cavities, through which they communicate indirectly with the 
cavities in the petiole, from the apex of which they radiate into the ims un ser så 
of the vast limb is minutely papillose, the Menace Sk ncm 
stomata are very indistinct, and indeed almost o m 
Note 2.— Dr. Lindley, in the * Botanical Register’ quoted above, states Ts CUIR 
of Gnetum is zoneless. In the climbing species the zones are highly dev LE : í 
G. Brunonianum no zones existed; this is, however, in all probability ais E eA 
specimens that I examined being the growth of Uno pe t em ro RR A 
confirming the statement of the above author respecting the Api TM E ve 
least in the young parts. I may add, that the proportion of v —-— y 
considerable. omale flowers reduced to naked 
Finally, the three families characterized by having the fe a rir stile pari 
ovula, agree in the following remarkable points: VIZ. peculiar p | sr 
presence of at least two, often 
of their tissue, unisexuality, orthotropous ovula, and in the 
more, opposite cotyledons. 
Aug. 4th, 1835. 
