• 1 



OiiDEa in. MAGNOLIACEiB. 



Sepals and petals several, imbricate, and often passing gradually from the 

 one to tlie otlier, dcciduons; or in the Australian genus the calyx exception- 

 ally 2- or 3-clcft. Stamens indefinite, hyjiogynous; fihiments often thickened 

 or diluted, anthtTS adnata. Carpels indefinite, rarely solitary, free or partially 

 cohering. Ovules 2 or more, attached to the inner angle of the cavity, or 

 rarely ascending from the base. Stigma sessile. Eipe carpels opening iu 2 

 valves or indchiseeut. Seeds with a crustaceous testa, often succulent exter- 

 nally; alLumen copious, oily. Embryo minute, near the hiluni, with diva- 

 ricate cotyledons, — Trees or slirubs, often aromatic. Leaves alternate, undi- 

 vided, rcticulately penninerved, entire or toothed, with or without stipules- 

 Flowers axillary or terminal, solitary or fasciculate, often large. 



An Order chiefly distrihuted over tropical and eastern temperate Asia and North Aiocnca^ 

 and only reprfscated by one somewhat anDmnlons gcmis in the southi'rn hemisphere. 



J 



48 IJ. DiLLENiACE-^. [_PacJiynema. 



4 



terete and rush-like, or very slightly compressed, but scarcely angular, finely 

 striate. Leaves all reduced to minute distant scales. Peduncles usually 

 solitary, slender, recurved, 1 to 3 lines long, or terminating the branches, 

 Sepals*^ orbicular, about 2 lines long, the outer ones rather smaller. Petals 

 obovate-orbicular, entire, about the same size as the sepals. Stamens ot the 

 outer row usually 7 or 8, perfect, the fdaments thick, fleshy and ovoid at the 

 base, tapering at the top, wliere they bear 2 small innate diverging cells, the 

 3 or 2 other outer stamens reduced to minute staminodia, the 2 inner stami- 

 nodia like the perfect stamens, but without anthtu-s. Carpels 2, glabrous, 

 tapering into pointed styles so as very much to resemble the stamens in shape. 

 Ovules 2 in each ovarv. 



N. Australia. N, coast, R. Brown ; Victoria riverj Bpioe, 



3. P. complanatuTn, R. Br. in DG. SysL Veg. i. 412. Erect, leafless 

 and glabrous, like the last species, and the lower part of the stem at length 

 terete, but the branches are all flattened with thin edges, more or less 

 thickened in the middle, and seldom above 2 lines broad. Scales minute and 

 distant. Peduncles exceedingly short, usually several together in a little 

 cluster or short raceme. Flowers as in F. junceum. In the one T opened 

 there were 8 perfect outer stamens, and I could not find the 2 minute abor- 

 tive ones to complete the ring. The inner staminodia and carpels precisely 

 as in P. jiuiceum, — Deless, Ic. Sel. i. t. 73. 



M. Australia. N. coast, R.Brown; Melville Island, Fraser; Port Essington, ^- , 



Cumiingliam^ Leichhardt. 



4. P. dilatatnra, BentJi. Allied to P. com planatum> , biit apparently 

 taller and more robust, of a very glaucous hue, and the branches, thick and 

 angidar, dilated upwards to the breadth of from ^ to 1 in., and 2 to 3 lines 

 broad even on the smallest branches. Peduncles on the edges of the branches 

 or in the forks. Flowers as in the last two species. In one of those I ex- 

 amined I found all 10 of the outer stamens perfect. 



W. Australia. -Macadam range, F. Mueller. 



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