22 



XIII. ANONACE^. The Custard Apple Tribe. 



Anon^, Juss. Gen. 283. (1789.) — Anonace.f, Jiich. Anal. Fr."!!. (1808); Dniial 

 Momgr. (1817); Dec. Syst. 1. 402. (1818); Prodr. 1. 83. (1824.)_GLYrTO- 

 SPERM.E, Vent. Tabl. 3. /o. (1799.) 



Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynoiis stamens, 

 anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, numerous distinct simple carpella, 

 exstipulate leaves, and ruminated albumen. 



Anomalies. Monodora has a solitary carpellum. In Anona palustris 

 the ovaria are not distinct. Roilinia has the petals united. Stamens and 

 carpella definite in Bocagea. 



Essential Character — Sepals 3-4, persistent, usually partially cohering. Petals 

 6, hypogynous, in two rows, coriaceous, with a valvular aestivation. Slamens indefinite, 

 covering a large hypogynous torus, packed closely together, very rarely definite. Filaments 

 short, more or less angular. Anthers aduate, turned outwards, with an enlarged 4-cornered 

 connectivum, which is sometimes nectariferous. Ovaria usually numerous, closely packed, 

 separate or cohering, occasionally definite. Styles short ; stigmata simple ; ovula solitary, 

 or a small number, erect or ascending. Fruit consisting of a number of carpella, which are 

 either succulent or dry, sessile or stalked, 1- or many-seeded, distinct or concrete into a 

 fleshy mass. Seeds attached to the suture in one or two rows ; testa brittle ; embryo minute, 



in the base of hard, fleshy, ruminate alhtimen Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, simple, 



almost always entire, without stipulae. Flowers usually green or brown, axillary, solitary, 

 or 2 or 3 together, shorter than the leaves ; the peduncles of abortive flowers sometimes in- 

 durated, enlarged, and hooked. 



Affinities. No doubt can be entertained of the close affinity of this 

 order to Magnoliacece, from v/hich, however, it differs in the want of stipulse, 

 in the form of the anthers, and in the peculiar condition of the ovarium^: 

 agreeing in the ternary division of the parts of fructification, and their in- 

 definite stamens and ovaria. An affinity has been pointed out between them 

 and Menispermese ; but it appears to me to be very weak. The great feature 

 of the order is its ruminated albumen, to which there is no exception, and 

 scarcely any parallel. The parietal insertion of ovula, ascribed to this order 

 by Decandolle, is not universal. The ovula are erect in Anona, Guatteria, 

 and Anaxagorea. A. St. H. in PI. Usu. 33. A remarkable plant is described 

 by Mr. Brown, in the Appendix to Flinder's Voyage, under the name of 

 Eupomatia laurina, in which the stamens are manifestly perigynous, and the 

 tube of the calyx coherent with the ovarium. This genus is referred by its 

 learned discoverer to Anonaceae, with which there can be no doubt that it 

 has a very striking analogy ; but its structure is nevertheless so peculiar, that 

 I hesitate, with M. Decandolle, in absolutely identifying it with Anonaceae. 

 I have remarked in Anona laurifolia that the pollen is arranged in two 

 distinct rows in each cell of the anther, and that when that organ bursts, the 

 grains of pollen fall out, cohering in a single row, so as to have the appear- 

 ance of a necklace. Supposing Wintereee not to be stipulate, as St. Hilaire 

 asserts, this order will be more nearly related to them than to Magnoliacese. 

 Connected with Berberidesc through Bocagea. 



Geograpiiy. The tropics of the old and new world are the natural land 

 of these plants : thence they spread, in a few instances, to the northward 

 and the southward. 



Pkoperties. The general character is, to have a powerful aromatic 

 taste and smell in all the parts. The bark of Uvaria tripctaloidea yields, 

 being tapped, a viscid matter, which hardens in the form of a fragrant 

 gum. Dec. The flowers of many species, especially of Artabotrys odora- 

 tissima and Cananga virgata, are exceedingly fragrant. The dry fruits of 

 many species are very aromatic ; those of Uvaria aromatica arc the Piper 



