149 



wanting in several species;" and therefore, in the judgment of this vene- 

 rable botanist, the order is apetalous, or monochlamydeous. Decandolle 

 adopts the same view of the nature of the floral envelopes as Jussieu ; but 

 he nevertheless considers the order polypetalous ; a conclusion which I con- 

 fess myself unable to understand, upon the supposition of the inner series 

 of floral envelopes being calyx. Other botanists, and I think with justice, 

 consider the outer series of the floral envelopes as the calyx, and the inner 

 as the corolla, for two principal reasons. In the first place, they have the 

 ordinary position and appearance of calyx and corolla, the outer being green, 

 and the inner coloured ; and, in the second place, there is no essential 

 difference between the calyx and corolla, except the one being the outer, 

 and the other the inner of the floral envelopes. And if the real nature of 

 these parts is to be determined by analogy, an opinion in which I do not, 

 however, concur, the great aflSnity, as I think, of the order with Violacese 

 would confirm the idea of its being polypetalous rather than apetalous. 

 The nature of the filamentous appendages, or rays as they are called, which 

 proceed from the orifice of the tube, and of the membranous or fleshy, entire 

 or lobed, flat or plaited, annular processes which lie between the petals 

 and the stamens, is ambiguous. I am disposed to refer them to a peculiar 

 form of petals, rather than to the stamens, for the reasons which I have 

 assigned in the Hort. Trans, vol. 6. p. 309, for understanding the normal 

 metamorphosis of the parts of fructification to be centripetal. There can, 

 at least, be no doubt of their being of an intermediate nature between 

 petals and stamens. With regard to the aflfinity of Passiflorese, Jussieu, 

 swayed by the opinion he entertains of their being apetalous, and Decan- 

 dolle, who partly agrees and partly disagrees with Jussieu in his view of 

 their structure, both assign the order a place near Cucurbitacese ; but 

 when we consider the stipitate fruit, occasionally valvular, the parietal 

 placentae, the sometimes irregular flowers, the stipulate leaves, and the 

 climbing habit of these plants, it is difficult not to admit their affinity with 

 Capparidese and Violace2e, the dilated disk of the former of which is pro- 

 bably analogous to the innermost of the annular processes of Passiflora. 

 That the fleshy covering of the seeds in this order is a real arillus, is clear 

 from the seeds of a capsular species nearly related to Pass, capsularis, but 

 apparently unpublished, a drawing of which, by M. Ferdinand Bauer, exists 

 in the Library of the Horticultural Society. In this plant the apex of the 

 sculptured testa is uncovered by the arillus. 



Geography. These plants are the pride of South America and the 

 West Indies, where the woods are filled with their species, which climb 

 about from tree to tree, bearing at one time flowers of the most striking 

 beauty, and of so singular an appearance, that the zealous Catholics who dis- 

 covered them, adapted Christian traditions to those inhabitants of the South 

 American wildernesses ; and at other times fruit, tempting to the eye and 

 refreshing to the palate. One or two extend northwards into North America. 

 Several are found in Africa and the neighbouring islands; and a few in the 

 East Indies, of which the greater part belong to the genus Modecca. 



Properties. Nothing is known of the properties of tliis order further 

 than that the succulent arillus and pulp that surround the seeds are fragrant, 

 juicy, cooling, and pleasant, in several species. 



Examples. Passiflora, Tacsonia, Murucuja, Smeathmanuia. 



