Myrtales.] 



MYRTACE^. 



735 



related genus, the calyx remains in its normal state, while the petals are consolidated 

 into an operculum. Babingtouia otters the cm-ious structure of a stX a.Ts Sm 

 l'Xl-T"n^i'^' and .^.olly from the placenta, a eircumstanc^not withoST a' 

 parallel m this Order ; and Bseckia micrautha, DC, has pai-ietal placentae ! 



1 Fig. CCCCXCI. 



Pmiica has been considered the type of a particular Order (Granatere) by Don, in 

 which he is supported by the high authority of De Candolle, Von IMartius, and ^^'ight. 

 The fruit of Punica Granatum, the Pomegra- 

 nate, is described by Gsertner and De CandoUe 

 as bemg divided into two miequal divisions by 

 a horizontal diaphragm, the upper half of which 

 consists of from 5 to 9 cells, and the lower of 

 three ; the cells of both being separated by 

 membranous dissepiments ; the placentae of the 

 upper half proceeding from the back to the 

 centre, and of the lower UTegularly from their 

 bottom ; and by Don as a fleshy receptacle 

 formed by the tube of the calyx into a unilocu- 

 lar berry, filled with a spongy placenta, which 

 is hollowed out into a number of irregular cells. 

 In fact, if a Pomegranate is examined, it will be 

 found to agree more or less perfectly with both 

 these descriptions. But it is clear that a fniit 

 as thus described is at variance with the ordinary 

 laws upon which compound fruits ai'e foi'med. 

 A section of the ovary of the Pomegranate in 

 various directions, if made about the time of the 

 expansion of the flowers before impregnation takes place, shows that it is in fact com- 

 posed of two rows of carpels, of which three or four surround the axis, and are placed 

 in the bottom of the tube of the calyx, and a number, varying from five to ten, surround 

 these, and adhere to the upper part of the tube of the calyx. The placenta? of these 

 carpels contract an irregular adhesion with the back and front of their colls, and thus 

 give to the position ultunately acquired by the seeds that anomalous appo:u-ancc which 

 it assumes in the ripe fruit. If this view of the structure of the Pomegi-anate be 

 correct, its peculiarity consists in this, that, in an Order the carpels of which occupy 

 but a single row around the axis, it possesses cai'pels hi two rows, the one placed above 



Fig. CCCCXCI.— 1. Punica Granatum; 2. perpendicular section of the ovary; 3. cross section of it 

 near the base ; 4. near the base. 

 Fig. CCCCXCII.— Monstrous Apple, mectioned in the next page. 



Fig. CCCCXCII. 



