Rhizogexs.] 



CYTINACE^. 



91 



Order XXVII. CYTINACE^.— Cistusrapes. 



Cytineae, Adolph. Brongn. in Ann. des. Sc Nat. 1. 29. (1824) ; Endlicher Meletemata, p. 13. Gen. xl. 

 Meisner. p. 367. 7^. Brown in Linn. Trans, xix.— Pistiaceas, Afjardfi. Aphor. Bot. p 240. (182(j).— 

 Aristolochi«, § Cytineae, Link Handb. 1. 368. (1829).— Hydnoreae, R. Br. Linn. Trans. 19. (1844). 



Diagnosis. — Floivers in spil-es at the end of a scaly stem, tcith a Z-Q-parted calyx, anthers 

 openiw/ by slits, and innumerable ovules growing over parietal placentce. 



Flowers ^ , or (^ $ , solitary and stemless, or clustered at the top of a stalk covered ^\•ith 

 imbricated scales, the males uppermost, the females lowermost, in the axil of a bract, 

 and supported on each side by a bractlet. Perianth tubular-campanulate, with a spread- 

 ing 3-6-lobed hmb, the segments imbricated, the exterior alternating with the bractlets 



or induplicate and valvate. Anthers ses- 

 sile, 2-celled ; their cells distinct, open- 

 ing longitudinally ; four dissepiment-Uke 

 membranes in Cytinus alternate with 

 the segments of the perianth, and join 

 its tulje with the column^ 9 Perianth 

 as in the males, but epigj-nous. Ovary 

 inferior, 1 -celled, with vertical or parie- 

 tal placentae, covered by innumerable 

 ovules ; style cylmdrical, j oined to the tube 

 of the perianth by septiform processes, 

 with a thick stigma, or free, and con- 

 sisting of several styles, each having a 

 free stigmatic apex. Fruit berried, 

 leathery, one-celled, with innumerable 

 seeds buried in pulp, and haA'ing a hard 

 leathery skin firmly attached to the 

 nucleus. Seed in Hydnora, with a small 

 undirided embryo in the centre of car- 

 tilaginous albumen, and in Cytinus ex- 

 albummous according to Bro\\7i. 



In these we have a near approach to 

 the common condition of Endogens, 

 both in sti-ucture and habit, if we com- 

 pare Cytinus with some Bromelworts. 



But the appearance of Hydnora is so 

 peculiar that we know nothing to con- 

 trast it with, except some such Fungus as a Geaster, like \\hich it grows half-buried in 

 the soil. Its innumerable seeds distinguish it from Patmaworts, as well as its caulescent 

 habit and sht anthers. 



The history of this extraordinary plant has been fuUy given by Ferdinand Bauer and 

 Dr. Bro\ni, in the 1 9th vol. of the Linnean Transactions, from wliich place the accom- 

 panying cuts are taken. The genus is regarded by Brown as the type of a pecuhar 

 Order : and perhaps with justice. But for reasons elsewhere given, I demur to the 

 formation of all Orders that depend upon a smgle genus. 



Cytinus is parasitical on the roots of Cistus in the South of Europe ; the rest are from 

 the Cape of Good Hope, where Hydnora is parasitical on the roots of succulent 

 Euphorbia, and of Cotyledon orbiculatum. 



Hydnora Africana \jacJcals Kost or Kauimp), smells like decaying roast-beef, or 

 some fungus {Harvey) ; when roasted it is eaten by the African savages. Cytinus Hypo- 

 cistis {v^oxia-Ti; Diosc.) contains galHc acid, and according to Pelletier, has the property 

 of precipitating gelatine without contammg tannin ; its extract is still officinal in the 

 South of Europe, under the name of Succus Hypocistidis ; it is blackish, sub-acid, 

 astringent, and is employed in hiemoiThages and dysentery. 



Fig. LXV.- Cytinus Ilj-pocistis. 1. A flower; 2. a head of anthers; 3. a transverse section of the 

 ovary. 



Fig. LXV. 



