Orchidales.] 



BURMANNIACEiE. 



171 



Order LI. BURMANNIACEiE.— Burmanniads. 



Burmannise, Spreng, Si/st. 1. 123. (1825) ; Reichenb. Conspect. 



(1828), a sect, of Amaryllideae.- 



Burmanniaceas, Blinne Enum. PI. Jav. 27. (1827) ; Uartl. Orel. Nat. 41. (1830) ; Schult. f. in Riim. 

 et Sch. Si/st. Veg. 7. Ixxiii. (1830) ; Endl. Gen. Ix. ; Meisner, p. 390. ; Miers in Linn. Trans. 18.552. 

 — Tripterellece, Nuttall in Act. Philadelph, 7. 23. 



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Diagnosis. — Orchidal Endogens, with regular' flowers and free perigynoios stamens. 



Herbaceous plants, with tufted radical acute leaves, or none ; a slender naked stem 

 and terminal flowers, sessile upon a 2- or 3-branched rachis, or solitary. Flowers ^ 

 Perianth coloured, tubular, adherent, membranous, with 6 

 teeth, the 3 hmer of which (petals) are minute, the 3 outer 

 larger, sometimes with a wing or keel at the back. Stamens 

 3, inserted in the tube opposite the petals ; anthers sessile, 

 2-celled, opening transversely, with a fleshy, simple, or 

 2-lobed connective. Ovary adlierent, 1- 3-celled, with 3 pla- 

 centae, which are either simple and parietal, or double and 

 axile ; the cells of the 3-celled genera opposite the sepals ; 

 OATiles innumerable ; capsule sm-mounted by the persistent 

 perianth, 1- 3-celled, bm'sting vertically, or horizontaUy, or 

 not at all, or by one fissiu-e, mto a boat-shaped pericarp. Seeds 

 Innumerable, very minute, with the testa loose or fitting tight ; 

 apparently with a solid nucleus, and no albumen ; style single ; 

 stigma 3-lobed. Capsule covered by the withered perianth, 

 or 3-celled, bm'sting u'regularly. 



This is a most singular race, which has been well illustrated 

 by Mr. Miers, who has been the first to point out its relation- 

 ship to the Orchids. This he has shown to consist m the 

 minute seeds, parietal placentae, in many cases pecvdiar con- 

 dition of the capsule, and the nucleus loose in the middle of a 

 net-like testa. To this I think may be added the organization 

 of the kernel of the seed, which is, to all appearance, in Bur- 

 mannia, Apteria, and Dictyostega, exactly like that of Orchids. 

 Ml'. Miers, however, describes the nucleus of the latter genus 

 as being suspended by a thread in the middle of the testa ; 

 I find it, on the contrary, ascending. Two very different 

 forms are pointed out by Mr. Miers, the Bm'mannieae, 

 with 3 cells in the ovai'y and an axile placentation, and the 

 Apteriese, with 1 cell and 3 parietal placentae ; this pecuharity 

 is not however accompanied by any other, and may, for the 

 present, be regarded as of secondary importance. The single 

 genus upon which the Order was founded, was placed by 

 Jussieu in Bromelworts ; Brown stationed it as a doubtful 

 genus at the end of Rushes, with the remark, that it is 

 extremely distinct both in flower, fruit, and inflorescence, and 

 not really allied to any other known plant, but more nearly 

 related to Xyris and Pliilychnun than to either Bromelia or 

 Hypoxis. Von Martins, who has beautifully illustrated the 

 Brazihan species, refers them to Hydrocharads. Blume, 

 who has added two new genera, merely remarks that " the 

 Order is known from Juncaceae by its tubular perianth, which 

 is petaloid instead of glumaceous, and by the structm'e of the 

 fruit ; it is well distmguished from Irids by the station of 

 the stamina, and the transverse dehiscence of the anthers." 

 — Enum. p. 27. 



In reaUty the Order must be considered to connect Orchids 

 and Irids. 



Natives of marshy grassy places in the tropics of Asia, 

 Africa, and America. Burmannia is found as far to the 

 north as Virguiia in North America. 



Fig. CXVI. 



Fig. CXVI.— 1. Dictyostegia orobanclioides ; 2. a flower; 3. the same, with the perianth opened; 

 4. half an anther ; 5. 'section of ovary ; fi. seed ; 7. seed of Burmannia disticha ; 8. ditto of Apteria 

 setacea; 9. transverse section of the ovary of a Burmannia from Ceylon. 



