EUPHORBIALES.] 



NEPENTHACE^. 



287 



^M 



Order XCIV. NEPENTHACE^E.— Nepenths. 



Aristolochise, § Nepenthinas, I-rn/c. Handb. 1.369. (1829).— Nepenthaceae, Ed.Pr. (1836).— Nepentheac, 

 Meisn. p. 334 ; Endl. cxv. 



Diagnosis. — Euphorbial Exorjens ? with an infinite midtitvde of scobiform seeds, having 



an inferior radicle. 



Herbaceous or half-slirul)by caulescent plants. Leaves alternate, slightly sheathing 

 at the base, with a dilated fohaceous petiole, pitcher-shaped at the end, wliieh is articu- 

 lated with a Ud-like lamina. Stem without concentric zones, with an abundance of 

 spu'al vessels in the wood, pith, and bark, and also with a dense layer of the same 

 between the wood and the bark. Racemes terminal, 

 dense, many-flowered. Flowers dioecious. Calyx 

 4-leaved, inferior, oppositely imbricated in aestivation. 

 ^ Stamens cohermg in a soUd column, bearing at the 

 apex about 16 anthers, collected in various dii'ections 

 in one head ; anthers 2-celled, opemng longitudinally 

 and externally. $ Ovary free, four-cornered, 4- 

 celled, with an indefinite number of ascending ovtdes 

 attached to the sides of the dissepiments ; stigma ses- 

 sile, simple. FxTiit capsular, 4-celled, 4-valved, with 

 the seeds sticking to the sides of the dissepiments, 

 which proceed from the middle of the valves. Seeds 

 indefinite, ascending, very minute, fusiform, with a 

 lax outer integument ; nucleus oblong, much less than 

 the seed, lying about the middle of the outer integu- 

 ment, suspended by the chalaza ; embryo in the 

 midst of fleshy albumen, with 2 cotyledons placed face 

 to face ; radicle tm-ned towards the hilum. 



The relation that is borne by the highly curious 

 plants which this Order contains was not even guessed 

 at until Adolphe Bi'ongniart pointed out a resemblance 

 between them and Cis- 

 tusrapes, wliich had not •sj^s^h 

 before been suspected, I ^ 



but which he considered 

 so important as to justi- 

 fy him m placmg the 

 two Orders together. 

 But it is impossible to 

 agree in this conclusion. 

 To say notliing of the 

 extreme dissimilarity in 

 habit between these 

 plants, the structure of 

 their fruit appears to be 

 essentially different ; and 

 the seeds of Cytmus be- 

 ing imknown, the re- 

 semblance between it 

 and Nepenthes is reduced to a similarity in the arrangement of the anthers, which can- 

 not in the present case be considered of much importance, as it in some degi-ee depends 

 upon the imisexuahty of the flowers of both genera. A better approxmiation of the 

 Order has been made by BrowTi, who points out a relation to^ Bii'thworts ; as to 

 which the structure of the wood in some respects confirms his views. Like maiiy in 

 that Order, it is zoneless, although plainly exogenous ; but it has this m particular to 

 characterise it, that the system of spiral vessels is developed in a degree unknown in 

 any other plants. EndUcher adopts the same \'iew as doe s A. Brongmart ; and l 



Fig. CXCIX.— Nepenthes distiUatoria. 1. ^ ; 2. ^ ; 3. ripe fruit ; 4. a section of a seed very highly 

 magnified. 



CXCIX 



