350 Linnean Society. [Dec. 5, 



to which it belongs, as the two genera of Orchidea which have been 

 so called have both proved to have had earlier names. 



Decaisnea, Hf. %■ Thorns. 



Sepala 6, lineari-subulata. Petala 0. Stam'ma in flore masculo mona- 

 delpha, in hermaphrodito parva libera. Ovaria 3, lineari-oblonga. 

 Ovula placentis 2 filiformibus parallelis, sutures ventrali approximatis 

 sed ab ea discretis, inserta, indelinita, anatropa. FoUicuU pulpa re- 

 pleti. Semiiia indefinita, compressa ; testa laevi, nitida, Crustacea, atro- 



fusca. 

 Frutex Himalaiciis erectus ; foliis alternis, pinnatis ; inflorescentia race- 

 mosd, terminali ; floribus pallide viridescentibus. 



Decaisnea insignis is a native of the temperate parts of the Eastern 

 Himalaya, at elevations between 8000 and 10,000 feet. As men- 

 tioned above, it was first discovered in Bhotan by Griffith. Dr. 

 Hooker's specimens are from the interior of Sikkim. It is an erect 

 shrub, with large simply pinnated leaves, and a nearly simple trunk, 

 marked by large scars after the leaves fall away, as in many Araliacece. 

 The nearest analogy is no doubt with the section Mahonia, of the 

 o-enus Berberis, but the leaves of Decaisnea are soft and thin, not 

 rio-id and prickly as in Berberis. The flowers are arranged in elon- 

 gated racemes, and closely resemble those of other Lardizabalece. 

 Their colour is pale green, slightly tinged with purple towards the 

 apex. The sepals are elongated to a subulate point, and there 

 are no petals. The stamens on the male flower are monadelphous, 

 and very like those of Stauntonia or Parvatia. In the fertile flower 

 the stamens are free and very small, but the anthers always contain 

 pollen, so that the flowers are rather polygamous than dioicous. 

 The most remarkable character is exhibited by the ovaries, which, 

 though externally not unlike those of HollbdlUa, have the ovules 

 arranged in a double series along two elevated lines, one on each 

 side of the ventral suture, and not scattered over the whole surface 

 of the ovary as in all the other genera. The same arrangement is 

 preserved in the ripe fruit, which consists of three large follicles full 

 of an agreeably-flavoured solid pulp, dehiscing along the ventral 

 suture, so as to expose to view the numerous shining black seeds, in 

 structure like those of Hollbbllia. 



The characters of this remarkable plant are so striking that no 

 lengthened detail is necessary. It will suffice to call attention to its 

 importance, as aff^ording an indication of the value of characters in 

 the class of plants to which it belongs. An inspection of the figure 

 (which is intended to form one of the plates of Dr. Hooker's ' Illus- 



