FLORAL STRUCTURE AND AFFINITIES OF SAPOTACE^. 71 



and others to this view was just will, I think, now be admitted by 

 all, for MijrsinecB and Primulacea, are only separable by the 

 arborescent habit of the former ; and surely no one will maintain 

 that the petal of Ardisia has a different moi'i)hological value from 

 that of, say, AnagalUs. In animal development, cases are frequent 

 where homological successions are masked by adaptive modifications. 

 In many plants the petals, though first formed, are soon overtaken 

 and outstripped by the stamens, a relation which is perhaps due to 

 the longer time requu-ed for the formation of pollen than for 

 petaline tissue. Carry the delay a stage fiu'ther back, and you 

 have the history of Primidacece. The accompanying diagram 

 would express my ideas as regards the relations of Sapotacem to the 

 allied orders : — 



Guttifercc 



APPENDIX. 



On Labourdonnaisia and Eichleria. 



The genus Labourdonnaisia was founded by Bojer for certain 

 plants of Mauritius with a biseriate corolla, each whorl being equal 

 to the false whorl of the biseriate calyx. The calyx varies from 

 six to eight pieces, the corolla from twelve to sixteen, or perhaps by 

 deduplication to eighteen. Hence it was thought that the coroUine 

 symmetry was like that of Mimusops, and Sonder placed a plant with 

 stipulate petals in Labourdonnaisia. To this was referred another 

 plant of precisely similar floral symmetry by Mr. Bentham, in the 

 ' Genera Plantarum,' with the just remark that they were allied 

 to Mimusops. It will now be seen that the two last species are 

 distinct fi-om the Mascarene species, and fall into another genus 

 which I have here named in honour of him who was the first 

 to indicate the true structure of its section, Mimusopece. These are 

 the definitions (not full descriptions) of the two genera : — 



Labourdonnaisia, Boj. (char, emendat.) Sepala 6 v. 8, 2-plice 

 serie imbricata. Petala 12 v. 16 (1, 2, interdum normali seriei 

 additis), 2-plice serie imbricata. Stamina totidem, sub-1-seriata, 

 omnia fertilia. Carpella alicrnisepala. Species omncs Mascarenses. 



