116 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF INIDIAN BOTANY. 



" i« 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE 138. 



Sphenodea pongatium (D. C.) Natural size. 



1. An unopened flower. 



2. A flower further advanced with its bract and 



bracteoles. 



3. A flower freely expanded, but the relative position 

 of its parts not accurately preserved, the lobes of the 

 corolla being placed too nearly opposite the lobes of the 



calyx. 



4. A corolla detached, and 5. Split open, showing the 

 insertion of the stamens. 



6. Detached stamens, back and front views. 



7. Capsule, enclosed in the persistent calyx. 



8. Calyx opened to show the line of dehiscence of 



the circumscissile capsule. 



Unnumbered figure beside the anthers 



•top of 



the capsule seen from within. 

 9. Capsule transversely, two-celled. 



10. An old capsule, after shedding its seed, showing 

 the remains of the spongy, pendulous placentae. 



11. A seed. 12. Cut vertically, showing the embryo 

 in situ. 



13. Embryo detached. 



XCIT.— VACCINIACE^. 



« - 



This is a beautiful family, including upwards of 500 species of shrubby or arboreous plants. 



They are for the most part extra-tropical; those found within the tropics being natives of alpine 



regions, where elevation compensates for the lower temperature of higher latitudes. In Southern 



India three or four species only have been detected, but it seems probable more will yet be found 



when we are better acquainted with their distinguishing characters. Three are natives of the 



Neilgherries ; one, perhaps distinct, is found on the Shervaroys, near Salem, and another, but not 



distinct from one of the Neilgherry ones, on the Pulney Hills. The same may be said of oiie 



found in Ceylon. On the Khassya Mountains, bordering Upper Assam, they are numerous, and 



there, the late Mr. Griffith wrote me, several of them are parasitical — a peculiarity one, oply 



acquainted with the terrestrial forms, could scarcely anticipate; but perhaps he meant epi- 

 phytical. 



Character of the Order. Calvx sunerior. entire, or with from 4 to 6 lobes. Corolla 



Stamens distinct, double 



imbricated 



the number of the lobes of the corolla, inserted into an epigynous disk; anthers with two horns 



and two cells, bursting by pores. Ovary inferior, 4-" to' 10-celled; style simple; stigma 

 simple. Berry crowned by the persistent limb of the calyx, succulent, 4-10-celled; cells " 

 many-seeded. Seeds minute, pendulous when solitary; embryo straight, in the axis 



of a 



fleshy albumen; cotyledons very short ; radicle long, inferior. Much ^.„ ^, „ 



frequently evergreen, and occasionally epiphytes. Leaves alternate, undivided, without sti- 

 pules, often with glandular notches. Flowers solitary or in racemes. Lindley. 



Affinities. On this head there 



is considerable diversity of opinion, some Botanists, 

 mi6fig whom Endlicher now takes the lead, uniting this order and EHcacecB, others, and they 

 torming the majority, considering the two families distinct, but so closely related, that they are 

 alvvays placed next each other, under the impression that the distinguishing features, the 

 adherent ovary of the one, and the free one of the other, do not afford ground for a wider 

 separation. Dr. Lindley, however, has recently taken a different view, and widely separated 

 them by placing the one m his Hypogynons class, and the other in his Epigynous, with the whole 

 ot the Perigynous one interposed. He considers them more nearly allied to CinchonacecB than 



arrangem^ent in which, 1 apprehend, he will find but few 



For mys 



elf, 



„„!„„ „i" 1 J • ■,• , "5""". »*c«iiig lue auuereuce, or non-aunereucc v* -- 



calyx, when placed in opposition to such striking peculiarities as those which unite these two 



shTed' nn^' tIT^.P ^^^^"' ^f^"" ^>^^^' ^" ^^«^ ^ <^«««' o"g^t not to be so strongly in- 

 s rnotnrp nfTL f^ ^"^"'^^^"^ ^'^^^'l <>f both Orders is found in the curious, nay, unique 

 t^n nn r.?Ln. TT'' ''''""'''' ° ^'^^^^' ^"^ "^^ elsewhere observed, and which, as will be 



been on reference to the accompanying plates, is very remarkable. 



related t^JboTclwfn^/r^^ '^T- '^" ^'^'""^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^^^ ^^^t Vacciniace^ are very nearly 

 Jhe Hypo^^^^^^^^ ^'"''^'ili^^'^^ and may be viewed as their representatives m 



the Hjpogynous sub-class. Encace<B, in like manner, though a Hypogynons family, becomes 



