ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDL^N BOTANY. 133 



Affinities These seem to be obscure, but according to the general sense of Botanists 

 of the present day, the order is badly placed here, nearly all recent writers coincidlnLr in 

 vie^Nving 1. as more correctly referable to the Scrofularinous or irregular flowered ;rroup of 

 orders, than to the Pnmulaceous, with which its principal point of association is the one- 

 celled ovary and central placenta. As regards the flower, it is certainly personate; but 

 as regards the ovary primulaceous, the anatropal position of the ovules on the placenta also 

 accords better with the latter than the former. Brown, in his Prodromus, places it between 

 the two which seems to be its proper place, as partly agreeing with both in its structural 

 peculiarities while it differs from both in its exalbuminous seed. But the value of this 

 last character seems still undetermined, much more importance being assigned in some cases 

 than in othei^, owing apparently to its use in the vegetable economy, not being as vet 

 correctly understood. Lindley, for example, remarks under Mgiceraceoe, "It does not 

 however, appear to me advisable to distinguish the genus from Ardisiods, for it may be 

 conjectured that the absence of albumen, which is one of the most important marks of 

 distinction, is owing to the peculiar circumstances under which ^giceras germinates- its 

 embryo is always devolved in an atmosphere charged with moisture, and hardly requires 

 that any special preparation should be made for sustaining it in its Infant state.'' If this 

 conjecture IS correct the same reasoning is, I presume, applicable to seed germinating in 

 water, and thence, as a consequence, that the seed of aquatics and marsh plants should 

 not require albumen which, however, is not found to be the case. Its absence in this 



family and presence In Scrofidariaceos, many of the species of which are marsh i)lants, 

 may therefore be looked upon as of higher import than the preceding extracts would, a 

 pmn,_Iead us to suppose. Under this view of the case it seems, considering the high 

 value justly assigned to physiological characters, that this order, which fluctuates between 

 the two groups, is about equally remote from both as wanting their most important char- 

 acter, albumen, while it has the flowers of the one and the ovary and placenta of the other. 

 But may it not be more nearly related to an intermediate group than to either of 

 these. _ In Cyrtandraceos the flowers are irregular, the anthers are terminal and dehis above,' 

 the stigma is dilated and persistent, the capsule bursts laterally, not vertically through 

 the stigma, the placenta in Epithema is basal, and lastly the seed are exalbuminous. In 

 all of these respects there is much similarity between the two orders, enough I think to 

 establish a much nearer relationship between them than between Lentibulariece and Scrofu- 

 lariaceoe, though still sufficiently remote. Upon the whole I am disposed to view this last 

 as by far the closer of the two, the flowers being irregular and the seed exalbuminous in 

 both and, in at least one instance, the placenta of Cyrtandracece is basal, not parietal, 

 ^vhile in nearly all the ovary is one-celled. 



Geographical Distribution. The species of this family are dispersed over the whole 

 earth, but most abound in the tropical regions of the Old World and Neve Holland, in- 

 habiting still or gently flowing waters and marshy grounds. The Pingulcolas are all 

 tives of the Northern Temperate Zones, the Utricularias extend far into the Southern. 



T T. ^^^^^"^^^s AND Uses. On this head nothing is known regarding those natives of 

 li^aia, and but little of any note of the others. 



Rem AUKS on Genera and Species. This order includes 4 genera and 175 published 

 species, a large proportion of which are from South America. Of the above number 24 

 ^wly, all species of Utncularia^ belong to the Indian Flora, a number far short of what I 

 teel certain will be found when their distinguishing characters are better known. Until 

 i'ecently the species of that genus have been most inadequately described, hence I find it 

 ^ost difficult to determine, among those in my collection, what are from those that are not 

 named. This imperfection seems to have arisen not so much from any want of distinctive 

 niarks as from imperfect observation. The plants are, it must be admitted, most simple, 

 ^^d many so exceeding like each other that one is apt to associate several as a single 



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