20 DR. J. D. HOOKER ON THE STRUCTURE AND 



Eichard (Mdm. du Museum, viii. p. 429), and latterly Lindley (Veg. Kingd. p. 85), have 

 assmued tlic seed to be embryonate in all Balanophorece ; arguing from that of Cyno- 

 morium, which both well understood; and I at one time adopted the same opiaion, 

 being much iufluenced by the fact that in certain plants with densely fleshy albumens, 

 formed of large coherent cells, the embryo scarcely exceeds one such cell in bulk, and 

 often eludes a very careful search ; as that oi Mystroj)etalon escaped Harvey, Griffith, and 

 others. Tielding, however, to the mass of evidence ta favour of the absence of any visible 

 embryo within the seed of Balanophora and of all the Distyli, I am now inclined to agree 

 with Griffith (Linn. Trans, xx. p. 93) in considering the embryo as a homogeneous mass, 

 or " indivisus albuminiformis." 



Endlicher (Meletemata, p. 9 ; and Gen. PI. p. 73) describes the seed as a nucleus, " nucleo 

 e tela cellulosa, massa sporacea farcta, conglobato," and adds that the testa is coriaceous, 

 hard or siibosseous, evidently mistaking the endocarp for a testa. Blume (En. PI. Jav. i. 

 p. 87) seems to have taken a similar view of the contents of the seed. Junghuhn, an inge- 

 nious and acute observer, says (Act. Acad, xviii. Suppl. p. 205), " Semina nulla adsunt ; 

 quod (supra) ovaria salutavi, vix nisi analoga sunt germ in um plantarum perfectarimi quae 

 nunquam maturescunt, sed more fungorum putredine pereunt." Trattiaick also (Linnsea, 

 iii. p. 19-i<) says, imder Sarcophyte, " that these plants are not developed from seeds, but 

 are specific degenerations of the plants on which they grow." 



Goeppert (Nov. Act. I. c. p. 257) considers that Balanophora grow from seeds, and 

 describes these as " nuda exembryonata ; " and Nees von Esenbeck (Nov. Act. I. c. p. 225) , 

 calls them acotyledones of a high class. 



Liebmann (Proceedings of Assembly of Scandinavian Naturalists at Christiania) says 

 of the seed of Langsdorffia hypogcBa, that it is intermediate in character between a crypto- 

 gamic spore and a naked seed. 



Martins (Nov. Gen. et Sp. iii. p. 186) regards the seed as an embryo, and states that he 

 has seen small fibres given off from its basilar end, like rootlets ; an observation not 

 hitherto confirmed. 



I have reserved to the last the discussion of M. "Weddell's views, because they differ 

 fi'om those of other authors, and are based upon a comparison of an extensive range of 

 organs, which cannot be considered separately ; they are published in a paper read before 

 the Society Philomatique of Paris, and more at length ia the ' Annales des Sciences Natu- 

 relles ' (ser. 3. xiv. p. 166) : they especially refer to the relationship between Balano- 

 phurecB and Rafflesiacea, and may be thus summed up : — 



1. " The so-called fruit of Balanophorece is constructed on the same plan as the seed 

 of Raffleskicea; ; the so-called styles, which are almost always observable on that organ 

 before its maturity, are appendages of one of the essential parts of the ovule. The fruit of 

 Balanophorece must hence be regarded as a naked seed." 



but all belonging to one axis. In Griffith'a admirable paper on Ambrosinia (Linn. Traus. xx.), an extremely ano- 

 malous embryo is reduced to the ordinary type by a careful study of development and germination, and it is shown 

 that though its parts are undistinguishable at first sight, each has its functions defined. It is remarkable that Griffith 

 has not alluded to the strong resemblance between the embryo of Ambrosinia and the bulbils formed on the deformed 

 inflorescence of several species of its near ally, Jtemusatia. 



