AFFINITIES OF BALANOPHORE^. 21 



2. "The so-called flower of Bajflesiacece may be regarded as an inflorescence; the 

 pericarp of the fruit is a receptacle, of which the folds form the placentas." 



It is not my intention to discuss the second of these propositions*, and I therefore 

 confine myself to the first. In his descriptions M. Weddell states that the female repro- 

 ductive organ oi Balanophora is the nucleus of an ovule, and that of Cynomorium, Selosis, 

 Ombrophytum, and Sarcophyte, a nucleus surrounded by a peculiar envelope, which is not 

 a perianth, but is formed from the axis, and is to a certain extent analogous to the inte- 

 guments (pericarp) of ordinary seeds : he was led to this conclusion by a comparison of 

 the fruit of Balanophora with the seed of Bafflesia ; and adds, that there is no more 

 fundamental difference between the pericarp with its anfractuous cavity, of Bafflesia or 

 Sydnora, and the convex or peltate receptacles of Balanophora or Ombrophytum, than 

 there is between the receptacle of a fig and that of a mulberry. 



In support of these views, WeddeU contrasts the fruits of Bafflesia and Balanophora, 

 and oi Sydnora and Sarcophyte ; but the comparison being maiataiaed by the employment 

 of the same terms for organs that do not appear to me to be homologous, the similarity 

 becomes one of words, and not of facts. The term " styHform processes," for what other 

 authors consider the styles of the ovary, and which analogy suggests to be such, appears 

 to be the most anomalous ; and by describiag them as almost always present ia Bala- 

 nophora, it is implied that they are sometimes absent, which I have never found to be the 

 case. 



In commenting upon Griifith's theory that there is an analogy between the pistil of 

 Balanophora and the pistillidium otMiisci, WeddeU points out that Grifiith is ia error ia 

 describing the styles as perforate, and adds ia a note, " On reaching the periphery of the 

 capitulum, this styliform process becomes eroded at the apex, when its iaternal cavity 

 communicates with the external air : consequently the styliform process, beiag bathed ia 

 a mucous fluid that surrounds the capitulum, is exposed to the action of the foviUa of the 

 poUen, which is mingled vdth that fluid, and fecundation is thus effected." In proof of 

 this it is added, that ia some dioecious species of the Order, which do not secrete this fluid, 

 the ovules remain sterile ; such at least beiag the case with Langsdorffia and Selosis. 



WeddeU is right with regard to the imperforation of the style, for at no period do I 

 find an open canal in the style either of the American or Indian species ; but neither do 

 I find any erosion, or other arrangement of the organs by which I can conceive an 

 erosion to be effected. The only fluid exudation I have seen on Balanophorea: was a 

 limpid watery one, on old capitula of Bhopalocnemis, after they had been removed from 

 the ground ; and this is a dioecious species, which was then in ripe fruit. 



Lastly, the structure of the hermaphrodite flowers of Cynomorium (which M. WeddeU 

 was not acquainted with) is conclusive against the pistil being regarded as a naked ovule. 



Affinities of Baianophoee^. 

 Polymorpliism and an extreme simpUcity ia every organ are the prominent features of 



* No explanation of the staminal apparatus in Rafflesia is given that is at all consistent with this view ; and this 

 therefore, as well as the presence of a discoid stigma, is adverse to the theory. Also, it is not shown how, if the 

 seeds of Rafflesia are truly naked, the pollen is apphed to the nuclei. 



