MR. W. GRIFFITH ON THE GENUS GNETUM. 309 



G. scANDENS, Roxb. ; foliis ovato-oblongis vel ovalibus, fructibus breve stipitatis obtusis 



lepidotis. Ula, Hort. Mai. vol. vii. p. 41. t. 22 opt. Gnetum scandens, Roxb. MSS. 



Synopsis ; ejusdem Icones pictse in Horto Botanico Calcuttense asservatse, Suppl. 



vol. iv. t. 73 ; Flora Indica, vol. iii. p. 618. 



Hab. in sylvis orae Tenasserim. Legi ad Moulmein, Amherst, et Mergui. Floret Decembre, Januario. 



Frutex longe scandens. Folia coriacea, obtuse acuminata, supra atro-viridia, raro pallida. Paniculae 



terminales. Flores utriusque sexus pilis cellulosis albidis immixti. Fructus (ovato-oblongi), pra;- 



sertim juniores, pulcherrirae argenteo-lepidoti. 



Under this species Roxburgh has confounded two distinct plants. In the drawing 

 quoted above he has figured the fruit of G. apiculatmn and of G. scandens as the pro- 

 duce of the same plant. In his description of the fruit of G. scandens, he seems to advert, 

 although obscurely, to some peculiarity of the superficies, at least before maturity. Thi.'; 

 species is at once known by the silvery scales of the fruit, which are very conspicuous 

 before it begins to assume its orange colour ; these scales are peltate, closely appressed, 

 and composed of cells radiating from the situation of the attachment. 



I have not quoted Rimiph, whose figure does not at all resemble our plant. Bu- 

 chanan's synonym in Rees's Cyclopaedia, founded on the supposed identity of Rumph's 

 plant with the above, is therefore not to be taken without great hesitation. 



Note 1. — {Stomata.) The arrangement above referred to is not uncommon, but per- 

 haps limited to those leaves in wliich the parenchyma is continued over the veins. It is 

 remarkable that in these cases the stomata differ considerably in size ; those of the upper 

 surface I have hitherto found to be the largest. As good instances of such distribution, 

 I may mention Costus speciosiis, and perhaps all species of Nymplicea. A curious, and I 

 believe hitherto unnoticed singularity occurs in the distribution of these organs in 

 Nelunibium speciosum, in which the callous spot in the centre of the leaf, and opposite to 

 the termination of the petiole, is crowded with stomata of a large size, to the presence of 

 which the unusual colour of the sjwt appears to be partly owing. These organs in this 

 plant certainly open into cavities, through which they communicate indirectly with the 

 cavities in the petiole, from the apex of wliich they radiate into the Umb. The remainder 

 of the vast limb is minutely papillose, the papiUse being depressed at their apices ; and its 

 stomata are very indistinct, and indeed almost obsolete. 



Note 2. — Dr. Lindley, in tlie ' Botanical Register ' quoted above, states that the wood 

 of Gnetum is zoneless. In the climbing species the zones are highly developed, but in 

 G. Brunoniantm, no zones existed ; this is, however, in all probability referable to the 

 specimens that I examined being the growth of one season. I have much pleasure in 

 confirming the statement of the above author respecting the presence of spiral vessels, at 

 least in the yoimg parts. I may add, that the proportion of vessels appears to me very 

 considerable. 



Finally, the three families characterized by having the female flowers reduced to naked 

 ovula, agree in the following remarkable points : viz. peculiar puuctation of certain parts 

 of their tissue, unisexuality, orthotropous ovula, and in the presence of at least two, often 

 more, opposite cotyledons. 



Aug. 4th, 1835. 



