Nelumbiacea.] flora indica. 247 



Distrtb. America borealis, a Canada ad fliim. Mississippi ! Australia 

 orien talis. 



Pedunculus pubeseens, apice infra florem incrassatus. Flos \ unc. longus. Sepala 

 3, liueari-oblonga v. lineari-obovata, obtusa, dorso setulis carnosulis conicis pubes- 

 centia, concava, basi crassa. Petala 4, sepalis ^ longiora, perigyna, rosea, basi dis- 

 tantia, anguste lineari-oblouga, apicibus incurvjs obtusis, dorso basi pnberula. Sta- 

 mina sub-12, obscure biseriata, hypogyna, carpellis opposita et alterna, filameutis 

 cylindricis demum elongatis puberulis ; anthcris linearibus glabris, rimis lateralibus. 

 Pollen (in alcohol co riser vatum) irregulariter globosum, opacum, obscure grauulosum, 

 disco pellucido angustissimo circumdatum. Carpella 10, disco piano inserta, 2- 

 seriata, sessilia, linearis, cylindracea, puberula. Ovula 2, pendula, anatropa, raphe 

 ad suturam versa. Carpel la rnatura 3 v. plura, turgida, coriacea, indehiscentia, Bfcig- 

 mate pcrsistente cuspidata, submonosperma. Semen magnum, ovoideuin; testa 

 Crustacea, laevi. Albumen farinaceum, et embryo ut in NympJuea. 



XIII. NELUMBIACE^}. 



Sepala 4-5, irao toro inserta, decidua. Petala plurima, niultiseriata, 

 libera, decidua. Stamina plurima, cum petalis imo toro multiplici 

 serie inserta ; filament-is supra antheram in appendiceal productis ; an- 

 theris introrsis, loculis adnatis. Torus carnosus, obconicus, apice lato 

 truncato. Ovaria plurima, foveolis apicis plani tori singillatim basifixis, 

 unilocularia ; stigmate discoideo subsessili. Ovulum solitarium v. 2 

 collateralia, suspensum, funiculo filiformi parieti ovarii affixo ; raphe dor- 

 sali. Nuces subglobosae, stylo superatae, coriaceo-cornese, e tori foveolis 

 semi-emersse, longitudinaliter obscure dehiscentes. Semen inversum, 

 testa spongiosa ; embryo exalbuminosus, orthotropus ; cotyledones crasse 

 carnosae, plumulam diphyllam valde evolutam foventes, petiolis inflexis 

 vagina stipulari inclusis ; radicula brevissima. — Ilerbae, rlrizomate eloti- 

 gato horizontally foliis longe crasse petiolatis, lamina peltata integerrima 

 nervis radiantibus marginibus vernatione involutis, floribus amplk. 



We have, under the Order Nymph teacea, considered Nelumbium as a member of 

 the group Nymph ales, and stated some of our objections to M. TrecuPs opinion, that 

 these two Orders have nothing in common, but their numerous pi Is and stamens, 

 and the medium they inhabit. The most prominent differences between them reside 

 in the form and structure of the rhizome, the development of the leaves, the deci- 

 duous perianth and stamina, and the remarkable development of the torus, the sessile 

 small carpels, with one (rarely two collateral) pendulous ovulum, aud the exalbuminous 

 seeds, with a very highly-developed plumule. Though these distinctions appear so 

 great, they are much diminished in value by a study of Brasenia, which, in its 

 rhizomes and mode of growth, is as different from Nymphaa as Nelumbium is, and 

 whose ovaria are of exactly intermediate structure. The great torus of Nelun< um 

 is a peculiar development of that oiNymphaa ; and, as Asa Gray has demonstrated, the 

 embryo of Nymphcea and Cabombece is just that of Nelumbium on a smaller scale. 

 If the germinating seed of Nympfaea be compared with the embryo of Nelumbium, 

 the affinity is very obvious, the principal modifications being the inflexed petioles of 

 the plumule of the latter plant, and the stipulary sheath enclosing it, which last is 

 perhaps analogous to the sheath enclosing the first leaf within the primary pair of 

 leaves of A nphaa. Trecul has admirably illustrated the anatomy and development 

 of Nelumbium codophyllum (Ann. Sc. Nat. Scr. i. 291), and made some most im- 

 portant and interesting observations on the mode of growth of th. leaves and pe- 



