90 WRIGHT : THE GENUS DIOSPYROS 



Gardner! the numerous stamens are arranged in pairs, the 

 inner stamen of each pair having a shorter filament united 

 throughout to the filament of the outer stamen ; in D. Ebenum 

 the stamens are united to form groups of three or four, the 

 filament of the individuals of each group being united in the 

 basal part, and therefore attached to the corolla as a single 

 column ; in J). pruriens the fusion has gone to such an extent 

 that a single column formed by the fusion of the filaments 

 of twelve or more stamens exists, similar to what occurs in 

 the Malvaceae. The importance of these stages in the fusion 

 of the stamens when numerous will be discussed later. 



We will now describe the types of male staminal whorls 

 met with in Ceylon species. 



(a) The simplest type is that in which the stamens are few 

 in number and disposed so as to be in definite orientation to 

 the members of other whorls. This is seen in D. hirsute 

 and D. Moonii, where each male flower possesses five epipeta- 

 lous stamens alternating with the corolla lobes. 



(&) A slightly more complex type is where the number of 

 stamens is in excess of the members of any other whorl and 

 their orientation becomes variable. In J). qppositifolia there 

 are eight stamens usually arranged as four pairs alternating 

 with the four corolla lobes. The members of each pair are 

 separate from one another throughout their length, and a 

 variation occurs when the members of one or more pairs 

 become relatively widely separated. In D. acuta there may 

 be only five stamens alternating with the corolla lobes, or 

 there may be seven or nine, in which case some of the 

 number may be single and the remainder as pairs with fused 

 filaments. In D. Gardner i the complexity is increased, since 

 there may be from six to eight pairs of stamens definitely 

 orientated to the corolla lobes, or a monadelphous ring of 

 stamens may occur. 



(c) The next type is where the number of stamens is very 

 large and no orientation to other whorls can be distinguished. 

 In D. Embryopteris the male flower may possess from 



