IN CEYLON. 93 



rodite and monoecious condition is suggestive of the genus 

 Sideroxylon and others, where stamens and staminodes are 

 known to occur in the same flower. 



In the indefinite groups of stamens a resemblance to 

 Styraceae and many polypetalous orders, particularly with 

 the Anonaceae and Ternstrcemiaceae is suggested. 



On the other hand, the central column of united stamens 

 (D. prjoriens) and the extensive union of filaments in other 

 species is suggestive of like features in the Malvaceae and 

 Geraniacese, and Hallier asserts,* though without giving good 

 reasons, that the Ebenales have their origin closely connected 

 with the Malvales, Geraniales, and Theales. That botanist 

 also statesf that the genus Scytopetalum, in that it shows 

 numerous stamens inserted on the base of the corolla and on 

 the flat axis of the flower, and in the arrangement of the 

 anther when in bud, possesses characters which bring it near 

 to the Ebenales. 



It is important to realize that in the staminal whorl of 

 the male flowers of only twenty species there are types of 

 character which are only met with [in natural orders now 

 widely separated. 



The Staminal Whorl of the Female Flowers. The members 

 of this whorl in the female flowers are but slightly known. 

 They occur nearly always as an epipetalous series, and only 

 rarely, as in occasional flowers of D. Toposte and others, in 

 the hypogynous position. 



The filament is very similar in colour, form, and dimen- 

 sions to that in the male flower. 



The anther is usually hastate in form, and is regarded 

 universally as barren. It consists, as seen in transverse 

 section, of regularly disposed parenchyma with a small 

 strand of vascular tissue in the centre. 



The filament is usually glabrous, but the anther in some 

 species, notably J). hirsuta and H. Thwaitesii, is strongly 

 apiculate in consequence of the presence of numerous long 



* Hallier, I.e., p. 85. t Hallier, I.e., p. 36. 



