104 WRIGHT : THE GENUS DIOSPYROS 



Hiern* gives the number of stamens in each male flower of 

 D. amnis as six to sixteen, usually about nine, and some or 

 all in pairs. It is thus clear that in D. Embryopteris and D. 

 affinis the staminal whorls are widely different, and until 

 some intermediate links have been observed the evolution of 

 the sex must remain particularly problematical. 



Turning to Group D. (dioecious only), in JD. attenuata the 

 members of the staminal whorl are few in number. Each 

 female flower possesses four to five epipetalous staminodes 

 which alternate with the corolla segments ; whereas each male 

 flower hasa variable number,f our to six,of epipetalous stamens, 

 but their orientation is not constant. It is somewhat remark- 

 able if no fixed orientation exists when the members of the 

 male staminal whorl are so few in number. The male flowers 

 are so very small, often less than 1 mm. diameter, that to 

 determine the exact orientation is a difficult undertaking. 



The flowers of D. Melanoxylpn show a variability in the 

 staminal whorl in both sexes. The female flower possesses 

 accessory whorls in parts of five and six. In those I have 

 examined there has usually been twelve staminodes, either 

 hypogynous or epipetalous, but in positions opposite to and 

 alternate with the corolla lobes. Hiernf states that the 

 staminodes may be eight or ten in number. Each male 

 flower possesses from eight to twelve and even sixteen 

 stamens. When sixteen in number they are always in eight 

 pairs, though according to HiernJ it is rare that one finds 

 eight single stamens only. In one flower there were twenty 

 stamens arranged as a hypogynous group. The variability 

 in number of stamens and staminodes and their occurrence 

 mainly in the hypogynous position renders it inadvisable to 

 make any definite statement as to the derivation of one from 

 another or from a common parent. 



In the flowers of D. pruriens and D. quaesita the staminodes 

 of each female flower are equal in number to and alternate 

 with the corolla segments, whereas the male flowers possess 

 a more or less hypogynous group of twelve or twenty 



* Hiern, I.e., p. 169. J Hiern, I.e., p. 169. , t Hiern, l.c. t p. 160. 



