Medeeca.] lxiii. passiflore2e (masters). 517 



from near the base of the tendril, of similar form and size but less 

 numerous than the male flowers and with narrower petals. Corona 

 emerging' from the base of the calyx-tube at the same point as. the 

 petals, membranous and jagged at the edge, and having numerous pro- 

 jecting folds coherent alike with the edges of the claws of the petals 

 and with those of the inner series of staminodes, thus forming 5 

 pouches concealing the 5 outer staminodes or glands of the disk, 

 which are similar in position and form to those of the male flower, and 

 are frequently recurved at the apex. Inner or true staminodes 5, in 

 the form of antherless filaments alternate with the petals. Fruit cap- 

 sular, spheroidal or ovoid, the size of a bantam's e^°;, ultimately split- 

 ting into three coriaceous orange-red smooth valves. Seeds numerous, 

 compressed, pitted, surrounded by a membranous aril. — Modecca diversi- 

 folia, Schum. et Thonn. PL Guin. 435. M. tenuifolia (tamnifolia), 

 Planch. FL Nigr. 366. 

 Upper Guinea. Niger, Barter ! Annabon, Burton ! Fernando Po, Mann. 



Var. elegans. Leaves cordate-ovate, anthers with very long points. Kolbia elegans, 

 P. de B. Fl. Ow. et Ben. ii. 91. t. 120. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra del Crystal, Mann! Niger, Barter! Prince's Isle, Mann! 

 Barter ! Old Calabar, Rev. W. C. Thomson ! 



Lower Guinea. Golungo Alto, Dr. Welwitsch ! 



A variable plant, particularly as regards the form of the leaves, the disposition of the 

 flowers, and the muticous or mucronate anthers. The plant is indistinguishable from 

 that figured by Jacquin as M. lobata, and said by that botanist to have been introduced 

 into gardens from India. Lindley, however, who, in the Botanical Register, t. 433, 

 figures the male plant of this species, refers to Jacquin's figure as representing the 

 female, and expressly says that his plant was derived from Sierra Leone. There is 

 therefore reason to think that Jacquin's statement as to the Indian origin of the plant 

 was erroneous, the more so as among the Indian species in the herbarium there is none 

 that corresponds to the present one. Palisot de Beauvois' Kolbia elegans is in all pro- 

 bability referable to this species, although it is imperfectly described, and the figure is 

 apparently more fanciful than accurate, especially as to the colour of the flowers. 



In the Paris herbarium is a specimen of Modecca gathered at Zanzibar by Boivin, 

 and having entire glabrous oblong acuminate leaves with two glands at the base, like 

 those of M. Mannii, but the flowers in outward shape more nearly resemble those of 

 M. lobata. 



8. OPHIOCAULON, Hook. f. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. 

 Plant, i. 813. 



Flowers regular, dichlamydeous, unisexual. Calyx deeply 5-parted, 

 lobes oblong, obtuse, marked with dark lines, valvate, entire, or slightly 

 imbricate in the bud, the overlapped edges thinner and slightly fim- 

 briated. Petals narrow, jagged at the edge, inserted into the base of 

 the flower-tube. Corona and glands minute, rudimentary. Stamens 

 all but hypogynous ; filaments awl-shaped monadelphous at the base ; 

 anthers linear, erect, 4-lobed, much longer than the filaments. Fe- 

 male fl. : Calyx and petals as in the male. Staminodes 5, subulate. 

 Ovary ft void or somewhat 3-sided, 1 -celled, shortly stalked or sessile ; 

 style none ; stigmas 3, broad, fringed ; ovules numerous, attached to 3 

 parietal placentas. Capsule sessile or nearly so, ovoid, 3-valved, valves 

 coriaceous, smooth or tubercled. Seeds numerous, ovate, compressed. 



