SarcojjJujte.'] cxxr. BALANOPnoRE.i5 (bottinc. iiemsley). 435 



Fruit corapound, fleshy, with immersed coriaceous or crustaceous 

 achenes, or the carpels themselves fleshy and crowded but not consoli-. 

 dated. Seed filling the cell, globose or oblong, albuminous ; testa 

 exceedingly thin. Embryo microscopic, central or lateral, undivided. 

 — Herbs parasitic on the roots of trees and shrubs, dwarf, fleshy, 

 perennial or flowering only once, destitute of chlorophyll, but usually 

 brightly or brilliantly coloured. Caudex tuberous, irregularly lobed 

 and bearing branched inflorescences, or emitting branched cylindrical 

 rhizomes bearing unbranched inflorescences. Leaves reduced to scales, 

 usually densely imbricated. Inflorescences usually emerging from a 

 more or less distinct ring of scales termed a volva. 



About 15 genera and 50 species of this order have been described and they are 

 widely, though not generally, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. With 

 regard to the delimitation of the genera of the Balanophorea, a critical examination 

 of the accumulated material in herbaria would probably lead to some alterations. 

 For example, apart from the presence or iibsence of a pei-ianth in the female Howers, 

 some of the species referred to Balanophora differ less from the species of one section 

 of Thonningia than the s])ecies of the two sections of Thonningia differ from each 

 other. But it would be rash to attempt a now classification of some of the genera 

 without reference to the others. 



The nature of th('])arasi(ism of the African members, at l(>ast, of the Balanophoreoi 

 is peculiar, and although it was mentioned by Sir .Jo.s('])h Hooker in Lindlexfa 

 Vegetahle Kingdow, cd. 8 (IS53), 89, and mort^ recently by others, including Prof. 

 H. Lecomte, it is l)y no means a ujattcr of jjccneral kuowledg'e, and consequently 

 deserves a few words of explanation here. Of the processes of germination and 

 subsequent develo]Mnent little has been observed, but apparently the tissues of the 

 parasite do not enter the system of the host; no siiikers ])eing formed. The seed 

 germinates on the surface of the roots of the lu.st and developes a tuberous growth 

 into whicli the host itself pushes new roots, wliich convey the nutriment required by 

 the parasite. This phenomenon offers a field of interesting investigation. 

 Tuber thick and ii'regularly-lobed, not emitting cylindrical 

 rhizomes. Inflorescences much-branched. Stamens free, 

 of the same number and opposite the perianth-lobes, in- 

 cluded ; anthers globose, many-celled, dehiscing by pores. 

 Stigma sessile, large, discoid . . ... 1. SAiiCOruvii;. 



Tuber emitting cylindrical branched rhizomes, bearing 

 pedunculate, or sessile, involucrate heads of flowers. 

 Stamens united in a column, exceeding the usually 

 imperfect perianth; anthers linear, usually 2- celled, 

 dehiscing longitudinally. Style long, capillary . . 2. TiiONKlNGl/f 



1. SARCOPHYTE, Sparrm. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PL 

 iii. 2:;4. 



Flowers flesh}^, uniselxual, dimcious; infloresconoo branched, scaly at 

 the base only. JNlalo Howers racemose -paniculate. Perianth 2-4-partite, 

 mostly 8-partite ; lobes ecjual, valvate. Stamens free, of the same number 

 and opposite the perianth-lobes ; anthers globose, many-celled, dehisc- 

 ing by pores; pollen globose. Female flowers capitate-paniculate, 

 destitute of perianth^ crowded, free from each other (connate in the 

 lower part, Klchler), Ovary more or less immersed in the fleshy naked 



