Villebrunea.'} urticejE. 333 



In ravines of Victoria Peak, Champion, In the Himalaya, from Kumaon to Sikkim, in 

 Assam, Khasia, S. China, Loochoo, and Japan. 



Order XCVIII. ARISTOLOCHIACE^l. 



Mowers hermaphrodite. Perianth herbaceous, adherent at the base, with a 

 superior variously shaped entire or lobed limb ; the lobes valvate in the bud. 

 Stamens epigynous, 5, 6, 8, or more. Anthers 2-celled, opening outwards. 

 Ovary inferior, 3- to 6-celled, with several ovules in each cell. Style simple, 

 with an entire or lobed stigma. Fruit a capsule or rarely succulent. Seeds 

 usually angular. Embryo minute, in the top of a fleshy albumen. — Herbs or 

 rarely shrubs, often climbing. Leaves alternate. 



A small Order common to the New and the Old World, chiefly tropical, with a few spe- 

 cies dispersed over the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, and a very few extra- 

 tropical S. American ones. 



1. AKISTOLOCHIA, Linn. 



Perianth tubular above the ovary ; the limb expanded into an undivided or 

 3 -lobed unilateral lip. Anthers 6 or rarely 5, adnate to the style. Stigma 3-, 

 5-, or 6-lobed. Capsule 6- or rarely 3-celled. — Climbers or rarely erect herbs 

 or undershrubs. 



The principal genus of the Order, with nearly the same geographical range. 



1. A. longifolia, Champ, in Kew Journ. Bot. vi. 117. An undershrub, 

 with a short woody trunk and decumbent or climbing stems, 1 ft. long or 

 more, densely pubescent with rust-coloured velvety hairs. Leaves lanceolate 

 or linear-lanceolate, entire, 6 or 8 in. long, nearly glabrous above, pubescent 

 underneath. Mowers clustered on the trunk on very hairy pedicels. Peri- 

 anth softly hairy and brown outside ; the tube straight and somewhat enlarged 

 for 1^ in., then bent back to the same length and turning up again, opening into 

 a nearly orbicular shortly 3-lobed lip, 2i in. broad, of a deep purple inside. 



In clefts of rocks of Mount Victoria, very rare, Champion. Not seen in any other collec- 

 tion. The flower. I dissected was too much crushed to ascertain the precise structure of the 

 anthers and stigmas ; but the species probably belongs to the section (or subgenus) Siphisia 

 of Klotzsch. 



Order XCIX. SAURURACEiE. 



Flowers hermaphrodite, in dense spikes. Perianth none. Stamens 3 to 6, 

 usually united with the base of the ovary. Filaments distinct. Anthers ad- 

 nate. Ovary 3-lobed (rarely 4-lobed, the lobes tapering into short styles stig- 

 matic on the inner face, 3- (rarely 4-) celled, or with 3 parietal placentae. 

 Ovules 2 or more to each cell or placenta. Fruit a capsule or berry. Seeds 

 few. Embryo small, in the top of a mealy or hard albumen. — Herbs. Leaves 

 alternate, with stipules. Spikes terminal. 



A small Order confined to central and eastern Asia and N. America. 



1. HOUTTUYNIA, Thunb. 

 Spikes surrounded by coloured petal-like bracts. Stamens 3. Ovary 1- 

 celled, with 3 parietal placentas. 



