IXTRODUCTIOX. III 



fails to givc cven a sliort diagnosis of his genus, and adds no figures. But, 

 judging fnmi the detailed accounts given by tho author of thc tribus 

 nifaria}, wliicli comprises two genera, Bifaria and KoHhaheUa, Blfaria 

 seeuis to liave male flowers witli staraens opposite to the perianth-lobes, as is 

 the case with KorthalseUa. In establishing Bifaria, the author distinguishes 

 at least as inany as 56 species, including Viscum Japonicum Tiiunb. The 

 latter ijlant has, however, a imique charactcr, not found iu any other 

 loranthaceous plant, i.e. it has stamens alternate to the perianth-lobes. 

 Although \'.vx TiEGHE.M gives no remarks as to the species on which lie 

 established his genug, yet it can be easily conjectured that thc genus was 

 founded on a spccies other than Viscum japoniciim. Yet, at the same time, 

 it can be inferrcd that V.\x Tieghej[ overlooked the above mentioued unique 

 eharacter present in all species of Bifaria and consequently placed the genus in 

 tlie same tribns as KoiihaJseUa. All these ambiguities would never have 

 arisen, liad the author bnt furuished a full description of his new genus or 

 ligures illustrating it. 



This confusion Vieiiig, for the prcsent, set aside, it is ccrtainly a 

 remarkablc fact tliat Jlscnm japonicum has stamens wliich are arranged 

 alternatcly to thc perianth-lobes and two-celled anthers whicli are ])erfectly 

 united with oue another at the center <if the tlower, but quite free from the 

 perianth-Iobes, and which burst, when mature, in the connate suture, or 

 open with a single central pore. In respect fif the relative position of 

 stamens to the lobes, the genus, Pseudixus, stands without a iiarallel. No 

 flowcr with this staminal arrangement has ever been recorded in any other 

 plant of tlie family. As the relative position of stamens is generally considered 

 an important basis and is almost universally depended on in systematizing 

 flowering plant, Pseticlixus should certainly, by itself, be regarded as constituting 

 a new tribus, which I propose to call Pseudixeai.* 



■■'For the diagnosls of the new tribiis, see p. 187. 



