24 



J. M. Macfarlane. — Nepenthaceae. 



The stamens vary from 4 or 6 to many, and are monadelphous. The staminal 

 column may be naked as in N. distillatoria, or hairy below and glabrous above as 

 in N. Bongso, or uniformly hairy as in N. albo-marginata. The column may be 

 shorter than, or equal to, or somewhat longer than the sepals. The terminal anthers 

 (Fig. i \ Ä) form a knoblike mass, and are uniseriate or arranged in one circular series, 

 or they may be biseriate when the anthers of the upper set are circular and are 

 dovetailed into those of the lower series, or an intermediate condition may be shown 



when one circular series is capped by 

 a few transversely-placed upper ones. The 

 dehiscence of the anthers is extrorse, 

 and the microspores or pollen-grains 

 are three-lobed. 



The pistil consists of 4 — or not 

 unfrequently in N. Pervillei of 3 — united 

 carpels, that form an oval or ovate ovary 

 below. The style is absent in most spe- 

 cies, but in a few a short thick style 

 can be traced. This or the upper part 

 of the ovary ends in 4 — rarely 3 — 

 short thick radiating often bilobed stigmas 

 (Fig. \ 1 B). The ovarian surface may be 

 glabrous, but is more often hairy, and 

 may rarely bear a few nectar glands 

 like those of the lamina. The ovary is 

 4- rarely 3-celled, and the ovules are 

 numerous, minute, ascending, anatropous 

 and arranged in several series on the 

 placental ridge in the centre of the ovary. 

 Each ovule is narrow, elongate and 

 slightly fusiform. It consists of two coats 

 or indusial coverings, the primine and secundine, the former of which is greatly elongated 

 in the micropylar region into a micropylar funnel or canal with oblique mouth. Posteriorly 

 this layer is also greatly prolonged into a tapered chalazal tail. The testa and tegmen 

 Surround the centrally-placed nucellus or megasporangium that is oval to ovate in shape. 



i) 



Fig. 1 1 . Nepenthes phyllamphora L. A <3 Flower. 

 B 2 Flower. C Fruit. D Seed. 



Fruit and seeds (Frucht und Samen). A period of 6 — 8 weeks elapses between 

 pollination and fruit-maturation. Alike from study of herbarium material, and arti- 

 ficially pollinated inflorescences in our stove houses, one gathers that the greater number 

 öf the pistillate flowers are pollinated and mature fruit. Each ripe fruit is a capsule 

 of fusiform to ovate shape, is of leathery to woody consistence, and it ranges in color 

 from gray to reddish-brown. In some species the covering of hairs that was present 

 over the ovary persists up to the time of capsular dehiscence, but more frequently this 

 is shed during maturation of the capsule, which thus becomes glabrous when ripe. If 

 long strong hairs were present over the ovary, and become shed during ripening, the 

 capsule may have a punctate aspect, from scars left by the hairs. The stigma of the 

 pistil persists and even enlarges during fruit-maturation, so as to form a dark quadrangular 

 or nearly circular knob above the fruit, or above its short style when such is developed. 

 Each fruiting stigmatic lobe may be simple, or more or less deeply divided. When 

 ripe the capsule dehisces longitudinally and loculicidally into 4 — or rarely 3 — valves, 

 that slightly diverge from each other above, but remain more or less attached or ap- 

 proximated below (Fig. 1 \ C). The long thin filiform seeds gradually dry, spread apart, 

 and at length separate from their placental attachments. 



The number of seeds matured in a capsule may vary from 100 to close on 500, 

 according to countings made by the writer. Thus two capsules of N. alata showed 



