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Ordi . XXVU CYTINACEJE. Cistcsrapks. 



Cytlneae, Adolph. Brtmgn. in Ann. dtt. Se. Nat. I . '- 

 IfeUntr p. 867. 8. Brown in Linn. 'I'm, l 



\ • hie, § Cytlneae, Link Handb. 1 



Diagnosis. Flowers in spike* at tJu endo 



■in;/ by slits, and innumerable ovule* growing < 



Flowers §,ov$ J» solitary and stemless, or clustered at th< to] I with 



imbricated Bcali b, the males uppermost, the females lowermost, in the axil of a I 

 and supported on each aide by a bractlet Perianth tubular-campanuhvte, with a .-; 

 ing 3-6-lobed limb, the segments imbricated, the exterior alternating with the bractlets 



or induplicate and valvate. Anthers 

 sile, •_'-(■( Hi .1 ; their cells distinct, 0] 

 ing longitudinally ; four dissepiment-like 

 membranes in Cytinus alternate witli 

 tin.- segments of me perianth, and join 

 tube with the column. ? Perianth 

 as in the males, but epigynous. Ovarj 

 inferior, 1 -celled, with vertical or parie- 

 tal placenta, covered by innumerable 

 ovules; itj le cylindrical, joined to the tube 

 of the perianth by septiform pi 

 with a thick stigma, or free, and con- 

 sisting ■ • ach havii 

 free Btigmatic apex. Fruit berried, 

 leathery, one-celled, with innumerable 

 la buried in pulp, and having a hard 

 leathery skin firmly attached to the 

 micl< us. .-• ed in Hydnora, with a -mall 

 undivided embryo in the centre of car- 

 tilaginous albumen, and in Cytinus • \- 

 albuminous according to Brow n. 



In these we have a near apj n ach to 

 the common condition of Ei 

 both in structure and habit, if we com- 

 pare Cytinus with some Brom< ! rta 



But the appearance of Hydi 

 peculiar that we know nothing 

 trast it with, except some such Fungus as a G< asti r, like which it grows half-burn d in 

 the soil. Its innumerable seeds distinguish it from R . iwellasits ent 



habit and slit anthers. 



The history <'f this extraordinary plant has been fully giv< a by Ferdinand Bau< r 

 Dr. Brown, in the 19th vol. of the I rom which place the a 



panying cuts are taken. The genus is regarded by Brown ;is the type ol ■ peculiar 

 Onhr: and perhaps with justice. But for reasons elsewhere given, 1 demur 

 formation of all Order- that depend upon a Bingle genus. 



Cytinus is parasitical on the roots of Cistus in the South of Europ ; th< 

 the Cape of Good Hope, where Hydnora is parasitica] on th< 

 Euphorbias, and of Cot} ledon orbiculatum. 



Hydnora Africana (J or Kauimp), smells lili 



some fungus (Ha > ; when roasted it is eaten by the African savages. Cytinus H\, 

 cistis (. - Di sc contains gallic acid, and according to 1 



of precipitating gelatine without containing tannin: it- ex( al in the 



South of Europe, under the name o( Succus Hypocistidis ; it it ;J. 



astringent, and is employed in haemorrhages and dysenu ry. 





F 5. I. W. Cytinus Hypocistis. 

 ovarv. 



I. A : 



