184 



APOSTASIACEjE. 



[Endogens. 



Order L1II. APOSTASIACEjE.— Apostasiads. 



Blumc in Ann. Sc. Nat.Ser. 2. 2. 91. (1834); Endl. 



Apostasies, Lindl. Nixus Plantarum, p. 22. (1S33); 



Gen. lxvii. ; Meisn.p. 387. 



Diagnosis.— Orchidal Endogens with regular half.gynandrous flowers, and axile placenta. 

 Perennial herbaceous plants. Stem simple or branched. Leaves firm, thin, sheath- 

 ing at the base. Flowers in simple or compound terminal racemes. Calyx and corolla 

 each consisting of 3 similar pieces. Anthers 2 or 3, sessile upon a short column, erect, 

 2-celled, opening longitudinally ; 

 pollen cohering in 3s or 4s ac- 

 cording to Mr. Bauer (I/lust. 

 Yruct.t. 15), — in single oval grains 

 with a longitudinal furrow accord- 

 ing to Mr. Griffith {Letter dated 

 Mcrqui Dec. 28, 1834) andBlume. 

 Ovary 3-celled, with 3 polysper- 

 mous plaeentte in the axis ; ovules 

 with their integuments very dis- 

 tinct and much shorter than the protruded nucleus 

 (Griffith) ; style filiform, with a slightly 3-lobed 

 stigma as long as the anthers, and adhering with 

 their filaments into a short column. [Capsule 3- 

 eelled, 3-valved ; the valves bearing the dissepi- 

 ment in the middle, but cohering at the apex and 

 base. Seeds very numerous, minute, ovate, and 

 with a skin fitting the nucleus, or scobiform with a 

 membranous testa loose at each end. — Blame.'] 



Very closely allied to Orchids, from which they 

 differ essentially in having a 3-celled fruit, with 

 loculicidal dehiscence, ami in the style being alto- 

 gether free from the stamina for the principal part 

 of its length. At the same time the structure is 

 gynandrous enough to afford a clear distinction 

 from the Burmanniads. There are many admi- 

 rable observations upon Apostasia itself in Brown's 

 Observations on the organ? and mode of fecundation 

 in Orckidece and, Asclepiadece, and some further 

 information is given by Blume in the place above 

 quoted. The Order seems as if connecting Or- 

 chids and Hypoxids. If Rhyncanthera is correctly 

 represented by Blume, its 3-locular ovary will re- 

 fer it here, while the structure of its column would keep it in Orchids, 

 character is, however, framed without reference to it. 



Found in damp woods in the hotter parts of India. 



No uses have been assigned to any of them. 





The essential 



Apostasia, Bl. 

 Mesodactylus, Wall. 



GENERA 

 Neuwiedia, Bl 



Numbers. Gen. 3. Sp. 



Ili/poxidaceoB. 



?Rhyncanthera, Bl. 



Position.— Orchidacea;. — ApostasiacejE.- 



Plg. CX XV.— Apostasia odorata; 1. a flower; 2. the stamens and style; 3. across section of the 

 nary ; 4. a seed. 



