B( tku*.] PODOSTEMAI I 



Icrogeni than another il is this, which, with the habit ol Liv, 



m . has whoUj the atructure of flowering plauto. Accordij 



specie* nave neither spiral rasa I- nor Btomafa b ; tlie latti r would ol 

 on account ol the submersed habits of the bd< ... - ol Mour. ra to which L 

 chieflj apply. And Mr. Griffith confirms bis statements a« 

 fodostemons. But although Podostemada must sidered to , 



stronglj marked approach to Bowerless plants in some respects, yet w« 

 some more immediate relation. This 1 formerly thought might be found with I 



Jbtnche ; Meumei ts Hornworts. But if we regard hermaphrodit, flc 



hypogynous Btamens, and an exalbuminoiis embryo as the most important 1 



plants, ,„„• views of its affinity will take a eerj different direction, and ■ 

 ■carcely rail to suapect an approach to Waterpeppers, whose manner ol 

 respects similar. In fact, upon comparing the two Orders, we find that thi 

 otherwise much alike, except that Podostemads are more incompletely formed in the 

 norai envelopes, and seem to want the capitate stigmas of that Order. Both have 

 -{-celled anthers bunting inwards longitudinally, and a separable placenta bearing 

 numerous anatropal seeds. It seems, therefore, probable that Podostemads stand in 

 toe same relation ... Waterpeppen as Hippurids to Onagrada, and Lemnads to Irads 



Such was it 1 took, in the yi ar L846, of the structure and 



of this singular order. Since that time one of tl remarkable mi which 



science knows, alike valuable for minute observation, and the admirable illustrations 

 which accompany it, has been published by M. Tulasne '•' 

 "'■"'"• "" Paris, 1 352 What follows is founded upon this able mon 



Spu-.d or Bpiroidal vessels do exist ; but only in small quantities, and not at all in 

 the leaves. Hydrostachys alone is unisexuaL The pollen is Bpherical, with i 



or elliptical, S-cornered and 8-furrowed. The ovary is 2— 3-celled, with 

 taloraxile plaoentation, and indefinite ovules. The number of si which 



are terminal and subulate, equals the number of carpels i 



The affinity of the order A£ Tulasne leaves still uncertain. I: the 



precv dilations I would only observe that it is wort! 



Podostemads may not be in reality more nearly related to Lil 

 supposed, bearing to Plantaginaceaa an affinity not unlike that of Glaux to Primul i 



""• s l" Jl submersed, and chiefly found in rapids and by the 



t , onv '"--' &c.; rarely in stagnant, and never in salt water. They a 



South American, as far as discover} hae 1 ; some are from the U 



Islands; -otne iVoui tropieal India; one from NT. America: and then 

 suppose that even in Europe a B] Apinagia Preissii) may lurk hit 



the coast of Yr>nir>« 



Their usi 3 are unimportant Somesp< ; ngtoS 



when burnt, much salt in their ashes ; and Spruce reports that tl. 

 Us of the Rio Negro are a chief article of support to th 



er"« Jownud,l T. 281). Purdie found that thi 

 lily upon the leaves of Marathrum utile and Schiedeanum. And < dent 



lied in Guayana Pakou and Coumarou are 

 their pasturing upon Mourera, and other Podostemada 



