MONnilAGEJE. 307 



others there may be only twice or tlirice as many as tliere are 

 perianth-lobes; and there may be a number equal to these in S. 

 limoniodora, eriocnif/w, suhinodom, mollis, plcbrja, &c. In S. moUi- 

 comn, mollis, &c., the number is even less ; some flowers having only 

 four, three, or even two stamens ; variations which may occur in a 

 single inflorescence. Usually the stamens are free, as in S. guia- 

 nonsis; or the filaments may become broad and almost petaloid, 

 only touching by their edges and seeming to stick to one another 

 as in S. riparia, &c. But in S. mollis they are really united into two or 

 three bundles, while in 8. mollicoma they usually form a single tube, 

 long enough to pass out of the opening of the perianth, becoming 

 distinct only close to their summits, just by the insertion of the 

 anthers. The stamens are usually constructed on one common type 

 in all. Tlie filament is like a membranous fillet, flattened, or con- 

 cave internally. The anther consists of two cells applied to the 

 inside of this, a little below its more or less tapering apex. Each 

 cell opens at first below, where we find two clefts like crescents 

 with the concavity upwards. Later on the inner walls of both cells 

 go on to separate from the cavities from below upwards in a single 

 piece, to form a common plate that is soon quite erect and vertical, 

 or even reflexed outwards ; it is still joined to the anther near its 

 apex, while the free extremity, corresponding to the base of the 

 anther, is more or less deeply split into two lobes, each belonging to 

 one cell' (figs. 352, 353). 



In the female flowers we find a variable number of carpels inserted 

 on the inner surface of the perigonal sac. There may be as many as 

 thirty of these ; but usually there are not so many, and in some species 

 we find only three or four. The base by which each is inserted 

 becomes more extended and oblique as it is higher up. The one- 

 celled ovary contains a single basilar ascending ovule with its micro- 

 pyle downwards and outwards, and tapers above into a style 

 stigmatiferous at the apex. Into the intervals between the carpels 

 the floral envelope sends prolongations to form vertical, or more or 

 less oblique partitions ; so that each ovary is contained in a little 

 chamber of its own (fig. 354). 



The fruit is multiple ; outside it looks something like a small 



' The anther is, according to F. Mueller bourissa, Monimia, MoUinedia, and Aff/ero- 

 {Fragm. iv. 152), like this in Siparuna, Tarn' spertna, while it is 4-valvular in Hedycarya. 



