86 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacese. 



justify a strong protest against the attempt to confound Diplo- 

 clisia with Cocculus, Nephroica, and Holopeira. 



DiPLOCLisiA, nob. ; — Flores dioici. Masc. Sepala 6, biserialia, 

 interiora alterna, duplo majora, cuneato-ovata, subconcava, 

 ssepissime lineis parallelis interruptis maculatim picta, sestiva- 

 tione imbricata. Petala 6, dimidio minora, cuneato-rhom- 

 boidea, apice obtusiuscula, lobis lateralibus obtusis et invo- 

 lutis, guttatim picta. Stamina 6, petalis opposita et pauUulo 

 longiora; filamenta imo tenuiora, superne latiora et valde 

 incrassata, intus plana, extus convexa, carnosula, guttatim 

 picta, apice gradatim inflexa ; antherce subglobosse, sub-4-lob8e, 

 summo filamentorum dorsaliter subimmersse, introrsse, 2- 

 loculares, loculis parallelim adnatis, rima transversa 2-val- 

 valtim hiantibus. Ovaria rudimentaria 3, centralia, puncti- 

 formia. — Fcem. Sepala et petala masc. Stamina sterilia 6, 

 petalis sequilonga, imo gynsecii orta, compresso-filiformia, 

 extus convexiora, subincurva, glandulis 2 ovalibus apice no- 

 tata. Ovaria 3, gibboso-oblonga, glabra, gynsecio conico 3- 

 gono insita, erecta, 1-locularia, ovulo unico, lateri interiori 

 appenso. Stylus validus, teres, angulo interno excentricus et 

 erectus. Stigma horizontaliter expansum, extus subunilabia- 

 tum vel cymbiforme, valde concavum, marginibus crenato- 

 plicatis. Drupce 3, vel abortu 1, magnse, obovato-oblongse, 

 sarcocarpio parvo viscido, stylo persistente basi contiguo no- 

 tatum. Putamen majusculum, longe obovatum, valde com- 

 pressum, subincurvum, circa peripheriam carinatam rugis 

 irregularibus radiatim sulcatum, utraque facie lacuna longi- 

 tudinali imo angustiore incurva excavatum, et hinc linea pro- 

 minente liratum, 1-loculare ; cundylus internus, angustissime 

 septiformis, liras externas adversus, a basi ultra medium loculi 

 protensus, loculo hoc modo longiuscule bimarsupiato et hip- 

 pocrepiformi. Semen loculo conforme, transverse crenulatum ; 

 integumentum membranaceum, raphe lineari chalazaque ven- 

 trali ad condylum affixum : embryo hippocrepicus, intra albu- 

 men simplex subparcum sepultus, cotyledonibus late lineari- 

 bus, foliaceis, carnosulis, incumbentibus, radicula brevissima 

 tereti supera ad stylum spectante multoties longioribus. 



Frutices volubiles Indies orientalis, ramulis longissimis, depen- 

 dentibus ; folia palata vel subpeltata, suborbicularia vel late 

 subdeltoidea, vix cordata, marginibus cartilagineis et subcrenatis, 

 glaberrima, 5-nervia, nervis externe ramosis, ramisque in cre- 

 naturis marginalibus terminantibus, subtus scepe ct^etaceo-glauca, 

 longissime petiolata ; racemi graciles, valde elongati, in axillis 

 solitarii velplurimi, e cicatricibus post foliorum delapsum, fas- 

 ciculati, penduli, Moresque omnino glabri. 



