Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermaceae. 11 



two-thirds of its length, and more or less uncinately curved at 

 its base. In both cases the seed is folded upon a perpendicular 

 internal laminiform condyle, which protrudes from the ventral 

 face of the putamen nearly to the centre of the cell, where it 

 terminates in a longitudinal placentiferous margin ; the copious 

 albumen which fills the cell is deeply ruminated in all directions 

 by numerous clefts ; the integuments penetrate these clefts, and 

 also cover the deep longitudinal groove formed by the projecting 

 condyle, to the placentiferous margin of which they adhere along 

 the line of the raphe. The embryo is nearly anatropous, a little 

 bent or partially heterotropous,very slender, terete, and elongated, 

 with cotyledons of the same diameter as the very short terete 

 radicle, which is quite superior and only one-tenth of their 

 length : these are accumbent, and placed on the axis of the al- 

 bumen. The sepals are imbricated in aestivation, and the free 

 fleshy petals separately embrace and almost conceal the stamens. 



Tribe 3. TiLiACOREiE. The drupe is so extremely gibbous 

 that the style is seen near the base of the fruit. The putamen 

 is transversely oblong, laterally compressed, sulcated by a central 

 line along the middle of each face, and rendered bimarsupiate 

 by a long, horizontal, septiform, internal condyle ; the cell (and 

 therefore the seed) is hippocrepiform ; the albumen is deeply 

 cleft or ruminated, as in the last tribe, the integuments pene- 

 trate its sinuosities, and they adhere to the condyle along the 

 line of the raphe. The embryo, which lies in the centre of the 

 albumen, is elongated, hippocrepiform, and nearly terete ; the 

 radicle, pointing to the style, is of the diameter of the coty- 

 ledons, and about equal to them in length j they are always in- 

 cumbent (not accumbent, as in the former tribe). The sepals 

 of the inner row are slightly im'bricated in aestivation in some 

 genera, and valvate in others. 



Tribe 4. Leptogone^. The growth of the fruit is equally 

 excentric as in the last tribe, so that the style is always seen 

 near the base. The putamen is generally osseous, nearly orbi- 

 cular, laterally very compressed, forming a crescent-shaped or 

 nearly annular cell circumscribed round the edge of an external 

 peltiform condyle, a portion of the integuments along the 

 line of the raphe being drawn into a fissure of the condyle. 

 The embryo partakes of the cyclical form of the cell, is slender, 

 elongated, and terete, with incumbent cotyledons (not accum- 

 bent as in Tribe 2), equal in thickness and length to the 

 terete radicle, the whole being imbedded in the middle of simple 

 albumen ; the radicle at the extremity of the upper horn points 

 to the style. The sepals are imbricated in aestivation. In one 

 section of the tribe [Cissampelidce) the number of floral parts is 

 greatly reduced in the female flowers. 



