Mr. J. Miers on Ephedra. 259 



staminali 7-nervi ; antheris 5-7, exsertis : spicellis fructiferis 

 in quaque axilla solitariis vel binis^ breviter pedicellatis ; in- 

 volucelljs raajoribus, glauco-opacis, marginibus anguste mem- 

 branaceis ; acheniis 2, terminalibus, subinclusis, apice calloso 

 perforatis. — lu Peru^da ; v. s. in herb. Mus. Brit., 6 et $ ; 

 in herb. Hook., 2 Chachapoyas (Mathews, 1838). 

 Kunth describes this as a somewhat erect or repeut shrub, 

 very much branched ; the branchlets are slender, scarcely ? hue 

 diam., with internodes 1 to 1| inch apart. The leaves are 3 to 

 5 lines long, 1 line broad, setaceously acute, of a reddish colour, 

 and ultimately subreflexed. According to that botanist, the 

 male and female flowers are found on the same plant, in the pro- 

 portion of three of the former to one of the latter; but in the 

 instances I have seen, the sexes are on difl'erent specimens. The 

 male spikelets are solitary and sessile in each opposite axil ; they 

 are 2 lines long, 1^ line broad, with six or eight series of flori- 

 ferous opposite involucels conjoined at base in alternating pairs, 

 and three series of basal bracts ; the involucels are suborbicu- 

 lar, with a fleshy very concave centre and a simply reticulated 

 margin, the central portion being formed of three separable 

 laminee, as described in page 250. The perigonium is petaloid, 

 simply reticulated, with spotted areolae, but without vessels of 

 any kind. The fructiferous spikelets are elliptic, 3 lines long, 

 2 lines broad, supported on pedicels 1 line long. The mesocarp 

 of the pericarp is filled with numerous very long, and apparently 

 solid, filiform woody fibres imbedded in fleshy matter. In a 

 half-ripe state, the tubillus is distinctly seen to be continuous 

 with the outer integument of the seed, a considerable space in- 

 tervening between it and the gland, and between it and a long 

 portion of the summit of the seed*. 



8. Ephedra rupestris, Bth. Plant. Hartw. p. 253 ; — humilis, in- 

 tricato-ramosissima ; ramulis rectiusculis vel arcuatis, fusco- 

 opacis, valde striatis, granuloso-scabrellis, ad axillas paulo 

 nodosis ; foliis oppositis, imo in vaginam brevem nexis, su- 

 peme in lobos triangulares extus subcarinatos mucronatos 

 terminatis, minute granulosis, coriaceis, haematicis : spicellis 

 S axillaribus, soUtariis vel binis, sessilibus ; involucellis oppo- 

 sitis, imo nexis, 3-^-serialibus, imbricatis, camosulis, fuscis, 

 perigonio brevioribus; antheris circiter 5, sessilibus, longe 

 exsertis : spicellis fructiferis in axillis solitariis, breviter pedi- 

 cellatis ; involucellis per paria 4-5, imbricatis, fuscis, carno- 

 sulis, minute granulosis ; acheniis 2, terminalibus, inclusis ; 

 tubillo exserto, subtruncato, rubello. — Ecuador ; v. s. in herb. 

 Hooker., 6 Monte Pelzhum, altit. 12,000 ped. (Jameson), 

 ♦ This plant, with full structural details, will be shown in Plate 78 A. 



