Miscellaneotis. 317 



which has led to the Rhizanths l)ein<j; regarded as degraded plants 

 forming a peculiar group between Cryptoganiia and Phanerogamia. 

 My investigations are not in favour of this opinion ; they tend rather 

 to lead one to assign the Ithizanths a place between the Monoco- 

 tyledons and Dicotyledons, most closely approaching the former by 

 their peculiar structure, and the latter by their affinity to certain 

 prders. It is especially by the structure of the stamen, and also by 

 that of the ovule, that the Rhizanths are elevated in the vegetable scale. 

 From the totality of the data furnished by the anatomy of the 

 genera and species, I obtain the following anatomical diagnosis for 

 the order Balanophoreaj : — Spiral vessels rare and never capable of 

 being unrolled ; true cortical fibres wanting ; cells of the paren- 

 chyma generally with numerous nuclei ; sclerous tissues frequent ; 

 epidermis (of the parts above ground) with its cells granuliferous and 

 never exhibiting sinuous or zigzag outUnes ; stomata wanting ; rhi- 

 zome with scattered vascular bundles ; scale-like leaves with several 

 vascular bundles which arc replaced sometimes by little colunms of 

 sclerous cells ; pericarp divisible into several concentric zones, of 

 which at least one (?) is of a sclerous nature ; anthers having the 

 second membrane {endofheca of authors) of a fibrous nature (except 

 in Balanophura), with oue or two layers of filamentous cells arranged 

 in a spiral or radiate form (en griffe^ ; the connective and the septa 

 usually not fibrous, and destitute of placentoids. 



The principal anatomical characters of the genera of Balanophoreae 

 are the following : — 



Cynomorium. — Stem with bundles, some external or corticoid, 

 pmall, simply fibrous; the others more internal and larger, fibro* 

 vascular, and tven furnished with spiral vessels, with fibre-cells inter- 

 mixed with the vessels, and with a mass of delicate fibres or elongated 

 cells forming the internal half of the bundles ; rachis without spiral 

 vessels and with elongated cells not limited to one side of the 

 bundles ; anthers with a destructible external membrane, with a 

 fibrous membrane formed by a single laver of spiral cells, continued 

 over the connective and the septum of tfie anther-cells ; pollen ellip- 

 tical, with three furrows and a finely tuberculate surface. 



Balanophora. — Stem not completely deprived of spiral vessels, and 

 showing but little development in the portion of the bundles which 

 is formed by narrow and elongated cells ; scales entirely destitute of 

 vessels ; anthers without a fibrous membrane, and capable of being 

 reduced, when mature, to the exotheca alone; parenchyma with 

 numerous nuclei (which well distinguishes Balanophora from Phteo^ 

 cordylis) and mixed with a few cells with the walls reticulated or as 

 if cellular. 



Uelosis. — Rhizome with a sclerous medullary axis, lobate or stel- 

 late at its circumference, with a limited number (6-7) of bundles, 

 arranged symmetrically in a circle, having their vessels united into 

 a compact' mass, upon the outer side of which is supported a ridge 

 of delicate fibres covered at its point by a mass with a transverse 

 subsemilunar section, composed of sclerous cells apparently occupying 

 the place of cortical fibres ; stem with scattered bundles, and with 



