364 Mr. J. IMicrs o)i ilie Menispermaccje. 



ceous margins, which sometimes for half their breadth overlap 

 each other in aestivation. In other families where the difference 

 is so extremely salient as it is in these instances, it is allowed 

 to be a good generic distinction ; and there is no reason for de- 

 nying its validity in Hypseiya, especially as it is accompanied 

 by other prominent points of divergence. In Limacia the sta- 

 mens are equal in immber to the petals, whose lateral lobes en- 

 tirely embrace the filaments, which are affixed to their claws ; they 

 arc always in ternary series, and symmetrical, the numbers being 

 constantly six in one group, and as regularly three in the other 

 section ; the number of ovaries is constantly three. In Hypserpa 

 there is no symmetry whatever in any of its parts ; the sepals 

 vary in number in the different species ; and the petals are 

 equally variable, being four, five, or six, and they do not embrace 

 the filaments, though their sides curve inwards ; the number of 

 stamens is always in excess of the petals, being generally six, 

 seven, or eight, and in one instance I found nine ; in some spe- 

 cies the ovaries are 3, rarely six, and in two species constantly 

 two. In Hypserpa the embryo is very slender and terete ; in 

 Limacia it is somewhat broader, fiatter, and loriform. In Hyp- 

 seipa the radicle is equal in length to, or somewhat longer than, 

 the cotyledons; in Limacia the radicle is only a quarter of their 

 length. These valid differences, which I have constantly found 

 in all the cases that have fallen under my observation, unques- 

 tionably establish the claims of Hypserpa. The same authori- 

 ties, after their usual method, annihilate all the species of Hyp- 

 serpa, except the type, ignoring all the remainder; while I have 

 here enumerated nine species. 



Hypserpa, nob. — Flores dioici. Masc. Sepala numero vario, 8, 

 9, usque ad 12, 2-3-serialia, quorum exteriora bracteiformia, 

 5-6 interiora majora, oblonga, marginibus late membrana- 

 ceis erosis et ciliatis, sestivatione imbricata. Fetala 6, 5, vel 4, 

 sepalis paulo minora, obovata, carnosula. Stamina 6 ad 10, 

 biseriata, quorum 4-5-6 exteriora, reliqua centralia ; filamenta 

 carnosula, subcompressa, incurvata, apice incrassata; antherce 

 2-lob8e, lobis ovatis, distinctis, subobliquis, apice filamenti 

 utroque latere subimmersis, rima longitudinali dehiscentibus. 

 Fcem. Sepala 8, oblonga, crassiuscula, margine membranacea, 

 imbricatim disposita, quorum 2 exteriora bracteiformia. Pe- 

 tola 5-6, oblonga, concava, carnosula. Stamina sterilia 6, 

 cum petalis gynsecio inserta, apice clavata, antheris subobso- 

 letis. Ovaria 6, rarius 3, interdum 2, gynsecio centrali insita; 

 stylus brevissimus ; stigma oblongo-lineare, profunde canali- 

 culatum, subtrilobum, vel incisum. Th'upce abortione 2-3, 

 transversim ovatse, carnosse, styli vestigio basi propiuquo no- 



