18 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermaccse. 



observations : in the very numerous flowers I have examined I 

 have never yet found a sepal unaccompanied by a petal, which is 

 of nearly equal size, seated upon its claw, the former being always 

 recognizable by its external pubescence, while the latter is inva- 

 riably more fleshy and perfectly glabrous. This fact is reduced to 

 a certainty in C. peltata, where the inflorescence is more spread, 

 each flower being supported by a pedicel of equal length, brac- 

 teated at its base ; we there find constantly a single sepal, with 

 its corresponding petal, both placed on that side of the ovary 

 which regards the axis of inflorescence. In C. Arnottii and 

 in C. versicolor, where the ultimate ramifications of the racemes 

 are extremely abbreviated, and on which two or more sessile 

 flowers are closely aggregated, they are sometimes constituted 

 as in the case last mentioned, but very often we see as many as 

 three or four sepals with their corresponding petals around a 

 single persistent ovary, where the other corresponding ovaries 

 have disappeared : in such case there can be no doubt that this 

 increased number of floral parts is due entirely to the decadence 

 or abortion of the ovaries, which often fall out of a head of 

 flowers while under examination. We may therefore consider 

 that normally each female flower of Cyclea consists of one sepal, 

 one petal, and one ovary, as in Cissampelos, with this difi'erence, 

 that in the former the sepal and petal are antical, while in the 

 latter they are postical. The putamen of Cyclea is smaller than 

 that of Stephania, and more globular ; its condyle is not disci- 

 form, but is expanded into a large hollow chamber, convex ex- 

 teriorly on both sides, around which the somewhat hippocrepical 

 cell is circumscribed; the embryo is like that of Cissampelos, 

 with its cotyledons somewhat shorter. 



Cyclea, Arnott. — Flores dioici. Masc. Calyx gamosepalus, 

 tubulosus ; tubus aut late campanulatus ore 4r-5-dentatus, vel 

 turbinatus et profundius in lacinias totidem oblongas fissus, 

 sestivatione valvata. Corolla campanulata, calyce dimidio 

 brevior, in lacinias 4-5 plus minusve profundas fissa, laciniis 

 integris, truncatis aut crenulatis, glabra. Stamen unicum; 

 filamentum centrale, tenue, teres, petalo sequilongum ; anthera 

 peltata vel peltatim globosa, 4-6-locellata, loculis circa con- 

 nectivum ssepe minusculum adnatis, extus rima horizontal! 

 hiantibus et singulis septo horizontaliter 2-locellatis. — Fcem. 

 Sepalum unicum, oblongum, squamiforme, extus pilosum. 

 Petalum unicum, dimidio brevius, orbiculare, carnosum, gla- 

 brum, ad unguem sepali afiixum. Ovarium solitarium, gib- 

 boso-globosum, villosum, 1-loculare, 1-ovulatum. Stylus 

 brevis, subexcentricus. Stigmata 3, subulata, acutissima, sub- 

 erecta. Drupa ovata, carnosa, ssepius hirsuta, stigmate per- 



