CCXVI. BALANOPHOEE^. 



727 



Cynomorium. 



3 flower with' 5-phyllons 



perianth, laid open, showing 



an abortive style 



(mag.). 



Cynomoriiim. 



9 flower, nearly ripe, 



with 4-phyllous perianth 



(mag.). 



Cynomorium. 



Q flower, with 



3-pbyllous perianth 



(mag.). 



Cynomorium. 



Fruit cut longitudinally, showing the 



embryo at the base of the albumen, the 



inferior micropyle, and the chalaza 



at the opposite end. 



Parasitic HERBS, fleshy, aphyllous, monoecious or dioecious. SCAPES naked or scaly. 

 FLOWERS in a capitulum. PERIANTH usually 3-lobed. STAMENS 3 (rarely more or 

 less), inserted on the perianth. OVARY inferior, 1- celled; OVULE pendulous, orthotropous. 

 ALBUMEN fleshy. EMBRYO undivided. 



Fleshy HERBS ; rhizome hypogeous, sub-globose, or branching and creeping, 

 parasites on the roots of other plants. SCAPES simple or branched, bearing flowers 

 throughout, or sterile at the base, naked, or furnished with scales replacing the 

 leaves, and often bearing at the base bracts, a ring, or a volva or cup, which at an 

 early stage encloses the inflorescence. FLOWERS monoecious or dioecious, rarely 

 polygamous (Cynomorium), sessile or sub-sessile, in a globose oblong or cylindric 

 [simple or branched] capitulum ; the $ and $ sometimes in different inflorescences, 

 sometimes in the same, often mingled with peltate scales and rudiments of arrested 

 flowers. PERIANTH single, 3 6-phyllous, or 3-lobed, or tubular, campanulate, or 2- 

 labiate, aestivation valvate or induplicate [sometimes 0]. FLOWERS $: STAMENS 

 usually 3, rarely more, sometimes 1 (Cynomorium), opposite to the sepals, inserted at 

 their base when they are free, and then distinct, or on their tube when monadelphous ; 

 anthers l-2-oo -celled, introrse or extrorse, dehiscence longitudinal or apical. 

 FLOWERS 9 : OVARY inferior, 1- (rarely 2-) celled (Helosis) ; style filiform ; stigma ter- 

 minal, sometimes sessile ; ovules solitary, erect or pendulous from the top of the cell, 

 and orthotropous. FRUIT dry, coriaceous. SEED inverted ; testa crustaceous ; albu- 

 men fleshy. EMBRYO minute, globose, undivided, near to or distant from the hilum. 



[The following is a slight modification of Eichler's arrangement of the genera in 

 Martius' ' Flora of Brazil.' Tribe Cynomoriece, which I have added, he considers as 

 not belonging to Balanophorece, but to be near Gunneracece ; whilst the rest of the 

 order he refers to the neighbourhood of Santalacece. 



