V)0 



NATURAL mSTOBY OF PLANTS. 



U'liey are either lateral, subextrorse, or subintrorse/ and dehisce by 

 longitudinal clefts (figs. 143, 144). The gymcceum consists of free 

 carpels superposed to the petals, and of equal number, fewer, or solitary 

 (fi<'. 145). In some species the flowers may even be polygamous, 

 owinnr to the complete abortion of the gyna^ceum." Of the same 

 form as in lUhhertia, these carpels each contain at least two, often 

 more, ascending ovules in their ovaries.^ The fruit is dry, and 

 dehisces either by one internal cleft or by two longitudinal clefts. 

 It contains one or several seeds, each of which has an aril of variable 

 size/ and contains a small embryo at the apex of the abundant fleshy 

 albumen. 



The name Dcliiud" has been given to a Tetracerct with unicarpel- 

 lary flowers (fig. 145), the ovary of which contains a fairly large 

 number of ascending ovules -^ that of Ricaurfea^ to some American 

 Tcfraceras, in which the single carpel becomes a fruit with a some- 

 what fleshy pericarp dehiscing in two lateral valves ; that of Dolio- 

 carjjus^ to other species in which the more or less succulent pericarp 

 does not dehisce when ripe. But in other respects all these plants 

 present all the characters of Tefracera in organization and habit, 

 so that it seems to us they cannot be separated generally. 



' Thesevariationsmay, as wesLall see, occur in 

 different stamens of tlie same flower, the direction 

 of the cells seeming to be partly owing to the 

 deformity undergone by the connective from the 

 pressure of the surrounding stamens. 



- There are whole branches in T. volubilis and 

 some other species which bear only staminate 

 flowers. 



' T. Assa has as many as a dozen ; T. Sar- 

 mentosa has up to ten. 



"• The aril is usually seen in unexpanded 

 flowers as a little collar round the base of each 

 ovule. 



* L., Oen., n. fi83; Amcen., i. 403. — Juss., 

 Oen., 339.— DC, Prodr., i. 69.— Endl., aen., 

 n. 47Gt-4766.— B. H., aen., 12, n. 5.— Walp., 

 Rep.,\. 67; Ann., ii. 17; iv. ZQ.—Trachytella 

 DC, Syst., i. 410. — Leontoglossum IIance, 

 Diagn. Chin., ex. Walp., Ann., ii. 18; iii. 812. — 

 Korosvel IIeum., ex Adaxs., Fam., ii. 442. 



• T. sarmentosa Vahl., Symb., iii. 70; 

 ROXB., Fl. Ind., ii. 645. — Actma aspera LoUR., 

 Fl. Cochinch., i. 408. — Delima sarmeniosa L., 

 Spec, 736; DC. jProt/r., i. 69.— D. hehecarpa, 

 DC, Syst., i. Aiil.—Trackytella Actaa DC, 

 JProdr.,'i. 70. — Leontoylossiim scabrum Hance. — 

 L. sarmenlosum Hance. 



<■ From four to five, horizontal, or somewhat 



ascending, in each vertical row. The single 

 carpel tapers up into a style, whose tip is crowned 

 by a small stigmatiferous enlargement. The 

 placenta is superposed to one of the sepals. These 

 are very unequal, the outer ones being much 

 smaller in proportion than the two innermost. 

 This diftereuce is the first stage towards the 

 arrangement in Davilla. The corolla often 

 consists of only three petals, of which one is 

 anterior. The anther-cells are usually extrorse, 

 and open by somewhat oblique clefts. The fruit 

 is dry, and opens like a pod from above down- 

 wards, both internally and externally. Most of the 

 ovules abort, so that only one or two ascending 

 seeds remain, each surrounded by a yellow aril, split 

 up into narrow teeth longer than the seed. The 

 outer integument is polished blackish thick 

 and testaceous ; the inner one is thin mem- 

 branous and whitish. The albumen is fleshy, 

 and the embryo very minute. The habit of this 

 plant is very fairly represented in the Botanical 

 Magazine, t. 3058. 



** Teiana, Ann. Sc. Nat., ser. 4, ix. 46. 



" Eoland., ex DC, Syst., i. 405 j Prodr., i. 

 69.— Waip., Rep., i. 65; ii. 746; v. 13; Ann., 

 i. 15; ii. 17.— Pl. & Tkiana, Ann. Sc. Nat., 

 scr. 4, xvii. 19.— B. H., Gen., 12, n. 4.— H. Bn., 

 Adansonia, vi. 259-280. 



