sea NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



merous flower of Paullmia find Schmidelia, simple and opposite 

 leaves, and a capsular, coriaceous, vesicular, lobate, loculicidal fruit, 

 whose exarillate seeds contain a bent embryo with folded cotyledons. 

 Bridgesia, a shrub from the same country, has very nearly the same 

 aspect, alternate leaves, entire or trilobate, dentate or notched, the 

 same flowers and the same seeds, but the capsular friiit is trilobate, 

 almost membranous, and each of the cells, surmounted by a vertical 

 dorsal ridge, is separated at maturity from the central columella. 



In Urvillea and Serj'ania, consisting of climbing shrubs from tro- 

 pical America, are again found the sarmentose, volubile stems oiPaul- 

 linca, with the alternate leaves and inflorescence usually provided 

 with two tendrils at the base, the irregular flowers with five sepals 

 (two of which may be united to a variable height), four petals and 

 the seeds with a but slightly developed aril ; but the fruit is formed 

 of thi-ee samaras separated from the central columella, like the lobes 

 of that of Bridgesia. In the Urvilleas, plants 

 CardiospermumSaUcacaium. ^-^j^ trifoliate Icavcs, the scminiferous cavity 



occupies the middle of the height of the 

 samaras, whilst in Scrjania whose leaves are 

 also frequently pinnate the seed is at the 

 top of the samara, the whole of whose inferior 

 portion is prolonged in a wing resembling that 

 of the Maple turned upside down. The Ton- 

 Fi- 384 Fruit Hcitts, trees, not climbing, from central tropical 



America, with alternate and imparipinnate 

 leaves, have the ii-regular flower of Serjania and Urvillea, with a fruit 

 divided into three samaroid capsules, each opening in halves after 

 being detached from the columella ; the seminiferous cavity occupies 

 the ujiper part. It is inferior, on the contrary, in Pscudatalaga^ an 

 Australian genus which, having the irregular -flower, with four 

 petals, of Pancovia, and the fruit of Atalaj/a and Tfioiimia (that is to 

 say, the fruit of a Maple), of which it represents here the iiTCgular form. 

 The Curdiosjjernmms, fi'utescent or suffrutescent plants from all tro- 

 pical regions, one species of which is frequently cultivated by us as 

 an annual, have decomposite leaves, and an inflorescence with two 

 tendrils like most of the Scrjanias and Urvilkas, as well as the irre- 

 gular flower, but the fruit (fig. 384) is a membranous or loculicidal 

 capsule with three inflated and vesiculate cells. 



