

OP FICUS BOXBUBGHII 



coat formed of the two, or in 



2: 



coai ioriueu 01 ine two, or in excentionnl ™«o Q r*„« *\ 



pe.ianth, and internal to this is ffS c dTood T IT^ '"^ ° f "" ° Ut 

 L™1 n mte ,i,V B „.„,«„„ .~ aJ .: J ? d h00d 0l the ""«■«■ !>e"anth, v loch form. 



special protective covering for the stamens during the long period 



in galled receptacles are immersed in the receptacular fluid and 



when the latter is drying up 



in which the flo 



which is only rupt 



» 



e 



The following figures show the dimensions of a flower at this stage.— 



Total height 



Greatest hreadth . . 1 mm. 



!•<> mm. 



Height after removal of the outer perianth 

 Breadth after removal of outer perianth 



Total height of stamens 



Length of filaments . . . 



mm. 



1 "J 



(i mm. 



4560 mm 

 1710 tma. 



Breadth from face of anther-lole to back of connective <Htt6»i 



The flowers are practically sessile, the filaments of the stamens are rudiment try at 

 the anther-lobes very small and semi-transparent. * ' 



B.— Characters of male flowers in mature gall-recept<icka to which meek tote gained accae 

 The following are the measurements of one : — 



mm. 





Total height from base of pedicel to apex of anthers 11 (; 



Height from base of pedicel to origin of outer perianth 3 3 mm. 



Height from base of pedicel to bases of filaments 6*3 mm. 



Length of filaments 4 , mra 



Diameters of anthers lxl J mm 



All the flowers have a large sheathing bract inserted at the origin of the pedicel 

 (Plate II, fig. 1). Most have two lobes in the outer perianth ( Plate II, fig. 1 ; Plate IV, fig. 1 , a), 

 some have only one, arid monstrous flowers may have three. In such cases the axis at 

 some little distance above the origin of the outer perianth divides into two branches, each of 

 which bears a distinct inner perianth and stamens. The lobes of the outer perianth differ 

 greatly in different instances in the extent to which they are separated from one anothei 



inferiorly. In some cases they are distinct throughout, but in most they are confluent 

 inferiorly, and in some they are merely indicated by a shallow depression of the apc> 

 of one broad leaf. The ruptured inner perianth forms a funnel-shaped sheath around the 



upper portion of the axis and the bases of the filaments (Plate IV, fig. 1). The upper 

 margin is ragged, the outline varying according to the precise fashion in which rupture 







has originally occurred and the extent to which the filaments have lacerated it in theii 

 final expansion. The stamens are two or three in number and are widely dn rgent 

 (Plate IV, fig. 1, b), and the anther-lobes dehiscent by a fissure along the face. In a very 

 large number of flowers a rudimentary ovary, style, and stigma terminate the axis between the 



bases of the filaments (Plate IV, figs. 1, 2, 3). 



The pollen-grains are very small, having diameters, when fresh, of 14 5x86/*, and when 

 mounted in Canada balsam of 13 2 x frfy. They are normally oval with truncate extremities, 

 where the cell wall is thinner than elsewhere, and which form the sites of exit for the pollen- 

 tubes ; when in mass they are, when fresh, pure white. In certain cases, in place of pre- 

 senting the normal figure, they have the form of triangles the points of which have been cut 

 off, and here there are three sites at which pollen-tubes may emerge. As a rule, they contain 



