MR. JOHN MIERS ON THE GENUS CRESCENTIA. 171 



insito, 1-loculari, placentis 4, latis, cruciatim parietalibus ; stylo aequilongo ; stigmate 

 magno, cuneato-oblongo, 2-lamellari ; fructu maximo, oblongo-ovali, apice styli 

 vestigio notato, imo disco indurato suffulto, pericarpio duro, minutissime impresso- 

 punctulato, intus pulposo. — In Brasilia, prov. Ilio de Janeiro. 



This plant, hitherto nndescrihed, is quite distinct from any other species : it forms a 

 tree about 12 feet high, with spreading branches, the trunk having a white coriaceous 

 splitting bark, on which many parasitical plants grow. Velloz states that it is found both 

 in the inland and maritime districts. Its most striking feature is the large size of its 

 flowers, the wide and deep plicature of the corolla, which seems to be a general feature 

 in all the species of this section. The leaves grow out of a warty excrescence on the 

 branches, formed of concentrically imbricated woody stipuloid scales, each fascicle con- 

 sisting of from 4 to 7 leaves of different ages, 4 to 8 inches long, 1 to 2 inches broad, the 

 entire margin diminishing downwards, and decurrent along the midrib to the base. The 

 flowers are solitary, most frequently growing from the trunk, out of a smaller nodose 

 excrescence like that of the leaves : the peduncle is 6 lines long, with two small acute 

 bracteoles in the middle. The calyx before expansion is solidly closed, semiglobose at 

 base, then oblong-ovate, polished and punctated, about 1J inch long. The corolla is 

 3 inches long, cylindrical at its base for the length of 2 lines, where it is 4 lines in di- 

 ameter ; above this it becomes broadly and campanulately tubular, compressed antically 

 and postically, with an oblique mouth nearly 1 J inch broad : on the dorsal side it is 

 nearly straight ; but on the anterior side it is ventricose, and transversely plicated beloAv 

 the middle by the broad and deep downward fold above mentioned : the rather fleshy tube 

 is smoother on the posterior side, but in other parts, as well as in the segments of the 

 border, is plicato-sulcate lengthwise, all rugosely spotted with semiimmersed glands : 

 the segments of the border, of which the two superior are somewhat larger and more erect, 

 are of thinner texture, striately veined, 1-1} inch long, 8 lines broad at their base, 

 gradually narrowing into a very acuminate point, all with their margins entire, though 

 undulately crispate ; there is a reflexed tooth in each sinus between the lobes. The 

 stamens are didynamous, with a very short rudimental fifth between the insertion of the 

 posterior pair ; the filaments are straight, thick, fleshy, subterete, and inserted 3 inches 

 above the base in the mouth of the contracted portion of the tube, the posterior pair 

 being 1^ inch, the anterior pair 1} inch long ; the anther-lobes are oblong, pendent, 

 divaricated, attached at their apex, and there fixed on the summit of the filament, they 

 are acute below, compressed, and burst along the outer margin by a thick sutural fissure, 

 and finally become boat-shaped. The ovary is conically oblong, very smooth, 4 lines 

 lon<*, 2 lines broad, is 1-locular, with 4 very distinct longitudinal broad parietal lines of 

 placentation, which project far within the cavity of the cell, and are covered with innu- 

 merable black shining minute ovules ; the style is nearly erect, curving a little back- 

 wards, and as long as the stamens ; the stigma 2-lamellar, submembranaceous, pointed, 

 5 lines long, 3 lines broad, papillous within. The fruit has already been described. 



6. Crescentia fasciculata, nob. : ramulis subangulatis, cortice pallide brunneo, 



ru°uloso, sulcato ; axillis cupuloso-nodosis, prominentibus, alternis : foliis in fasci- 



