MR. J. MIERS ON THE HIPPOCRATEACEZ OF SOUTH AMERICA. z 333 
three large coriaceous capsules. On examining this growth, long after the maturity of 
the flower, when it has attained considerable size, these greatly enlarged cells will be 
found vacant, with the slightly grown ovules still attached to the axis now become 
the base of the cells. It is not till the capsules have nearly attained their full growth 
that the nuclear or embryoniferous portion of the seed assumes its real shape at the 
bottom of the cell; and then only we see the alar membranaceous portion beginning to 
expand, gradually carrying upwards the embryoniferous coriaceous portion to the top of 
the cell. The persistent style is generally subulate, 3-grooved, a little longer than the 
ovary, and surmounted by three minute stigmata, which are opposite to the cells: this 
remains unchanged upon the small central space between the bases of the three capsules. 
The stamens, disk, petals, and sepals, all remain persistent beneath the capsules, forming 
their short stipitate support upon the summit of the enlarged pedicel. The form of these 
bivalved capsules, their mode of dehiscence, the nature of the wing, the position of the 
raphe, its connexion with the short basal funicle, and the structure of the whole seed 
have been already described (ante, p. 326). 
HIPPOCRATEA, Linn. 
Coa, Plum. 
Sepala 5, parva, subrotunda, crassiuscula, æstivatione subimbricata. Petala 5, alterna, 3-4-plo longiora, 
subaeute oblonga, integra, parallele nervosa, carnosula, extus dense papillosa aut tomentosa, intus 
infra medium subglabra, sub apice semper plaga barbata munita, marginibus tomentellis, demum 
subreflexa, cum acumine sæpius inflexo, æstivatione (præsertim in summo) quincuncialiter imbricata. 
Discus majusculus, solide conicus, valde carnosus, apice truncatus, centro cavatus, 5-sulcatus, imo sub- 
pentagono a toro liber, tomentellus, apice tumidule tomentosus, cum petalis staminibusque persistens. 
Stamina 3, intra discum circa ovarium enata; filamenta valde complanata, disco 2-8-plo longiora, 
imo sensim latiora et sese fere tegentia, suberecta, apice recurva, sepius puberula ; antheræ transverse 
subreniformes, sub-4-lobæ, connectivo brevissimo dorsali munitæ, illic oblique apicifixæ et ad hune mo- 
dum subextrorsum deflexæ, rima transversali bivalvatim hiantes, demum planatim patefactæ, cum pol- 
line in centro, in massulas 4 septulo obsoleto cruciformi diviso. Ovarium in medio disci semiabscon- 
ditum, liberum, conice trigonum, 3-loculare ; ovula in quoque loculo 4—6-8, collateraliter biseriata, ad 
axim brevem crebre affixa, anatropa: stylus subulatus, 3-sulcatus, ovario paulo longior: stigma 
parvum, obtusum, sub-3-lobum. Capsule 3, cuneatim rotundatz vel oblongæ, distinctæ, transversim 
valde complanatæ, subpatentim expanse, parallele furcatim nervosæ, coriaceæ, uniloculares, 2-valvæ, 
per suturam medianam subcarinatam longitudinaliter dehiscentes, valvis valde naviculari-compressis, 
4-8-spermæ. Semina in utraque valva parallele imbricata, samaroidea, planissima, funiculo brevi 
basali articulatim imo sustenta: testa superne in locellum coriaceum discoideum oblique ovatum 
valde compressum embryoniferum incrassata; inferne in alam latam 3—4-plo longiorem tenuiter 
membranaceam expansa, margine externo crasse coriaceo et raphigero, raphe a basi adscendente, in 
chalazam apicalem intus spectantem terminata: infegumentum internum tenuissimum, ad locellum 
teste subagglutinatum : embryo locellum implens, exalbuminosus, cotyledonibus 2, rarius-35-parallele 
adpressis, ovatis, tenuiter foliaceis, imo breviter cordatis, radicula brevissima, tereti, infera, sub- 
centrifuga. 
Arbores vel frutices cosmopolitani, inter tropicos vigentes: rami oppositi, scandentes, rarius volubiles : folia 
ovata vel oblonga, opposita, subserrata, rare subintegra, breviter petiolata, glabra: stipule minute, 
caducissime : panicule corymbose, axillares et terminales, repetitim 2-3-chotome divise, tomentose, 
bracteolate : flores parvi, pedicellati. 
VOL. XXVIII. 2 Z 
