﻿-,^^70 MR. J. MIERS ON THE LECYTHIDACE^. 



slender panicles, charged with nnmerous flowers, which are minute compared with those 

 of all other LecytJiidacew. They have 6 small rounded sepals, united in a short flat cup, 

 which extends a little heyond the adnate portion of the calyx : petals 6, longer, Hnear- 

 ohlong, equal, slightly imbricated along their margins, somewhat adhesive at their sum- 

 mits ; and though they sometimes expand rotately of their own accord, they often adhere, 

 enclosing the androphorum, and fall off united with it, like a bonnet. The androphomm 

 differs in its shape from all others ; it is erect, urceolate, or tubular for half its length, 

 and without any ligula, expands upwards on one side more than on the other, curving 

 over the summit in the form of an alcove, and is deeply laciniated all roun d the margin 

 into subulate incurving appendages ; inside its tubular portion it is everywhere echinated 

 with similar, shorter, staminigerous appendages, either fixed in few concentric series, or 

 more densely crowded, all clavate, each bearing on its obtuse summit a short filament, 

 supporting a 2-celled anther. The inferior ovary is 3-celled, with several erect ovules in 

 the base of each cell ; its vertex rises pulvinately or conically, bearing a short style and 

 a small 3-toothed stigma. The pyxidium has the trigonoidly cylindrical or obconical 

 form of that of Couratari ; but it is much thicker, heavier, and more solid in substance : 

 it has the usual two zonary lines near its summit ; but the opercular zone is placed upon 

 or is somewhat within the vertex ; the operculum is often slightly convex, sometimes does 

 not rise above the upper zone, being quite flat, in both cases thick and cylindrical for 

 some distance within the tubular mouth of the pericarp, and is continuous with tlie 

 central columella, of equal diameter, which descends to the base, thus forming a solid, 

 cylindrical plug, chamfered off on three sides, the intervening angles touching the wall of 

 the pericarp, and leaving three compressed spaces or seminiferous cells ; when ripe, tbe 

 columella shrinks a little, and falls out, so that the pericarp remains with a clean cylin- 

 drical bore throughout its length. The seeds, though winged, are very different from 

 those of Couratari; the wing is much narrower, and placed at one end only of the much 

 shorter embryoniferous escutcheon, equal to it in breadth : the seeds are attached to 

 the columella by the bottom of the wings in pairs, rising imbricatively to the top of the 

 cells, where we see deep impressions left by the convex surfaces of the several escutcheons 

 caused by pressure while the parts were soft ; the apical escutcheon is oblong-ova , 

 obHque at its base, convex outside, flat on the back, is thinly coriaceous, and contains 

 __ exalbuminous embryo, consisting of a slender terete radicle of its whole leng , 

 pointing downwards towards the hilum, suddenly incurved at its summit, and there uni e 

 to 2 descending cotyledons shorter than it, closely and corrugately plicated together, as 

 in Couratari and Couroupita. , 



Allantoma ^ (Plate XXXVI. a) is a new and very curious genus. It consists of severa 

 species, some (probably all) vast trees, with the habit and inflorescence of Couratari, anc 

 leaves with similar venation: but the flowers are not so large; they have 6 sep 

 roundish and expanded, slightly imbricated at their base in aestivation; they a 

 6 longer membranaceous petals, 4 of which are linearly oblong, and 2 very large and roun : 

 more exterior, and very imbricated, so as to conceal the others in aestivation ; 

 androphorum is quite peculiar, is of a deep rose or reddish colour, very fleshy, a 



^ So named from or\X5s. hotulus, ouos. similis. the fruit reBemblins: a sausage in fonn. 



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