169 
Mr. Smirn found a short time before his departure from the 
East Indies, a great number of specimens growing together of 
which the flowers attracted his attention on account of their 
virescence and prolification. The material which he immersed 
in alcohol as well as the dried specimens enabled us to make 
the following observations. 
Already a preliminary survey showed that only the male 
flower had been disturbed. Indeed of female flowers not even 
a trace could be found, though of no less than 30 plants the 
separate loose branches were gone through. For all that the 
plant is monoecious '). For the sake of comparison we just 
sum up the principal characters of the normal & flower: calyx 
5-lobate, corolla 5-partite, yellow. The lobes of the calyx as 
well as of the corolla are somewhat unequal. Stamens hd 
(Maotit et Decaisne, p. 485), 3 (Miquel), 5 (Kichler), i.e. there 
are two big stamens each with a two-celled, undulate anther, 
and one with a one-celled, also undulate, anther. Eichler holds 
that each of the big stamens are double and in growing together 
have gone through a slight reduction, which makes the flower 
somewhat irregular as has already been stated with respect 
to calyx and corolla. 
We shall see further on that this opinion is acceptable from 
the teratological point of view. There is no trace of a pistil, 
although there is plenty of room for it inside the whorl of 
stamens on the concave receptacle. The virescence of the corolla 
is perfect and accompanied with dialysis of both corolla and 
calyx. The stamens of the virescent flowers are less developed 
but notwithstanding show the normal shape (fig. 87). 
On closer examination it appears that the sepals are a little 
longer and obtuse at top. Also the corolla shows deviations of 
this sort, for the longest corolla-lobe, which in normal flowers 
attains a maximum length of 8 mM., oscillates in the virescent 
flowers between 6 and 16 mM. The dialytical petals alter tho- 
roughly taking shape of lanceolate obovate leaves. 
1) Miquet, Flora van Nederlandsch Indié I p. 663. 
