616 PLANTS JAVANIC^ RARIORES. 



urceolus antherarum which Aublet describes, and which, as 

 he states, by their enlargement form the mass of rigid 

 processes surrounding the ripe fruit, have no existence; 

 and that this singular appendage to the fruit is an acci- 

 dental structure or monstrosity, probably of rare occur- 

 rence, of which I have found a single specimen among the 

 loose fruits of his herbarium. 



In 1775 also was pubhshed the 'Flora ^gyptiaco- 

 Arabica' of Forskael, who describes a supposed new genus, 

 Culhamia} which is no doubt a species of Sterculia, cer- 

 tainly, however, not platanifolia as Vahl affirms, but 

 233] perhaps either S. tomentosa of the ' Flora Senegarabise,' 

 or the nearly related species abyssinica. Cidhamia is de- 

 scribed as having hermaphrodite flowers, and it is stated 

 that the style, which is originally concealed by the stamina, 

 only becomes visible after the expansion of the flower, so 

 that here we have the same account of structure aud gradual 

 development of pistillum which was afterwards given by 

 Cavanilles and adopted by de Jussieu. 



In 1786, in the first volume of the 'Acta Acad. Patavin,'^ 

 Marsili proposed a new genus related to Sterculia, and 

 formed of St. platanifolia of the ' SupplementumPlantarum' 

 of the younger Linnaeus. 



In 1788 Cavanilles published his fifth dissertation on 

 Monadelphous plants, in which Sterculid appears with its 

 characters considerably modified, Ivira of Aublet being 

 included in it, and some additional species described. He 

 refers the genus to MonadelpJiia, states the flowers to be 

 hermaphrodite, and accounts for their unisexual appearance 

 by assuming the gradual and more tardy development of 

 the female organ \ he also describes the stigma as either 

 bifid or with five rays, the supposed existence of the 

 bifid stigma being founded on an error in the drawing of 

 S. platanifolia by Mile. Basseporte, from which his engraving 

 is copied. 



In 1789 the immortal work of A. L. de Jussieu ap- 

 peared. Sterculia is there* for the first time correctly 



' p. 96. ■ p. 100. ' p. 284. " p. 278. 



