OLACINEiB. 309 



ovate-oblong, laterally suboompressed. Carpids with 5, equal, entire libs. Albumen sul- 

 cate on the commissural side. — Perennial herbs: wots tuberose; leaves \-'i-pmnatisect ; 

 umbels compound : flowers whitish" 



9. A. escnlenta, HC. " Leaves pinnatisect : inferior segments divided into ovate, 

 acuminate, coarsely serrate lobes ; involucre ; carpid-ribs obtuse." — Hab. Trinidad ! ; [New 

 Granada !, Peru !]. 



XC. BALANOPHOIlE.a;. 



Flowers unisexual, apetalous. Calt/x valvate or 0. Ovary inferior or naked, simple ; 

 ovule mostly single and naked : styles 2-1. Bmhryo small, usually undivided, enclosed 

 within copious endosperm.- — Aphyllous herbs, parasitical on roots, devoid of chlorophjll ; 

 %\ea& fleshy, simple from a branched or tuberose rhizoma ; flowers collected on a tei-minal 

 spadix, often separated by filiform scales. 



- The affinity of Balanophorem with Gunnera, and through ffippuris with ffalorayeee, has 

 been proved by J. Hooker. Hence they are inserted here, as the latter Order, not repre- 

 sented in the West Indies, seems rather more connected with Umbellifens than with Ona- 

 grarieai, which is their usual place in the system. 



1, HELOSIS, Mch. 



Spadix ovoid or globose, androgynous, covered with peltate, hexagonal bracts. $ Calyx 

 tubular, 3-Iobed : column 3-androus, tribranched below the synantherous, 6-13-celled body 

 of the anthers, inserted into the calyx-throat : anthers introrse ; ? calyx obsolete. Ovary 

 simple: ovule 1, "erect" {Boffmeist.), naked: styles 2. See<;? adhering to the crustaceous 

 pericarp. — Bhizoma branched: stems inserted to its knobs, naked, usually with an annular 

 sheath. 



\. H. guianensis, Sick. Stems surrounded at the base by a S-i-lobed (or 5-7-lobed), 

 involucral sheath. — Mem. Mus. 8. t. 20. — Cynomorium cayennense, Sw. — Stems 2"-6" 

 (1"-12") high ; spadix ovoid-oblong, enclosed (before the development of the stem) by the 

 sheath : $ flowers serotinous. — Hab. Trinidad !, Pd., Or., in the mountains of Tamana, 

 Arena; [Guiana, Brazil!]. 



2. PHYLLOCORYNE, J. Book. 



Spadix oblong-cylindrical : bracts imbricate, deciduous. Flowers of Helosis, but column 

 tri-branched below the globose, 6-celled body of the synantherous anthers, which opens at the 

 top. — Khizoma thick, branched; stem covered with closing, 4i-6-stichotts scales, which 

 pass into the bracts, tutercled above with rudimentary flowers. 



2. P. jamaicensis, /. Hook. — /. Hook. Balanophor. in Linn. Transact. 1855, t.M; 

 Desc. Fl. 2. t. 26. — Cynomorium, Sw. C. coccinenm, Desc. — Stem red, a few inches high, 

 or spithameous ; spadix 1"-2V long ; scales and bracts ovate-deltoid. — Hab. Jamaica !, Al., 

 Fd., M'Nab, Wullschl., in mountain woods; [eastern Cuba!]. 



XCI. 0LACINE.J1. 



Calyx persistent. Corolla valvate, often villous inside. Stamens definite, hypogynous or 

 epipetalous. Ovary simple, mostly superior, usually unilocular or divided below by tissue 

 between the ovules : ovules few (-single), naked, hanging from the free central placenta or 

 from the summit of the cells. J)rupe 1-seeded. Embryo mostly minute, in the top of the 

 endosperm. — Woody plants ; leaves alternate, entire, glabrous, exstipulate. 



The di'upes of Ximenia are eatable. 



1. XIMENIA, L. 

 Calyx minute, not enlarged. Fetdls 4 (-5), distinct. Stamens twice as many, all fertile. 



