1616 CXXXIII. DIOSCORIDE^. 



"■ n 



2. PETERMANNIA, F. v.M. 



(After A. Petermann.) - 



Flowers hermaphrodite. Perianth superior, almost 6-parted to the base r 

 narrower. Stamens 6, attached tO' the base of the perianth, nearly as long as the- 

 segments oblong spreading or at length reflexed, subequal, or the inner ones slightly 

 segments ; filaments erect, short ; anthers oblong erect, cells contiguoiis, 

 dehiscence extrorse. Ovary inferior, ovoid, contracted at the apex, 1-celled,, 

 placentas 3, parietal ; style slender, columnar, shorter than the perianth ; stigma, 

 capitate. Ovules to each placenta many, horizontal or pendulous. Fruit a 

 1-eelled many-seeded berry. A tall, climbing, branching 'shrub ; the stems often 

 prickly. Leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, oblong or lanceolate,- acuminate, 

 rigid, nerves many, subparallel, the interior ones confluent -with the costa, the- 

 ■veinlets reticulate. Flowers in loose cymes or racemes, axillary, lateral or leaf- 

 opposed, flowers few, rhachis flexuose ; the infloresceneS' soiTietimes reduced to a 

 tendril. — Benth. and Hook. Gfen. PI. iii. 746. 



-The genus is limited to a single species. '" 



1. P. cirrosa (tendril bearing), F. v. M. Frac/m. ii. 98; Benth. Fl. Austr. 

 vi. 462. A glabrous climber, 15 to 20ft. high, with the aspect rather of the 

 S^nila.v tribe than of the Dioscoridea, the branches slightly angular and bearing a 

 few minute prickles. Leaves alternate, rigid, oblong lanceolate or ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, 2 to Sin. long, f to lin. broad, tapering into a short 

 petiole slightly twisted at the base as in Smila.f, the longitudinal veins numerous-, 

 but mostly starting from the midrib below the middle and not reaching the base- 

 of the leaf, with reticulate veinlets between the veins. Panicles narrow and 

 loose, leaf-opposed and rather longer than the leaves, the branchlets short and 

 the inflorescence few-flowered, in some parts the inflorescences are replaced by 

 simple tendrils. Fruit a berry, crowned by the scar of the fallen flower, containing- 

 many seeds. — Hook. le. 1391. 



Hab.: Border of N.S.W. towards the Tweed Kiver. 



Order CXXXIV. ROXBURGHlACEyE. 



Flowers hermaphrodite, regular. Perianth inferior, of 4 deciduous segments,, 

 all nearly equal and similar, imbricate in 2 rows. Stamens 4, almost 

 hypogynous ; filaments very short, free or united in a ring; anthers erect, with 

 2 cells opening laterally or inwards in longitudinal slits. Ovary free, 1-celled ; 

 ovules several, either erect from the base or suspended from the apes of the- 

 cavity ; stigma terminal, sessile. Fruit a capsule, opening in 2 valves. Seeds 

 several, the funicle bearing as a strophiole a dense tuft of hairs or long linear 

 papilliB ; testa striate. Embryo linear or small, in a fleshy albumen. — Erect 

 herbs or tall twiners. Leaves alternate opposite or verticillate, petiolate, -with 

 distant primary veins and transverse veinlets. Flowers 2 or more together on 

 slender pedicels, in axillary clusters or short racemes. 



Genera and species few. 



1. STEMONA, Lour. 



(stamen, remarkable form of) 



(Roxburghia, Banks in Eoxb. Oorom. PI. i. 29, t. 32.) 



Perianth-segments 4, lanceolate, many-nerved. Stamens hypogynous, filaments 

 very short, more or less connate in a ring; anthers linear, erect, connective- 

 produced beyond in a very long linear-lancedate erect appendage. Ovary free, 

 compressed. Stigma small, sessile, pointed"; ovules 2 or more, erect funicles 

 long or short. Capsule ovoid or oblong, compressed, few-seeded. Seeds erect. 



