90 FLORA INDICA. \_Anonace(S. 



tion given by Blume himself. Throughout the Order the shape of the petals ap- 

 pears to afford characters of great importance, and the facility with which it can 

 be determined makes it of great practical utility. The particular modifications are 

 readily recognized, and have for the most part been already indicated ; others will be 

 specially noticed under the different genera. 



As an accessory character the inflorescence is deserving of attention, since it will 

 often be found that its different modifications correspond with generic groups. The 

 inflorescence of Anonacets is generally definite and terminal, but very often, by the 

 continuance of the growth of the axillary bud, the flowers become leaf-opposed. Fre- 

 quently the leaves on the flower-bearing branch are reduced to mere bracts or scales, 

 in which case we have axiUary cymes. These are occasionally so far reduced as to 

 bear only one flower, with several empty bractlets at the base of the peduncle ; but 

 truly axillary and solitary flowers are very rare. 



The nature of the fruit appears to bear less relation to the natural groups than 

 any of the characters enumerated above. The number of ovaries which ripen their 

 seeds, and the number of seeds which are developed, vary much. Many-seeded fruits 

 occur in the same capitulum with one-seeded ones in many JJvaria and Melodora. 

 In XJnona the many-jointed pods are frequently reduced to one joint. Occasionally 

 (as in Cruatteria) the shape of the seed and the nature of the testa afford good 

 characters, but the fruit of many species being yet unknown, the universality of this 

 chai'acter is still doubtful. The dry and fleshy fruit is also a very uncertain cha- 

 racter, as the endocarp appears to remain long dry, and at last suddenly to become 

 pulpy : this we have observed in several genera. We have therefore made no use of 

 characters derived from the fruit, except for the purpose of distinguishing species. 



In distribution Anonacem are one of the most tropical Orders. The most northern 

 species known is Asimina pygmaa, which is found on the southern shores of Lake 

 Erie, in North America. In South America they do not extend beyond 32° S. In 

 Africa some occur at Natal, but none in the Cape district. In the Mediterranean 

 province and throughout Europe they are unknown. In China a few occur as far 

 north as Hongkong, but none in North China or Japan. In India only one species 

 extends to ,30° N., and in Australia one only is known further south than Moreton 

 Bay, namely Eupomatia, which is a native of New South Wales. 



So many Anonacem axe stiU undescribed, and the materials which exist in her- 

 baria are still so imperfect, that the number of species cannot be definitely esti- 

 mated. A conjectural estimate may, however, be formed. We have described 123 

 species. Blume has enumerated 31 fi-om Java alone ; and fi:om the materials we have 

 seen, we think we may safely assume that the Malayan Archipelago contains at least 

 as many as continental India. In Australia they sxe probably much less numerous, 

 the climate of that country being very much drier ; several very interesting forms 

 have, however, been brought from the northern and eastern coasts of that conti- 

 nent, and their number wiU probably be hereafter considerably increased. On the 

 whole, we may assume the number of eastern species to be about 250. For Ame- 

 rica we may perhaps allow an equal number, as Von JNIartius has enumerated 97 

 species in the Brazilian flora, and they are very numerous in equatorial America. 

 From Africa few are as yet known, but, as has been pointed out by Beutham, they 

 bear a very large proportion to the whole amount of the flora of western tropical 

 Africa, and they extend throughout the whole of the continent as far as Abyssinia, 

 Madagascar, and Natal ; their number may therefore be guessed at 100 ; which 

 would make the total number of species in the Order 600. 



In India the Anonacea are most abundant in the IMalayan peninsula, from which 

 55 are known. Ceylon has about half that number, of which all but three are dif- 

 ferent from those of Malaya. They exhibit a marked pi'eference for the humid pro- 

 vinces, and are almost entirely wanting iu the drier ones. The number lessens as 

 we proceed northward, but they are still numerous in the forests at the base of the 

 Khasia mountains and in the Assam valley. Further west they rapidly diminish in 

 number, though a few creep along the base of the Himalaya as far as Nipal. The 

 forms characteristic of Ceylon and Malabar extend north along the chain of the Ghats 



