Coscinimn.] flora indica. 177 



Tribus I. Coscinie^. 



Petala sepalis majora, parum imbricata. Albumen irregulariter rumi- 

 natum. Radicula supera, a hilo remota. Cotyledones magnas, patentim 

 divaricatse. 



1. COSCINIUM, Colebrooke. 



Pereiria, Lindl. 



Sejiala 6, rotundata, bractea 1 conformi stipata. Felala 3, sepalis 

 majora, patentia, elliptica, sestivatioiie parum imbricata. Mas. Sla- 

 mina 6, exteriora (petalis alterna) libera, interiora ad medium mona- 

 delpha. Filamenta cylindrica ; antherce adnatsa, ovales, exteriores uni- 

 loculares, interiores didymse biloculares. Foem. Stamina 6, abortiva. 

 Ovaria 3-6, subglobosa, stylis subulatis reflexis. Drupa globosoe, 

 carnosa3. Putamen crassum, osseum, intus processum globosum et 

 spongiosum continens ; pedicello osseo basi putaminis inserto. Semen 

 externe visum subglobosum, intus cavum et circa processum condyli- 

 formem convolutum. Testa tenuis, Isevis. Albumen oleosum, carnosum, 

 hinc (quo latere hilum spectat) plicis podospermii vel membranae exte- 

 rioris seminis ruminatum. Embryo lexe rectus; radicula parva cylin- 

 drica supera, apicem drupse spectans. Cotyledones tenuissimaj, rotun- 

 datse, margine irregulares, divaricatEe, undulataB, secundum Gfertner 

 foraminibus crebris perforatse, vel fide Miers profunde sinuato-laci- 

 niatSB. — Frutices alte soandentes, petiolis cylindricis bdsi et apice i?icfas- 

 saiis, foliis amplis palminerviis, junioribm saltern peltatis, floribus in ca- 

 pitula globosa dense congestis. 



The genus Coscinium differs so much from the rest of the Order in the compa- 

 ratively large size of its petals, and in the structure of the seed, as to deserve to 

 be distinguished as a separate tribe. The radicle, if Gsertner's plate may be relied 

 on, is at the geometrical apex of the seed ; and the cotyledons, which are nearly cir- 

 cular, expand widely, and descend one on each side of the iuternal process of the 

 putamen, which occupies the hollow in the middle of the seed. 



The structure of the drupe of Coscinium is unfortunately as yet so imperfectly 

 understood, that we cannot express ourselves decidedly regarding it. The nutri- 

 ent vessels pass into the seed through two canals, the external apertures of which 

 are conspicuous on the putamen, one on each side of the hilum. Gaertner repre- 

 sents and describes the woody process which rises from the hilum as forming an 

 integral portion of the seed, and as being gradually broken up iuto plates, which 

 penetrate into the substance of the albumen. Mr. Miers, on the other hand, thinks 

 that the condyloid process is quite distinct from the membrane which lines it, and 

 which gives off the plates by which the albumen is ruminated. The latter structure 

 is undoubtedly more analogous to that of the rest of the Order ; but it appears to us 

 that the view of Ga;rtner is more in accordance with the specimens we have examined, 

 of which, however, one only was in a good state, all the others being decayed. The 

 putamen is very thick and hai"d, and is composed of columnar fibres, extending through 

 its whole thickness, like those of the middle coat of the seed of the nutmeg. In- 

 deed, if the analogy of structure to other Menispermacea, especially in the tubular 

 canals which penetrate through the putamen, were not quite opposed to such a view, 

 we should be inclined to suggest the possibility of the woody coat of Coscinium being 

 an integument of the seed, and its internal process analogous to the plates (gradually 

 branching from the ehalaza) by which the albumen of nutmegs is ruminated. 



2 A 



