CHAP. CXII. TAXA^CEjE. 2065 



m 4. E. fra'gilis Desf. The fragile Ephedra. 



Identification. Desf. Fl. Alt., 2. p. 372. ; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 19. 



Synonymes. E. cretica Tour. Cor., 53., Fail. Her.; 2?quisetum montanum creticum Alp. Z?.r. 141. 



The Sexes. The female is figured in Alp. Exot., 1. 141. 



Engraving. Alp. Exot., 141. 



Spec. Char., 8;c. Catkins sessile; the male ones aggregate. Articulations of the branches separable. 

 (Desf.) A shrub, between 2 ft. and 3 ft. high, with cylindrical branches, slightly striated ; a native 

 of Spain, and of the sea coast of the south of France, but not yet introduced into Britain. 



* 5. E. america v na Willd. The American Ephedra. 



Identification. Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 860. ; 

 Kunth in Humb. et Bonpl. Nov. Gen. 2. 

 p. 2. ; Rich. M£m. Conif., p. 21. 



The Sexes. Both are on the same plant, as 

 described and figured by Richard. 



Engravings. Rich, Mem. Conif., t. 29. f. 2. ; 

 and ouvfig. 1980. 



Spec. Char. Stems erect. Branches and 

 branchlets crowded, erect, round, slender. 

 Leaves consisting of a sheath, or 2 semi- 

 oval acuminate scales, spreading or relaxed, 

 and in the fertile branches somewbat dis- 

 tinct; in the sterile ones adhering, so as to 

 form a short tube. Flowers monoecious : 

 male and female on the same branchlets, 

 but from different joints ; those of the male 

 inferior and fewer in number ; heads of 



flowers crowded round one joint, aggregate, subsessile, on short stalks. (Rich.) Found by Hum- 

 boldt and Bonpland in Quito, at an elevation of almost 7000 ft. ; flowering in January. Not yet 

 introduced, though probably quite hardy. 



CHAP. CXII. 



OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER rAXA v CE;E. 



7Vxus Town. Flowers unisexual, axillary ; those of the two sexes upon 

 distinct plants. — Male flower. It consists of anthers upon short pedicels, 

 at the top of a column that has imbricate scales at the base : these had en- 

 veloped the column and anthers before they were protracted. The anther 

 consists of 4, 5, 6, or rarely more, 1-celled lobes, attached to a connectivum, 

 whose tip is a horizontal shield, lobed at the edge ; its lobes corresponding 

 in number and place with those of the anther, and covering them : the cells 

 open longitudinally. — Female flower. An erect ovule, perforate at the tip ; 

 and an unobvious annular disk at its base; and, exterior to this, there 

 are investing imbricate scales. — Fruit. The disk, at the base of the ovule, 

 becomes a fleshy open cup, that surrounds the lower part of the seed, which 

 is exposed in the remaining part : the scales are at the base of the cup, 

 outside : the seed is like a nut. — Leaves evergreen, linear-acute, rigid, more 

 or less 2-rowed in direction. {Nees ab Esenb.; and J. D.'s observation.) 



Salisbu v rl4 Smith. Flowers unisexual; those of the two sexes upon dis- 

 tinct plants. — Male. Flowers in tapering, decurved, bractless catkins, which 

 are borne several from one bud; and situated outwardly to a tuft of leaves 

 borne from the centre of the same bud. Flowers many in a catkin, each 

 appearing as a stamen only, and consisting of a short filament-like stalk ; 

 and two cases of pollen attached very near to its tip, and a scale that ter- 

 minates it. — Female. Flowers borne from a bud, from which leaves are 

 produced also; and on peduncles, either singly, or several on the pedicels 

 of a branched peduncle. Flower seated in a shallow cup, formed of the 

 dilated tip of the peduncle or pedicel, and consisting of a rather globose 

 calyx, contracted to a point, and then expanded into a narrow limb, and 

 including an ovary. The calyx is fleshy and persistent, and becomes a 

 drupaceous covering to a nut, which is rather egg-shaped, and very slightly 

 compressed. Embryo straight, cylindrical. Cotyledons two, very long. — 

 Species 1 ; a native of Japan ; a large tree, with a lofty straight stem. 

 Leaves with long petioles ; and disks tranversely rhomboidal, divided part of 

 the way down into 2 or more lobes ; and coriaceous and striated ; in groups, 

 or alternately. ( Richard, Smith, Watson, Jacquin, and observation.) 



G s 2 



