Parasitical Plants. — The Balanophoracece. 851 



Sarcophyte, S. sanguinea, Sparrm. is the only species known. It 

 is found only in South Africa, principally on the roots of species 

 of Acacia. The male flowers are panicled, but one of the 

 characters by which this genus is distinguished from Balano- 

 phora is that the filaments and connectives of the stamens are 

 free, while in Balanophora they are united. The male flowers 

 have athree-lobed perianth, and the female flowers are arranged 

 in globose heads, and have no perianth. The arrangement of 

 the tissues in the stem of Sarcophyte do not differ essentially 

 from other species of the order, though in the peduncle the 

 vascular bundles are very irregularly deposited. The roots of 

 the plant upon which it grows are connected by stout, woody 

 branches with the rhizome of the parasite, and there seems to 

 be a complete fusion of the vascular tissues of both. The 

 stems of Sarcophyte contain innumerable starch granules. 



Two species are enumerated of Langsdorffia, L. hypogcea, 

 Mart., and L. rubiginosa, Wedd., but Dr. Hooker, who is un- 

 doubtedly the best authority on Balanophorce, doubts whether 

 there are sufficient characters to distinguish the latter from 

 L. hypogcea. They are both natives of South America, the 

 first being distributed through Mexico and Brazil. The 

 remarkable parasitism of Langsdorffia, Dr. Hooker describes in 

 the following terms : — ' c The dichotomously branching rhizomes 

 appear most frequently to corrode, as it were, the back of the 

 roots they encounter, which they even sever, and then enclose 

 the end that remains attached to the parent plant. The root 

 swells considerably at the junction, and appears to send pro- 

 longations of wood into the rhizome of the parasite, which 

 run along its axis for several inches, and though there is an 

 intimate union between the wood of the root and the cellular 

 tissue of the parasite, there seems to be no blending of their 

 vascular systems." The fruit-bearing receptacle after flowering* 

 dilates very much, which causes the scales to spread open, and 

 when fully expanded the whole has a similar appearance to the 

 involucre of a thistle (Fig. 5). The rhizome of this species 

 is highly charged with wax, and it will burn freely with a clear 

 flame. The secretion is contained entirely in the cellular 

 tissue where it appears as a large opaque mass in every utricle. 

 This wax is collected to a large extent by the people of New 

 Grenada,, who make candles of it, while in Bogota the stems 

 themselves are collected and sold in all the markets without any 

 preparation, for use as candles on Saints'-days. On the Tolima 

 range of mountains around Bogota the plant is known by the 

 names of " Belacha" and Melonsita, and the soft receptacle, 

 when ripe, is eaten and considered stimulating and refreshing. 



Thonningia sanguinea,, Yahl., is found in Western Tropical 

 Africa, on the roots of trees. Its root-stock is of a dingy 



