Notes on Indian Botany. 359 



result of actual observation, all these species must be removed 

 from the genus they define, or that they, in common with all 

 other recent writers, must have assumed, without examina- 

 tion, the presence of a plurality of ovules, which does not 

 exist, when stating the berry to be either " I -seeded by 

 abortion" or "3-seeded." 



I am unable to advance beyond this point, but trust enough 

 has been said to direct the attention of systematic Botanists 

 to the subject now touched upon, which, when carefully in- 

 vestigated, may lead to interesting results, examples of solitary 

 one-seeded carpels with several stigmas being of compara- 

 tively rare occurrence in Dichlamedyous orders : Composite, 

 Valerianece, and Dipsacece, being almost the only orders in 

 which this combination occurs. Among Monchlamydeous 

 plants it is more frequent, one- celled ovaries being the pre- 

 dominant, though not invariable, structure in Endlicher's 

 class Thymalece. 



Owing to its possessing this peculiar structure, the genus 

 Viburnum appears more nearly related to these orders and to 

 Loranthacecc than might at first sight be suspected. Lor an- 

 thacecz and Caprifoliacece have long been associated as nearly 

 related orders, though apparently with little propriety, as the 

 former is assuredly more justly referrible to the Thymalceous 

 group than to either Araliacece or Caprifoliacece, with which 

 it is now associated. The intervention, however, of Vibur- 

 num with the flowers and habit of the one, and the ovary and 

 fruit of the other, tends materially to strengthen the previ- 

 ously existing, but remote relationship. 



Description of some new species o/Loranthus. 



The genus Loranthus is one of great extent, including up- 

 wards of 300 published species. This of itself is enough to 

 render the labour of investigating its species a most irksome 

 task, even under the most favourable circumstances. But 

 great as the difficulties are, arising from the mere number of 

 species, these, previous to the publication of the 4th. volume 

 of De Candolle's Prodromus, were augmented beyond calcula- 



