180 Podostemacece. 



oblonga, ad medio constricta. Ovarium triloculare. Stigma 

 sessile, bilobum, lobis plerumque inaequalibus. Capsula cos- 

 tata, bilocularis, bivalvis, valvis aequalibus, dissepimento 

 placentifero libero alato-marginato parallelis. Semina pluri- 

 ma, minima, erecta, imbricata : testa crassa. — Herbulse an- 

 nuce (an semper ? ), habitu Fucorum vel Hepaticarum quo- 

 rundum, in rivulis submersed inter tropicos totius fere mundi. 

 Foliis aut nullis aut paucis, rariter fasciculatis, linearibus t 

 parvis, integris. Floribus solitariis vel congestis. 



1. PODOSTEMON GRIFFITHII. Wall 



P. frondibus orbicularibus depressis, floribus e parte su- 

 periore frondium exsertis, squamis 6, distichis imbricatis ob- 

 longis, spatha bilobata, capsula 12-13-costata. 



Podostemon Griffithii, Wall. MSS. ex Griff, in Asiatic 

 Researches Vol. 19. p. 105. t. 17. (right half.) 



Hab. — On rocks in the beds of streams in Assam. Griffith. 



Descr. — Plant small. Fronds orbicular, firmly adhering to the rocks 

 by their under surface, lobed, of a coriaceo-corneous texture, veinless, 

 green, shining, and a little viscous. Flowers solitary, arising from the 

 upper surface of the frond without order. Scales about 6, green, dis- 

 tichously imbricated, oblong, keeled, coriaceous. Spathe longer than 

 the pedicel, the superior margin incised, the inferior entire, round. 

 Pedicels short, included, covered with a coat of pellucid cellular sub- 

 stance, which ultimately falls off. Floral envelopes none. Stamens 4, 

 hypogynous, unilateral and external with reference to the axis of the 

 frond, the two lateral ones abortive, and about as long as the ovary, 

 the two intermediate ones fertile, united nearly to the apex, each 

 division bearing a single anther : anthers 2-celled, introrse. Pollen 

 constricted in the middle. Ovary superior, nearly lanceolate, compres- 

 sed, 1-line long, 2-celled, smooth. Ovules numerous : style nearly none : 

 stigmata 2, cuneiform, dentate, fleshy, red, the external largest. Capsule 

 subexserted, 12-13-costate, 2-celled, 2-valved, with a septicidal de- 

 hiscence. Seeds numerous, oblong, ovate, minute, ascending, attenuated 

 at both ends : testa cellular, thick mucilaginous. Embryo dicotyledon- 



