PROFESSOR BALFOUR ON THE IPECACUAN PLANT. 783 



Height, 16 inches ; length of leaves, 6^ inches ; breadth of leaves, 3| inches ; 

 length of peduncle, 1 inch ; circumference of stem, -f of an inch. 



The following are the general characters of the plant cultivated in the 

 garden : — Stem (Plate XXXI. fig. 1, a, a, a), more or less shrubby when fully- 

 grown, simple or branching, with marks of the leaves giving a somewhat 

 annulated aspect, varying in height from 12 to 16 inches. The young stem is 

 herbaceous and quadrangular (Plate XXXII. fig. 7). The plants sent from 

 Brazil had marked rhizomes, and corresponded exactly with the figure given by 

 Martius in his Materia Medica of Brazil, Tab. I., but those in cultivation have 

 assumed an erect form. This may depend on the latter being restricted by 

 potting, and being propagated from root-cuttings. 



The structure of the young stem, one year old, is shown in Plate XXXII. 

 figs. 2 and 3. In fig. 2 there is a transverse section of the stem magnified 

 about thirty diameters, showing, externally, cellular hairs on the epidermis (a, a) ; 

 next, cortical parenchyma (b, b) composed of angular cells ; next, bundles of 

 vessels (c, c), and lastly, cellular pith (d). In fig. 3 there is a longitudinal 

 section of the same stem, showing a portion of the cellular tissue of the bark 

 (b, b) ; the vascular bundles consisting of spiral, pitted, and woody vessels 

 (c, c) ; and the central pith (d). 



The root of the plant is about the size of a writing-quill. It is well charac- 

 terised by its irregularly contorted and annulated appearance (Plate XXXI. 

 fig. 3). The roots come off from the lower part of the shrubby stem (Plate 

 XXXI. fig. 1, b, b, b). The roots may be said to combine the usual functions of 

 the root with those of the stem, inasmuch as they are capable of producing leaf- 

 buds ; when the root is cut into pieces, each portion producing a leaf-bud, as 

 shown in Plate XXXII. fig. 6. The outer or cortical part of the root (Plate 

 XXXI. fig. 3, a, a) is cellular, and has small projecting rings closely applied to 

 each other ; the central part b, called meditidlium, is slender, and has a firm 

 woody structure. In Plate XXXII., figs. 4 and 5, the root structure is given ; 

 fig. 4 shows a transverse section of the root ; a, a, cellular epidermal portion ; 

 b, b, cellular cortical portion, containing many granules of starch ; c, central 

 fibrous portion, consisting of vascular tissue. Fig. 5, longitudinal section of the 

 root ; a , a, epidermal cells ; b, b, cortical starch cells ; c, meditidlium, or central 

 vascular system, consisting of woody vessels marked with dots. 



The leaves are entire, often with a wavy margin, opposite, with short petioles, 

 stipulate, their form varying from oval to elliptico-lanceolate, the apex being 

 sometimes blunt and sometimes pointed. They vary in length from 2 to 4 

 inches. In Plate XXXI. fig. 2, a delineation is given of an elliptical, blunt- 

 pointed leaf of the natural size. The leaves of the plants propagated from the 

 original specimen received from Sir W. Hooker and those from the specimens 

 sent by Dr Gunning exhibit a difference in character. This seems to be merely 



