PLANTS OF PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND. 115 



hexagonal prisms, instead of sharp spines. Its time of ripening 

 and the qualities of its pulp are the same as in the former. 



I did not see the flowers of either species, so that the 

 genus is yet uncertain, being only determined by the structure 

 of the fruit. 



Gnetum. 



Gnetum, Linn. gen. Schreb. 1473. 



Gen. Char, Flowers amentaceous, males below in three 

 rows, females above in a single row. Corols none. Males 

 calyx bell-shape, woolly at the base; Stamen one, anthers two 

 lobed. Females calyx shut, becoming a berry sitting on a 

 lacerated scale ; Stigmas four, drupe one seeded. Jussieu. ed, 

 Ust. p. 445. Genera urticis amnia. 

 Gnetum gnemon~ Fig. No. 17. Linn. S. ed. Gmel. p. 1003, 



Syst. PI. Eeich. IV. p. 197. Gnemon domestica. 



Eumph. 1 p. 181. t. 72. 



Stem ; arboreous, erect. Branches : opposite, brachiate, 

 horizontal, towards the top of the stem shorter, forming a conical 

 head. Branchlets kneed, broader below the knots. Leaves 

 opposite, oblong oval, pointed, most entire, above glossy, below 

 smooth. Petioles short, convex below, flat above smooth, 

 spreading. Stipules none. Peduncles axillary, solitary three 

 cleft. Bracts two, lanceolate, very short, stem clasping, below 

 the division of the peduncle. Aments three, thread form, droop- 

 ing; composed of verticels remote, callous, thickened. Calyx 

 partial of each verticel peltate, orbicular, most entire; con- 

 taining sesile flowers, very minute; the males below in a triple 

 row; the females above, in one row. Of the males : Calyx pro- 

 per perianth one leafed, bell-shape with mouth almost entire, 

 surrounded with down at the base. Corolla none. Stam, fila- 

 ment one, clubbed, erect, twice as long as the calyx, emarginate ; 

 anthers twin, with cells disjoined; each cell two valved, split- 

 ting at the tip. Of the females: Calyx, Proper perianth one 

 leafed, ventricose, converging closely at the point, clothing the 

 germ, persistent ; surrounded at the base with a lacerated downy 

 scale. Corolla none. Pist: germ ovate, covered by the calyx; 



R. A. Soc, No. 53, 1909- 



