s 



44 MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN [VOL. 10 



Ule, collector of the type of Diomma, did not mention its palm-like appear- 

 ance. The only report in the literature of this characteristic is in Steyermark 's 

 description of D. fruticosa. However, field notes associated with the following 

 collections also make note of the palm-like nature of Diomma: D. ulei, J. A. 

 Steyermark 59798; D. fruticosa, T. Lasser 1786, B. Maguire & J. J. Wurdack 

 33808; Diomma species A, A. Steyermark 75699, J. A. Steyermark & J. J. 

 Wurdack 938. 



Monocarpy, that is, the condition in which death of a plant follows closely 

 after a single flowering and fruiting cycle, has only been noted once for Diomma 

 — in the field notes accompanying B. Maguire & J. J. Wurdack 33808, D. 

 fruticosa. More recently, in correspondence, Maguire has supplied the follow- 

 ing clarification: "Apparently the tree does not survive flowering and fruiting, 

 and dies after the fruits have become mature." Further indirect evidence is 

 obtainable in the field notes of T. Lasser 1786 that the inflorescence is terminal, 

 and in J. A. Steyermark 75699 that the tree is common in the sterile condition. 



Sohnreyia. 



1. Ovules in Sohnreyia are apotropous, the raphe is dorsal, and the micro- 

 pyle is directed upward. 



2. The locules of ovaries and young fruits are pubescent inside and possess 

 unicellular trichomes. 



3. Sepals are provided with tiny glandular cavities at their apices. 



4. Ovaries and young fruits are characterized by the presence of 2 dorsal, 

 elongate, sac-like secretory structures, one in each carpel wall. 



5. In Sohnreyia, staminal filaments (fig. 2E) possess wing-like processes at 

 their bases. These processes appear to be fused with the ventra of the filaments 

 for most of their length, their bifid apices being free and ligular and projected 

 ovary-ward. The actual nature of staminal processes here, and the expansions 

 of the filaments in Diomma, cannot be stated with certainty without more de- 

 tailed anatomical studies. 



NODE AND PETIOLE 



Although a number of specimens of Diomma were available for study, only 

 one, D. iflei, J. A. Steyermark 58982, proved to be more or less suitable for ana- 

 tomical study. Difficulty is encountered in interpretation of the vascular struc- 

 ture of the stem tip because of the crowded insertion of the leaves and corre- 

 spondingly telescoped internodal regions. However, it can be seen that Diomma 

 has multilacunar nodes with probably 9-15 traces entering the base of the petiole 

 (D. ulei-9, 11 ; Diomma species A, J. A. Steyermark 75699-13, 15). Trace num- 

 ber may even vary in a single specimen. The vascular tissue in the petiole was 

 traced from the point of attachment to the stem, the lower pulvinus, to the 

 insertion of the first pair of leaflets, the upper pulvinus. In the first 10 or 12 mm 

 of petiolar tissue, the originally discrete vascular strands fuse (fig. 3B). The 

 resulting vascular cylinder is deeply notched adaxially and corresponds to the 

 adaxial invagination toward the base of the petiole. Distally, the cylinder 

 becomes almost circular in transverse section and is only shallowly notched 

 above. This is true even though the petiole appears quite circular externally in 

 this area. Lignification and hardening of the vascular cylinder seem to proceed 

 from the abaxial to the adaxial regions. It may also be of importance to note 



