Descriptions of Malayan Plants, 363 



Fem. Ovarium superum oblongiim tetragonum. Stylus 

 nullus. Stigma peltatum, 4-lobum. Capsula oblonga, utrin- 

 que attenuata, 4-angularis, lateribus sulcatis, 4-locularis, 4- 

 valvis, valvis medio septiferis. Placentce nullae, praster des- 

 sepimenta. Semina numerosa, inclusa tunica membranacea 

 rufescente utrinque elongata acuta. Albumen oblongum, 

 embryone terete monocotyledone longitudine fere albuminis. 



Folia apice in cirrhum urniferum producta, Racemi prima 

 terminaleSf demum^ crescente caule, laterales et oppositifolii. 



This remarkable genus offers little affinity with any other, 

 and its place in the natural arrangement is undetermined. 

 Nothing can exceed the sportive variety which nature has 

 displayed in the adornment of these singular plants. Their 

 chief peculiarity is the urn-shaped appendage to the leaf, 

 the use and purpose of which it is not easy to discover. 

 Some Naturalists, who think it necessary in all cases to give 

 an answer to the question of " cui bono," have expatiated, 

 with more imagination than truth, on the benevolent provi- 

 sion of these vegetable fountains for the refreshment of the 

 thirsty traveller in tropical regions. Into this field of specu- 

 lation it is unnecessary to enter, or to detail the superstitious 

 ideas entertained respecting them, by the ruder inhabitants 

 of the countries in which they grow. 



The tendril hangs from the extremity of the leaf, frequent- 

 ly twisting itself round some neighbouring twig, and dilates 

 at its extremity into an urn, which turns upwards in such a 

 manner as always to preserve its perpendicularity. These 

 urns vary in form in the different species, and are frequently 

 tinted with the most beautiful colours. Some are long and 

 tubular, and others are variously dilated or inflated. They 

 are not, however, quite cylindrical, being all more or less 

 flattened anteriorly, and some species being there furnished 

 with two membranaceous wings or fringes. The bottom 

 of the urns is beautifully and finely punctate on the inner 

 surface, apparently by ducts or vessels, from which the water 



