CHAP. II. 
STAMENS. 
177 
which are less easy to reconcile with the idea of a two-celled 
type. In some Lauraceae the anther is divided into four cells, 
one placed above the other in pairs ; in jEgiceras it consists 
of numerous little cavities; and in the singular genus Rafflesia 
the interior is separated into many cellules of irregular figure 
and position, described by Brown as “ somewhat concentrical, 
longitudinal, the exterior ones becoming connivent towards 
the apex, sometimes confluent, and occasionally interrupted 
by transverse partitions.” In these instances the septa may 
be understood to arise from portions of the cellular tissue of 
the anther remaining unconverted into pollen. 
With regard to deviations from the usual mode of de- 
hiscence, Brown observes [Linn, Trans, xiii. 214.), “ that 
they are numerous : in some cases consisting either in the 
aperture being confined to a definite portion, — generally the 
upper extremity of the longitudinal furrow, — as in Dillenia 
and Solan um ; in the apex of each theca being produced 
beyond the receptacle of the pollen into a tube opening at 
top, as in several Ericaceae (Plate III. fig. 22.) ; or in the 
* two thecae being confluent at the apex, and bursting by a 
common foramen or tube, as in Tetratheca (see Plate IV. 
fig. 4.). In other cases a separation of determinate portions 
of the membrane takes place, either the whole length of the 
theca, as in Hamamelaceae and Berberaceae, or corresponding 
with its subdivisions, as in several Lauraceae, or lastly, having 
no obvious relation to internal structure as in certain species 
of Rhizophora.” In Lauraceae and Berberaceae the anthers are 
technically said to burst by valves (Plate IV. fig. 10, IL), 
that is to say, the dehiscence does not take place by a central 
line, but the whole face of the cell separates from the anther, 
and curls backwards, adhering to it only at the apex, to which 
it is, as it were, hinged. 
In Rhizophora, above alluded to, the anther is said by 
Mr. Griffith to be compressed, with the edges anterior and 
posterior, and to open by the separation of a valve from the 
sides, when the pollen is seen lying in alveolar excavations, 
the upper portions of which may be traced on the inner face 
of the valves. [Trans. Med. ^ Phys. Soc. Calcutta.) Mr. 
Griffith rightly explains this singular structure as a modifica- 
N 
