Cassytha.] 
CX. LAURINE 2 E. 
1315 
row G, all perfect with introrse anthers, or rarely 8 of them (opposite the inner 
segments) reduced to linear or spathulate staminodia ; of the inner series 3 per- 
fect with extrorse anthers (opposite the outer perianth-segments), alternating with 
3 staminodia ; anthers all 2-celled ; glands 6, one on each side at the base of the- 
inner perfect stamens. Ovary free, scarcely immersed in the perianth-tube till 
after flowering ; stigma small, obtuse or capitate. Fruit drupaceous, completely 
enclosed in the enlarged persistent and succulent perianth-tube, usually crowned 
by the small persistent segments. Seed with a membranous testa. Embryo with 
thick fleshy cotyledons, distinct at an early stage, but completely consolidated 
when ripe, assuming the appearance of a fleshy albumen at the base of which the 
plumula simulates an embryo. — Leafless parasites with filiform or wiry twining 
stems attaching themselves to living plants (usually shrubs or trees) by means of 
small haustoria (suckers). Leaves replaced by minute scales. Flowers small, 
sometimes very minute, in pedunculate or rarely sessile spikes, which are either 
reduced to close heads or elongated and interrupted, or in racemes each flower 
sessile or pedicellate within a minute scale-like bract, with 2 similar bracteoles 
close under the perianth. 
The genus is chiefly Australian and more or less maritime, and the species enumerated are 
all endemic, with the exception of one which exteuds also over the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, 
and America. There are besides one or two species from S. Africa, and one from Borneo. — 
Benth. 
The anomalous habit of Cassytha, so exactly that of Cuscuta, has induced Lindley and others 
to propose it as a distinct natural Order, but the structure of the flower is so precisely that of 
Cryptocarya, that it has been again reunited with Laurinese as a tribe. The fruit is also the 
same with the exception of the hard endocarp, and the cotyledons are so completely consolidated 
in the ripe seed, that Gaertner described them as a fleshy albumen, mistaking the plumula, which 
is at least as much developed as in other Laurines, for the embryo. B. Brown pointed out this 
error, and Griffith and others figured the embryo with a distinct line of separation between the two. 
cotyledons. In the dried fruits I had at my disposal I could not detect any such demarcation, 
and I should have followed Gaartner in describing the seed as albuminous had it not been for 
Brown’s very decided contradiction, more especially as Colonel Champion in some sketches made 
from the living plant in Hong Kong seemed to confirm Gsertner’s view. On writing, however, to- 
Dr. Thwaites in Ceylon, he has kindly examined fresh seeds, and fully corroborates Brown’s and 
Griffith’s statements, explaining the discrepancies by the circumstance that it is onl' 7 at an early 
stage that the cotyledons are clearly distinct, the line of demarcation becoming obliterated long 
before maturity. — Benth. 
In several species the specimens show two forms of flower, always on different individuals, in 
the one the perianth-tube is exceedingly short, in the other it is globular and as long as the 
segments. In both, the stamens as well as the ovary appear to be perfect, usually more 
advanced in the latter than in the former ; but I have not as yet found any intermediate state, 
a circumstance which suggests a certain degree of unisexuality. Nees has generally and Meissner 
occasionally considered the two forms as distinct species, the one with a rotate, the other with 
an urceolate perianth, in which view, however, I cannot concur.— Benth. 
Flowers sessile in a spike or head. 
Flowers capitate, very small (the spikes contracted into ovoid globose or 
few-flowered heads). 
Spikes pedunculate. Flowers few, glabrous 1 . C. ylabella. 
(The spikes of C. puhescens, and C. melantlia, are sometimes capi- 
tate when in bud). 
Flowers spicate, the spikes when fully out oblong or elongated, the lower 
or all the flowers more or less distant. 
Flowers pubescent or villous. Ovary hirsute. 
Spikes short, almost capitate when young. Fruiting perianth globular 2 C. puhescens. 
Flowers glabrous or nearly so. Ovary glabrous. 
Flowers 1 to 1J line long. Spikes usually elongated, the flowers 
distant. 
Fruiting perianth with G raised ribs 3. C. paniculata. 
Fruiting perianth smooth, the ribs scarcely visible 4. C. filiformis. 
Flowers 2 lines long. Spikes very short 5. C. melantlia. 
Flowers (when fully out) pedicellate in a raceme, sometimes almost shortened 
into an umbel. 
Stamens opposite the inner perianth-segments reduced to linear staminodia 6. C. racemosa. 
