110 
Til ALAMI FLORAS. 
dad, and others of the West India Islands. It has probably- 
become so generally diffused, from the wild pigeons feeding on 
the berries, and thus conveying the seeds to distant parts. 
ORDER XXXVI. MARCGRAVIACEiE. 
Calycine sepals 2—7? ovate, generally coriaceous 
and imbricated. Corolla hypogynous ; sometimes 
monopetalous, and calyptriform ; at other times of 5 
petals. Stamens indefinite, inserted either on the re- 
ceptacle, or on a hypogynous membrane : filaments 
dilated at the base : anthers elongated, innate, burst- 
ing inwards. Ovary single, free : style 1 : stigma 
simple or capitate. Capsule coriaceous, commonly 
subglobose, many-valved, scarcely dehiscent : disse- 
piments from the middle of the valvules, but not 
meeting in the centre, so that the fruit is 1 -celled : 
seeds very numerous and very minute, nidulant in 
pulp. 
Shrubs ; with leaves alternate ; flowers in umbels or spikes ; 
and peduncles naked, or furnished with either simple or cucul- 
late hollow bracteas. Natives of equinoctial America, with the 
exception of one species, Antholoma Montana, found in New 
Caledonia. Properties unknown. 
I. Marcgravia. 
Calyx 6-partite, persistent, ovato-rotund, coria- 
ceous, imbricated, unequal. Corolla coriaceous, coni- 
cal, entire. Stamens in 1 row, inserted oil the mem- 
branule surrounding the ovary ; anthers oblong, lon- 
gitudinally dehiscent. Style scarcely any. Stigma 
thick, persistent. Capsule coriaceous, berried, sub- 
globose. 
Named in honour of George Marcgraff of Leibstadt, author 
of a work on the Natural History of Brazil, published in 1 G 48 . 
