214 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY. 
Prof. Von MartiuSj in his later work, after enumerating the 
several characters showing its affinity towards Styracece, expresses 
his opinion that this relationship rests more on outward appear- 
ances than on reality ; and he proceeds to state his reasons for 
suggesting its nearer affinity to Moutabea (which genus he 
illustrates at the same time), and, through it, to Polygalacea. 
This affinity does not appear to me evident, for the following 
reasons : — in Moutabea, both calyx and corolla are really tubular, 
and are confluent together for half their length ; the borders of 
the calyx and corolla are both alike in size, and each divided 
into flve segments of unequal proportions; the stamens are 
combined into a free tube terminating in a ventricose fleshy 
hood, cleft on one side, as in Polygalacea, — points of structure 
at variance with those of Diclidanthera. Again, in Moutabea 
the ovules are attached by their middle to the centre of the 
axile column ; the seed has no albumen, and its embryo has 
large oblong fleshy cotyledons, with a minute radicle drawn in 
between them on the side of the shorter axis, — features, again, 
incompatible with all that is found in Diclidanthera. 
In this genus, as stated on a foi’mer occasion*, although the 
corolla assumes a tubular form, it is not really gamopetalous ; 
the tube is composed of five narrow linear petals, loosely held in 
juxtaposition by the simple application and agglutination of the 
thin membranaceous stamens upon their inner surface. Of this 
fact we may easily be convinced by moistening a flower, then 
laying hold, one by one, of each segment of the border and 
pulling it downwards, when each petal comes away separately, 
without the laceration of either of its margins. Indeed, Mar- 
tins, in describing the corolla as being monopetalous, qualifies 
this by admitting it to be “ quasi a petalis 5 secundum mar- 
ginem leviter coalitis but in stating that the free lobes of its 
border have a quincuncially imbricated aestivation, he has over- 
looked the fact that the margins of their lower portions, in 
forming the tube, overlap each other contorsively, — that is to 
say, if we look from the centre of the flower, the dexter margin 
of each petal is introrse, while the sinister side is extrorse, and 
quite free in its entire length, appearing like a keel twdsted 
sideways, and ciliated to the base : they are simply held toge- 
ther, as above mentioned, by the adhesion of the extremely thin 
monadelphous tube of the stamens; and from, the point at 
which that tube terminates, the remaining upper portions are 
quite free, constituting what have been termed the segments of 
the border. The same fact is again shown by laying hold of 
each anther separately and pulling it downwards, when a cor- 
* Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 2. ix. 130 ; Contrib. to Bot. p. 46. 
