BOTANY. 
699 
a fragment of it to England in 1856, and on my pointing 
out its probable interest, promised to procure more on his 
return to New Zealand, this he did ; and early in the pre- 
sent year I had the pleasure of receiving from him a dried 
specimen of the female plant, a perfect male inflorescence in 
a letter, and a pen and ink sketch of the peduncle and flowers, 
with notes on the same. Owing to the great contraction of 
the cellular tissue, and blackening and fragility of the only 
entire specimen, which was unfortunately loosely packed in a 
box and much damaged, I have had considerable difficulty in 
so restoring the parts as to enable Mr. Fitch to complete the 
accompanying Plate, and myself to make the necessary 
analysis. 
“ The most remarkable character of Dadylanthus is its 
inflorescence, which, instead of presenting the solitary capi- 
tulum or spadix of most of its allies, or the branched character 
of Sarcophyte , consists of numerous erect spadices, densely 
covered with flowers. Of these the males consist of a solitary 
stamen, not articulate with the spadix, and without any trace 
of perianth, and hence present by far the most reduced form 
of male flower in the Order. The female spadices present a 
crinite appearance from the long flexuose styles of the flowers. 
The ovary appears to be compressed, furnished with a short 
thick stipes, and its upper part is contracted into a short 
thick neck, apparently consisting of the tube of the perianth 
connate with the base of the style : this contracted part 
varies much in width and breadth, and sometimes appears 
as if reduced to the adnate bases of the subulate lobes of the 
perianth. 
“ I have not been able to ascertain the nature either of the 
contents of the ovary, which is extremely minute, and crum- 
bles into black powder on being touched, or of the tissues of 
the rhizome and peduncle, which do not seem to differ 
materially from those of other Balanophorece. 
“ The position of Dactyl cinthus is amongst my first group 
of Balanophorece, the Monostyli ; but in many respects it 
partakes of the structure of various genera of Distyli, and is 
not very nearly related to any described genus. In habit it 
