Saprophytic Monocotyledon . 
53 
General Remarks on Protolirion. 
A. Vegetative Structure . 
The structure of the roots tends to show that Protolirion 
is not a parasite. No connexion between them and other 
plants could ever be se'en, nor any trace of the existence 
of haustoria. On the other hand, the root structurally agrees 
with that of a saprophyte (cp. Burmanniaceae ; Triuris and 
some species of Sciaphila ; Gentianaceae) in the following 
points : (i) absence of root-hairs, (2) presence of a well- 
developed cortex, containing endotrophic mycorhiza, (3) small 
size of the central cylinder, and the minuteness of the vessels. 
The whole central cylinder of these relatively long roots is 
less in size than is one single fair-sized vascular bundle of the 
rhizome, which suggests, not conduction of nutritive solutions 
along the cylinder, but a general absorption taking place over 
the whole surface of the root. 
B. Flowers . 
Beccari gives the following generic characters as charac- 
teristic of Petrosavia , and I have italicised those which do not 
agree with Protolirion : { Perigonium trigonum 6-partitum, 
persistens coloratum, inferum , phyllis inaequalibus, 3 exter. 
minoribus angustioribus basi omnibus connatis. Stamina 6 , 
phyllis opposita et eorum basi inserta : filamenta subulata ; 
antherae biloculares apici acutiusculae basi bilobae, basifissae, 
introrsae. Ovaria tria , perigoni phyllis angustioribus opposita, 
ex ima basi libera sessilia follicularia erecta ; stigmata sessilia 
vix incrassata , papillosa ; ovula horizontalia, anatropa, placen- 
tis 2, latis, marginalibus et ventralibus bi- triseriatim adfixa. 
Fructus trifollicularis, folliculis siccis, horizontalibus, sutura 
ventrali hiantibus .... Praefloratio valvaris.’ The rest of 
the description agrees, as far as it goes, with the parts repre- 
sented in Protolirion . 
