425 
Geophilous Species of Peperomia . 
relationships of the various genera to one another, and possibly also of 
the different Natural orders ; but it seems unlikely that such a study will 
reveal the phylogeny of the whole group, owing to its highly specialized 
character and the xerophytic modifications which have occurred. 
The affinities between two such simple orders as the Piperaceae and 
Araceae appear to be much more close and definite than between the 
anomalous Ranunculaceae and the highly specialized Liliaceae, and in 
the former case the modified pseudo-monocotyledonous Peperomias show 
definite homologies in their adult condition with the Monocotyledons. 
The geophilous Peperomias then may represent a recent attempt, 
by a fairly simple and possibly primitive group of Dicotyledons, to attain 
to the geophilous condition reached by Monocotyledons. 
This attempt must be regarded as a perfectly independent develop- 
ment, which has happened to have worked along lines similar to those 
which in times past gave rise to the existing class of Monocotyledons from 
a dicotyledonous ancestry. 
EXPLANATION OF FIGURES IN PLATES. 
Illustrating Mr. A. W. Hill’s paper on Peperomia. 
Figures 1-29 have been drawn from my own material preserved in spirit, and Figs. 30-47 from 
herbarium material. Figs. 1, 2, 18, 24-26, 28, 29 to 31 are from photographs. The rest are from 
my own drawings. The natural size of the specimens is indicated alongside each figure in most cases. 
PLATE XXIX, 
Figures 1-17. Peperomia peruviana , Dahlst. 
Fig. 1. A fully developed bulbous plant, showing the bulb ( cm ) with the roots springing from 
the sides, the peltate orbicular leaves and the inflorescences ( s ). Nat. size. A. W. Hill, no. 180, 
in Herb. Kew. 
Fig, 2. An older specimen with a large and irregular corm and much longer petioles and 
inflorescences. Nat. size. 
Fig. 3. A fruit in median longitudinal section, showing style and stigma (j) ; the pericarp (p), 
with its gland-cells (g), the testa (/), perisperm {pm), and the outline of the endosperm {e). Mag. 
x 64. 
Fig. 4. A small piece of the outer layers of the pericarp, showing the slight pit with a single 
gland-cell. Mag. x 300. 
Fig. 5. Very young seedling, both cotyledons are enclosed in the seed and there is a slight 
hypocotyledonary swelling. The petiole of the aerial cotyledon {c 2) is the more sharply bent. 
Fig. 6. Slightly older seedling, the aerial cotyledon has been withdrawn from the seed ; cf» 
Text-fig. 3, p. 402. 
Fig. 7. The petiole has straightened and the peltate lamina has expanded, the absorbent 
cotyledon (c x ) remains within the seed. 
Fig. 8. A seedling of about the same age as Fig. 7 ; the seed has been dissected off and the 
seedling placed in glycerine. The lamina of the aerial cotyledon shows three veins, whilst that of 
the slightly peltate absorbent cotyledon has only a single median vein. The fusion of the two 
cotyledonary traces below the plumule can also be seen. 
