104 
WEIGHT : THE GENUS DIOSPYEOS 
Hiern* gives the number of stamens in each male flower of 
D. afiflnis as six to sixteen, usually about nine, and some or 
all in pairs. It is thus clear that in D. Embryopteris and D. 
affinis the staminal whorls are widely different, and until 
some intermediate links have been observed the evolution of 
the sex must remain particularly problematical. 
Turning to Group D. (dioecious only), in D. attenuata the 
members of the staminal whorl are few in number. Each 
female flower possesses four to five epipetalous staminodes 
which alternate with the corolla segments ; whereas each male 
flower has a variable number,four to six,of epipetalous stamens, 
but their orientation is not constant. It is somewhat remark¬ 
able if no fixed orientation exists when the members of the 
male staminal whorl are so few in number. The male flowers 
are so very small, often less than 1 mm. diameter, that to 
determine the exact orientation is a difficult undertaking. 
The flowers of D. Melanoxylon show a variability in the 
staminal whorl in both sexes. The female flower possesses 
accessory whorls in parts of five and six. In those I have 
examined there has usually been twelve staminodes, either 
hypogynous or epipetalous, but in positions opposite to and 
alternate with the corolla lobes. Hiern| states that the 
staminodes may be eight or ten in number. Each male 
flower possesses from eight to twelve and even sixteen 
stamens. When sixteen in number they are always in eight 
pairs, though according to HiernJ it is rare that one finds 
eight single stamens only. In one flower there were twenty 
stamens arranged as a hypogynous group. The variability 
in number of stamens and staminodes and their occurrence 
mainly in the hypogynous position renders it inadvisable to 
make any definite statement as to the derivation of one from 
another or from a common parent. 
In the flowers of D. pruriens and D. quæsita the staminodes 
of each female flower are equal in number to and alternate 
with the corolla segments, whereas the male flowers possess 
a more or less hypogynous group of twelve or twenty 
* Hiern, Z.c., p. 169. J Hiern, l.c., p. 159. f Hiern, Z.c., p. 160. 
