In dense woods on the top of the high hill east of
Coonoor, Neilgherries, flowering April and May.
Blume, the founder of this genus, defines it “ monoecious,
calyx deeply six-parted; lobes in 2 series,
petals alternate, shorter than the calyx; inserted, in
the male, round an emarginate stameniferous disk.
Male, stamens six, subulate; cells of the anthers
roundish, extrorse; 3 rudimentary styles in the centre.
Female, ovary 3-celled, cells 2-ovuled; styles three,
short, divaricated. Fruit capsular, 3-coccous, with
1-2-seed in each. A slirub about 15 feet high with alternate,
2-stipulate, elliptic, oblong, entire, coriaceous,
glabrous, veined, leaves. Flowers axillary, glomerate,
bracteate; males sub-sessile; females longish pe-
duneled.
_ In all these particulars my plant, with the exception
of the_ number of parts of the flower, accurately
agrees—5 in mine 6 in his—and as the number may
vary, I see no reason, on that account, for forming a
separate genus for mine.
There is however one very important point in mine,
to which he does not advert and which merits particular
notice as it may yet lead to their separation; I
allude to the structure of the seed. In mine they are
exalbuminous! I f in the Java plant they are albuminous,
then that character* added to the difference
in the number of the parts of the flower, will claim
for the Indian plant a separate geneiic name. And
on the supposition that so accurate an observer as
Blume could scarcely have overlooked a circumstance,
so rare, in the order, I had in the first instance constructed
a generic character for this plant, under the
name of Sarcospernwn,—in allusion to the structure of
the seed—from which I quote the following sentences,
“ capsule 3-seeded by abortion, seed large, fleshy,
exalbuminous: cotyledons unequal, the larger exterior
one nearly inclosing, and in great part concealing,
the interior smaller one.” The figures 11, 12,
13, and 14 imperfectly represent this formation. With
these notes I leave the future disposal of this plant
for the decision of observers who may have an opportunity
of examining the Java plant.
1911. Amanoa Indica (R. W.), anthers innate.
Coiu'tallum, in alpine jungle.
Shrubby or sub-arboreous, ramous: leaves alternate,
oblong elliptic, entire, acuminate, coriaceous, glabrous.
Flowers axillary, glomerate, male and female mixed,
bracteate : bracts ciliate. Male: calyx 5-parted, lobes
ovate with 5-alternate glands adhering to the margin
of a glandular disk: stamens 5, inserted round the
base of a rudimentary 3-lobed pistil, anthers innate,
cells divaricating at the base. Female: calyx, glands,
and disk as in the male; no rudimentary stamens:
ovary nearly concealed within the connivant disk,
very hairy, 3-celled, with 2-ovules in each : styles 3,
deeply cleft; lobes stigmatose: capsule 3-celled, 3-
furrowed, obsoletely 3-angled: cells 1-seededby abor-.
tion, seed------. In my specimens none of the seed
are sufficiently advanced for dissection.
Of this genus, up to the present time, only one species
lias been published, viz. A. Guianensis, but A.
de Jussieu states that he saw 2 others from the same
country. The Indian plant differs from his generic
character in regard to the stamens, in his the anthers
are adnate to the dilated apex of the filament, and
extrorse; in mine they are innate (attached to the
point of the filament). In all other points my plant
agrees so well with his character as leaves me no
room for hesitation in placing it in that genus. My
herbarium possesses a second species from Ceylon.
The two affording new links connecting these distant
floras.
1912-13. PlERARDEA MACROSTACHYS (W. and A.),
Males; spikes fascicled on the naked branches: flowers
ternate, short pedicelled; perianth 4-5-parted, lobes
linear, pubescent on both sides : stamens 8-10, inserted
round the base of a 2- or 3-lobed rudimentary
pistil: female; racemes fascicled as in the male, much
longer: flowers solitary in the axil of each minute
b ra ct: perianth 5-parted, pubescent: ovary hairy,
truncate at the apex, 3-celled: cells 2-ovuled: fruit
pulpy, baccate, red when ripe, about the size of a
large strawberry, 3-celled, 3-seeded: seed compressed,
covered with fibrous membrane: no a r il: embryo
thin, enclosed in copious albumen: cotyledons folia-
ceous, orbicular: radicle short, superior.
Mountain forests, Malabar, Anamallay forests.
Western slopes of the Neilgherries below Sisparah ?
In the above extended, descriptive character, I have
felt myself under the necessity of avoiding reference
to the leaves, from finding a marked discrepancy between
those given on the two plates which I had not
observed when preparing them. The leaves shown
in 1912 are unquestionably those of a Pierardia, but
I now find they appertain to what appears a d iffe ren t
species from the flowers: while those of 1913, though
forming part of the specimen, are yet detached from
the flowers. They differ from the other in being
opposite, hence a suspicion arises that they do not
belong to the tree or indeed to the same genus. If
on further investigation it turns out that they really
do belong to it, the two species may be defined, as
regards each other, in two words, the one, “ leaves opposite,”
the other, “ leaves alternate.” This difficulty
cannot at the present moment be cleared up, but in
the mean time it seems to me they are distinguish -
able by the flowers alone, in the one, P . macrostachys,
the segments of the calyx are linear lanceolate, in
the other sub-orbicular; there are besides points of
habit easily appreciable to the eye but not easily
defined in words.
At one time I thought I could define them by the
relative number of stamens and lobes of the calyx,
the numbers being equal in the one, 2 to 1 in the
other. This I soon found inapplicable in practice,
from finding in both great irregularities. The figures
in this species give examples of two flowers showing
respectively 4-5 sepals and 8-10 stamens; two or
three other variations might have been introduced,
such as stamens and sepals equal, stamens, 5-6-7, &c.
with 4-5, sepals no uniformity of numbers. The
other is similarly irregular, so that so far as I have
been able to advance it would appear that positive
characters are not readily obtainable from the relative
numbers of these two parts, though I certainly
think that they may be employed if some latitude
were allowed.
P . macrostachys, lobes of the perianth linear lanceolate,
acute, hairy: stamens usually twice as many:
rudimentary pistil 2-3-lobed.
P . Courtallensis, lobes of the perianth 4-6, sub-
orbicular, blunt, covered with very short rigid hairs:
stamens about equal in number when five or six-
lobed: oftener double when four lobed: rudimentary
pistil discoid: leaves alternate, samewhat obovate,
cuniate, ending in a short blunt acumen, entire, glab-
C so ;