PLANTS JAVANICiE RARIORES* 623
be either transverse, that is, having its radicle distant from the umbilicus, or approximated to it.
The want of Albumen in this tribe is also a character of considerable value, but its absence is not quite so frequent as has been supposed, there being some room for doubt where its union with the cotyledons is most intimate.
The deviations from ordinary arrangement of the Anther ce may be considered as next in value to those already enume- rated ; of these modifications, that of the greatest importance is where the antherse are disposed in a simple series and equidistant ; this occurs I believe only when they are ten in number, or in the very rare case where they are reduced to five ; the mere number, where they are not equidistant nor closely approximated, seems to be of much less im- portance.
The degrees of development of stamina in the female flower can never be employed in the formation of genera : in several, perhaps in many cases, the antherse contain pollen, but, on comparing it with that of the male flower, I am disposed to believe it to be imperfect or effete. It would seem at first sight, that, in the numerous cases where the style is deflected, the stigmata are so closely approxi- mated to the antherse, that impregnation by their pollen is at least probable ; but by this deflection of style the stig- mata are equally exposed to the influence of the antherse of the male flowers, which are generally lateral, while the female is terminal, the exposure being nearly equal, whether the inflorescence is pendulous or erect.
The modifications of calyx in Sterculiea, especially in the depth of division and direction of its segments, have hardly more than specific or sectional value; and even those processes which occur in several species, either in the segments or tube, seem to be of no greater importance. The most remarkable anomaly of all is the induplicate aestivation found in a single species belonging to New Hol- land and in Sterculw villosa of Roxburgh. This mode of aestivation readily passes into the valvular in the corolla of several families, and is therefore of no great weight.
It is singular that so great a difference as that between
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