Page:Natural History Review (1861).djvu/385

Rh PHAOTlROaAMIA- 373

Gk., Tithgmalopsis, KL and Gk., Dichropliyllum, Kl. and Gk., Leptopus, Kl. and Gk., Adenopetalum, Kl. andGk., (B. Tithymalse, — Involucri lobi exteriores supra callo carnoso(Glandula)toti tecti), Euphorbia, L., Medusea, Kl. and Gk., Arthrothamnus, Kl. and Gk., Tithymalus, Scop, (to which belong most of the British species), Sterigmanthe, Kl. and Gk., Eupliorhiastrum, Kl. and Gk., Poin- settia, Grah.

Section Pedilanthese, Kl. and Gk. includes Pedilanthus, Neck., Hexadenia, Kl. and Gk. and Diadenaria, Kl. and Gk. ; — Antho- steineae, Kl. and Gk., the genus Anthostema, Juss.

Besides nearly ninety pages devoted to a systematic enumera- ration of species, &c. the essay contains a historical sketch of the Tricoccae, the treatment of the group by various authors, critical remarks on M. Baillon's work on Euphorbiacea?, and observations upon the changes proposed by the author. Kokntcke, Fr. — Monographic Marantearum Prodromus. — Nouv. Mem. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou. Tom. xi. pp. 297-362. With 8 plates.

The author's investigations on the structure of the flower in Marantaceae are based upon species cultivated in the St. Peters- burg Botanic Garden and upon herbarium specimens. He regards the corolla as tripetalous, and the staminodia as biserial. In Ma- ranta (and Phrynium) there are two staminodia in the outer series ; in Calatliea, Thalia, and Ischnosiplion, but one ; while in Monosticlie, Marantopsis, and Distention, they are entirely want- ing. The three staminodia of the inner series are either all pre- sent, — one bearing the fertile anther-cell, — or (in Distemon) one is abortive.

The structure of the several whorls of the flower in various genera is described in detail, as also that of the fruit and seed.

The distinctions between Cannaceae and Zingiberaceae are summed up as follows. In Cannaceae, it is the inner circle of staminodia, which, by preference, is developed, while the outer always remains incomplete. The fifth staminodium is petaloid and bears the fertile half-anther.

In Zingiberaceae, it is especially the outer circle of staminodia which becomes developed, the inner always remaining imperfect. The fertile stamen is the sixth of the series. It is symmetrical and bears a perfect anther.

A synopsis and critical descriptions of the genera of Marantecz (adopted as a Tribe of Cannaceae) is given. Ischnodphon and MonosticJie are genera founded by the author on South American and West Indian species. The characters of the last genus are not contrasted in the synoptical key owing to the allied genus Calatliea being described, through a lapsus, as destitute of an outer staminodium. The species are not described. ■ — ■ Ueber Calathea fasciata, Bgl. et Kor. und einige andere bunt-