90 CXLY, FLAGELLARIEE (BROWN). | Flagellaria. 
Orver CXLV. FLAGELLARIEA, (By N. E. Brown.) 
Flowers hermaphrodite or diccious, regular. Perianth 6-partite, 
persistent ; segments small, biseriate, subpetaloid or scarious, slightly 
unequal. Stamens 6, hypogynous or shortly adnate to the base of the 
perianth-segments ; filaments free ; anthers basifixed, introrse, dehis- 
cing by longitudinal slits. Ovary superior, 3-celled, with a solitary 
anatropous ovule in each cell; style short or none; stigma 3-lobed and 
sessile, or of 3 linear, spreading branches. Fruit a 1—3-seeded berry. 
Seeds with a crustaceous testa, and copious farinaceous albumen; em- 
bryo minute, lenticular, placed on the outside of the albumen near the 
hilum.—Herbs of robust habit, with stout stems bearing leaves up to 
the base of the inflorescence, erect or sarmentose, sometimes climbing by 
means of tendrils at the tips of the leaves. Leaves alternate, elongated, 
sheathing at the base, sometimes produced into a tendril at the apex ; 
veins numerous, parallel. Panicle terminal; flowers small, sessile or 
subsessile. 
A small Order of 3 genera, and about 8 species, confined to the warm regions of 
the Old World. Only 1 species in Africa. 
1. FLAGELLARIA, Linn.; Benth. et Hook.f. Gen. PI. iii. 860. 
Flowers hermaphrodite. Perianth subpetaloid; segments oblong, 
obtuse, the three outer slightly shorter than the inner. Stamens 6, 
hypogynous; filaments ultimately long and much exserted. Ovary 
with a short style and 3 linear stigmas. Berry 1- (rarely 2-) seeded. 
Seed globose or ovoid, with a crustaceous testa.—Stem sarmentose, 
climbing by means of the tendril-tipped leaves. Panicle terminal. 
Flowers small, spicate at the ends of the ultimate branchlets of the 
panicle. 
A small genus of 3 species, one African, one in Fiji, and the third widely dis- 
persed in the tropics of the Old World, but apparently not occurring on the continent 
of Africa. 
1, F. guineensis, Schumach. in Schumach. & Thonn. Beskr. Guin. 
Pi. 181. A tall climber, with a moderately stout herbaceous stem. 
Leaves sheathing ; sheath open to the middle, with the thin membranous 
margins often closely overlapping but never connate at the top; blade 
43-9 in. long, 6-13 lin. broad, elongate-lanceolate, gradually tapering 
from about the middle into a spiral tendril at the apex, abruptly con- 
tracted into a rounded base immediately above the sheath. Panicle 
terminal, 3-44 in. long, 2-4 in. broad, pyramidal, with ascending or 
spreading branches, the lower subtended by leafy bracts, the upper 
bractless. Bracteoles minute, hyaline, ovate or suborbicular, obtuse or 
subacute. Flowers subsessile along the rather slender flexuose or Zig- 
zag ultimate branchlets of the panicle, usually with distinct internodes 
between them, whitish or pale yellowish. Perianth campanulate ; 
segments 1-1} lin. long, 3 lin. broad, the 8 outer shorter than the 3 
