els Tas. 4589. 
ATACCIA cristata. 
Crested Ataccia. 
Nat. Ord. Taccacr®.—Hexanpria MonoGynia. 
Gen. Char. Flores hermaphroditi. Perigonit corollini tubus cum ovario con- 
natus : /imbus superus, sex-partitus, /aciniis interioribus majoribus, reflexis, per- 
sistentibus. Stamina 6, basi laciniarum limbi inserta : filamenta lata, superne 
concava ; anthere introrse, biloculares, loculis discretis, parallelis, concavitati 
intus adnatis, erectis. Ovarium cum perigonii tubo connatum; placentis parie- 
talibus tribus, bilobis, axim fere attingentibus, subtriloculare. Ovula plurima, 
amphitropa. Stylus brevis, crassus, trisulcus ; stigma capitato-trilobum, lobis 
emarginatis. Bacca semitrilocularis, polysperma. Semina lunata. Embryo mi- 
nimus, in basi albuminis carnosi ab umbilico remotus.—Herba in Indie orien- 
talis (Americeque tropice) humidis vigens; radice tuberosa, subconica, foliis om- 
nibus radicalibus, petiolatis, ovato-oblongis, acuminatis, venosis, integerrimis, pe- 
tiolis canaliculatis, basi subvaginantibus, scabris, scapo basi foliorum vaginis 
velato, indiviso, umbella terminali simplict, involucro subtetraphyllo, foliaceo, 
floribus pedicellatis, pedicellis filiformibus, sterilibus intermixtis. Endl. 
Ataccta cristata ; involucri foliolis tetraphyllis duabus seriebus insertis quorum 
2 interioribus superioribus unilateralibus erectis maximis ovato-rotundatis 
inferne longe attenuatis 2 exterioribus oppositis ovato-acuminatis patentibus, 
pedunculis sterilibus copiosis semipedalibus, foliis oblongis, scapis petio- 
lisque erectis elongatis levibus. . 
Araccta cristata. Kunth, Enum. Pl. v. 5. p. 466. 
Tacca cristata. Jack, Malay. Misc. in Hook. Bot. Misc. v. 2. p. 73. 
Tacca Rafflesiana. Jack, in Wall. Cat. n.5172. 
Both Endlicher and Kunth, though they follow Pres! in 
adopting this genus Afaccia for the entire-leaved species of 
Tacca, yet express their doubts as to the propriety of the sepa- 
ration. I am incompetent to pronounce, through a want of 
recent specimens of the original Zacca, on the value of the dis- 
tinctions : but, judging from the figures and dried specimens, the 
difference is more in habit than in essential character. acca 
has multifid leaves and tuberous roots, and may be considered 
an annual plant. Awtaccia has entire leaves, a short. subterra- 
neous conical stem or caudex, quite different from the tubers of 
the former. There is no difficulty, therefore, in recognizing the 
respective genera. & 
A. cristata, the subject here figured, has been long cultivated 
in the stove of the Royal Gardens of Kew, under the name of 
Tacca integrifolia, Gawl., and is a native of the Malay Islands 
and Archipelago. acca aspera, Roxb. (7. integrifolia, Gawl. 
in Bot. Mag. t. 1488, and of Roxb. Coromandel plants, vol. in. 
t. 257), from Chittagong, may be known by the short scape or 
flower-stalk, which, as well as the petioles, are scabrous. Tuacca 
JULY Ist, 1851. 
