( 2307 ) 



Maranta arundinacea. Indian 

 Arrow-Root, 



& & & ft Jt iP. &, .'fri ifa fr, &. &. &. &. ^, 't', i^, 



*!«■ "T> <?» W W <fl» Jf? -T» «fc 4» MS <T» <T> ^» *J» Vf? 'Jff 



Class and Order. 



MONANDRIA MoNOGYNIA. 



Generic Character. 



Anthera simplex, filamento adnata. Stylus petaliformis. 

 Stigma subtrigonum. Sem. 1. 



Specific Character and Synonyms. 



Maranta arundinacea; culmo ramoso herbaceo, foliis 



ovato-lanceolatis subtus pilosiusculis. Roscoe in Lin. 



Soc. Trans. 8. p. 339. WUld. Sp. PL I. p. 13. Hort. 



Kew. ed. alt. 1. p. 2. 

 Maranta arundinacea ; Swartz. obs. p. 8. Redoute Lit. 57. 

 Maranta arundinacea ; culmo ramoso, corollis sexpartitis, 



pericarpiis monospermis. Lam. Encycl. 2. p. 588. 

 Maranta arundinacea Cannacori folio. Plum. Gen. 16. 



Mart. Cent 39. t. 39. 

 Canna indica radice alba alexipharmaca. Sloane Hist. 1 . 



p. 253. t. 149. nil prater folium. Raj. Hist. 3. p. 573. 

 Canna indica, angustifolia pedrculis longis ad imum folium 



nodo singular! geniculate. Pluk. Aim. 79. 



The genus Maranta belongs to the natural order of 

 Cannea? of Brown, as distinguished from the Scitaminea. 

 The present species is a plant of considerable interest, 

 the elegant article of diet, sold under the name of Indian 

 Arrowroot, being prepared from its roots, not, as has been 

 said, by drying and pounding, but by maceration in water 

 in the same manner as starch is made, from wheat, potatoes 

 and other farinaceous substances. Great quantities of this 

 search have of late years been imported into this country 



from 



