212 BOTANY OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. HERALD. 
the case in the Sandwich Islands, where, under the name of Kalo, — not Taro, as the Hawaiian language 
has neither a t nor an r, — it forms the chief portion of the food of the aboriginal inhabitants of that coun- 
try. In the Istlnnus, where the Tarn, the Sweet Potato, the Cassava, and other esculent tubers, succeed well 
atid are much eaten, the Oto is not very extensively grown, and does not form a large article of consump- 
tion. In the Isthmus it is solely cultivated for the sake of its tubers (or rather tuberous rhizomes), but 
in the Sandwich Islands it is also grown on account of its leaves, which, having been baked underground 
on hot stones, by the process so well described by the old voyagers, and having thus been deprived of 
acndity, are eaten, and taste in that state something like our spinach. As is the case with most vege- 
tables long attended by man, a great many varieties exist, distinguished from each other by the colour of 
the rhizomes and foliage, as well as by the height of the entire plant and the shape of the leaves. "Whilst 
in the Sandwich Islands I paid some attention to them, which led me to the conclusion that though all 
the different varieties of this plant might, like our apples, pears, or potatoes, be defined for horticultural 
purposes, yet that the whole of them may, for all botanical ends, be classed under three heads, viz. : — 
C esculenta, Schott, yar. a, aJha, Seem. Ehizomes, petioles, ribs, and veins of the leaves, white. 
C esculenta, Schott, ^,Jiavida, Seem. Ehizomes, ribs, and veins of the leaves, yellowish. 
C. esculenta, Schott, y, purpura^cens. Seem. Ehizomes, petioles, ribs, and veins of the leaves, more or 
less tinged: with a purplish colour. This last variety is considered the best of the three by the Hawaiiaus ; 
and the tribute of Kalos, w^hich the lower classes of the Sandwich Islands were compelled to pay to then- 
chiefs, was always understood to be discharged in it. 
935. Philodendron lacerum, Schott, Kunth, Enum. vol. iii. p. 50. Climbing on trees; island 
of Taboga, and neighbourhood of Panama. 
936. MoNSTERA ca/ijuefolia, Schott, Kunth, Enum. vol. iii. p. 61. In open places, generally on 
the banks of rivers, Province of Panama and Territory of Barien. 
937. Anthurium violaceim, Schott, Kunth, Enum. vol. iii. p. 67. Bay of Cupica, Darien. 
938. Antiiubium Hookeri, Schott, Kunth, Enum. vol. iii. p. 74. Chagres (Fendler). 
Several other Aroidete, besides those enumerated here, were collected by Pendler at Chagres ; and I 
noticed an additional species, called Oto cimarron or Ot6 de alagarto by the natives (perhaps a Caladium) in 
swampy places of the woods. 
PISTIACE^. 
This Natural Order was associated by most authors either with LemnacecB or Avoided, untU Klotzsch 
assigned to it, in his monograph on I>istm (Uber Pistia; Berlin, 1854), an independent station among 
Endlicher's Spadiciflora,- separated from it upon the advice of Schott, Amhrosina (which forms a tribe 
of the true AroiJeacca), and confirmed the position of Lemna amongst Fluviales. 
939. PisTiA Stratiotes, Linn. Zeyl. no. 322. In swamps, common al)out the city of Panama. 
Klotzsch has divided the old genus Pistia into three genera {Apiospermum, Umnonesls, and Pisiia), and 
twenty species. This view not having as yet been generally adopted by botanists, I may be permitted to 
retam the old name for this variable water-plant, especially as I myself entertain some doubts whether this 
extreme division of the genus is a natural one. I have no materials to test the t^vo new genera, but, ac- 
cepting Pistia proper, as now circumscribed by Klotzsch as correct, and confining myself to that, I must 
confess that the seventeen species ranged under that genus, appear to me to possess no characters upon 
which a botanist of the school to which I belong would be inclined to lay any stress. The leaves vary in 
