258 BEMARKS ON DOOKNIA AND RYKA, 



rests on a sort of aerial roots, wliich stoot out in the form of rays, and 

 afterwards enter the ground; and the plant, which stands as it were on 

 stilts, is thus supported. There is also in the Tropical Flora another 

 form of plants, which, by its particular development of stem, and by 

 the aerial roots on which its stems are supported, and by many other 

 qualities by which it is distinguished, in many respects agrees with 

 the RhizopJwras (viz. that the Bliizo^liora is dicotyledonous), although 

 in others it differs : I mean, the group of Screw Pines {Pandaned)- 



It is to this last family that I wish to direct attention for a few 

 moments. Submitting the judgment of my communication wholly to 

 those who are better informed, I flatter myself that this important 

 family of plants will occupy more of the attention of naturalists, here 

 and in East India, as well perhaps as elsewhere, than has hitherto 

 been the case. 



The real Screw-pines are unknown in the New World. The Cyca- 

 dece^ which have been carried thither, do not belong to this group, but 

 form another and a separate one, which is pre-eminently American. 

 The Pandanece are trees or shrubs, from which roots now and then 

 shoot forth, and penetrate the ground, as in the RJiizopJiores, and sup- 

 port the stem, which might be said to rest on the top of a cone, which 

 is formed by the union of the air-roots. The leaves are for the most 

 part spirally arranged, in three rows; they are long and lanceolate, 

 and surround the stem with their sheaths. The marg-ins are generally 



6^"^ "^^ to 



spiny, and the dorsal nerve is especially so/ The leaves which imme- 

 diately enclose the flower, are smaller, often coloured, and they form 

 as it were sheaths, which surround the spadix. The stems are of 

 rather loose, woody structure, and (which is an exception among the 

 Monocotyledonous trees) they are branched. The flowers are of distinct 

 sexes, and the fruits grow in a concrete form, and yield, in some species, 

 good food. They are placed, in the natural arrangement, between 

 the Aroldem and Typhace(B. They differ sufiiciently from the last, 

 although they are not so easily to be distinguished from the first. 

 The people compare them with the Pine-apple, and indeed one should 

 be disposed to consider them gigantic Bromeliaeece, There are some 

 single forms of Pandanece^ Avhich agree with the American Bromelias, 

 as far as the exterior of the fruit is concerned ; but in their interior 

 structure they have nothing in common. The Pandanece are remarkable, 

 particularly in their monocotyledonous stem, which has a forked rami- 



