BY THE REV. J. E. TENISON-WOODS, P.G.S., &C. 799 



undergi'ound stems or branches of stems more or less tuberous, 

 which become larger when the annual exposed part of the plant 

 is near its decay. These rhizomes are important as articles of 

 food. The Chinese call all yams Tai-shu or big potatoes. The 

 Japanese name is Yama-no-imo or mountain-potato. 



253. DiOSCOREA TRIPHYLLA, L. 



254. DiOSCOREA PENTAPHYLLA, L. 



255. DiOSCOREA HiRSUTA, Blume. 



COMMELYNACE^. 



256. CoMMELYNA NUDiFLORA, L. Little blue spider-worts with 

 nothing remarkable about them except their pretty flowers which 

 are generally seen in marshy places. The rhizomes of many of 

 the species contain so much starch and mucilage that they are 

 considered nutritious articles of food when cooked. 



257. COMMELYNA BENGALENSIS, L. 



258. Aneilema nudiflora, L. A widely spread species in 

 the East extending to Australia. 



259. Cyanotis axillaris, Roem. et Schult. This smooth annual 

 with long creeping branches, and flowers in short dense spikes in 

 a leafy bract or sheath, is common throughout all the East. 



260. Cyanotis cristata, Roem. and Schult. 



PANDANACE^. 



261. Pandanus odoratissimus, L. Pandan, Sabotan, Tagalo ; 

 Daun-bagea, Malay. The well known screw pines or screw palms, of 

 which there ai-e no less than twenty -one species in the Indian Archi- 

 pelago, and five in Australia, including the one mentioned above. 

 Seven or eight are recorded in the Philippines, including the one 

 mentioned here, which is widely spread over tropical Asia and the 

 Malayan Archipelago. In Queensland the screw pines are called 

 bread fruits. This may arise from the fact that the pith of P. hagea 

 is made into a kind of bread with sugar in Amboyna, and when 

 cooked is wholesome and palatable. The young leaves are also 

 boiled and eaten as a vegetable, but I do not know whether this 

 is true of more than one species. 



