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Taxonomically it stands in the Zingiberaceae near Phrynium. 

 In habit above ground it resembles the Turmerics (Curcuma) but 

 has the pseudo-stem of Amomum ; the subterranean habit is very 

 similar to that of some of the Phryniums. According to Grise- 

 bach, the flower is small, white, and borne in roundish heads, like 

 those of ginger — very unlike the large, fragrant, pale lilac, radical 

 flower of Calathea (Phryiiiiini) zcbrina. 



The clumping habit of the family is exemplified in the slow- 

 spreading cluster of 10 to 25 loosely attached "heads," each of 

 which bears a false stem composed of 4 to 8 erect, sheathing 

 petioles. These " heads" may be considered as a kind of short 

 stem, some 2 to 3 inches long and about I inch in diameter, or as 

 a rhizome lying just beneath the surface of the soil and receiving 

 at its base the roots and tuber stipes. New shoots are produced 

 either from the tip of the " head" or from the side ; thus the indi- 

 vidual head is at least biennial while the clump is, of course, 

 perennial. Growth ceases at the end of the rainy season, about 

 December, and begins about April : the mat of dead leaves serves 

 to protect the succulent, truncate " heads" from the fierce winter's 

 sun. 



The oblong-linear or linear-lanceolate leaf blade tapers abruptly 

 at the tip but runs very gradually at the base into the slender, 

 yellowish, channelled petiole. The strong veins, running at a 

 rather small angle with the mid-rib, especially near the base, give 

 the lamina a somewhat corrugated appearance ; and though the 

 petiole is always erect and rather stout, the mid-rib allows the long 

 blade to droop gracefully. 



Strong clumps growing in rich, cool soil or in partial shade 

 attain a height of 3 or even 4 feet, the leaves from the central 

 heads being much taller than those from the outside of the clump. 

 By nature the Lleren is evidently a plant of the jungle and shaded 

 river banks. At present it does not lappear to grow wild any- 

 where in Porto Rico ; like the " Yautia" {Xanthosoina spp.), it seems 

 to have become through its hundreds of centuries of domestication 

 an utter slave to human husbandry. In ifact it rarely flowers and 

 never (?) produces seed; while it is not impossible to find natives 

 who will admit having seen the large " Yautia" (Xanthosma) 

 flowers, I have been uable to find one who remembered seeing 

 those of the Lleren. 



The most important part of this interesting plant, however, is 

 the peculiar tuber-like bodies which are borne on slender roots 

 or stipes, from 3 to 6 inches beneath the soil surface. This 

 pseudo-tuber is oval or elliptic in shape, from I to 2 inches in 

 length, and covered with a thin smoothish cuticle of a pale yellow- 

 ish colour ; a few small rootlets are attached to the outer skin as 

 well as to the stipe. The fact that no " eyes" are present pre- 

 cludes its being termed a tuber, but the abruptness with which it 

 arises at the tip of the more or less specialized root which is not 

 continued within the starch body, mark it as the limit of a root 

 running tuberward. The centre of this body, to the extent of 

 about one-third of the entire content, is occupied by a translucent 



