THE MONOCOTYLEDONES 



Iridales Arales 



1989 



Alstromeriales 



Amaryllidales 



Dioscoreales 



Palmales 



Pandanales 



Agavales 



Liliales 



Hutchinson considers moreover that his primitive Lihaceous stock may 

 have originated either from the Commehnaceae or the Butomaceae or from 

 both. 



The LiHales in the above sense are Monocotyledons in which the flowers 

 are hermaphrodite, actinomorphic or shghtly zygomorphic and the perianth 

 mostly petaloid. There are usually six stamens which are inserted opposite 

 the perianth segments. The ovary is superior or semi-inferior, usually with 

 three loculi, and placentation is axile. The fruit is a berry or a capsule and 

 the seed possesses copious endosperm. 



The plants are herbs, possessing rhizomes, corms or bulbs, the stem 

 is either leafy or the leaves are clustered at its base or are all radical, rarely 

 they may be replaced by cladodes. They occur very widely in temperate 

 and subtropical parts all over the world. 



Hutchinson recognizes six families of which we shall consider only the 

 Liliaceae in detail, but will refer briefly to the Trilliaceae, Smilacaceae, 

 Pontederiaceae and Ruscaceae. 



The Trilliaceae are a small family erected by Hutchinson to include 

 four genera, of which Trillium and Paris are the only ones which need 

 concern us here. The genus Trillium contains thirty species occurring in 

 Europe, Asia and North America. Most of the species are cultivated under 



Fig. 1920. — Paris quadrifoUa. Solitary terminal flower with 

 large leafy bracts. 



