THE MONOCOTYLEDONES 



201 



the seventeenth century (Fig. 195 1). In this country it does not bear 

 ripe seeds and reproduces by means of its rhizome. The spadix is 

 about ID cm. long and i 5 cm. thick. It is composed of 700 to 800 closely 

 crowded flowers, each consisting of six perianth segments, six stamens and 

 a trilocular ovary. The fruit is a berry. In its native country it is probably 

 pollinated by flies. 



In the Monsteroideae we may refer briefly to Monstera (Fig. 1952) with 

 thirty American species. They are climbing shrubs with pinnatifid leaves 

 full of holes. It begins life as a climber but soon becomes epiphytic, with 

 aerial roots reaching down to the soil. The flowers are hermaphrodite. The 

 fruiting spikes of M. deliciosa are eaten as a fruit. 



In the Calloideae, the only species of the genus Calla, C. pa/ustris, 

 is a marsh plant occurring in central and northern Europe and 

 extending through Siberia. It also occurs in America. The shoots develop 

 in alternate years, bearing firstly long-stalked, roundish leaves with a 

 cordate base. Later a pair of foliage leaves are produced, together w^ith a 



Fig. 1953. — Aniorphophallus giganteus. Inflorescence. Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Kew. From a photograph in " The 



T» y 

 imes . 



