THE MONOCOTYLEDONES 2063 



three ranks which form well-marked spirals, probably due to torsion of the 

 stem. The flowers are minute but are produced in large panicles or crowded 

 in spadix-like inflorescences with large spathe-like bracts. They are 

 dioecious. The ovary is superior and the fruits are woody or with a pulpy 

 interior. 



The Pandanaceae are the only family. There are three genera, restricted 

 to the tropics of the Old World, and the Pacific Ocean; Pandamis, Freycine- 

 tia and Sararango. Of these the genus Pandaniis (Fig. 2001), the Screw 

 Pine, is the best known. They are shrubs or trees of striking habit, with 

 straight, slightly branched stems and stift', long, pointed leaves and large 

 prop-roots. About 180 species have been described. The female flowers 

 are produced in large heads enclosed in spathes. There is no perianth and 

 the one-seeded ovaries are closely coherent. They form a solid mass of 

 fibrous drupes. The plants are of considerable economic importance. 

 The leaves are used in weaving, especially those of P. tectorius which 

 is cultivated in Java; the fruits are sometimes eaten, especially those of 

 P. lerom which is known as the Xicobar Breadfruit; and the pericarp 

 of most species is rich in fibre. Several have sweet-scented flowers or leaves 

 which are used as ornaments in the East. The large quantity of pollen 

 found suggests that the plants may be wind-pollinated, but the warted 

 surface of the grains and the strong smell of the male inflorescence together 

 with the showy bracts make them attractive to insects and suggests that 

 entomophilous pollination may occur. The genus Freycinetia contains 

 some fifty species; they are scrambling shrubs occurring from Ceylon to 

 Polynesia. Pollination by bats has been observed in Java. The fruit is a 

 berry. Sararanga contains only a single species occurring in the Solomon 

 Islands and New Guinea. 



GLUMIFLORAE 



The Glumiflorae are Monocotyledons in which the flowers are either 

 small and naked or possess a perianth consisting only of hairs or scales, 

 subtended by scale-like bracts known as glumes and forming large, 

 compound, indefinite inflorescences. The stamens are usually three in 

 number arranged in a single whorl. The ovary encloses a single ovule and 

 bears from one to three styles. The fruit is generally a caryopsis or a nut 

 while the seed is endospermic and contains a large embryo. 



The plants are mostly annual or perennial herbs with slender stems, 

 elongated internodes, and linear leaves with parallel venation. The leaf is 

 divided into sheath and blade, sometimes with a membranous outgrowth, 

 or ligule, at the point of union. 



The order as here treated contains three families: Gramineae, 

 Juncaceae and Cyperaceae. Such a method is at variance with the view 

 expressed by Hutchinson in which the three families are included in separate 

 orders each with a single family. Of these families the Juncaceae and 

 Cyperaceae are of comparatively small importance while the Gramineae, 

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