263 



table glue used for economical purposes in Brazil. The aromatic substance 

 called Vanilla is the succulent fruit of a climbing West Indian plant of the 

 order. 



Examples. The following are the sections proposed in my Orchidearum 

 Sceletos (1826.) 



§ I. Pollen simple, or consisting of granules in a lax state of cohesion. 



Tribe 1. Neottieje. Anther parallel with the stigma, and erect. (Good- 

 yera, Spiranthes.) 



Tribe 2. AitETHUSEiE. Anther terminal, opercular. (Pogonia, Epi- 

 pactis.) 



§ II. Pollen adhering in granules, which finally become waxy, and are in- 

 definite in number. 



Tribe 3. GastrodiejE. Anther terminal, opercular. (Gastrodia, Va- 

 nilla.) 



Tribe 4. Ophrydeje. Anther terminal, erect or inverted. Pollen masses 

 with a caudicula. (Orchis, Ophrys.) 



§ III. Pollen cohering in grains, which finally become waxy, and are defi- 

 nite in number. 



Tribe 5. Vande^e. Pollen-masses attached to the stigma by a transparent 

 caudicula and gland. (Oncidium, Brassia.) 



Tribe 6. EpiDENDREiE. Pollen-masses attached to the stigma by filiform, 

 powdery, refiexed caudicula?. (Bletia, Epidendrum.) 



Tribe 7. MALAXiDEiE. Pollen-masses loose, sometimes cohering at the 

 apex by a viscid, or powdery, or granular matter. (Malaxis, Dendrobium.) 



§ IV. Lateral anthers, fertile ; the middle one sterile and petaloid. 



Tribe 8. CypripediejE. (Cypripedium.) ' 



CCXLI. SCITAMINEiE. The Ginger Tribe. 



Cannje, Juss. Gen. 62. (1789), in par*.— Drymyrhizeje, Vent. Tabl. (1799) ; Dec. Ess. Med. 

 281. (1816).— Scitamine*, R. Brown Prodr. 305.(1810); Agardh Aph. 182. (1823); Rose. 

 Monogr.— Zingiberace js, Rich. Anal. Fr. (1808).— Amomejs, Juss. in MirbeVs Elem. 854. 

 (1815); Ach.Rich. Nouv. Elem. ed. 4. 438. (1828).— AlpiniacejE, Link Handb. 1. 228. 

 (1829), a § of Scitaminese. 



Diagnosis. Tripetaloideous monocotyledons, with a single 2-celled anther. 

 Anomalies. Hellenia abnormis has a unilocular monospermous ovarium. 



Essential Character.— Calyx superior, tubular, 3-lobed, short. Corolla tubular, irregu- 

 lar, with 6 segments in 2 whorls ; the outer 3-parted, nearly equal, or with the old segment, 

 sometimes differently shaped ; the inner (sterile stamens) 3-parted, with the intermediate seg- 

 ment (labeHum) larger than the rest, and often 3-lobed. the lateral segments sometimes nearly 

 abortive. Stamens 3, distinct, of which the 2 lateral are abortive, and the intermediate 1 fer- 

 tile ; this placed opposite the labellum, and arising from the base of the intermediate segment 

 of the outer series of the corolla. Filament not petaloid, often extended beyond the anther in 

 the shape of alobedor entire appendage. Anther 2-celled, opening longitudinally, its lobes often 

 embracing the upper part of the style. Pollen globose, smooth. Ovarium 3-celled, sometimes 

 imperfectly so ; ocula several, attached to a placenta in the axis ; style filiform ; stigma dilated, 

 hollow. Fruit usually capsular, 3-celled, many-seeded; occasionally berried "(the dissepi- 

 ments generally central, proceeding from the axis of the valves, at last usually separate from 

 the latter, and of a different texture. R. Br. Seeds roundish, or angular, with or without an 

 arillus (albumen floury, its substance radiating, and deficient near the hilum. R. Br.) ; embryo 

 enclosed within a peculiar membrane (vitellus, R. Br. Prodr. ; membrane of the amnios, ibid, in 

 King's Voyage, 21), jivith which it does not cohere. — Aromatic tropical herbaceous plants. 

 Rhizoma creeping, often jointed. Stem formed of the cohering bases of the leaves, never 

 branching. Leaves simple, sheathing, their lamina often separated from the sheath by a ta- 

 per neck, and having a single midrib, from which very numerous, simple, crowded veins di- 



