122 . BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AND PRODUCTIONS. 



C. EoirxBus, L. S. China. 



C. /ic.msfacJn/KS and tenuijioriis, Eottb. 



C. perfeiiuis, Koxb. 



C. bidbosus, Vahl. 

 C. BisTAifs, L. S. China. Ceylon. India. 



C. PTGMJEUs, Vahl. _ Burma (M.). 



C. DiLrrus, Vahl. Kamorta (K.). Cej'lon. 



Some species of Ci/penis yield an esculent root, which is of value in times of 

 scarcity, as C. esculent us and C. bullosus, -which last species grows near the sea in 

 Southern India, and is pleasant to the taste. C. liexastaijchus is another species, 

 sufficiently Iragrant to be sought for its perfume. Other species may probably 

 produce edible roots, as Mason mentions one, which is occasionally seen in Burma, 

 which tastes something like filberts. C. inundatus is found on mud banks in Bengal, 

 which it helps to protect from the wasting action of the water. In other respects 

 the utility to man of reeds and rushes is not great, but some species can be woven 

 into mats, and it was fi-om a species of this family, Papyrus ant i quo mm, an inhabitant 

 of tropical Africa, that the earliest substitute for paper was made by cutting the 

 culm into thin slices, very much as shola {^schynoinene 2}a!ndosa) is now used in 

 India for various industrial purposes, or the so-called rice paper of China, the pith of 

 Fatsia papi/rifira, on which the soft and brilliant water-colour paintings of Chinese 

 subjects are made. 



Mason gives the native names of several species of Cuperacem as follows : 

 "Wet-myit-u ; Myit-kyet-thwon ; Tor-kyet-le-hli ; and in Sgau, Hsgai-ka-tho ; Tlie- 

 ki-kho ; 0-bo, and Ta-pro. 



RESTIALES. 

 Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual, regular or not. Perianth of 4 or 6 glumaceous, 

 scarious or membranous segments in 1 or 2 series, or reduced to scales or wanting. 

 Stamens 1 to 3, free or united into a cup. Oeary usually 3-celIed. Ocules solitary, 

 pendulous, orthotropous. Fruit capsular, rigid or membranous. Enibryo outside 

 the base of the albumen. 



Order EEIOCAULONE.^. 



Flou-ers monoecious or dicccious. Perianth inferior, double, the outer bi- or tri- 

 phyllous, the inner subtubular, trifid or bifid. Stamens double the number of the 

 perigonial leaflets, inserted on the inner, the alternate often sterile. Ocarij superior, 

 of 2 or 3 uni-ovular cells. Oniles pendulous, orthotropous. Capsule bi- or tri-ceUed, 

 loculieidal. Seeds albuminous. 



Eeiocaulon, Linnaus. 



Floicers sessile, in androgynous (rarely dioecious) heads, with imbricated bracts, 

 1 under each flower, and a few outer ones empty. Male flowers, perianth of 6 or 4 

 segments, the outer free, or united, inner ones basally united into a solid stalk. 

 Anthers 2-celled. Female flowrs, perianth segments all distinct, or the inner shortly 

 united. Sti/le single, with 3 or 2 stigmas. Capsule 3- or 2-lobod, opening at the 

 angles. Aquatic or marsh plants. 



E. LONoiFOLmr, Nees. Kamorta (K.). 



E. TRuxcATUM, ILuu. Kamorta (K.). Ceylon. Silhet. 



E. ■\VALLicniAxrii, ^Mart. Tavoy (M.). Ceylon. S. China. 



F. Cantoniense, Hook. 



F. longifolium, Nees (?). 

 E. SETACEUM, L. Tavoy. Ceylon. 



E. intermedium. Koernicke. 

 E. CEISTATUM, Mart. Khasi Ilills. Ceylon. 



E. miserum, Kwruicke. 



