134 A FLORA OF MANILA 
1. C. ESCULENTUM (L.) Schott (C. antiquorum Schott). Gabi (Tag.); Taro. 
Leaves two or three or more, long-petioled, ovate, 20 to 50 cm long, 
glaucous, entire, acute or shortly and sharply acuminate, with a broad, 
triangular, basal sinus extending one-third or half-way to the insertion of 
the petiole, the basal lobes broad, rounded; petiole green or purplish, 0.2 
to 1 m long. Peduncles usually solitary. Spathe variable in length but 
usually about 20 cm long, the tubular part green, usually about 4 cm long, 
the limb lanceolate, acuminate, involute, yellow, about 20 cm long. Spadix 
cylindric, about 8 em long, green below, yellow or straw-colored above. 
Commonly cultivated in low wet lands, fl. SeptDec.; in general cultiva- 
tion throughout the Philippines. Probably a native of India, now cultivated 
in all tropical countries. 
In addition to the species considered above, some exotic forms are 
cultivated, especially of the American genera Anthurium and Philodendron. 
No attempt has been made to include these forms as material for proper 
classification has not been available. 
17. LEMNACEAE (DUCKWEED OR LIA FAMILY) 
Small or minute, green, scale-like plants, rootless or with capillary roots, 
floating on stagnant fresh water, propagated by budding, or by bulbils, 
rarely flowering. Flowers monoceious, 1 to 3 from the margins ‘or upper 
surface, naked or in a spathe, the perianth none. Stamens 1 or 2. Ovary 
1-celled, 1- to 7-ovuled. 
Genera 3, species about 20, in all countries, all genera and 4 or 5 species 
in the Philippines. 
Scio UR eee kage ck ai Bessie Pd FR oe) niente an Mil ial ca oh eran Ms 2D. Ree RG! acess Fe 1. Lemna 
Plants bearing several to many roots...............-----..----20----0ee-ee------ 2. Spirodela 
1. LEMNA Linnaeus 
Small floating plants bearing a single root, the flowers borne in marginal 
clefts. Filaments slender; anthers 2-celled. Ovules 1 or more. (Greek 
name of a water plant.) 
Species about 15 in all countries, 2 or 3 in the Philippines. 
1. L. paucicostata Hegelm. Lia (Tag.); Duckweed. 
Plant flat, green or both surfaces, elliptic to oblong-ovate, rounded, very 
slightly inequilateral, faintly or distinctly 3-nerved, 2 to 4 mm long. 
Common on stagnant pools of fresh water, sometimes nearly covering 
the surface; throughout the Philippines. Cosmopolitan in the tropics. 
2. SPIRODELA Schleiden 
Differing from Lemna in the plants bearing several to many roots. 
Species 2, of wide distribution, 1 in the Philippines. 
1. S. polyrrhiza (L.) Schleid. Lia (Tag.). 
Plant nearly or quite flat, orbicular to obovate, rounded, 4 to 7 mm 
long, faintly about 7-nerved, the upper surface green, the lower one 
purplish. 
Floating on pools of stagnant fresh water, occasional; widely distributed 
in the Philippines. In most temperate and tropical regions. 
