150 } A FLORA OF MANILA 
long. Peduncle solid, about as long as the leaves, bearing from 4 to 6, 
large, umbellate, white, fragrant flowers, the spathe-valves oblong-lanceo- 
late, about 5 cm long. . Flowers about 9 cm in diameter, the ovary and its 
stalk green, the tube slender, about 5 cm long, narrowly funnel-shaped 
above the middle. Perianth-lobes ovate, acute or obtuse, spreading, about 
4 cm long and 3 cm wide. Appendages to the stamens greenish inside, 
quadrate, each 2-toothed, united into an erect cup; free parts of the fila- 
ments stout, erect. i 
Not uncommon in cultivation, fi. most of the year. A native of Colom- 
bia, now widely cultivated in most warm countries. 
25. TACCACEAE (TACCA OR PANARIEN FAMILY) 
Herbaceous plants from tuberous or creeping rootstocks, the leaves 
radical, lobed or laciniate. Scape erect, leafless. Flowers umbellate, sub- 
tended by leaf-like bracts. Perianth 6-lobed, superior. Stamens 6, at the 
base of the lobes, the filaments short, dilated or appendaged on each side, 
above dilated into an inflexed hood; anthers sessile within the hood. Ovary 
1-celled; style short; stigmas broad, or petaloid and umbella-like. Fruit 
fleshy and indehiscent, or at length 3-valved. Seeds many. 
A single genus of about 10 species, all tropical. 
1. TACCA Linnaeus 
Character of the Family. (From the local Amboyna name.) 
Coarse, erect, the petioles up to 1 m in length; leaves 1 to 1.5 m in diameter, 
3-partite, the segments variously lobed and toothed...... 1. T. pinnatifida 
Slender, the leaves 15 to 20 cm in diameter, pedately 5- or 7-partite, the 
BePIneTiCS entire re ee ree ee ee 2. T. palmata 
1. T. pinnatifida Forst. Panarien (Il.); Yabyaban (Tag.); Polynesian 
Arrowroot. 
Rootstock tuberous, depressed-globose, up to 30 cm in diameter. Petiole 
often nearly 1 m long, hollow, 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter, striate. Leaves 
tripartite, spreading, 1 to 1.5 m in diameter, the segments 2-fid or irregularly 
pinnatifid or pinnate at the base, often large, irregularly lobed. Scape up 
to 1.4 m long, hollow, tapering, green, erect 10- to 40-flowered, flowers 
crowded at the apex, pedicelled, drooping, intermixed with very long, 
filiform bracts, subtended by from 4 to 12, oblong, acuminate, 5 to 7 cm 
long, involucrate leaves. Perianth green and purplish, about 1 cm long. 
Fruit ellipsoid, or ovoid, smooth, yellowish, 6-ribbed, 3 to 4 cm long. 
In thickets, Pasay, Masambong, etc., occasional, fl. July—Aug.; widely 
distributed in the Philippines near the seashore. Tropical Asia and Africa, 
Malaya, Australia, and Polynesia. The fleshy roots are edible, the plant 
being cultivated in some countries. 
2. T. palmata Bl. Payong-payongan (Tag.). 
Rootstock tuberous, ovoid, small, 2 to 4 cm in diameter. Petiole slender, 
20 to 30 cm long. Leaves 15 to 20 cm in diameter pedately 5- to 7-partite, 
thin, the segments oblong to elliptic-oblong, entire, acuminate, the lower 
two on each side more united than the others. Scapes slender, about as 
long as the leaves. Flowers umbellate, pedicelled, purple and green, about 
8 mm long, the involucre usually of four leaves, the outer two broadly 
ovate, acuminate, nearly sessile, 3 to 6 cm long, the inner two with 
constricted bases, petioled. Fruit subglobose, fleshy, red, about 1 cm long. 
In thickets, Pasay, Masambong, ete., fil. June-July; widely distributed 
in the Philippines. Malaya. 
