72 CXXVIII. PONTEDERACE E. 
Orpen CXXVIII. PONTEDERACEZ. 
Flowers usually slightly irregular, hermaphrodite. Perianth inferior, 
h 2 
with or without a distinet tube, the limb or whole perianth of 6 eoloured 
similar. Stamens 6 or 8, attached to the base of the lobes or segments, 
often dissimilar ; anthers 2-celled, opening laterally or inwards by longi- 
tudinal slits or terminal pores. Ova superior, 3-celled or with 3 
parietal placentas, with 1 or more ovules to each cell or placenta; style 
single with a terminal 8-lobed or 6-toothed stigma, Fruit a capsule, 
opening loculicidally in 8 valves, but sometimes enclosed in the persistent 
tube of the perianth. Seeds albuminous, with a slender embryo, the 
radicle next to the hilum.—Aquatic herbs, i 
with numerous parallel veins. Flowers b 
racemes proceeding from the sheath of the last or only leaf of the seape, 
usually with 1 or 2 sheathing bracts at the base of the peduncle. 
A small order dispersed over the tropical and sub-tropical regions of both the New 
and the Old World, extending in No erica to more temperate districts. 
Australian species belongs to a genus confined to the ld World, whilst the 
oth are exclusively Ameri e order only differs from Liliacee in 
er gene can. only diff 
the aquatic habit and the slight irre arity of the flower. 
The genus contains very few species limited to the Old World; the only Australian 
one is, as far as known, endemic. 
base of the peduncle enclosed in a membranous sheath. Flowers sessile 
or very shortly pedicellate, without bracts. Perianth blue, the segments 
at 
