2 74 DioscoreacecB. 



TACCA,* Forsi. 



For characters, see Order. — Sp. about lo; 4 in F/. B. Ind. 



T. pinnatlfida, /. and G. Forst. Char. Gen. 69 (1778). Garandi- 

 kidaran, S. 



Thw. Enum. 325. C. P. 2320. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 287. Rumph, Herb. Amb. v. t. 114. Lam. Encycl. 

 t. 232. Kegel, Gartenfl. t. 582. 



Rootstock globose, 6-10 in. diam. and upwards, with 

 superficial rootlets ; 1. 1-3 ft., broad, circular in outline, 3- 

 partite, segm. variously pinnatifid, margins undulate; petiole 

 2-3 ft, terete, striate, hollow; ped. much longer than the 

 petiole, tapering upwards, terete, striped pale and dark green ; 

 invol. bracts 6-12, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, recurved, 

 striped with purple; bracteoles filiform, much longer than the 

 bracts, pendulous round the ped.; fl. 10-40, drooping, pedi- 

 celled, about | in. diam., greenish, per.-lobes margined with 

 purple, connivent; fr, the size of a pigeon's ^^^, yellow; seeds 

 angular. 



Dry region, rather rare, in grassy open places. Bintenne (Gardner) ; 

 Trincomalie (Glenie); Batticaloa (Thwaites); Jaffna; Nilgala, abundant. 

 Fl. March; green, tinged with purple. 



Also in India, Malaya, Pacific Is., Australia. 



Rumph's plate above quoted well represents the Ceylon form. The 

 original Pacific Island plant differs considerably from ours, and is well 

 figured in Bot. Mag. tt. 7299, 7300. 



The leaves are remarkably similar to those of an Amorfihop/ialliis. 

 The rootstock is intensely bitter when raw. It is full of starch, which, 

 when prepared, is of excellent culinary properties. The plant is 

 extensively cultivated in some parts of India and in other tropical 

 countries. 



CXXXI.— DIOSCOREACEyE. 



Herbs, with usually very large tuberous or elongated, simple, 

 or branching roots or rootstocks (except TricJiopus) ; stems 

 slender, twining (erect in TricJiopus), terete, angled, or winged, 

 prickly or unarmed, often tuberifcrous in the 1. axils ; 1. opp. or 

 alt., entire or digitately 3-5-foliolate, 3-9-veined ; fl. small or 

 minute, spicatc or racemose, spikes or racemes in a pendulous 

 simple or branched filiform rhachis, 1-3 bracteolatc, unisexual 

 (fl. bisexual in axillary fascicles in TricJiopus); perianth 

 6-cleft, in 2 series ; male fl. : — perianth rotate, segm. broad 



* Name, according to Rumph, derived from the Amboynan Tiia. 

 The Pacific Island species or form is the cultivated ' Pia ' of the natives, 

 which yields an important food. 



