304 LEMNACEA | [ScrnDAPsUS 
dric, dense-flowered. Perianth none. Stamens 4, filaments flat- 
tened and thicker upwards, anthers terminal; cells oblong, parallel 
or divaricate, dehiscing by lateral slits. Ovary prismatic or ob- 
pyramidal, 1-celled, flat on the top; stigma sessile. Fruit of 
fleshy obpyramidal berries in clusters, the apex coriaceous and 
ultimately separating. Seed more or less reniform, arillate at 
the base, testa hard, albumen none, embryo horse-shoe-shaped.— 
Species about 10, in Trop. Asia, Australia and Polynesia. 
S. officinalis, Schott.; F. B. I. vi, 541; Watt E. D.; Prain 
Beng. Pl. 1114; Kanjildl For, Fl. (ed. 2), 414. Pothos officinalis, 
Roxb. Fl. Ind. I. 431.—Vern. Poriabel (Dehra Dun); Gaj-pipal. 
Common in the sal forests of Dehra Dun and Saharanpur (Kanji- 
lal, Vicary, Duthie), N. Oudh in the Kheri and Bahraich districts 
(Duthie). The leaves are eaten as a vegetable, the stems yield 
a fibre, and the berries are used medicinally. Disrris.: Trop. 
Himalaya, eastwards to Sikkim and Bengal, also in Burma and 
the Andamans. 
CXVITI.—_LEMNACEZ. 
Minute or small, gregarious, floating, aquatic herbs. Sronds 
with or without capillary roots. Flowers moneecious, 1-3, naked 
cr enclosed in a membranous spathe, perianth wanting. Stamens 
1.2, anthers 1-2-celled. Ovary 1-celled; style short; stigma 
truncate or funnel-shaped ; ovules 1-6, basal, anatropous, semiana- 
tropous or orthotropous. fruit 1-several-seeded, indehiscent or 
opening transversely. Seeds minute, albuminous, embryo cylin- 
dric, axile. Species 19 in 3 genera, in still water throughout the 
world excluding the arctic regions. 
Fronds with roots; inflorescence with spathe 
of 2 male and 1 female flower. 
Fronds with several roots . ; : . 1. SPIRODELA. 
Fronds with one root i ’ . 2. Lemna, 
Fronds without roots; inflorescence without 
spathe, of one male and one female flower 3. WouLrria 
