158 



MONOCOTYLEDONS 



Fig. 145. — The Pine-Apple {Bromelia ananas). j\ of natural size. 



tubers of some species {Diosco?'ea sativa; Kan. Kuntagenasu ; D. 

 alata; Kan. Tunagenasu; and others) are edible. 



36. The Orchid Family 



(Orchidaceae). 



Perennial herbs with zygomorphic conspicuous flowers. Perianth 

 with six petals arranged in two w^horls ; the three sepals of the outer 

 whorl more or less alike, in the inner whorl the two lateral petals alike 

 and narrow, the lower (lip) large, lobed, and spurred. Stamen and 

 style united into a column opposite to the lip, the pollen in two masses. 

 Ovary inferior, of three carpels, twisted. Fruit a capsule with many 

 seeds. Placentation parietal. — Either terrestrial with tuberous roots 

 and annual, simple stems, or epiphytes with perennial stems and 

 branches, thickened and shortened into a bulb-like mass (pseudobulbs). 



The Round-leaved Habenaria {Habcnaria rotiuidifolia). 



{Kan. >('olatavaie, Oreletavare.) 



1. When the rains begin to moisten the ground after the 

 long drought from October to May in Western India, the ter- 



