734 THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



Amaryllidac'eae. — Resemble Liliaceae, but have inferior ovaries, and in many 

 eases a corona to the jDerianth. They include the Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis, 

 fig. 412^), Snowflake {Leucojwm vernum, fig. 412^), Clivia, Amaryllis, Crinuvi, 

 Narcissus (with well-marked corona, fig. 248, p. 177); also, Agave and Fourcroya 

 {cf. vol. i. p. 657). 



Iridacece. — Resemble Amaryllidaceae, except that they have three stamens only, 

 with extrorse dehiscence. The stigmas are commonly very conspicuously developed. 

 They include the Iris (figs. 412^ and 265), Crocus (fig. 223, p. 113), Gladiolus, the 

 flowers of the last-named being slightly zygomorphic, and many others. 



Bromeliacece. — Possess distinct calyx and corolla. Ovary superior or inferior; 

 fruit a berry or capsule. The family is tropical American, and very many of its 

 members are epiphytes, showing interesting adaptations to this particular mode of 

 life. The accompanying fig. 416 of the Peruvian jEchmea paniculata gives a 

 good idea of their mode of growth, with rosette of tough, leathery, sword-shaped 

 leaves and dense, terminal inflorescence. Not infrequently the bracts which 

 accompany the flowers are very brightly coloured. Two of the chief tribes of this 

 family are Tillandsieoc, with capsular fruits, hairy seeds, and entire leaves; and 

 Bromelieoe, with baccate fruits and toothed leaves (cf. fig. 416). The former includes 

 the rather aberrant Tillandsia usneoides {cf. vol. i. p. 614), a widely-distributed 

 American epiphyte which covers trees much in the same waj^ as does the Lichen 

 Usnea barbata in temperate zones. To the Bromelieai belong numerous forms, 

 including the j^chmea figured here, and the Pine-apple {Ananassa sativa), the 

 various portions of the fruiting-spikes of which become entirely succulent and con- 

 fluent, forming the collective fruits referred to on p. 436. 



The family includes about 400, and the whole alliance over 4000 species. 



Alliance XXX. — Scitaminece. 

 Families: Musacece, Zingiber acece, Cannacece, Marantacece. 



This alliance includes tropical plants with rhizomes and large conspicuous 

 leaves. In the flowers there is more or less reduction of the androecium, often com- 

 bined with a production of petaloid staminodes. The ovary is inferior, and usually 

 3-celled, and the seeds, which are often inclosed in arils, have perisperm. The 

 flowers are zygomorphic, or destitute of any sort of symmetry. As a whole this 

 alliance is one of the most remarkable amongst the Monocotyledons. 



Musacece. — The flowers of this family agree most nearly with those of typical 

 Monocotyledons. Of the six stamens one only is absent or developed as a stami- 

 node. The flowers are zygomorphic. They include Musa sapientum (the Banana) 

 and M. paradisiaxa (the Plantain), widely cultivated for their fruits; Strelitzia, 

 a remarkable South African genus, and Ravenala Madagascariensis, the Traveller's 

 Tree, so named from the water which accumulates in the excavated sheaths of the 

 leaf -stalks. This plant attains a height of 10 metres, and has a remarkable appear- 

 ance {cf. fig. 417) owing to the fact that its huge leaves (amongst the largest in the 



