318 . MONOCOTTLEDONES. 



be considered as the least altered type. The chief characteristic is that the 

 embryo is separated from the hilum. Hypoxis- Curculigo (C. recurvata, a. 

 favourite ornamental plant; S.E. Asia). 



C. ALSTRffiMERiEa;. (Alstrcemeria, Bomarea) ; stems long, leafy, often climb- 

 ing. 



D. VELLOSIE^; (Vellosia, Barbacenia) ; stem woody, usually riichotomously 

 branched, with terminal, single flowers ; it bears numerous aerial roots which 

 pierce the leaves and surround the stem. Stamens often (by splitting) 6-18. 

 High table-lands of S. America and S. Africa. 



E. AGAVES. Very similar to the Bromeliacese both in their distribution 

 (nearly all American) and in external appearance. They appear as gigantic bul- 

 bous plants with perennial, aerial, generally short stem, and perennial, large, 

 lanceolate or linear, stiff, thick, and often thorny leaves, which form a large 

 rosette ; after the course of several (8-20) years the terminal inflorescence is 

 developed, which is 10-12 m. high, paniculate, and freely branched. Before 

 the inflorescence expands, a large quantity of sugar-containing sap is collected 

 from A. americana by removing the terminal bud ; this on distillation yields 

 " pulque," the national drink of Mexico. After flowering the entire shoot dies, 

 but the subterranean lateral shoots survive and reproduce the plant. Agave 

 americana, etc. ; Fourcroya ; Polianthes tuber osa (Tuberose ; Central America). 



DISTRIBUTION. The 650 species are chiefly natives of S. Africa and S. 

 America. Clivia, Hcemanthus, Amaryllis are from the Cape ; Narcissus from S. 

 Europe, whence many species have been introduced ; Galanthus and Leucojum 

 are especially from S. and Central Europe, and from the Caucasus. 



USES, faw, except as ornamental plants : Galanthus nivalis ; Leucojum ; Nar- 

 cissus pseudonarcissus, N. poeticus, N. jonquilla, N. tazetta, etc. ; Amaryllis, 

 Alstroemeria, Eucharis, Crinum,Vallota t etc. The vascular bundles of the various 

 species of Agave (Agave rigida, var. sisalana, sisal hemp,) are used for cordage, etc. 



Order 6. Bromeliaceae. The flowers are hypogynous r 

 epigynous or semi-epigynous ; the perianth is divided into calyx 

 and corolla; stamens 6. The fruit is a capsule or berry with 

 many seeds. Endosperm mealy, embryo small, at the edge of the 

 endosperm, but not enclosed by it. 



Perennial herbs with a very characteristic appearance (Fig. 310) ; 

 the stem is most often short, thick, arid crowned by a rosette of 

 many leaves, which are long, often very narrow, leathery, stiff, 

 and with a spiny edge; they are usually channeled, completely 

 closing round each other, with their edges forming a tightly closed 

 hollow, in which generally water is collected (this among other 

 things insulates the inflorescence and thus prevents the access of 

 creeping insects, such as ants). The presence of numerous stellate, 

 water-containing hairs often gives the leaves a grey appearance, 

 and the layers of cells beneath the upper epidermis of the 

 lamina form an " aqueous tissue," which serves as a protection 

 against the rays of the sun and regulates the evaporation. The 



