326 



MONOCOTYLEDONES. 



with loculicidal dehiscence ; in others it is more or less berry-like 

 and indehiscent, or irregularly dehiscent. Straight embryo. The 

 aerial stem is seldom developed to any extent, and the inflor- 

 escences, which are (compound) spikes or racemes, often with 

 coloured floral-leaves, spring in some (e-g- Zingiber officinale) 

 directly from the rhizome. The leaves are arranged in two rows, 

 The ovary in a few instances {Globba and others) is unilocular, 

 with 3 parietal placentae. 



They are perennial herbs with fleshy and tuberous rhizomes, which are used 

 as condiments and in medicine on account of their pungent and aromatic 

 properties and also for starch, dyes, etc. OFFICINAL : rhizomes of Zingiber 

 officinale (Ginger, unknown wild, but cultivated generally in the Tropics), of 

 Curcuma longa (Turmeric, a dye, E. India) and C. zedoaria, of C. angustifolia 

 and others (as E. India Arrowroot), of Alpinia officinarum, China (galangal). 

 " Preserved Ginger " from Atyinia galanga. Similar aromatic materials (vola- 

 tile oils) are present also, for example, in the fruits ; Cardamom fruits and seeds 

 (from Elettaria cardamomum, China, seldom from E. major). 



315 species ; Tropics, preponderating in the Eastern Hemisphere, India, and 

 especially S. Asia, whence all the aromatic species originate ; they are now 

 commonly cultivated in the Tropics. Some are ornamental plants in green- 

 houses, e.g. Hedychium, Costus, etc. Globba (with axillary buds in the in- 

 florescence, as in Ficaria), Renealmia, Kiimpferia. 



Order 3. Cannacese. 



FIG. 316. Flower of Canna : f 

 ovary; pa calyx; pi corolla; I la- 

 helium ; st stamens ; an anther ; 

 g stigma; a and staminodes. 



American herbs without aromatic pro- 

 perties. Flowers asymmetric (Fig. 

 316). Calyx polysepalous. The sta- 

 mens are petaloid (Fig. 316 st) and 

 barren with the exception of one (the 

 posterior), which bears on one of its 

 edges a bilocular anther; another, 

 which is especially large and coloured, 

 is termed the labellum,. The style is 

 compressed and leaf-like, with a 

 small stigma at the apex. Ovules 

 numerous in the 3 loculi. The cap- 

 sule is furnished with warts or soft 

 prickles. Embryo straight. 



Canna (30 species; Trop. Am.). 

 The inflorescence is a terminal spike 

 with 2-flowered unipared scorpioid 

 cymes in the axils of the floral-leaves. 

 Ornamental plants : Canna indica, etc. 



The diagram of the androecium of 



