ECONOMIC OR USEFUL PLANTS 



431 



taxed. The sago palm * (Metroxylon lams and M . rumphii) 

 produces starch which is sold in the form of sago. It is culti- 

 vated in the East Indies, where it is native. The starch is formed 

 in the large pith of the trunk and several hundred pounds 

 (500 to 800) are obtained from a single large tree. These species 

 produce the best sago, but sago starch is obtained from a number 

 of other palms. Panama hats are made from the young leaves 

 of a screw pine (Corludovica palmata), the value of exports from 

 Ecuador alone in 1905 amounting to more than $600,000. 



580. The pineapple family (Bromeliaceas). The pineapple 

 (Ananas sativus) is native to tropical America. It is a low 

 plant with hard, stiff, narrow, pointed leaves with a radiate 

 arrangement. The fruit is borne around a short axis above the 

 leaves. It is cultivated in Florida, which furnishes part of the 

 supply for our markets, a large part coming also from the West 

 Indies and the Bahama Islands. The whole flower cluster 

 becomes a fleshy mass forming the part which is eaten. The 

 hanging moss (Tillandsia usneoides) belongs to the same family. 



581. The Lily Family (Liliaceas) .This is one of the most 

 characteristic families of the monocotyledons, since the flower 

 parts are normal and well developed, not having undergone the 

 modification shown in most of the other orders. There is a well- 

 developed perianth of six parts which makes the most showy 

 part of the flower. The members of the family are nearly all 

 herbs growing on the ground. Many are noted for the produc- 

 tion of bulbs or root stocks containing stored food providing 

 for the rapid and early growth of the flower stalk in the early 

 part of the season. The Easter lily and some related species are 

 grown in immense quantities in tropical countries (Bermuda, 

 Japan, etc.) and the bulbs are shipped to cooler climates to plant 

 in greenhouses. Other cultivated forms are tulips, hyacinths, etc. 

 The most important vegetable products for food in this family 



*The Cycas revoluta is sometimes incorrectly called sago palm. But 

 Japanese sago, a coarse starchy material, is obtained from the stems of 

 cycads, and a sago starch is also obtained from Zantia in Jamaica and 

 Florida. 



