410 BANANA FAMILY. 



C. pubescens, Wilkl. Yellow L.vpy's SuprER. Sac light yellow, 

 higher tliaii bmad, convex above; sepals loug-lauceolate ; flowers early 

 summer, seeiitless ; woods and bogs N., and S. in the mountains. A 

 leafy phmt, 2° high. 



++ ++ Sepals and petals broad or roundish and flat, white, not larger than 

 the sac. 



C. spectdbile, Swartz. Showy L. In bogs and rich low woods N., 

 and along the mountains S.; downy, 2° or more high, with leaves «)'-8' 

 long, white flowers with the globular lip (1^' long) painted with pink- 

 purple, in July. One of the handsomest and most interesting of all wild 

 flowers. 



H- 4- Scape naked, bearing a small bract and one flower at summit. 



C. acatile, Ait. Stem less L. Moist or sandy ground N., mostly in 

 the shade of evergreens ; scape 8'-12' high ; sepals and petals greenish or 

 purplish, the latter linear, shorter than the rose-purple (often whitish), 

 oblong-obovate, drooping sac, which is split down the front but nearly 

 closed ; flowers in spring. 



CXIII SCITAMINEiE, BANANA FAMILY. 



A group of tropical or subtropical perennial plants, with 

 leaves having distinct petiole and blade, the latter traversed 

 by nerves running from the midrib to the margin; flowers 

 irregular, with a perianth of at least two ranks of divisions, 

 below all combined into a tube which is adherent to the 3-celled 

 ovary; the stamens 1-6 and distinct. We have two wild 

 representatives on our southeastern borders ; the many culti- 

 vated ones are chiefly grown for their ornamentul foliage, and 

 some of them are rarely seen in blossom. They are therefore 

 seldom available for botanical study. 



I. GINGER SUBFAMILY. Seeds, rootstocks, or roots 

 hot-aromatic. Stamen 1, with a 2-celled anther, commonly 

 embracing the style, bnt not united with it; staminodia some- 

 times present. Gin(jkh is the dried rhizomes of Zing i her 

 OKFiciNALE of the tropics. 



1. HKl) YCHI UM. Flowers witli a slenrler tube bcaiiiiK fi divisions wliich may be likened 

 to those of an Orchideous llower, one (answerin",' to the lij)) much lartrer and broader 

 than the 5 others, and a very long, protruding, reddish filament terminated by a yellow 

 unappendaged anther sheathing the style up almost to the stigma. 



II. ARROWROOT or INDIAN SHOT SUBFAMILY. 

 No hot-aromatic properties, the thick rootstocks, etc., com- 

 monly containing much starch, from which g(Miuine arrowroot 

 is produced. Stamen 1, with a 1-celled antlier. Aruowkoot 

 is the product of species of Maranta. 



