Ch. XIII] 



THE MONOCOTYLEDONS 



533 



sects. The fruits are often drupaceous and sometimes 

 edible. They are very prominent in tropical vegetation, and 

 the smaller forms, notably Kentia or Howea, are grown for 

 decoration in houses. Some are highly useful, such as the 

 Coconut and Date Palm, while others furnish minor prod- 

 ucts (Ivory nuts, Rattan, Fig. 376, etc.), including many 

 of great utility in the tropics. Closely related is a small 

 order including 

 the Carludovica 

 (Fig. 377), which 

 yields the fiber 

 for Panama hats. 



Order 5. A ra- 

 les {Spathiflo- 

 RjE) : the Aroids 

 and kin. Some 

 1000 species of 

 diversified her- 

 baceous plants. 

 Most important 

 are the Aroids 

 (Araceae), best 

 known to us in 

 the Jack-in-the- 

 Pulpit of our 

 woods and Calla of our greenhouses. They abound 

 most in the tropics, where they form huge undergrowth 

 or climbing herbs, often distinguished by the great 

 netted-veined leaves and clasping roots. The simple 

 flowers are densely crowded on a fleshy spadix (Fig. 

 236), partially enwrapped by a large and often brilliantly 

 colored spathe. They are pollinated by insects ; and the seeds, 

 usually in colored berries, are disseminated by animals. 

 They represent the highest development of the primitive 

 flower cluster. Various members of the order have minor 



Fig. 376. — Tips of Rattan Palms, greatly reduced. 



Their very slender stems clamber over other 

 vegetation by aid of the hooks on the leaves. 

 (From Kerner.) 



