400 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY 



Cardamom, so commonly grown in the tropics, belong- 

 to another closely allied family, the ZINGIBARE.E, and 

 differ from Canna mainly in having a complete two- 

 lobed anther between the lobes of which lies the style, 

 and, at the base of the leaf-blade, a little flap of tissue, 

 the ' ligule '. CISTUS and ALPINIA, grown sometimes 

 in gardens, also belong to this family. 



MARANTE^E 



MARANTA, the Arrow-root plant, belongs to yet 

 another slosely allied family which like Canna has a 

 half stamen only, but differs in having a Swollen joint 

 (pulvinus) between the leaf-blade and its stalk, and in 

 only one of the three cells of the ovary developing. 



These four families the MUSE.E, CANNED, ZINGI- 

 BARE^E, and MARANTE^E, are sometimes placed together 

 in one large family, the SCITAMINE^:, in much the 

 same way as the PAPILIONACEJ3, CAESALPINE^E and 

 MIMOSE.E are in one family, the LEGUMINOSEJ2. 



ORCHIDE^: (The orchids) 



Examples : 



VANDA ROXBURGHII, Br. grows on trees, being 

 attached to the bark by roots, and has a number of 

 narrow oblong leaves, notched at the top, thick, entire, 

 and arranged in two ranks (distichous). There are 

 in addition white cylindrical roots of another pattern, 

 which hang down freely and are of about the thick- 

 ness of an ordinary lead pencil. These are clearly 

 roots, for they bear no leaves and come out of the 



