SPADICIFLOE^E. 395 



danus, L. fil. ; Freycinetia, Gaud. Suborder 2. CYCLANTHE^;. Flowers 

 mostly with a perianth ; leaves fan-shaped or pinnate. Carludovica, R. 

 & P. ; Nipa, Ruinph. ; Cyclanthus, Poit. 



Affinities, &c. This Order is related on the one hand to the Typhacese 

 by the inflorescence, which resembles that of Sparganium ; on the other 

 to the Palmaceae, which the Cyclanfhece approach in habit and foliage. 

 The branching stem and the large aerial roots of Pandanus (fig. 10, p. 19) 

 are exceedingly curious. 



Distribution. Tropical: the Pandanece chiefly in the East-Indian 

 Islands, Mauritius, &c. ; the Cydanthece American. Fossil Pandanads 

 have been observed in the Upper Chalk. Nipa is common in the Eocene 

 deposits of the mouth of the Thames. 



Qualities and Uses. The seeds are edible; saccharine fermentable j uice 

 flows from the cut spadices of Nipa and other species ; the leaves and 

 fibres are used for cordage, plaiting hats, &c. 



TYPHACE^E are marsh-herbs, with nerved and linear sessile leaves and 

 monoecious flowers, on a spadix or in heads, destitute of a proper perianth, 

 which is replaced by 3 or more scales or a tuft of hairs ; 

 stamens 1-6, distinct or monadelphous ; anthers innate; 

 ovary solitary, 1 -celled ; ovule solitary, pendulous ; em- 

 bryo in the axis of mealy perisperm (fig. 479) ; radicle next 

 the hilum. The habit and general appearance of these 

 plants resemble those of CyperaceaB, and the hairs of the 

 flowers of Typha are analogous to those of Eriophorum ; 

 but they belong to the Araceous type, and the structure 

 of their inflorescence approaches closely, in Sparganium 

 especially, to that of Pandanacese, which, however, ha.ve 

 the ripe "fruits more or less blended into a mass. There Section of seed 

 is ^ilso some resemblance in the inflorescence and in the of Typha. 

 flowers to Platanacese. The plants grow in ditches and marshes in most 

 parts of the world. The rhizomes of Typha contain a certain amount of 

 starch, and the young shoots of Bulrushes ( T. latifolia and T. angusti- 

 folia} are sometimes used as esculent vegetables, like those of Asparagus. 

 The abundant pollen is also nutritious, and is made into a kind of bread 

 in Scinde, in New Zealand, and elsewhere. 



AEOIDACE^l. 



Coli. Arales, Benth. et Hook. 



Diagnosis. Plants with acrid or pungent juice, simple or com- 

 pound, often prominently-veined leaves, and monoacious or perfect 

 flowers crowded on a spadix, which is usually surrounded by a 

 large bract or spathe (fig. 480); perianth wanting, or of 4-6 

 scales ; fruit usually a berry ; seed with the embryo in the axis of 

 mealy or fleshy perisperm, or occasionally aperisperrnic. 



