562 



PAET III. - THE CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 



this type in that the odd sepal is posterior, and the abortive 

 posterior stamen belongs to the outer whorl. Seeds, one (Heli- 

 conia), or many, in each loculus, without endosperm. They are 

 all shrubs of colossal growth, with enormously long leaves : the 

 flowers are usually arranged in spicate inflorescences in the axils 

 of large and often coloured bracts ; sometimes several flowers 

 spring from the axil of one bract. 



Musa paradisiaca (Plantain), M. Sapientum (Banana), and M. Ensete are 

 natives of the tropics of the Old World ; the two former are now distributed 

 throughout America and applied to a great variety of purposes ; the fruit, which 

 is of the nature of a berry, is an article of food, and the vascular bundles are 

 used for making textile fabrics. The other genera are Kaveuala, Strelitzia, 

 Heliconia. 



FIG. 366. Diagram of flower of Musa. 



FIG. 367. Diagrams of the two types of flower in 

 the Zingiberaceae. A Hedycbium. B Alpinia. 



Order 2. ZINGIBEBACEJS. | X3, C3, A t 2 or + 1 f 2, G-. 

 Flower dorsiveiitral : calyx not always distinct. Of the inner 

 whorl of stamens the posterior alone bears a perfect anther, the 

 other two being transformed into a usually petaloid body, the 

 labellum. The outer whorl of stamens is absent, or but slightly 

 indicated, in the Zingibereas (Fig. 367 #); but is represented in 

 the Hedychieae and Globbeae by two postero-lateral petaloid 

 staminodes (Fig. 367 A}. There is a small amount of endosperm 

 in the seed, in a depression in the perisperm. 



The commoner genera are Curcuma, Hedychium ; Zingiber, Alpinia ; Globba, 

 having a unilocular ovary with three parietal placentae. 



The starch which is prepared from the rhizome of Curcuma angustifolia and 

 leucorrhiza is known in commerce as East Indian arrowroot : Turmeric is 

 obtained from the rhizome of C. longa. Cardamoms are the fruits of Elettrria 

 Cardamomum. The dried rhizomes of Zingiber officinale are the common 

 ginger. 



Order 3. MARANTACEJ: or CANNACEJE. X3, (73, .40 + 1 f 1, 0, or 

 A f 2, + 1 f 2, G. Flower asymmetric, often heterochlamyde- 

 ous. The androacium is represented by a number of petaloid bodies, 

 of which one only, the posterior stamen of the inner whorl, bears 



