782 X. IBIDEM. 



the largest, persistent. STAMENS 6, inserted at the base of the segments ; filaments 

 dilated, vaulted or cucullate at the top ; anthers introrse ; cells 2, distant, parallel, 

 adnate to the cavity of the filaments, free at the top, straight or incurved, dehiscence 

 longitudinal. OVARY inferior, 1 -celled or incompletely 3-celled ; placentas 3, 

 parietal, nerviform or 2-lobed ; style short, thick; stigma orbicular or depressed, 

 with 3 radiating einarginate or bifid lobes ; ovules numerous, several-seriate, sub- 

 ascending and anatropous, or horizontal and semi-anatropous. BERRY umbilicate 

 by the persistent limb of the perianth, 1-celled, or incompletely 3-celled. SEEDS 

 ovoid, angular or lunate ; testa coriaceous, striate, easily separable from the mem- 

 branous endopleura ; albumen fleshy. EMBRYO excessively small, ovoid, included 

 in the albumen, near the basilar hilum, or distant from the ventral hilum. 



GENERA. 

 * Tacco. * Ataccia. 



Lindley has placed Taccacea;, Dioscorea, and Smilacca; in his class Dictyogens, so called on account ot 

 the reticulated nerves of the leaves, which recall the nervation of Dicotyledons, which they besides 

 resemble in the structure of the stem, which presents fibro-vascular bundles arranged with tolerable 

 regularity around a central pith. Taccacece differ from Dioscorea in habit, conformation of the stamens, 

 and 1-celled ovary. They have an affinity with Aroidea (Dieffenbachia, Dracuncultis, Amorphophattus), 

 principally founded on the nature of the leaves, and R. Brown considers them intermediate between that 

 family and Aristolochiea. 1 



Taccacea inhabit mountain forests of Asia, Africa, Oceania (and Guiana P according to Planchon). 

 Tacca pwnatifida is principally found at the mouth of damp and shady valleys of the Oceanic Islands ; it 

 is cultivated for its starchy tubers, which furnish the islanders with a sort of Arrowroot. The Tahitians 

 prepare from the floral scapes of the Tacca a very white and shining straw, with which they form hats 

 and coronets with much skill and taste. 



X. IRIDE^E. 

 , L. Ker. IRIDES, Jussieu. IRIDE^E, Br. IRIDACE^E, Lindl.) 



FLOWERS g . PERIANTH superior, petaloid, 6-merous, 2-seriate. STAMENS 3, 

 opposite to the outer perianth-segments ; ANTHERS extrorse. OVARY inferior, of 3 many- 

 ovuled cells ; OVULES anatropous. CAPSULE loculicidally 'S-valved. SEEDS albuminous. 

 STEM herbaceous. LEAVES equitant or sheathing, ensiform or linear. 



Perennial HERBS with a tuberous or bulbous rhizome, rarely with fibrous roots, 

 very rarely suffrutescent (Witsenia), glabrous, sometimes pubescent or velvety. 

 SCAPE central, jointed or not, simple or branched, sometimes nearly 0. LEAVES 

 usually all radical, equitant, distichous, ensiform or linear, angular, entire, flat, 

 or folded longitudinally, the cauline alternate, sheathing. FLOWERS $ , regular 

 or irregular, terminal, in a spike corymb or loose panicle, rarely solitary, each 

 furnished with 2 (rarely more) spathaceous bracts, usually scarious ; inflorescence 

 with a double sub-foliaceous bract. PERIANTH superior, petaloid, tubular, C-fid 

 or -partite, regular or sub-2-labiate ; segments 2-seriate, equal, or the inner smallest, 



1 They are hardly separable as an order from Burmanniacea. ED. 



