XXVIII. CYCLANTHE^E. 



829 



or on long funicles (Cyclanthus). FRUIT a syncarpous berry, of fleshy ? flowers; 



bark of the spadix fructiferous, bursting at the base into tf-4 irregular fleshy strips, 



which roll up by degrees towards the top of the spadix, and retain the berries fixed 



in their pulp ; these soon 



deliquesce and leave the 



seeds (Carludovica palmata). 



SEEDS numerous ; testa soft or 



coriaceous, filled with raph- 



ides ; raphe often thickened ; 



albumen horny. EMBRYO 



small, .straight, cylindric, 



basilar ; radicle near the 



hilum. 



GENERA. 

 Cyclanthus. * Carludovica. 



Cydanthece, which are closely 

 allied to Pandanece and Freydnetiece, 

 are equally near Aroidece and Palms. 

 They are exclusively tropical Ame- 

 rican. 



The flowering spadices of several 

 Cyclanthi, and especially of C. bipar- 

 titus, cultivated by the natives of 

 the province of Maynas, in Brazil, 

 have a sweet scent, between that 

 of vanilla and cinnamon. The 

 Indians cook them with meat as an 

 aphrodisiac. Poeppig has observed 

 that these spadices are never attacked 

 by fructivorous animals, not even by 

 the numerous species of ants, usually 

 so fond of succulent fruits. 



Carludovica palmata, which 

 grows in the damp forests of Ecua- 

 dor, Peru, and New Grenada, yields 

 a much-valued straw, from which 

 are manufactured Guayaquil or 

 Panama hats. Weddell remarks 

 that the young leaves are gathered 

 in bud, while still scarcely tinged 

 with green ; the fan-shaped blade 

 is so cut into strips as only to 

 preserve the middle part of the 

 divisions of the blade, which remains 

 attached to the petiole, and the size 

 of which varies according to the fine- 

 ness of the work for which it is 



intended; the leaf thus prepared is steeped successively in boiling water, in water acidulated with lemon- 

 juice, and in very cold water, and allowed to dry; the bleaching is then perfect. In drying, the edges of 



Cyclanthus biparlitus. Inflorescence. 



