Amaryllidaceae; Dioscoreaceae 313 



4. CURCULIGO Gaertn. Kimbaizasa Zoku 



Rhizomes short; radical leaves usually narrowly lanceolate, longitudinally plicate; inflorescence spicate or racemose, few- 

 flowered, concealed between the leaves or long-pedunculate and densely flowered, the bracts linear; perianth-segments equal, 

 spreading, tubular below; stamens 6, inserted at the base of the perianth-segments, the filaments short, the anthers linear; ovary 

 3-locular, often beaked at apex; style columnar, short; stigma 3-lobed, oblong, erect; ovules anatropous, 2 to many in each 

 locule; fruit rather fleshy, indehiscent; seeds subglobose, black, crustaceous, the hilum often with an appendage; embryo small, 

 the endosperm fleshy. Few species in Africa, India, se. Asia, and tropical America. 



1. Curculigo orchioides Gaertn. C. ensijolia R. Br.; very short peduncles, the bracts membranous, lanceolate, 2-4 



Hypoxis orchioides (Gaertn.) Kurz Kimbaizasa. Rhi- cm. long; flowers long-pilose outside, the tepals yellow, lanceo- 



zomes perpendicular, with rather stout adventitious roots; late, few-nerved, about 8 mm. long, the perianth-stipe filiform, 



leaves lanceolate-acuminate, 20-30 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, 2-2.5 cm. long, becoming a beak in fruit; fruit elliptic. 



tapering at base to an elongate petiole, becoming sheathlike at May-Aug. Honshu (Chugoku Distr.), Shikoku, Kyushu. 



base, loosely pilose, the nerves slender, several; flowers few, on China, Ryukyus, Formosa, India, Malaysia, and Australia. 



5. HYPOXIS L. Ko-KiMBAizAsA Zoku 



Rhizomes tuberlike or cormlike, relatively small; radical leaves linear or slightiy broader, longitudinally nerved; flowers 1 to 

 many, umbellate or racemose on relatively short or elongated peduncles, the bracts linear, small, or sometimes absent; perianth 

 6-parted, the segments spreading; stamens 6, inserted at the base of the perianth-segments, the filaments short, the anthers erect, 

 linear to ovate; ovary not beaked at apex, 3-locular; style short, columnar, the stigma lobes 3, erect, oblong, thickened; ovules 

 many, 2-seriate in each locule; capsules globose to ellipsoidal, supporting the perianth at the apex while young; seeds small, sub- 

 globose, muricate. About 100 species, mainly in Africa, few in India, Malaysia, e. Asia, N. and S. America. 



1. Hypoxis aurea Lour. H. minor D. Don Ko-kim- toid-lanceolate, subacute, few-nerved, 4-6.5 mm. long; antiiers 



BAiZASA. Rhizomes tuberous, rather irregular, 3-8 mm. in about 1.3 mm. long, obtuse, shallowly 2-lobed at base; capsules 



diameter; leaves linear, 10-25 cm. long, usually broadest above oblong, narrowed below, 6-8 mm. long; seeds globose, black- 



the middle, 2^ mm. wide, 3-5 (-7) -nerved, long-acuminate, brown, about 1.2 mm. across, lusterless, densely muricate with 



membranous at base, with scattered long yellowish white subrounded mammillae, the appendage short. Apr.-May. 



hairs; scapes slender, 3-10 cm. long, 1- to 2-flowered, long- Sunny slopes and thickets in the foothills; Honshu (Rikuzen 



pilose, the bracts filiform, 5-8 mm. long; flowers short-pedi- Prov. and southw.), Shikoku, Kyushu; rather rare. China, 



celled, long-pilose outside, yellow, the perianth-segments del- India, and Malaysia. 



Fam. 54. DIOSCOREACEAE Yama-no-imo Ka Yam Family 



Usually scandent herbs; leaves alternate or opposite, flat, petiolate, entire or palmately lobed; flowers unisexual (plants dioe- 

 cious or monoecious), small, actinomorphic, the tepals 6, 2 seriate, free or connate at base; stamens 6, fertile or sometimes with 

 3 staminodia and 3 fertile; the anthers small; ovary 3-angled, inferior, 3-locular or with 3 imperfect septae; styles 3, distinct; fruit 



a winged capsule or sometimes a berry. About 10 genera, with more than 650 species, mainly tropical, some in e. Asia, the 



Mediterranean region, the Pyrenees, N. and S. America. 



1. DIOSCOREA L. Yama-no-imo Zoku 



Scandent perennial dioecious herbs from a fleshy horizontal or vertical rhizome, or the tuberous stems much-elongate and 

 branched; leaves alternate or opposite, sometimes lobed; flowers relatively small, erect or nodding, the tepals free or connate 

 at base; stamens free or sometimes connate and forming a column (sometimes partially suppressed or reduced to staminodia) ; 

 ovary inferior, 3-angled; style short; ovules 2 in each locule; capsules 3-winged, loculicidal; seeds much flattened, winged or 



wingless; endosperm fleshy or cartilaginous; embryo oblong, dividing the endosperm, the cotyledons suborbicular. About 600 



species, widely distributed in the Tropics and subtropics, e. Asia, the Mediterranean region, N. and S. America. 



lA. Tepals rather fleshy, white or purplish, ascending or erect, not spreading; rhizomes obsolete, the roots fleshy, tuberous, cylindric or 

 flabellatc, perpendicular; leaves with bulbils in the axils. 

 2A. Inflorescence erect in the stamlnate, pendulous in the pistillate; tuber whitish, covered with fine scattered roots; leaves usually 

 opposite. 



3 A. Plants uniformly green; leaves broadly lanceolate to narrowly deltoid-ovate, cordate at base \. D. japonica 



3B. Stems and petioles purplish; leaves deltoid-ovate to deltoid, broadly cordate, the basal margin sometimes auriculatcly dilated. 



2. D. batatas 

 2B. Inflorescence of both sexes pendulous; tuber dark grayish brown, covered with coarse thickened roots, warty-thickened at base; 



leaves alternate, depressed-cordate to deltoid 3. D. bidbijera 



IB. Tepals membranous, yellowish green, usually spreading; rhizomes long-creeping, with slender fibrous roots; leaves without bulbils in 

 the axils. 

 4 A. Fertile stamens 3. 



5A. Staminodia 3 in the staminate flowers; leaves broadly ovate to narrowly deltoid-ovate, 5-8(-I0) cm. long, broadly cordate; 

 staminate flowers sessile 4. £>. gracilUma 



