490 FENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. MllSa. 



cence have long, stem-clasping sheaths, like those of the plantain 

 and banana; semi-cylindric on the under side, and deeply channel- 

 led on the upper one,— Spadix terminal, simple, drooping, before any 

 ( ' the spaihes expand cordate.— ^Spathes numerous, expanding in 

 succession, broad- cordate, slightly ribbed, smooth, ferruginous, ma- 

 ny-floweredj, permanent, and not hecommg revoiute. — Flmers ntt- 

 merotis, from twenty to thirty in a doub'e series to each spathe; the 

 female-hermaphrodite ones occupy the bases, or iower spaihes; and 

 the male- hermaphrodite ones the superior. — Perianth none. — Coral; 

 ret als two, very unequal. Exterior petal involving the inner one 

 like a spathe, leathery, three-parted; the linear divisions often adher- 

 ing by their margins; soon after expansion t'ney become twisted into 

 one boo 1 )'. Inner petal five or sjx times shorter than the exterior 

 one, pale-coloured, almost pellucid, and composed of two sub-ro- 

 tund lobes with an ensiform process between them; from the inside 

 of the insertion of this petal a very large quantity of transparent jelry 

 is discharged. — Nectary two filiform scales inserted over the two 

 fissures ol the exterior petal. Thus far the male and female-herma- 

 phrodite flowers agree.— Filaments five, with the rudiment of a sixth 

 on the underside. Anthers in the male-hermaphrodite flower longer 

 and thicker than the filaments. In the female-hermaphrodite they 

 are wanting, or only small, black, withered points. — Germ beneath. 

 Jn the female-hermaphrodite flower large, three-celled, and fertile ; 

 in the male one small, and barren. Style linear, thick, and fleshy. 

 In the female-hermaphrodite flower twice as long as its barren sta- 

 mens. In the male-hermaphrodite one only half the length of the 

 fertile stamens. Stigma in both somewhat three-grooved, and ob- 

 scurely six-lobed, clammy. — Pericarp. Berry oblong, size of a 

 goose egg, smooth, three-celled, when ripe nearly dry, so little pu'p 

 is there on the fruit of this species. — Seeds numerous, angular, and 

 black. — Perisperm and embryo a3 in the former species. 



5. M. glauca, R. 



Boot fibrous, and perishing with the cojumnar stem. Spadix 

 drooping, spathes ovate*lanceolate, imbricated, from ten- to twenty 



