150 A FLORA OP MANILA 



long. Peduncle solid, about as long as the leaves, bearing from 4 to 6, 

 large, umbellate, white, fragrant flowers, the spathe-valves oblong-lanceo- 

 late, about 5 cm long. Flowers about 9 cm in diameter, the ovary and its 

 stalk green, the tube slender, about 5 cm long, narrowly funnel-shaped 

 above the middle. Perianth-lobes ovate, acute or obtuse, spreading, about 

 4 cm long and 3 cm wide. Appendages to the stamens greenish inside, 

 quadrate, each 2-toothed, united into an erect cup; free parts Of the fila- 

 ments stout, erect. 



Not uncommon in cultivation, fl. most of the year. A native of Colom- 

 bia, now widely cultivated in most warm countries. 



25. TACCACBAE (Tacca OR Panarien Family) 



Herbaceous plants from tuberous or creeping rootstocks, the leaves 

 radical, lobed or laciniate. Scape erect, leafless. Flowers umbellate, sub- 

 tended by leaf -like bracts. Perianth 6-lobed, superior. Stamens 6, at the 

 base of the lobes, the filaments short, dilated or appendaged on each side, 

 above dilated into an inflexed hood; anthers sessile within the hood. Ovary 

 1-celled; style short; stigmas broad, or petaloid and umbella-like. Fruit 

 fleshy and indehiscent, or at length S-valved. Seeds many. 



A single genus of about 10 species, all tropical. 



1. TACCA Linnaeus 

 Character of the Family. (From the local Amboyna name.) 



Coarse, erect, the petioles up to 1 m in length ; leaves 1 to 1.5 m in diameter, 

 S-partite, the segments variously lobed and toothed 1. T. pinnatifida 



Slender, the leaves 15 to 20 cm in diameter, pedately 5- or 7-partite, the 

 segments entire 2. T. palmata 



1. T. pinnatifida Forst. Panarien (II.) ; Yabyaban (Tag.) ; Polynesian 

 Arrowroot. 



Rootstock tuberous, depressed-globose, up to 30 cm in diameter. Petiole 

 often nearly 1 m long, hollow, 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter, striate. Leaves 

 tripartite, spreading, 1 to 1.5 m in diameter, the segments 2-fid or irregularly 

 pinnatifid or pinnate at the base, often large, irregularly lobed. Scape up 

 to 1.4 m long, hollow, tapering, green, erect 10- to 40-flowered, flowers 

 crowded at the apex, pedicelled, drooping, intermixed with very long, 

 filiform bracts, subtended by from 4 to 12, oblong, acuminate, 5 to 7 cm 

 Jong, involucrate leaves. Perianth green and purplish, about 1 cm long. 

 Fruit ellipsoid, or ovoid, smooth, yellowish, 6-ribbed, 3 to 4 cm long. 



In thickets, Pasay, Masambong, etc., ' occasional, fl. July- Aug.; widely 

 distributed in the Philippines near the seashore. Tropical Asia and Africa, 

 Malaya, Austrajia, and Polynesia. The fleshy roots are edible, the plant 

 being cultivated in some countries. 



2. T. palmata Bl. Payong-payongan (Tag.). 



Rootstock tuberous, ovoid, sinall, 2 to 4 cm in diameter. Petiole slender, 

 20 to 30 cm long. - Leaves 16 to 20 cm in diameter pedately 5- to 7-partite, 

 thin, the segments oblong to elliptic-oblong, entire, acuminate, the lower 

 two on each side more united than the others. Scapes slender, about as 

 long as the leaves. Flowers unibellate, pedicelled, purple and green, about 

 8 mm long, the involucre usually of four leaves, the outer two broadly 

 ovate, acuminate, nearly sessile, 3 to 6 cm long, the inner, two with 

 constricted bases, petioled. Fruit subglobose, fleshy, red, about 1 cm long. 



In thickets, Pasay, Masambong, etc., fl. June-July; widely distributed 

 in the Philippines. Malaya. 



