158 A FLORA OP MANILA 



arising from the rootstocks, nsually leafless, the bracts large, persistent, 

 forming a dense, usually colored, cone-like or cylindric head, the upper 

 bracts often longer than the lower ones. Flowers several in each bract, 

 usually but a single one opening at a time, 'bracteoIate> Calyx short, 

 cylindric, toothed. Corolla-tube broad, funnel-shaped, sometimes split down 

 one side, 2- or 8-toothed, the teeth ovate or oblong. Staminodes peta- 

 loid, united with the filament below. Lip orbicular or oboVate, entire, 

 emerginate, or 2-lobed. Stamen somewhat petaloid. Ovary 3-celled. Cap- 

 sule membranaceous, globose^ 8-valved. Seeds small, arillate. (From the 

 Indian name, signifying yellow.) 



Species about 42, India to Malaya, 2 introduced in the Philippines. 



1. C. ZEDOARiA (Berg.) Rose. Tamo, Barac (Tag.) ; Lampoyang (Vis.) ; 

 Conic (II.). 



Roetstocks stout, fleshy, slightly aromatic, pale-yellow, with oblong, 

 tuber-like branches. Leaves usually in' pairs, erect, petioled, green, often 

 with a purplish blotch in the center, elliptic-oblong to 'oblong-lanceolate, 

 slenderly acuminate, 25 to 70 cm long, 8 to 15 cm wide. Scape from the 

 rootstocks, not from, the leaf -tuft, often appearing before the leaves, the 

 peduncle 10 to 20 cm long, covered with few loose bracts. Spike cylindric, 

 6 to 8 cm in diameter, 10 to 15 cm long, composed of numerous, ovate to 

 obovate, somewhat spreading, rounded bracts, the lower ones green, more 

 or less J;ipped with pink, the upper ones usually longer and purple, each 

 containing several flowers, the lower ones opening first. Calyx small, bifid. 

 Corolla-tube about 2 cm long, yellowish-white, sometimes tinged with purple, 

 the lip usually yellow, 2-Iobed. (Fl. Filip. pi. 3, Coatns luteus.) 



In thickets and open places, common, fl. Jan.-Aug.; widely distributed 

 in the Philippines in the settled regions, certainly introduced. Probably 

 a native of India, now widely distributed in the warmer parts of the east- 

 ern hemisphere. 



The Turmeric plant, C. longa L., with a very yellow root widely known 

 here as dilao. is not uncommon in the Philippines, and its rhizomes are 

 commonly sold in the Manila markets, but living specimens have not been 

 found in our area. It resembles the above species, but its flower-scape is 

 borne within the tuft of leaves, not directly from the rootstocks. 



5. ZINGIBER Adannon 



Stems erect, leafy, from fleshy, underground, more or less aromatic root- 

 stocks. Leaves lanceolate to elliptic, distichous. Spikes erect, from the 

 rhizoihes, rarely terminating a leafy stem, cylindric, conic, or ovoid, usually 

 peduncled, the peduncles covered with bracts, the bracts of the inflorescence 

 green or colored, imbricate, usually holding water, each containing from 

 1 to several flowers. Calyx tubular, 3-lobed, short. Corolla-tube usually 

 longer than the bract, slender, the lobes oblong to lanceolate, white or 

 yellowish. Staminodes none. Lip 3-lobed, the middle lobe longer than 

 the lateral ones. Connective of the anther prolonged into a curved beak. 

 Ovary 3-celled. Capsule thin-walled, splitting into 8-valves. Seeds black, 

 angled, arillate. (From the ancient Greek or Latin name, derived from 

 the Indian name sringavera.) 



Species 60, tropical Asia to New Guinea, about 5 species in the Phil- 

 ippines, some of them inperfectly known. 



