276 



CLASSIFICATION 



ture of the wood, which is more of the Monocoty- 

 ledonous type. 



Class 2.— MONOCOTYLEDONS 



Sub-class I. Petaloide^ 

 Series i. — Hypogynea: Ovary superior 



Nat. Order i. LihacecB.—Yi&xhs, rarely shrubs, with 

 fibrous roots, or a creeping root-stock, or a bulb, or 



a corm. Leaves cauline or 

 radical. Flowers usually 

 hermaphrodite, solitary or in 

 clusters; bracts small, scari- 

 ous or spathe-like. Perianth 

 petaloid, inferior, usually 6- 

 merous, in two series. Sta- 

 mens 6, hypogynous, free. 

 Carpels 3, connate in a su- 

 perior 3-celled ovary, with 

 2 or more ovules in each 

 cell. Fruit a capsule or 

 berry, usually 3 - celled. 

 Seeds with albumen. The^ 

 Order is both tropical and 

 temperate. Common plants : 

 Onion or pianj {^Allium, Cepa); Garlic or rasun 

 {Allium sativum), and the Indian Leek {Allium, tiihe- 

 rosum), all cultivated for their edible bulbs; ulat- 

 chandal {Gloriosa superba) (fig. 249), which climbs 

 by the tendrils terminating the leaf-blades, and bears 

 superb flowers; sata-moolee {Asparagus racemosus) 

 (fig. 250), which has fascicles of tuberous roots, 

 thorny, climbing, much-branched stems, minute scaly 

 leaves, the lower half of each of which is transformed 



Fig. 249. 



■Ulat-chandal {Gloriosa 

 superia) 



t. Leaf-apex tendril. 



