PETALOIDE^ 



287 



Fig. 260. — Crocus sati'i'ii 

 var. Cashmerianus 



st, Petalled stigma. 



or saffron of commerce. Iris nepalensis (fig. 261) is 

 a bulbous herb of Nepal and the Khasi Hills. 



The brightly-coloured perianth, 

 and often the petaloid styles, 

 make the flowers conspicuous to 

 butterflies and bees which visit 

 them. 



Nat. Order 9. Dioscoreacece. — 

 Climbing plants with fleshy 

 tuberous, root-stocks, which are 

 sometimes epigeal. Leaves re- 

 ticulate (as in Dicotyledons), 

 petiole often angled. Flowers 

 small, unisexual, dioecious or 

 monoecious in separate spikes. Perianth 6-partite, 

 2-seriate, superior. Stamens 6, epigynous. Ovary 

 inferior, 3-celled, styles 3. 

 Ovules I to 2 in each cell. 

 Fruit a loculicidal cap- 

 sule or berry. Seeds with 

 albumen. The Order is 

 chiefly tropical. Com- 

 mon plants: Yams or 

 chupri- or kham-, or 

 sakar-kanda-aloo, which 

 belong to the different 

 species of the genus Dtos- 

 corea, such as Dioscorea 

 alata, D. alata, var. glo- 

 bosa, &c. Observe the 

 minute green bulbils often 

 borne in the axils of the 

 leaves of Dioscorea and 



the three-cornered or winged fruits of some of them. 

 Stemona tuberosa is a common big climber. 



Fig. a6i. — Iris nepalensis 



