PETALOIDE^ 



291 



{Canna indica) (fig. 263), which runs wild, and is 

 also cultivated for its showy flowers ; sital-pati {Clino- 

 gyne dichotoma) (fig. 264), a shrubby leafy cane-like 

 plant of Chittagong the split stems of which are 

 woven into mats known as sital-pati. 



Both Zingiberacece and Marantacece flowers are 

 rendered conspicuous by their brightly-coloured peta- 

 loid staminodia, one 

 of which is usually 

 large and more 

 brightlycoloured than 

 the rest, and serves 

 as a platform for the 

 visiting butterflies 

 and bees. This large 

 staminodia is named 



the LABELLUM Or LIP. 



3. Miisacece. — Her- 

 baceous plants, often 

 of great size. Leaves 

 very large, petioles 

 long and thick, with 

 air-chambers, big con- 

 cave sheaths, which 

 successively overlap 



and form a spurious stem. Flowers in spikes with 

 large spathaceous bracts, stamens 5, ovary and fruit 

 as in Sub-orders i and 2. Seeds with mealy endo,- 

 sperm. The Order is tropical. Common plants are> 

 the various kinds of kala or Plantain or Banana, 

 belonging to the genus Miisa, in which the sepals, 

 form a 3- to 5-lobed spathaceous calyx, and the petals; 

 join together to form a unilateral corolla enclosing the 

 stamens and the style. The fibres of Miisa textilis, 

 ^ Malayan plant, yield Manilla Hemp of cornmerce. 



Fig:. 264. — Sital-pati {CUiiogyne dichotoma) 



