Monochoria.] pontederace.e. 375 



Eacemes appearing to proceed from the side of a petiole, 1 to 2 in. long, erect 

 at first, afterwards reflexed, bearing 6 to 12 blue flowers. Perianth-segments 

 about 5 lines long, the outer ones oblong, the inner obovate. — Pontederia va- 

 ginalis, Koxb. PI. Corom. t. 110. 



In a ditch ia tlie Happy Valley, Wilford. Common in India and the Archipelago. 



2. M. plantaginea, Kunth, Enum. iv. 135. An annual, much smaller 

 than the last. Leaves lanceolate, scarcely cordate, 1 to 1^ in. long. Eacemes 

 loosely 1- to 3-ilowered or very rarely 4-flowered. Howers deep blue, rather 

 smaller than in M. vaginalis, the inner segments rather narrower than the 

 outer. 



Hongkong, Wright. Common in India and the Archipelago, extending northward to 

 Amoy. 



Oeder cxviii. commelynace^. 



riowera hermaphrodite or rarely polygamous, usually slightly irregular. 

 Perianth of 3 outer (sepals) thin but calyx-like segments, rarely united at the 

 base, and 3 inner (petals) very delicate petal-like segments or lobes. Stamens 

 6, or fewer by abortion. Anthers 2-ceUed, or some deformed or barren. Ovary 

 3-celled or rarely 3-celled, with 1, 2, or more ovules in each cell. Style sim- 

 ple, with an entire or 3-lobed stigma. Fruit a capsule, or rarely indehiscent. 

 Seeds peltate or angular, the testa usually wrinkled. Embryo small, partly 

 sunk in a cavity in the apex or side of the flieshy albumen. — Herbs, often 

 creeping at the base. Leaves parallel-veined, with sheathing petioles. Flowers 

 usually blue, purple, or white, in panicles, umbels, or clusters, either terminal 

 or issuing from the leaf-sheatha. 



A considerable Order, chiefly tropical or subtropical, common to the New and the Old 

 "World. 



Stamens 6 or 4, of which one half differently shaped and barren. Ovary 

 3-celled. 

 Flowers few, enclosed in a folded cordate or peltate-tm'binate oblique 



bract or spatha. Capsule 2-valved 1. Commelyna. 



Mowers paniculate. Bracts small. Capsule 3-valved 2. Aneilema. 



Stamens 6. Anthers all with 2 parallel cells. 

 Perianth-segments free. Sracts small. 



Ovary and capsule 2-celled, the cells 1-ovulate 3. Floscopa. 



Ovary 3-ceUed. Ovules numerous. Fruit globular, indehiscent . 4. Pollia. 

 Perianth-segments united in 2 series. Bracts usually falcate, en- 

 closing the flower .5. CvANoiis. 



1. COMMELYNA, Linn. 



Perianth irregular, 2 'sepals larger than the third, and one petal differently 

 shaped or more sessile than the 3 others. Stamens 6 or rarely fewer, of which 

 3 fertile, one of them larger than the others, 3 barren, with deformed anthers. 

 Ovary with 1 uniovulate and 2 biovulate cells. Capsule 2-valved. — Flowers 

 few, on 2 peduncles enclosed in a folded cordate or peltate-turbinate oblique 

 bract or spatha, which is usually pedunculate from a split leaf-sheath opposite 

 the blade. 



A considerable genus, common to the New and the Old World. 



