590 • BROMELIACEiE. 



CXLIII. PONTEDERIACEiE. 



Ferigone coloured, of 6 divisions. Stamens 6-3, unequal, inserted into the perigone : 

 anthers introrse. Ovary free : style>siraple. Embryo axile in amylaceous albumen. — Aquatic 

 herbs ; leaves usually provided with a blade. 



1. HEPERANTHERA, U. P. 



Perigone salver-shaped : lobes little unequal. Stamens 3 : two upper filaments shorter. 



Capsule incompletely 3-celled, many-seeded. — Low, floating or creeping herbs ; leaves rosu- 



late ; petiole muoh longer than the blade {rarely the latter suppressed) ; spathe \-few- 



flowered at the sheathing base of the petiole ; ^mitti fugadcms. 

 /* 1. H. renifonnis, P.. P. Leaees cordate-reniform ; spathe 3-5-flowered; flowers 



white; inferior anther larger. — Leaves 9"'-12"' diam. ; lobes of the perigone 3'" long. — 

 VJIab. Caribbean islands ; [Guadeloupe!; United States! to Buenos Ayres !]. ' ^ 



''' 2. H. limosa, V. Leaves ovate, or ovate-oblong, blunt, truncate or rounded at the 



base; spathe 1 -flowered ; flower blue; anthers subequal. — Sl.t.\i%.f.\. — Pontederia, 5«!. 

 , -T-Leaves l"-li" long ; lobes of the perigone 5"'-6"'long; filaments broader than in the 



preceding, the third little longer. — Hab. Jamaica I, Macf., Dist., March ; [United States I 



to Venezuela]. 



2. EICHHORNIA, Kih. 



Perigone infundibular : tube dehiscent at the middle, along the anterior claw : lobes un- 

 equal, interior broader. Stamens 6 : three inferior longer, incurved. Capsule 3-celled, 

 many-seeded : seeds costate. — Large, aquatic herbs : leaves emerging ; inflorescence/™>B a 

 sheathing petiole, and supported by a spathe, panj,cled, or racemose ; flowers variegated ; 

 bracts obsolete. 



3. E. tricolor, Seub. Stem simple, one-leaved above-; leaves deeply cordate-deltoid, 

 pointleted, exceeded by the panicle, lowest rosulate ; spathe foliaceous, lanceolate-linear, a 

 little distant from the base of the petiole ; powers distant along the simple, spreading 

 branches of the panicle, inferior pedicellate, superior subsessile ; perigone variegated-blue : 

 lobes obovate and spathulate. — Mart. Fl. Bras. 8. f. 1 1. — Pontederia paniculata, Spreng. — 

 Stem-leaf 8"-5" diam., as long as the petiole ; sheath V'-li", panicle 5"-8", flowers 8'"- 

 10'" long ; capsule ovate-lanceolate. — Hab. Jamaica I, Macf., Bist., Pd., March, in ditches, 

 Westmoreland ; [Brazil]. 



4. E. azurea, Kth. Stem branched: leaves roundish, (or oval), very blunt, contracted 

 into the much longer, taperiny petiole : spathe roundish, sheathing-complicate, a little dis- 

 tant from the base of the petiole ; flowers large, geminate, in a simple raceme, one in the 

 pair pedicellate, the other sessile ; perigone pale-blue with a yellow blotch : interior lobes 

 obovate-roundish, crenulate. — Schlechtend. Ic. in Sailer, Abhandl. VI. — Pontederia, Sw. 

 T. Schlechtend al's doubts on Swartz's species are in contradiction with Senbert's remarks on 

 the Brazil Pontederia azurea, the correctness of which I have occasion to confirm by the 

 comparison of Uruguay specimens, and of the quoted figure with the plant collected in' 

 Swartz's locality. Stem stout, "floating;" leaves variable, the larger S"-*", perigone 2" 

 diam.— Hab. Jamaica I, Prf., behind the ferry ; Trinidad, Cr.; [Panama! and Guiana I to 

 Uruguay ! and northern Buenos AyresJ. 



CXLIV. BROMELIACE^. 



Calyx of 3, corolla of as many divisions. Stamens 6. Ovary 3-celled. Embryo minute, 

 in the top of amylaceous albumen, or naked beyond its extremity. — Herbs, often epiphytical^ 

 leaves rosulate, rigid, parallel-nerved, usually channelled. 



The Pine-apple, .or Ananas, is the syncarpium of Ananassa : the eatable fruits of Bromelia 

 and Nidularium Karatas are called wild Ananas, Of several the fibre is used,'e. y. of Ni- 

 dilarium Karatas and Bromelia Pinguin. 



