MONOCOTYLEDONES. 



183 



13. Scitamineae. The Banana family. These plants 

 have irregular flowers ; a six-parted perianth ; six stamens 

 (generally), few of which are fertile; fruit with do endo- 

 sperm, but with much perisperm. They are found princi- 

 pally in the Tropics. The Banana (J/iwa sapientum) and 

 the Plantaiu (Jf. paradisiaca) are large herbs, ten to 

 fifteen feet high. Their fruit constitutes almost the entire 

 food for millions 

 of people in the 

 Tropics. Large 

 quantities are also 

 exported. The 

 Manilla Hemp is ' 

 obtained from M. 

 textilis of the East 

 Indies. The dye 

 Turmeric is the 

 yellow-colored rhi- 

 zome of Curcurma ^^^j 

 longa of the East 

 Indies and Pacific 

 Islands. The Gin- ^-^^^ 

 ger-plant (^Zingi- 

 ber officinale), ■^nh- ' 

 ably a native of ^'* 



India, is cultivated in most tropical countries. Its aro- 

 matic rhizome, dried and powdered, constitutes the ginger 

 of commerce. From the fleshy rhizomes of Maranta 

 arundinaeea, a native of Tropical America, the starch 

 called Arrow-root is obtained. Common cultivated plants 

 of this family are the many species of Canna (Fig. 294) 

 and Strelitzia Regina, the latter from South Africa. 



Fig. 294. Canna ; rhizome and flower natural size ; plant reduced. 



