■Colocasia.] CXLV. AEOIDEiE. 1697 



ilonger, the terminal appendage much shorter and sometimes obsolete. Stigmas 

 almost sessile. — F. v. M. Fragm. viii. 187 ; Wight, Ic. t. 786 ; Caladimn aov, 

 R. Br. Prod. 386. 



Hab.: Endeavour Eiver, Banks and Solander ; Koekinghain Bay, Dallachy. 

 The species is muoli cultivated in tropical Asia and Africa, and often gathered as wild, but ils 

 real native country is not well ascertained. 



4. ALOCASIA, Schott. 



(From a, ■without, aijd Colocasia ; allied to Colocada). 



Characters of Colocasia, but ovules few, basal, erect. 



1. A> xnacrorrhiza (long rooted), Schott. Prod. Sys. Avoid. 146. " Dhoo-ee," 

 Burnett, Keys. " Mur-gan," Mt. Cook, Ihth. " Koom-bi," Tully River 

 and Atherton, Roth. " Hakkin," Rockhampton, " Bangangan " or " Nargan," 

 Cleveland Bay, Thoxet : " Cunjevoi, Brisbane. Stems stout, several ft. high 

 and usually 4 to 6in. in diameter. Leaves 2 to 3ft. long, 12 to ISin. broad, 

 nerves 10 to 12 pairs, very broadly hastate-cordate. Spatha 6 to Sin. long, 

 'hooded and cuspidate at the top. Spadix as long as the spatha. Anthers 

 usually 2, 2-eelled (or 4, 1-celled) to each flower or cluster. Ovary 1-celled, 

 with few ovules attached at or near the base of the cavity. Stigma nearly 

 sessile, broad, peltate or slightly lobed. Berries ovoid, 2 or 4 lines long, 

 usually ripening 3 or 4 seeds. — Caladimn macrorrhiion, R. Br. Prod. 330 ; 

 Colocasia macrorrhiza, Schott. Meletem, 18 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 155. 



Hab.: Ipswich, Nernst ; Rockhampton, Thoxet ; llockingham Bay, Dallachy ; Port Denison, 

 Sitzalan ; common in all scrubs. 



Boots after preparation eaten. — Bith, I.e. 



Var. hrisbanensis. Plants smaller in all its part.? ; petioles mottled. 



Hab.: Brisbane River scrubs. 



5. RHAPHIDOPHORA, Hassk. 

 (Bearing rhaphides.) 



Spatha open to the base, usually very deciduous. Flowers hermaphrodite or 

 the lower ones without stamens, in a cylindrical spike covering the whole of the 

 spadix. Perianth none. Stamens 4 to 6, adnate to the sides of the ovary, or 

 the anther-cells free, opening outwards in longitudinal slits. Ovary with a thick 

 angular fleshy truncate apex filled with raphides inside, and a small basal cavity, 

 1-celled or imperfectly 2-celled, witli few ovules; stigma adnate to the centre of 

 the truncate apex. Seeds albuminous. — Stems climbing on trees and rooting in 

 the lower part. Leaves large and deeply pinnatifid or in some species smaller 

 and entire. 



Species few, belonging to tropical Asia, Australia and Polynesia. 

 Spatha very deciduous, 3 to nearly 4in. long. Ovary conical on the top, 



stigma linear. Seeds numerous 1. II. auitralaska, 



Spatha not deciduous, 8 or 9in. longj^ Ovary flat-topped. Stigma linear, 



sunk in the ovary 2. ij. Lovclla. 



1. H. australasica (Australian), Bail. Ql. Arp-ic. Journ. i. Pt. 6. Stems 

 •climbing often to a considerable height, angular, not often bearing the fibrous 

 remains of the old leaf-sheaths, usually quite naked, cane-like emitting roots 

 from the underside : internodes short, seldom exceeding lin. diameter. Leaves 

 near the inflorescence entire, 10 to 15in. long, 3 to 5|in. broad in the centre, 

 lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, costa prominent, lateral nerves numerous. Petiole 

 imore or less winged, 7 to 9in. long from the base to the geniculation, and about 

 lin. from there to base of lamina. Inflorescence appears terminal, erect, solitary, 

 •or sometimes two near together with little or no network of old leaf-sheaths to 

 support them. Peduncles 6 to 7in. long, terete, under ^in. diameter, soft. 

 Spatha deciduous, 2| to-almost 4in. long, acuminate, rather spreading. Spadix 



