286 

 ORDER CLXII. PONTEDERACEiE. 



Flowers hermaphrodite: calyx corollaeeous, fiinnel-shapea 

 or hypocraterifornij limb more or less irregulary 6-cleftj 

 generally sub-bilabiate, sometimes deeply 6*partedj persistent 

 in withering : aestivation spirally convolute : stamens 6, more 

 or less unequal, inserted on the tube of the calyx, sometimes 

 at different heights, sometimes the three outer ones obliterated: 

 anthers 2-celled, fixed by the 2-lobed base, erect, introrse, 

 smaller in the shorter stamens: cells parallely contiguous, 

 dehiscing lengthways: ovary sessile, free, 3-celled: ovules 

 numerous, fixed to 2-lobed placentse, anatropal, solitary and 

 suspended by the apex when the ovaries are 1 -celled by 

 abortion : style simple, terminal : stigma thickish, 3 (?) or 6- 

 lobed : fruit free, either capsular, 3 or pseudo-1 -celled, locu- 

 licidally 3-valved, valves septiferous and seed-bearing in the 

 middle, or utricular, 1-celled, l-seeded and indehiscent : seeds 

 ribbed and striated or smooth, marked with a small basal hilum 

 and thickish terminal chalaza : testa thin : embryo cylindric in 

 the axis of densely farinaceous albumen, straight, looking 

 towards the hilum — Marshy and aquatic herbs, creeping with 

 a stem or rhizome, sometimes stemless, perennial, quite glabrous 

 except the calyx: radical fibres and rootlets furnished with 

 a spongiole : leaves long-petioled, more or less fleshy and 

 dilated, very rarely linear and sessile, petioles sheathed at the 

 base : peduncles lateral, very rarely radical or terminal, 

 1 — 2-many flowered: flowers sessile or pedicelled, spiked 

 racemose or corymbose, each without bracts, wrapped in a 

 common spathe, slowly more or less remote, furnished below 

 the spathe with a leaf resembHng the rest: calyces usually 

 blue or violet, seldom whitish or yellow. 



GENUS I. MONOCHOEIA. 



Hexa^ndria. monogrynia. Sex: St/st: 



Gen. Chae. Calyx persistent, sepals oblong, obtuse, spreading, 

 outer ones broader : stamens inserted at the base of the calyx, erect, 

 one more robust : filaments linear-subulate, flattened, the .sixth of 

 the larger stamen longer and at one side, towards the middle, spurred 



