768 V. BEOMELIACE^. 



or superior, 6-partite, 2-seriate ; outer segments {calyx) herbaceous, the 2 posterior 

 usually coherent, the third anterior, sometimes shorter, imbricate or rarely valvate 

 in aestivation; iuner segments petaloid (corolla), more or less coherent, usually 

 furnished within at the base with a scale or nectariferous crest, spirally twisted in 

 aestivation, or rarely valvate, marcescent, and again twisted in age. Stamens 6, 

 epigynous, perigynous, or hypogynous ; filamsnts subulate, usually dilated at the 

 base, free or connate, and more or less adnate to the inner perianth-segments; 

 anthers introrse, 2-celled, basi- or dorsi-fixed, erect or incumbent, dehiscence longi- 

 tudinal. OvAKT either completely superior {Bychia), or semi-inferior {Pitcairnia), 

 or inferior {Ananassa, Billhergia, &c.), 3-celled j style simple, 3-gonous, sometimes 

 3-partite ; stigmas 3, simple, or rarely 2-fid, sometimes fleshy or petaloid, straight, 

 or spirally twisted ; ovules anatropous, numerous, 2-seriate at the iuner angle of the 

 cells, horizontal or ascending, rarely definite and pendulous from the top of the 

 central angle [Ananassa). Feuit a 3-celled berry or a septicidally 3-valved capsule, 

 rarely loculicidal, endocarp usually separable. Seeds usually numerous, oblong 

 (Guzmannia, Brocchinia), or linear (Pitcairnia, Tillandsia), or ovoid (Bromelia, Bill- 

 hergia), or discoid (DycMa); testa cellular (Pitcairnia), or fleshy (Ananassa, Billhergia), 

 or suberose (DycMa), or silky (Tillandsia), often obtusely acuminate at both ends ; 

 albumen farinaceous. Embeto placed outside the albumen, straight or hooked, 

 radicular end near the hilum. 



PEINCIPAL GENERA. 



* Ananassa. * Billhergia. , * Tillandsia. * Guzmannia. 



* Bromelia. * Acanthostachys. * Quesnelia. * Dyokia. 



* jEchmea. * Pitcairnia. * Caraguata. PouiTetia. 



Bromeliaceee, in "being epigynous, perigynous or hypogynous, are intermediate between Monocotyledons 

 ■with a free, and tEose with an adherent ovary. Brongniart has placed them in the class of Pmdederiacea;, 

 ■which they approach in the herbaceous stem, sheathing radical leaves, flo^wers in a spike or raceme, 

 bracteate 2-8eriate perianth, superior or semi-adherent S-celled ovary, loculicidally 3-valved capsule, and 

 farinaceous albumen ; but Pontederiaceee jiare separated by their completely petaloid perianth, the 

 ovary-cells either unequal or reduced to one, the solitary ovule pendulous from the top of the fertile cell, 

 and the axils and included embryo. On the other hand, Sromeliaeets are near Heemodoracece, which 

 differ in their equitant distichous leaves, their wholly petaloid perianth, their stamens, of which three 

 only are fertile, their undivided stigma, their not farinaceous albumen, &c. 



BromeliacecB are all American, where most are epiphytes in tropical forests ; they are much rarer 

 in hot extra-tropical regions. 



The fruit of the baccate BromeliacecB contains citric and malic acids, to which it owes astringent 

 medicinal properties. The ripe berries of some abound in sugar, which gives them an exquisite 

 flavour. The Pine-apple {Ananassa), the most important species, has been introduced into Asia and 

 Africa. The fruit consists of a dense spike of connate fleshy berries and bracts, forming together an 

 ovoid or sub-globose syncarpous compound fruit, which is seedless through cultivation, and crowned by 

 a tuft of leaves. When ripe it is full of an acidulous perfumed sugary juice, and is considered one 

 of the most delicate of fruits ; but when unripe the juice is acid and acrid, and much esteemed 

 in the Antilles as a vermifuge and diuretic. Bromelia Pinguin and several other species possess the 

 same properties. Tillandsia usneoides [a very slender filamentous, much-branched species that hangs in 

 hair-like masses from trees in the North-west Indies and southern United States] is used in America 

 in the preparation of an ointment used in cases of hsemorrhage ; its fragile and very long stems, deprived 

 of their outer parenchyma, are employed for stufiiug mattresses, under the name of ' vegetable hair;' they 

 are also remarkable for having no spiral vessels. Billhergia tinctoria yields a yellow colouring matter, and 

 the Pine-apple leaf an extremely beautiful silky fibre. 



