XXXIII. -OPHIOPOGONBiE. 



841 



JOemnacees, which are the smallest known Phanerogams, are intermediate between NaiadecB and 

 Aroidem ; they are closely allied to the latter through the genus PtKtia, which approaches them in inflo- 

 rescence and the structure of its seeds. They are found in stagnant water in all cliniates, but especially 

 in temperate regions ; they are rarer in the tropics on account of the heat which dries up the swamps, and 

 the torrents of rain which violently agitate the water. Their part in nature seems to be the protection 

 from the solar light of the inferior organisms of the Animal Kingdom which live in swamps, and at the 

 same time to serve them -for food. 



XXXII. ASPIDISTREvE. 



Glabrous stemless herbs ; rhizome usually creeping. Leaves radical, sheathing, 

 oblong-lanceolate, coriaceous, nerves 

 prominent. Flowers § , solitary, spiked, 

 rising out of the ground {Aspidistra), or 

 scape terminated by a dense spike {Rho- 

 dea, &c.). Pbkianth petaloid, valvate in 

 aestivation, sub-globose {Rhodea),ov cam- 

 panulate {Tupistra, Aspidistra), 6-8-fid. 

 Stamens 6-8, inserted on the perianth. 

 OvAiiT free, with 3 2-ovuled cells ; stigma 

 sessile, rayed, 3-fid {Bhodea), or stipitate, 

 3-6-lobed [Tupistra, Aspidistra) ; ovules 

 semi-anatropous. Beeet [Uhodea) 1- 

 ceUed, 1-seeded [or several-celled and 

 -seeded in Aspidistra and Tupistra. Seed 

 large, sub-globose; festo very thin ; albu- 

 men copious, dense. Embeto cylindric] . 

 Japanese and Asiatic plants. 



Aspidistra. 



aENUS. 

 Htpistra. 



Rhodea. 



XXXIII. OPHIOPOGONEJE. 



Stemless [tufted] heebs. Leaves sheathing, 

 linear-ensiform, or oblong-lanceolate. Scape simple, 

 terminated by a raceme of ? flowers. Perianth 

 petaloid, rotate, 6-fid or -partite ; throat naked, or 

 furnished with an annular crown (Peldosanthes) . 

 Stamens 6 ; filaments dilated, almost ; anthers 

 basifixed, sagittate, mucronate [Ophiopogon)., or adnate 

 to the annular crown (Peliosanthes). Ovart adherent 

 to the base of the perianth, of 3 2-ovuled cells; 

 style 3-gonous, thick ; stigma shortly 3-fid (Ophiopogon), 

 or 3-fid and radiating {Peliosanthes) ; ovules anatropous. 



Rhodea japonica. Eloweriiig spike. 



