10 KEY TO THE FAMILIES. 



Monocotyledones. 



1. Perianth consisting of bristles or scales, or wanting, not corolla-like, - 2 



I. Perianth of one or two rows, the inner usually corolla-like, - - - 8 

 2. Flowers gluma^eous, ----- 18 Grasses and 19 Sedges 

 2. Flowers not glumaceous, -------- --3 



3. Perianth consisting of bristles or scales, or wanting, - - - - 4 

 3. Perianth fleshy or herbaceous, or wanting, - - - - 6 



4. Plants more or less woody, with stilt-like aerial roots; cultivated. — 



12 Pandanaceae 



4. Wild plants. ----5 



5. Flowers in elongated terminal spikes, - - - 11 Typhaceae 



5. Flowers in globose axillary spikes, - - - - 13 Sparganiaceae 



5. Flowers in lateral panicles, corymbs or heads, rarely single, - SO Juncaceae 

 6. Fruit a berry or utricle, --------- 7 



6. Fruit a spike of drupelets; submerged herbs, - - - 14 Zannichelliaceae 

 7. Plants with flowers on a spadix, 21 Araceae 



7. Minute floating herbaceous structures, - - - - 22 Lemnaceae 



8. Epiphytes, --------- 28 Bromeliaceae 



8. Trees and shrubs, with caudex, -------_g 



8. Herbs or vines, ----------- 10 



9. Leaves alternate, narrow, firm or rigid, - - - -34 Dracaenaceae 



9. Leaves at the end of the stem, fanshaped or pinnate, - - 20 Arecaceae 

 10. Flowers mainly in heads or spikes, ------- n 



10. Flowers in other inflorescences, or single ------ 13 



II. Stamens united with the style, - - - - 45 Orchidaceae 

 11. Stamens and style not united, -------12 



12. Flowers yellow or white, in terminal compact spikes, - - 24 Xyridaceae 

 12. Flowers white, minute, in terminal involucrate heads, - 25 Ericaulonaceae 

 12. Flowers blue, or white, or purplish with yellow dots, in spikes, rarely 



single or in a raceme, ------ 27 Pontedariaceae 



12. Flowers pink or purple, in bracted clusters arranged in a drooping 



terminal spike, -------- 40 Musaceae 



12. Flowers orange-yellow and white in a spike, a head, or a drooping 



panicle, ---------41 Alpiniaceae 



12. Flowers bluish-purple in an erect terminal leafy-bracted spike - 28 Bromeliaceae 

 13. Ovary superior, ---------- 14 



13. Ovary wholly or partially inferior, ------ 23 



14. The two rows of the perianth of different color, ----- 15 



14. The two rows of the perianth of the same color, ----- 18 



15. Carpels 3-many, distinct, ------- 15 Alismaceae 



15. Carpels 3, more or less united, - - - - - - -16 



16. Leaves densely crowded, moss-like marsh-herbs, - - - 23 Mayacaceae 

 16. Leaves alternate, -----------17 



17. Stigma 1, obscurely lobed, ----- 26 Commelinaceae 



17. Stigmas 3; epiphytes, -------28 Bromeliaceae 



18. Leaves net- veined; vines, - 35 Smilacaceae 



18. Leaves parallel-veined, often narrow, -------19 



18. Leaves reduced to scales, branches thread-like, - - 33 Convallariaceae 



19. Styles united, --- 20 



19. Styles 3, distinct, -------29 Melanthaceae 





