82 BOTANY. 
the three inner (petals) minute. Stamens three, inserted in the tube of the 
perianth, opposite its imner segments, sometimes with three alternating 
sterile filaments; anthers dithecal, opening transversely, with a fleshy 
connective. Ovary inferior, either one- or three-celled, in the latter case 
the cells opposite the outer segments of the perianth; ovules, 00; style, 
simple; stigmas, three. Fruit, a one- or three-celled, three-valved capsule, 
crowned by the persistent perianth. Seeds 00, minute, striated Herbs, with 
radical leaves and bisexual flowers. Natives of most grassy places in 
tropical regions. They have no properties of importance. There are 
bout ten known genera and thirty-five species. Examples: Burmannia, 
Apteria, Apostasia. . fae 
OrvER 31. Iripaces, the Iris Family. Perianth adherent, six-parted, 
colored, in two, often unequal whorls. Stamens three, epigynous, opposite 
the outer segments of the perianth; filaments distinct or monadelphous ; 
anthers two-celled, extrorse. Ovary inferior, three-celled; ovules numerous, 
anatropal; style one; stigmas three, often petaloid, sometimes bilabiate. 
‘Fruit, a three-celled, three-valved capsule, with loculicidal dehiscence. 
Seeds numerous; embryo inclosed in horny or fleshy albumen; radicle next 
the hilum. Herbs, rarely undershrubs, with rhizomes or underground corms, 
having their leaves often equitant or distichous, and their flowers spatha- 
-ceous. Natives chiefly of warm and temperate regions. They abound 
at the Cape of Good Hope. There are fifty-three known genera, and five 
hundred and fifty species. Examples: Iris, Sisyrinchium, Witsenia, Gladio- 
lus, Ixia, Crocus. : 
Certain plants of this order have an economical value. Orris-rovot is ob- 
tained from Iris’florentina. The roasted seeds of I. pseudacorus have been 
cused as a substitute for coffee. Saffron consists of the stigmata of Crocus sati- 
vus, a species originally from Asia Minor, now extensively spread. Numerous 
species of Iris occur in North America; Sisyrinchium or Blue-eyed grass also 
belongs here. 
Pl. 58, 59, fig. 4, a-i, Iris germanica, an European species. Pl. 58, fig. 3, 
Crocus sativus. | 
OrpER 32. Musacr#, the Banana Family. Perianth six-cleft, adherent, 
petaloid, in two whorls, more or less irregular. Stamens six, inserted on 
the middle of the segments of the perianth, some usually abortive; anthers 
- linear, dithecal, introrse, often with a membranous petaloid crest. Ovary 
inferior, three-celled; ovules numerous, anatropal; style simple; stigma 
usually three-lobed. Fruit, either a three-celled capsule, with loculicidal 
dehiscence, or succulent and indehiscent. Seeds sometimes surrounded by 
hairs; testa usually crustaceous ; embryo erect in the axis of mealy albumen ; 
radicle touching the hilum. Plants without true aerial stems, or nearly so, 
having shoots proceeding from subterranean root-stocks, which form spurious 
stems, composed of the sheathing leaf-stocks. Veins in the limb of the leaf 
parallel, and proceeding in a curved manner from the midrib to the margin. 
Flowers bursting through spathas. Natives of warm and tropical regions: 
there are five known genera and twenty-one species. Examples: Musa, 
Strelitzia, Ravenala, Heliconia. 
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