THE BLOOD-ROOT FAMILY. 



177 



it to break over at that height. A plant at Kew being sup- 

 ported, formed a stem 34 feet high, and was still progress- 

 ing when cut down in 1863. Its flowers are white, and 

 small compared with the gigantic proportions of the plant. 

 The seeds are like those of Urania, but have a red woolly 

 covering instead of blue. The most beautiful flowering species 

 is S. Regince, which has no stem, its leaves being borne on 

 long footstalks that rise direct from the root. The flowers 

 are of the richest orange and purple tints. This plant has 

 long been cultivated at Kew, and derived its name in 

 honour of the late Queen Charlotte, who was a Princess of 

 Mecklenburg Strelitz. In the West Indies and tropical 

 America the family is represented by many species of the 

 genus Heliconia, which are of various sizes, the characters of 

 their leaves being like those of Musa, and their flowers some- 

 thing like Strelitzia, being seated in large coloured bracts. 



THE lEIS AND ORCHID ALLIANCE. 

 The Blood Root Family. 



(H^MODORACE^.) 



Bulbo-corm or fibrous-rooted herbs, perennial phyllocorms, 

 or woody-stemmed, branching shrubs. Leaves always set on 

 the stem in two rows {distichous), grass or sword- like. 

 Flowers solitary on a long footstalk, or in cymes, or panicles. 

 Sepals and petals united, forming a tube, regular, or split on 

 one side (as in Anigosanthus). Stamens 3 — 6. Pistil simple. 

 Fruit a valved capsule, crowned with the withered perianth, 

 sometimes nut-like, few or many seeded. 



About 50 species constitute this family, all being widely 

 distributed, their extremes of latitude being N. America and 

 Australia. Their economic qualities are not many, but the 

 red roots of some are used in dyeing. They contain a 

 bitter principle, which is strongly marked in Aletris farinosa, 

 a native of the United States, where it is known by the name 

 of Colic-root. 



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