MARATTIACEAE 
473 
orders, the androeceum is united to the corolla. There is one fertile 
sta., often petaloid, and round it various 
petaloid structures (cf. carefully Canna and 
Zingiberaceae). The labellum of Canna is 
represented by a hood-shaped leaf covering 
the style (Kapuzenblatt). The staminode a 
is represented by a more or less leathery 
or callous leaf (Schwielenblatt) ; /3 and y 
are not always present, but are petaloid 
when they do occur. The same views as 
to the morphology of these structures have 
been proposed as in the case of Canna (q.v. ). 
The inferior ovary is of (3) cpls., typically 
3-loc. 3-ovuled, but commonly 2 of the loc. 
are abortive (as in fig.) and the third con- 
tains one ovule ; ovule ana-campylo-tropous : 
style curved and at first enclosed in the 
‘Kapuzenblatt’ or hood. The fir. often has an explosive mechanism. 
The pollen is shed upon the style, which remains held in the hood. 
Insects enter upon the staminode a, and in sucking honey (secreted 
by glands in the septa of the ovary) set free the style, which descends 
with a sudden shock, touching the insect’s back and at the same time 
showering the pollen upon it (cf. Genista). The fruit is usually a 
loculicidal capsule. Embryo curved, in perisperm. Seed often arillate. 
Maranta and others furnish arrowroot, &c. Chief genera: Calathea, 
Maranta, Thalia. [Benth. -Hooker unite M. to Cannaceae, Musaceae, 
and Zingiberaceae to form the order Scitamineae, placed in Epigynae. 
Warming places it in coh. Scitamineae.] 
Marattia Sw. Marattiaceae (11). 30 sp. trop. The synangium is oval 
and the compartments open by slits into a central space. 
Marattiaceae. Filicineae Eusporangiatae. 5 gen. with 50 sp., trop. 
They are large ferns, with a stout stem rarely more than a couple of 
feet long, not branched (exc. Danaea), and large pinnate leaves (pal- 
mate in Kaulfussia). At the base of the leaf, which shows circinate 
vernation, occur a pair of stipules, which aid in bud-protection. The 
roots arise at the growing point, one or more to each leaf ; they 
burrow obliquely outwards emerging some distance from the apex. 
The sporangia are very numerous, and occur upon the veins on 
the lower side of ordinary foliage leaves. The sorus stands on a 
swollen placenta; in Angiopteris the component sporangia are free 
from one another, in the other genera they combine to form a synan - 
gium , with as many chambers as there are sporangia. The mode of 
opening varies (see classification, below). The spores are all of one 
kind (except that they vary in shape), and give rise to monoecious pro- 
thalli, resembling those of the ordinary ferns. These are large and 
may live for some years. 
Floral diagram of Maranta 
bicolor (modified from 
Eichler). a)3y, stamin- 
odes; L., labellum (Ka- 
puzen blatt). 
