MANGIFERA 
45 8 
is the mango, everywhere cultivated in the tropics for its fruit, which 
is a large drupe derived from the i cpl. of the fir. 
Manihot Tourn. ex Adans. Euphorbiaceae (A n. 4). 80 sp. S. Am. 
Shrubs and herbs with monoecious firs. M. Glaziovii Mull. - Arg. and 
other sp. show bud-protection well. The petiole of the young leaf 
curves upwards and inwards, so that the leaf is brought above the bud, 
thus protecting it from radiation & c. M. utilissima Pohl is the bitter, 
M. Aipi Pohl ( M . palmata Mull. -Arg.) the sweet cassava or mandioc; 
both are extensively cultivated in the tropics for their large tuberous 
roots, which contain much starch, &c., and form a valuable food-stuff. 
The bitter cassava is the one usually cultivated : its poisonous juice is 
squeezed out, and finally dissipated in the drying. The ground roots 
form mandioc or cassava meal, sometimes called Brazilian arrowroot. 
By a special mode of preparation, tapioca is prepared from the root. 
The poisonous juice, evaporated to a syrup and thus rendered harm- 
less, forms an antiseptic, known as cassareep, used in preserving meat 
&c. M. Glaziovii is the Ceara rubber; indian-rubber is obtained by 
tapping the stem of the tree in the usual way. 
Manna D. Don = Alhagi Tourn. 
Mantisia Sims. Zingiberaceae. 2 sp. E. Ind. M. saltatoria Sims 
(dancing girls) is often grown in hot-houses for its curious firs. They 
are borne on separate shoots springing from the rhizome. At the base 
is the calyx, then 3 broad petals, a curiously shaped labellum and 
2 filamentous staminodes, and beyond all the fertile sta. and style. 
Manulea Linn. Scrophulariaceae (11. 7). 26 sp. S. Afr. 
Maoutia Wedd. Urticaceae (3). 8 sp. trop. As. and Polynes. There 
is no perianth in the ? fir. M. Pity a Wedd. is the source of a valuable 
fibre. 
Mapouria Aubl. Rubiaceae (11. 15). 80 sp. E. Ind., S. Am. Included 
in Psychotria by Benth. -Hooker. 
Mappa A. Juss. = Macaranga Thou. 
Maranta Plum, ex Linn. Marantaceae. 15 sp. trop. Am. The stami- 
nodes ft 7 (see order) are present in many sp. The rhizome of M. 
arundiiiacea L. furnishes West Indian arrowroot, prepared by grind- 
ing and washing to free the starch. 
Marantaceae. Monocotyledons (Scitamineae). 12 gen. with 150 sp. 
trop., chiefly Am. Herbaceous perennials of various habit, resem- 
bling Zingiberaceae, but at once distinguishable by the presence of a 
swollen pulvinus or joint at the junction of petiole and leaf-blade. 
Leaves 2-ranked, sheathing; one side of the leaf is larger than the 
other and is covered by it when the leaf is rolled up in the bud. Firs, 
usually upon the leafy shoots, in pairs in the axils of the bracts, either 
one pair or many (cymose, drepania). The fir. is asymmetric, but 
in each pair the one is complementary to the other (i.e. like its reflec- 
tion in a glass). Fir. $ , pentacyclic, 3-merous. P 3 + 3, clearly dis- 
tinguished in most cases into calyx and corolla. As in the allied 
