XCIX. SCITAMINEZE 
509 
contiguous, the connective sometimes produced at the base in a 
fork. Ovary inferior, 3-celled, bearing at the top 2 short, linear, 
erect glands ; style terminal, very long, thread-like, the upper 
portion more or less adnate to or enclosed by the filament ; 
stigma globose, resting on the top of the anther. Capsule 3- 
valved ; seeds many, more or less enclosed in a white or coloured, 
outer coat or- aril. — India, E. Asia, America. — From the Latin 
scitamentum, delicate food, dainties, referring perhaps to some 
products of the Order which comprises the Gingers, Arrowroot, &c. 
Anther-connective produced in a fork. 
Flowers purple . . . . . . . . .1. Boscoea. 
Flowers yellow. 
Bracts 1-flowered. Lip deeply 2-lobed . . . .2. Cautleya. 
Bracts several-flowered. Lip notched . . . .3. Curcuma. 
Anther-connective not produced 4. Hedychium. 
1. ROSCOEA. In honour of William Eoscoe, author of a work 
on this Order. — Himalaya ; one species in Cochin China. 
Stems leafy. Leaves sessile. Bracts small, persistent, 1- 
flowered. Flowers purple, in terminal spikes, only one flower in 
the spike expanding at a time. Calyx-tube more or less slit on one 
side, 2-toothed. Corolla-tube long, slender ; upper lobe erect, more 
or less concave and hood-like ; lateral lobes narrow, recurved. 
Lateral staminodes erect, more or less united, covering the anther ; 
the lower large, broad, spreading,; anther notched at the top, the 
connective produced at the base in a fork. Ovary cylindrical, 
slender. Capsule oblong-ovoid, ultimately opening by 3 valves ; 
seeds many, small. 
The fork at the base of the anther in this genus and in the next, on being 
pushed by an insect in its efforts to obtain the honey secreted in the base of 
the flower, causes the anther to descend on its back, the action being similar 
to the pushing of the short arm in the stamens of Salvia, see Labiatee, page 
394. It is worthy of note that the same mechanical adaptation secures the 
same end in Orders so different in floral structure. 
Flowers dark purple. Corolla-tube much longer than the calyx 1. R. alpina. 
Flowers lilac. Corolla-tube hardly longer than the calyx . . 2. B. procera. 
1. Roscoea alpina, Boyle ; FI. Br. Ind. vi. 207. Stems 4-8 in., 
slender. Leaves 2-4, often not developed at the flowering time, 
oblong-lanceolate, 3-6 in. Flowers few, dark purple. Corolla- 
tube much longer than the ‘calyx ; upper lobe in., orbicular, 
slightly concave ; lateral lobes linear-oblong. Lower staminode 
in. long, 2-lobed. (Fig. 169.) 
Simla, common on banks ; July. — W. Himalaya, up to 11,000 ft. 
2. Roscoea procera, Wall . ; FI. Br. Ind. vi. 208. Stems 12-24 in., 
robust. Leaves 3-6, lanceolate, 6x1^ in. Flowers several, lilac, 
