A flora of Manila - Rainforestation

LILIACEAE 141
22. PONTEDERIACEAE (PoNDVVEED Family)
Subaquatic oi- marsh herbs, quite glabrous. Leaves erect, the nerves
parallel or subparallel. Flowers perfect, in spikes or racemes from the
sheath of the uppermost leaf, bracts sheathing, irregular. Perianth unequally
6-partite, blue, marcescent. Stamens 1 to 6, inserted at the base
of the perianth-lobes; anthers erect or versatile, one longer than the others.
Ovary free, 3-celled, many-oyuled; style slender; stigma subentire or lobed.
Fruit a membranaceous, loculicidally 3-valved capsule. Seeds small, albumen
horny or flower-like.
Genera 5, species about 21 in all warm and tropical countries, represented
in the Philippines by the following genus only.
1. MONOCHORIA Presl
Characters of the Family as given above. (Greek "one" and "to se-
parate," allusion to one stamen being longer than the others.)
Species about 6, tropics of the Old World, 2 in the Philippines,
Leaves hastate, the basal lobes spreading, oblong-ovate, the blades up to
60 cm long; lower pedicels 1.5 to 2.5 cm long, the upper ones much
shorter 1. M. hastata
Leaves cordate, the basal lobes very broad, not spreading, the pedicels less
than 1 cm long 2. M. vaginalis
1. M. hastata (L.) Solms. Calaboa (Tag.).
Leaves long-petioled, the petioles stout, up to 60 cm long, sheathing
below, the blade broadly ovate, coriaceous, 10 to 30 cm long, slightly
acuminate, base prominently hastate, the sinus vei'y broad, the lobes
spreading, oblong-ovate. Inflorescence many-flowered, 4 to 5 cm long,
spicate. Flowers blue, about 1 cm long, the lower ones with elongated
pedicels.
In shallow stagnant water, fl. most of the year; throughout the Philippines.
India to southern China and Malaya.
2. M. vaginalis (L.) Presl. Calaboa (Tag.).
Smaller than the preceding, the petioles usually less than 30 cm in length.
Leaves broadly ovate to ovate or oblong-ovate, sharply acuminate, base
cordate, the lobes very broad, rounded, not spreading, or base even rounded,
6 to 10 cm long. Inflorescence spicate, 3 to 6 cm long, few-flowered.
Flowers blue, about 1 cm long, their pedicels all less than 1 cm long, and
of about the same length. (Fl. Filip. pi. ^66.)
In open wet grass lands, marshy, places, etc., fl. most of the year;
throughout the Philippines. India to southern China and Malaya.
23. LILIACEAE (Lily Family)
Herbs with fibrous roots or from rootstocks, bulbs, or corms, sometimes
shrubby and tree-like, or climbing and armed with prickles or spines.
Leaves various. Flowers perfect or sometimes unisexual. Perianth thin
or petaloid, 6-merous, in 2 series, rarely 8- or 10-merous, imbricate in bud.
Stamens 6, rarely 3 or fewer, the filaments free or connate. . Anthers
oblong to linear, often versatile. Ovary superior, 3-celled; ovuies 2 to many