_w_ _w_ _w_ _w_
_st_ _st_
_w_ _lab_ _wi_ _c_
* *
_w_ The lateral staminodes, “wings;” _st_ fertile stamen; * the
suppressed stamen; _lab_ labellum; _c_ hood; _wi_ inner-wing.
The labellum of the Cannaceæ corresponds with the hood of the
Marantaceæ and not with the labellum of the Zingiberaceæ.
[Illustration: FIG. 317.--_Calathea zebrina._]
Order 4. =Marantaceæ.= The flower is asymmetrical. Only 1 or 2 of the
3 stamens in the outer whorl are present as staminodes; in the inner
whorl 2 are petaloid and of the sixth stamen one-half is developed as a
staminode and the other half bears a bilocular anther. One ovule only
in each loculus. The style is strongly curved and at first enclosed
in one of the staminodes (hood) of the inner whorl; later on it
springs elastically forward towards the other staminode (inner-wing)
of the same whorl. The stigma is very oblique or 2-lipped. Two of the
three loculi of the ovary, in some (_Maranta_, _Thalia_) become small
and empty. Embryo _curved_. Leaves in two rows, with sheath, stalk,
and blade (Fig. 317); at the base of the last is a _characteristic
swelling_ (_articulus_).--~_Phrynium_, _Calathea_, _Stromanthe_,
_Ctenanthe_, _Saranthe_, etc. About 150 species; tropical, especially
America. The starch of the rhizome of _Maranta arundinacea_ is
OFFICINAL, “West Indian Arrowroot.”~