Monocotyledon families- Musaceae, Zingiberaceae and Liliaceae

on


Musaceae
(Banana family)




A small family of 6 genera (Musa, Ensete, Orchidantha, Ravenala, Heliconia and Strelitzia) and 130 species distributed only in tropical regions. Banana (Musa parasidica sub sp. sapientum) is the most common plant of the family, found in India.
                                                                            Plants of this family are perennial giant herbs appearing like trees; containing unbranched tall aerial pseudo-stems formed by the leaf sheaths; plants persist by underground stem. Leaves large forming crown at the apex of stout unbranched stem; flowers zygomorphic; inflorescence spadix covered by a spathe; ovary inferior; fruit berry.
Flower mostly unisexual, plant monoecious having male flowers within the upper bracts and female flowers within the lower bracts; zygomorphic, trimerous and epigynous; flowers sometimes bisexual; in Heliconia and Ravenala the flowers are 2-ranked; in Orchidantha, the flowers are orchid like.
Fruits and seeds: Fruit an elongated berry (Musa), or trilocular capsule (Ravenala, Strelitzia), or schizocarp splitting into mericarps (Heliconia). Seeds often arillate, with straight embryo in mealy perisperm.

Economic Importance
    1. Musa parasidica L. sub sp. sapientum Schum. (banana) is the most famous tropical fruits eaten throughout the world. Over 14 species of Musa occur in India. Green bananas are used as vegetable and dried banana powder is good baby food used in manufacture of biscuits, chocolate, etc. Starch is prepared from banana stem. Fibre obtained from the sheathing leaf bases of M. chinensis is used for cordage. M. textiles also provide a useful fibre known as Manila hemp.
    2. Ravenala madagascariensis (Traveller's tree), Strelitzia regina and species of Heliconia and Orchidantha are most favoured for decorative purposes.
    3. Ensete ventricose inflorescences are used as vegetable.






Zingiberaceae
(Ginger family)




A family of 49 genera and 1,000 species, Zingiberaceae are distributed in tropical regions, chiefly in Indomalaysia. About 17 genera and over 115 species have been reported from India, chiefly in Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas. 
Some largely represented genera worldovwr are: 
    • Alpinia, 
    • Amomum, 
    • Costus, 
    • Zingiber, 
    • Kaempferia, 
    • Curcuma, 
    • Hedychium, 
    • Globba and 
    • Elettaria. 
Selected Indian genera are: 
    • Amomum, 
    • Curcuma, 
    • Elettaria and 
    • Zingiber.
    Plants of this family are perennial, often aromatic herbs, usually with sympodial tuberous (Curcuma) or horizontal (Zingiber) rhizomes; rarely with fibrous roots (Cautleya); aerial stem, if present, in short; sometimes an apparent stem is formed by the rolled up leaf sheaths. Ligule present at the top of leaf sheath; perianth differentiated into calyx and corolla; only single fertile stamen; staminodes petaloid.
Corolla: 3 unequal lobed petals, free or more or less united into a tubular corolla with the posterior lobe usually the largest; delicate and usually showy.
Fruit and seeds: Fruit usually a 3-valved, loculicidal capsule, or rarely fleshy, indehiscent, berry-like. Seeds often arillate, and each with single straight embryo and abundant endosperm.

Economic Importance
Economically the family is important as a source of some spices and condiments, fragrant oils and ornamentals.

Spices and condiments:
    • Seeds of Amomum cardamon (cardamom)
    •  Eletteria cardamomum (true cardamom)
    • Roots of  Alpinia officinarum (gang root)
    • Rhizomes of A. ganglia (siamese ginger)
    • Curcuma longa (turmeric)
    • Zingiber officinale (ginger)
    • Ginger oil obtained from the rhizome of Zingiber officinale is used in perfumery and for medicinal purposes.
    • Turmeric is also used for medicinal purposes.
Abir: Abir the famous scented powder, is prepared from Hedychium spicatum (Kapur kachri)

Zeodary: The product 'Zeodary' used as a tonic and in perfumery, is obtained from the tubers of Curcuma zeodaria.

Cultivated ornamentals: Some of the ornamental genera cultivated in greenhouses and gardens for decorative purposes are-
    • Alpine (shell ginger)
    • Brachychilum
    • Cardamom
    • Cautleya
    • Costus
    • Globba
    • Hedychium
    • Kaempferia
    • Roscoea

Liliaceae
(Lily family)






A family of about 250 genera and 3700 species showing cosmopolitan distribution. About 35 genera and 195 species have been reported from India. 
Selected Indian genera are: 
    • Allium, 
    • Aloe, 
    • Asparagus, 
    • Asphodelus, 
    • Colchicum, 
    • Dracaena, 
    • Fritillaria, 
    • Lilium, 
    • Ruscus, 
    • Sansevieria, 
    • Smilax and Y
    • ucca.
  • ( under updated classification onion and garlic are placed under Amaryllidaceae family)
                                  Plants of this family are mostly perennial herbs with sympodial bulbs (Allium cepa), rhizomes (Paris quadrifolia), corms (Colchicum) or bulbils (Lilium); some are woody shrubs (Dracaena, Yucca), or trees (Xanthorrhoea); a few are succulents (Aloe, Gasteria) and climbers (Gloriosa, Smilax); in some the ultimate branches are modified into phylloclades (Ruscus) or cladodes (Asparagus) and the leaves are reduced to scales. Leaves usually radical; perianth showy, usually 6 tepals arranged in 2 whorls of 3 each; stamens 6; ovary superior.
Fruit and seeds: Fruit usually a septicidal or loculicidal capsule or a berry (Asparagus, Smilax). Seeds with curved or straight embryo and abundant endosperm.
Pollination: Flowers are usually insect-pollinated. Insects are attracted usually because of gaudy and scented perianth lobes and the nectar secreted in the septal glands. In Paris the insects are attracted because of the foetid smell and dark purple colour of the floral parts. Bright colours of tepals in Tulipa also attract insects. Snails which come to eat the fleshy tepals of Rhodea bring about cross pollination. In Yucca the cross pollination is carried about by a special moth, Pronuba yuccasella. Fully expanded flowers emit perfumes and are visited by the female moth especially during nights. She collects a lot of pollen grains from one flower and and visits another flower. Life-history of this moth is intimately associated with the pollen mechanism of Yucca.
Economic Importance

Family is important from economic point of view in several ways, some are:
Edible plants:
    • Bulbs of Allium cepa (onion) are used throughout the world as vegetable, possess stimulative, diuretic, expectorant and bactericidal properties,
    • Bulbs of Allium sativum (garlic) are used as condiment like onion, are also good for heart,
    • Fleshy roots of Asparagus officinalis and tuberous roots of A. racemosus are used as vegetable.
Medicinal plants:


    • Aloe barbadense leaves are the source of resinous drug, used as a purgative,
    • Aloe vera leaves provide mucilaginous liquid, used in piles and inflammations,
    • Medicated oil prepared from the roots of Asparagus racemosus is used for nervous and rheumatic complaints and also in skin diseases,
    • Colchicum luteum roots are used in the treatment of gout and rheumatism,
    • Fritillaria roylei bulbs are used as expectorant and antipyretic,
    • Gloriosa superba tubers prove helpful in promoting labour pains in women,
    • Hemerocallis fulva flowers are blood purifier and given to women during child birth,
    • Iphigenia indica corms are used in stomach pains and headache,
    • Paris polyphylla rhizomes are used as anthelmintic,
    • Scilla hyacinthiana bulbs are used as heart stimulant and also in skin disease and rheumatism,
    • Drug obtained from roots of Veratrum viride is used in hypertension.


Resins:
Resins are obtained from the stems of Dracaena and Xanthorrhoea.

Fibre plants:
Excellent fibres used for cordage, fishing nets, mattings, twines etc. are obtained from Phormium tenax (New Zealand flax), Sansevieria roxburghiana, Smilax glabra and Yucca filamentosa.

Insecticides and raticides: Bulbs of Ulginea indica are used for killing rats while that of Veratrum album are used as insecticides.

Polyploidy: Colchicine an alkaloid obtained from Colchicum luteum, is used to induce polyploidy.

Ornamental plants: Some well known garden ornamentals of Liliaceae are
    • Agapanthus africanus (African lily)
    • Asparagus plumosus
    • Dracaena
    • Fritillaria tenera
    • Gloriosa superba (Malabar glory lily)
    • Hemerocallis fulva (Orange day lily)
    • Lilium candidum (lily)
    • L. giganteum 
    • Ruscus aculeatus (Butchers broom)
    • Tulipa suaveolens (Tulip)
    • Yucca aloifolia
    • Y. gloriosa





Comments

Post a Comment