Tacca
(the Malay name). SYN. Ataccia. ORD. Taccaceae. A genus comprising about nine species of stove, perennial herbs; three are natives of tropical America, and the rest inhabit various tropical regions. Berry (? always) indehiscent. Other characteristics those of the order (which see). The species best known to cultivators are here described. The tubers of T. pinnatifida contain a great deal of starch, known as South Sea Arrowroot, and largely employed as an article of diet throughout the tropics. A compost of loam, peat, and sand, is most suitable for the culture of these plants. They must be very sparingly watered while in a dormant state. Propagation may be effected by division of the roots.
T. artocarpifolia (Artocarpus-leaved). fl. very numerous, on pedicels 1in. to 3in. long, the sterile, pendulous ones filiform; perianth brown at base, the rest green, glabrous, the segments broadly ovate; involucre of six or seven leaves; scape 5ft. to 6ft. high. May. l. about three, 2ft. to 3ft. in diameter, trisected; segments stalked, pinnatifid; petioles 2ft. long, stout, erect. Root tuberous. Madagascar, &c., 1872. (B. M. 6124.)
T. aspera (rough). A synonym of T. integrifolia.
T. cristata (crested). fl. dull purplish-brown, numerous, in a nodding, lateral umbel; involucre of four leaves, the lower ones smaller, sessile, the two upper large, flat, erect, purple in colour. Summer. l. lanceolate-oblong, with long, channeled cylindrical petioles. h. 1 1/2ft. to 2ft. Malaya, 1812. (B. M. 4589). SYN. Ataccia cristata (F. d. S. 860-1; F. M. 388; L. J. F. 186-7; R. H. 1866, 51).
T. integrifolia (entire-leaved).* fl. four to eleven, long-pedicellate, at first sub-erect, at length nodding; perianth green, variegated with purple and yellow; spathes ovate, twisted; scapes axillary, solitary. June. l. shining-green, recurved, oblong, acuminate, 8in. to 16in. long. Stem none or very short. Chittagong, 1810. (B. M. 1488.) SYN. T. aspera. T. laevis (smooth). fl. six to twelve, umbellate; perianth greenish-violet, with a cup-like, sessile tube; involucre four-leaved; scapes axillary, solitary, shorter than the petioles. July. l. oblong, acuminate, glabrous, about 1ft. long. Stem none. Silhet, Khasya, Assam, Birma, &c., 1820.
T. pinnatifida (pinnatifid).* Otaheite Salap-plant; South Sea Arrowroot-plant. fl. in a dense umbel, subtended by several leafy bracts; perianth purplish, funnel-shaped, with six sub-equal segments. June. fr. somewhat pear-shaped, with prominent ribs. l. long-petiolate, large, three-parted, the forked divisions pinnatifid down to a narrow wing, with irregular, ovate, acute segments. Stem none. Rhizome tuberous. East Indies and Society Islands, 1793. See Fig. 1. (L. B. C. 692; R. G. 582.)