Tas. 6474, 
ARISAUMA ovrine. 
Native of the Sikkim Himalaya. 
Nat. Ord. Arorprx.—Tribe ARISARER. 
Genus Arismma, Mart.; (Schott. Prodr. Syst. Aroid. p. 24.) 
Aris#Ma (Trisecta) utile ; dioicum, foliis 2-nis 3-foliolatis, petiolo robusto viridi, 
foliolis subsessilibus v. breviter crasse petiolulatis patentibus lateralibus late 
ovatis v. triangulari-ovatis terminali transverso late oblongo, omnibus cuspidatis 
marginibus flavidis creberrime undulatis, nervis purpurascentibus subtus 
prominulis, pedunculo petiolo multo breviore viridi, spatha 5-6-pollicari, tubo 
cylindraceo brunneo multi-costato costis virescentibus, lamina decurva ampla 
’—4-poll. lata brunnea cruciatim crasse venosa venis virescentibus apice rotun- 
da‘a v. emarginata v. 2-loba medio cuspidata, spadicis masculi parte florifera 
pallide purpurascente, antheris sparsis 4-locularibus longe stipitatis, parte sterili 
elongato conico basi ampliato lobulato apice in filum longissimum filiforme 
purpureum desinente, spadicis foeminei parte florifera conica ovariis ovoideis 
dense operta, stylis crassis. 
A. utile, Hook. f. mss. Schott, Prodr. Syst. Aroid. 30; Engler in A. DC. Monogr. 
Phanerog. vol. ii. p. 537. 
Under A. nepenthoides (tab. 6446) I stated that several 
other Himalayan species of this genus remained to be pub- 
lished from figures made from specimens introduced into 
cultivation by Messrs. Elwes, Gammi, King, &e., and that 
amongst them was the A. utile. This, on account of its 
being the most common of those of which the tubers are 
collected for food by the hill tribes of Sikkim, is the most 
interesting species of the genus, though it falls short in 
stature of the A. Hookerianum, a figure of which will shortly 
appear in this work. A. utile is the plant specially alluded 
to in the following extract from the “ Himalayan Journals,” 
vol. il, p. 49 :—“ My tent was pitched on a broad terrace, 
opposite the junction of the Zemu and Thlonok, and 10,850 
feet above the sea. It was sheltered by some enormous 
transported blocks of gneiss, fifteen feet high, and sur- 
rounded by a luxuriant vegetation of most beautiful rhodo- 
dendrons in full flower, willow, white rose, white-flowered 
cherry, thorn, maple, and birch. Some great tuberous- 
rooted Arwms were very abundant; and the ground was 
covered with small pits, in which were large wooden pestles: 
these are used in the preparation of food from the Arums, 
to which the miserable inhabitants of the valley have re- 
course in spring when their yaks are calving. - The roots 
FEBRUARY Ist, 1880. 
