48 Rhodora [Marcu 
The genus, as diagnosed by Rafinesque (in Journ. de Physique 
89: 103, 1819), included three species (?) known to him, as the follow- 
ing sentence in the above cited publication would indicate: — “Les 
Calladium sagittaefolium et C. virginicum se rapportent à ce genre; 
mais je le base sur une nouvelle espèce P. undulata.” In his “New 
Flora of North America” (1836), Rafinesque redefines his genus, 
giving a number of generic synonyms: he enumerates and describes 
eight species giving synonyms in all but two instances: he attributes 
four species to the North and the remaining ones to the South Atlantic 
States. As our field study has been limited to Maryland and Virginia, 
we shall only deal with forms collected within the above named States. 
PELTANDRA VIRGINICA (L.) Kunth. Rafinesque (l. c.) appears to 
have been in doubt about the identity of this species for he reverses his 
opinion about P. undulata and brings in Arum virginicum L. as a 
synonym. The history of the latter is very interesting. There is 
little room for doubt but that Banister knew this species, — so common 
in all our marshes and along our river banks. Plukenet has the 
following note under his Arum minus Sagittariae foliis ex Insula 
Barbados [Xanthosoma sugittaefolium (L.) Schott] :— “Forté etiam 
Arum aquaticum Virginianum”....Banisteri Cat. Virg. de hujus 
radice Tockawaugh apud Ogilveium dicta, & aliis Tockahoe, panem 
conficiunt Indigenae Virginienses, sicut olim Aegypti fecerunt de sua 
Colocasiae radice." (Pluk. Alm. Bot. 51. 1696). The reference to the 
vernacular name "l'ockahoe is extremely interesting since this name is 
still applied to Peltandra virginica in Maryland and Virginia. I have 
heard it applied to our plant in the region along the Patuxent River 
and between Alexandria and Fredericksburg. 
Morison (Plant. Hist. 3: 545. 1698) notes some characters which 
indicate that he had the true Arum virginicum: — “ Arum aquaticum 
foliis in acumen desinentibus, fructu viridi, Plantam hanc Virginiae 
alumnam nobiscum communicavit D. Jo. Banister. Radix arundi- 
nacea & geniculata, folia è rotunda basi, in acutum mucronem desi- 
nentia emittit; fructusque virides. An vero in rubedinem prae maturi- 
tate transmutentur necne, parum est nobis compertum." 
Linnaeus (Hort. Cliff. 435, 1737.) supplements his brief description 
with this note: — “Foliorum longitudo semipedis, petiolorum vero 
pedalis; angulis obtusis a specie 24% [Arum | maculatum L.] differt, 
foliisque magis oblongis; petioli nigro-purpurascentes sunt, ut & 
margo foliorum, quod in hac speciale est.” By examining typical 
