ARACEAE. 229 



Order 6. ARALES. 



Monocotyledonous herbs, mostly fleshy. Inflorescence in the Araceae 

 a fleshy spadix, subtended by a spathe, or naked. The Lemnaceae are 

 minute floating thalloid plants, with few or solitary flowers on the 

 margin or back of the thallus. 



Family i. ARACEAE Neck. 

 Arum Family. 



Herbs mostly with basal long-petioled leaves, and spathaceous inflores- 

 cence, the spathe enclosing or subtending a spadix. Rootstock tuberous 

 or a corm. Spadix densely flowered, the staminate flowers above, the 

 pistillate below, or the plants wholly dioecious, or with perfect flowers in 

 some species. Perianth wanting, or of 4-6 scale-like segments. Stamens 

 4-10 in our species ; filaments very short ; anthers 2-celled, commonly 

 with a thick truncate connective, the sacs opening, by dorsal pores or 

 slits. Ovary i -several-celled ; ovules i-several in each cavity ; style short 

 or wanting ; stigma terminal, mostly minute and sessile. Fruit a berry 

 or utricle. Seeds various. Endosperm copious, sparse or none. About 

 105 genera and 900 species, mostly of tropical regions, a few in the tem- 

 perate zones. 



Flowers without a perianth. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious, borne at the base of the spadix. i. Ar*'saema. 



Flowers monoecious, covering the whole spadix. 2. Peltandra. 



Flowers perfect. 3. Calla. 

 Flowers with a perianth. 



Spadix enclosed in a shell-like fleshy spathe. 4. Spathyema. 



Spadix naked, terminating the scape. 5. Orontium. 



Spadix naked, borne at the base of a leaf-like spathe. 6. Acorus, 



i. ARISAEMA Mart. 



Perennial Kerbs with acrid corms, simple scapes and I to 3 slender-petioled di- 

 vided leaves unfolding with the flowers. Spadix bearing the flowers near its base. 

 Spathe convolute, open or contracted at the throat. Flowers dioecious or monoe- 

 cious, the staminate of 4 almost sessile 2-4-celled anthers, which open by confluent 

 slits at the apex, the pistillate with a i -celled ovary containing I to many ortho- 

 tropous ovules; style very short or none, tipped with a peltate-capitate stigma. 

 Fruit a globose red berry, the clusters usually large and conspicuous when ripe. 

 Seeds with copious endosperm and an axial embryo. [Greek, in reference to the 

 red-blotched leaves of some species.] About 50 species, mostly natives of temperate 

 and subtropical Asia. Besides the following another occurs in the S. U. S. 



Spathe hooded, open at the throat, enclosing the spadix. 



Hood of spathe striped ; spadix stout, club-shaped. i. A. triphyllum. 



Hood of spathe deep brown to black ; spadix slender, cylindric. 2. A. pnsillum. 



Spathe convolute ; summit of the spadix exserted. 3. A. Dracontium. 



1. Arisaema triphyllum (L.) Torr. JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT. INDIAN TURNIP. 

 (I. F. f. 876.) Leaves nearly erect, 2.59 dm. high, usually exceeding the scape, 

 3-foliolate, the segments ovate, sometimes lobed, 4-8 cm. wide, sessile or very 

 short-stalked; flowers commonly dioecious, yellow; spadix 4-8 cm. long, its naked 

 summit blunt, colored; spathe green, and purple-striped, curving in a broad striped 

 flap over the top of the spadix, acuminate; ovules 5 or 6; berries shining, about 

 i cm. in diameter, forming a dense ovoid head 2-8 cm. long. In moist woods and 

 thickets, N. S. toFla., Ont, Minn., Kans. and La. April-June. 



2. Arisaema pusillum (Peck) Nash. Similar to the preceding, but smaller 

 and more slender, seldom over 3.5 dm. high. Leaf- segments narrowed at the base; 

 spathe striped below, the hood deep brown or nearly black; spadix slender, 

 cylindric. In open sunny bogs, N. Y., flowering about a month later than A. 

 triphyllum where the two grow in the same region. (A, triphyllum pusillum 

 Peck, Rep. N. Y. State Mus. 51 : 297). 



