AEACEAE 227 



late, acuminate, 7-12 cm. long, erose-ciliolate, bright green: spathe green throughout, 

 the dilated portion deeper green than the convolute part, over twice as long as broad, 

 long-acuminate. 



In low rich woods, eastern and peninsular Florida. Spring. 



4. Arisaema quinatum (Nutt.) Schott. Corms often 3-7 cm. in diameter: leaves 

 2, or often solitary, quite large ; segments 5, erose, otherwise entire, the lateral ones 

 •sometimes partially united, or rarely only 3, oval to elliptic, apiculate, glaucous beneath ; 

 lateral nerves uniting and forming 2-3 marginal nerves: scapes about I as long as the 

 petioles: spathe 6-10 cm. long, acute or acuminate: spadix 3-4 mm. thick: fruits 6-7 

 mm. in diameter, red, crowded in a globose or oblong head. [A. polymorphum (Buckl.) 

 Chapm.] 



In woods and rich soil. North Carolina and Tennessee to Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Spring. 



2. MURICAUDA Small. 

 Acaulescent herbs, with corms. Leaves basal, erect : blades several, pedately divided, 

 the segments variable in size. Scape erect, overtopped by the leaves. Spadix more or 

 less flattened or 2-edged, bearing flowers all over its slightly differentiated fertile por- 

 tion, the sterile portion slender or filiform, long-exsei'ted beyond the top of the spathe. 

 Spathe convolute throughout, narrowed above. Flowers monoecious or dioecious: peri- 

 anth wanting. Ovarj- turbinate. Ovules 6-8, bottle-shaped. Fruits in dense bright- 

 colored heads. Endosperm present. 



1. Muricauda Dracontium (L.) Small. Foliage deep green. Leaves usually soli- 

 tary, 3-10 dm. tall; blades pedately divided, the segments 5-17, oblong, oblanceolate or 

 cuneate, 1-3 dm. long, abruptly pointed or acuminate, entire, or the lateral ones lobed: 

 spathe white or greenish, 3-10 cm. long: spadix prolonged into a slender whip-like long- 

 exserted tip, 5-20 cm. long, that of staminate plants with the flowering part about 

 as long as the tubular part of the spathe; that of monoecious plants with the pistillate 

 part near base of spadix: fruits bright red, 6-8 mm. in diameter. [Arisaema Dracon- 

 tium (L.) Schott.] 



In moist woods, Maine to Ontario, Minnesota, Florida and Texas. Spring. Green Dragon. 

 Dr.\gon Root. 



3. PEIiTANDRA Raf. 

 Swamp-inhabiting herbs. Leaves basal: blades shorter than the petioles, entire, 

 sagittate or hastate. Scapes shorter than the leaves, at length recurved. Spathe green 

 or petal-like, wholly convolute or expanding above, often undulate or crisped. Spadix 

 covered by the monoecious flowers. Perianth wanting. Flowers inconspicuous : stami- 

 nate uppermost, at first shield-like scales, in whose edges are imbedded 6-10 anthers, 

 These opening by apical pores and finally nearly free: pistillate flowers merely 1-celled 

 carpels surrounded by 4-5 scale-like staminodia. Ovules 1 or few, amphitropous. 

 Fruits green or crimson, in heads surrounded by the leathery base of the spathe. Seeds 

 1-3, surrounded by a tenacious jelly. Endosperm wanting. Arrov5^-arum. 



Spathes convolute throughout, narrow, green: fruits green. 1. P. Virginica. 



Spathes dilated and spreading above, mainly white: frmts crimson. 2. P. sagittaefolia 



1. Peltandra Virginica (L.) Kunth. Foliage dark green. Leaves erect or ascend- 

 ing, 2-3 dm. tall, often numerous; blades sagittate or hastate-sagittate, ovate or oblong- 

 ovate in outline, 1-3 dm. long, acute or acuminate, undulate, the lateral nerves spread- 

 ing: scapes about as long as the petioles, recurving and often immersing the fruit at 

 maturity: spathe gi-een, 8-20 cm. long, enveloping the spadix, elongated, pale and 

 crisped along the edges : spadix tapering, shorter than the spathe, i pistillate, f stami- 

 nate: fruits slightly angled, 1-1.5 cm. in diameter, green. Staminate part of spadix 

 and upper part of spathe decaying at maturity. 



In swamps or shallow pools, Maine to Ontario, Michigan, Florida and Louisiana. Spring and summer. 



_ 2. Peltandra sagittaefolia (Michx.) Morong. Foliage deep green. Leaves basal, 

 3-5 dm. tall, few; blades sagittate, 1.5-2 dm. long, acute or acuminate, thinnish, the 

 basal lobes about i as long as the middle lobe, obtuse: scapes sometimes as long as the 

 leaves: spathes white, or green merely at the base, 4-10 cm. long, dilated above: spadix 

 over h as long as the spathe, i pistillate, 4 staminate: fruits irregularly globose, about 

 1 cm. in diameter, crimson. [Peltandra alba Raf.] 



In bogs or springy places, Virginia to Florida and Alabama. Spring and summer. 



