ARACE^—ARUM FAMILY 



SKUNK-CABBAGE 



Symplocdrpiis /(Jclidus. Spathyema fcetida 



Symplocdrpiis, a coalescing fruit. Spathyema, Greek, 

 referring to the spathe. 



Early perennial herb with strong, fetid odor; found in 

 swamps, beside brooks, and on wet hillsides. Nova 

 Scotia to North Carolina, west to Minnesota and Iowa. 

 Common in northern Ohio. February- April. 



Rootstock. — Very thick, bearing many coarse, fibrous 

 roots in whorls. 



Leaves. — All basal, cordate, veiny, often two feet long 

 and a foot wide, clustered, entire at margin, and acute at 

 apex; petioles with deep grooves. Preceded in earliest 

 spring by a purple, mottled spathe and hidden flowers. 

 Spathe from three to six inches high. 



Flowers. — Many, small, inconspicuous, greenish yellow 

 to dull purple; packed closely on a fleshy spike called 

 spadix which is hidden within a swollen, shell-shaped, 

 mottled spathe close to the ground. 



Calyx. — Of four hooded sepals. 



Corolla. — Wanting. 



Sta^nens. — Four, opposite the sepals; anthers con- 

 spicuous, extrorse. 



Pistil. — Ovary one-celled, with angled and awl-shaped 

 style. 



Fruit. — An oval mass filled with berries, which become 

 bright scarlet. 



Pollinated by small flics and honey-bees. 



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