POPULAR FLORA. 205 



I. Spadiceoias Division. 



90. PALM FAMILY. Order PALM^. 



Although some, like the Dwarf Palmettos of the Southern States, make only rootstocki 

 not rising out of the ground, most Palms form trees, -with a simple, unbranched, cylindrical 

 trunk, crrowinn: bv the terminal bud onlv, and always surmounted by a crown of laroe and 

 peculiar, long-petioled leaves. These are fan-shaped in the Palmetto (Fig. 79), pinnate 

 in the Date-Palm, &c. The floAvers burst forth from a spathe ; are small, but generally 

 perfect, and furnished Avith a perianth of G parts, in two sets, the outer answering 

 to a calyx, the inner to a corolla. Fruit a nut; that of the Cocoanut is a good illustra- 

 tion. The principal Palms of our southern sea-coast belong to the genus {Clidniijcrop^^ 

 Palmetto. 



91. ABUM FAMILY. Order ARACE.E. 



Herbs ^vith sharp-tasted or acrid juice, and more or less fleshy in their texture ; 

 the leaves either slmjile or compound, and commonly so much netted-veined that the 

 plants might readily be mistaken for Exogens. The small flowers are closely spiked or 

 packed on a fleshy axis, forming a spadix. The fruit Is a berry, or sometimes dry and 

 leathery, but containing some pulp or jelly. The following are the principal genera we 

 meet with. 



Spathe present, forming a hood, wrapper, or a petal-like leaf. 



Flowers naked, i. e. without any perianth, mona?ciou=, dioecious, or polygamous. 

 Covering only the base of tlie long spadix, which is enclosed in the hooded 



spathe (Fig. 147). Stem simple, from a rounded corni: leaves com- , ^-^rfLit 



pound, of 3 or more leaflets, {An&}£mci) Indiax-Turxip. 



Covering the whole length of the spadix. Leaves simple, arrow-shaped (Fig. 

 503) or heart-shaped: spadix on the end of a scape, bearing stamens 

 only at the upper part. 

 Spathe green, thick, and closely folded around the spadix: anthers sessile. 



Herb growing in shallow water, (Pehdndra) Annow-ARUM. 



Spathe white and petal-like, open, ( Culla) Calla. 



Flowers with a 4-leaved perianth or cal^-x, perfect, on a globular spadix, sun'ounded 

 by a thick, shell-shaped, purplish spadix coming out of ground in 

 earliest spring, some time before the great ovate and heart-shaped, veiny 

 leaves; odor that of the skunk. Stamens 4, {Symplocdrjms) Skunk-Cabbage. 



Spathe none at all ; the spadix naked, covered with flowers, which are perfect, with a 

 perianth of 6 or sometimes 4 pieces, and as many stamens. 

 Spadix on the summit of a scape rising out of the water: leaves oblong, on a long 



petiole, ( Ordnilum) Goldex-Club. 



Spadix from the side of a leaf, or from a stem similar to one of the long and erect, 

 linear, 2-edged or sword-shaped leaves: all springing from a sharp- 

 aromatic and creeping rootstock, {^Acorus) Sweet-Fl,vq. 



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