30 ARUM FAMILY 



are offered by nurserymen, and are admirable for orna- 

 mental planting. 



Characteristics of species described. Leaves large, evergreen, 

 orbicular, cleft. Flowers small, petals 3, sepals 3, stamens 6. 

 Fruit a 1-seeded drupe. 



Sabal Palmetto. Cabbage palm. Palmetto. Tree 15-70 ft. 

 tall. Flowers whitish, inflorescence large, stout, widely 

 branched. Blooming in summer. Fla. to N. C. 



Sabal minor. Bluestem. Dwarf palmetto. Low palm, with 

 stem underground. Leaves glaucous or pale green. Inflo- 

 rescence slender, branched, longer than leaves. Low grounds. 

 Fla. to S. C, La., and Ark. 



Serenoa sermlata. Saw palmetto. Stem usually pros- 

 trate, branched. Leaf -stalks spine-toothed. Flowers ivory- 

 white, fragrant, in branched inflorescence 1-3 ft. long. Sandy 

 soil. Blooming in spring and summer. Fla. to N. C. and 

 Texas. 



Rhapidophyllum Hystrix. Needle palm. Stem 2-3 ft. tall, 

 armed with long, slender, brown spines. Leaves dark ^een. 

 Flowers yellow, in dense inflorescence 4-10 in. long. Chiefly 

 in low woods and swamps. Blooming in spring and summer. 

 Fla. to S. C. 



ARUM FAMILY (Araceae) 



Low plants. True flowers minute, on thick spike (spadix) sur- 

 rounded by a more or less flowerlike envelope (spathe). 



Spoonflower. Wild Calla. Arrow-Arum (Genus 



Peltandra) 



The common names of our wild flowers are seldom de- 

 scriptive, but are an interesting record of folk-lore, of 

 religious fancy and devotion, or of homely household 

 usage which an older generation knew. 



Few flowers have such descriptive names as does this, 

 whose inflorescence suggests a long-pointed spoon. Like 



