298 FLORA HISTORICA. 



ARUM axd CALLA. Arum. 



Natural Order Piperitcc. Jroidecs, Juss. A Genus 

 of the Monoecia Polyandria Class. 



Voyez, 6 prodige etonnant ! 

 L'Arum, qu'admire l'ltalie, 

 Si le nceud de l'hymen la lie, 

 Lancer, de son spadix brulant, 

 Un feu bien plus etincelant 

 Qu' a toute autre heure de sa vie. 



The character of this family of plants is so distinct 

 from that of any other kind of vegetable nature, 

 that their singularity of shape attracts the notice 

 of all classes, from the botanist to the children of 

 the cottagers, who seek the indigenous species be- 

 neath the shade of our hedge-row banks, and 

 give to them the names of Cuckoo-pint, Cuckoo- 

 pintle, Wake-robin, Friar's-cowl, and Lords-and- 

 Ladies. The more polished part of society admit 

 the Ethiopian Calla, a species of Arum, into their 

 most embellished saloons, where its alabaster calyx 

 expands into so elegant a vase-like shape, that 

 Flora seems to have intended it for the hand of 

 Hebe, when she presented the imperial nectar to 

 Jove. 



The Calla is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, 



