ARACEiE. 



to be a valuable remedy in asthma, and to be used in hemorrhoids ; but 

 as this speciesis not found in India some other plant was probably in- 

 tended. 



SYMPLOCARPUS. 



Spathe cucullate. Spadix short, covered with tetrandrous flos- 

 cules. Ovaries 1-celled, with 1 ovule in each ; stigma minute. 

 Berries consolidated. Seeds without albumen. 



1285. S. fcetidus Nutt. gen. i. 105. Barton veg. mat. med. 

 t. 10. Torreyfl. i. 191. Schott. meletem. 22. — Pothos fcetida 

 Michx. bor. amer. ii. 186. Bot. Mag. t. 836. Dracontium 

 fcetidum Linn. sp. pi. 1372. Ictodes fcetidus Bigelow med. 

 bot. ii. t. 24. — Swamps and meadows in the United States. 

 (Skunk weed, Skunk Cabbage.) 



Tuber large, abrupt, with numerous, crowded, fleshy fibres. Spathe 

 prsecocious, ovate, turgid, various in width, cucullate, spotted and some- 

 times nearly covered with dull brownish purple, the top acuminate and 

 incurved, the edges folded inwards, auriculate at base, and at length 

 coalescing. Spadix oval, on a short peduncle, covered with perfect 

 tetrandrous flowers, and of the same colour with the spathe. Sepals 4, 

 fleshy, wedge-shaped, truncate, the top and edges inflected. Stamens 

 4, opposite the sepals, with subulate filaments equal in length to the 

 calyx, and oblong 4-celled anthers. Style 4-sided, tapering ; stigma 

 minute, pubescent ; ovary roundish, concealed within the spadix. After 

 the spathe decays, the spadix continues to grow, and with it every part 

 of the flowers except the anthers. When the fruit is ripe, the spadix 

 has attained many times its original dimensions, while the calyx, filaments 

 and style are larger, very prominent and separated from each other. 

 Within the spadix at the base of each style is a round, fleshy seed, as 

 large as a pea, white, tinged with green and purple, invested with a 

 separate membranous coat, and with a prominent embryo situated in a 

 depression at top. Leaves spring up sometime after the flowers, nu- 

 merous, large, crowded, oblong heart-shaped, acute, smooth, with 

 numerous fleshy veins of a pale colour ; on long channelled petioles, 

 furnished with large oblong sheaths. — This plant emits a powerful 

 offensive odour ; its tubers are acrid ; but when dried and powdered are 

 antispasmodic. An excellent remedy in asthma, catarrh and chronic 

 coughs. Also employed with success in hysteric paroxysms, dropsy, 

 rheumatism, and even epilepsy. 



1286. The rhizomata of Calla palustris Linn., although acrid and 

 caustic in the highest degree, are according to Linnaeus made into a 

 kind of bread in high estimation called " Missebrced " in Lapland. This 

 is performed by drying and grinding the roots, afterwards boiling and 

 macerating them till they are deprived of their acrimony, when they are 

 baked like other farinaceous substances. 



HOMALOMENA. 



Spathe gaping, afterwards closing up. Spadix completely 

 covered, hermaphrodite at the base, male at the upper end. 

 Anthers sessile, opening by terminal pores. Ovaries 3-celled ; 

 ovules numerous ; stigma trifid, concave. 



604 



