Lemna. CXXXV. LEMNACEiE. 521 



3. ORONTIUM. 



The ancient Gr. name of a plant, bo t-ullid from its (,'rowinh' \>y the Orontcs, a river in Awia Minor. 



Spadix cyliudric, covered with flowers ; perianth 4 — G-sepaled ; 

 stamens 4 — 6 ; ovary free ; stigma sessile ; fruit a dry berry or utri- 

 cle. — % acaul'sce/it, aquatic. F/s. yc/low, at the sununit of the scape. 

 Spathe radical. 



O. AQUATicuM. Golden Club. 



Lis. ovate-lanccolate ; .7>//re or spadi.vcy\indiic,on a clavate scape. — This 

 interesting plant is a native of inundated banks and pools, U. S., but not very 

 common. Tiie leaves are large (olten becoming 10 — 12' long and i — } as 

 wide), smooth, of a deep green, velvet-like surface above, paler beneath, on 

 long, radical petioles. Scape ihick and terete, about a toot in length, closely 

 invested by the short spathe at base, and ending in a spadix of a rich yellow 

 color, covered with small, perfect, yellow flowers of an offensive odor, — the up- 

 per ones olten tetramerous. May. 



4. ACORUS. 



Gr. a, privative, and Koprj, the pupil of the eye ; supposed to cure maladies of the eye. 



Spadix cylindric, covered with flowers ; perianth G-sepaled ; ovary 

 free ; stigma sessile, minute ; fruit dry, 3-celled, many-seeded. — 

 % herbs, with ajieshy rhizoma. Lvs. radical, ensiform. Scape foliaceous. 



A. CALAMUS. SlL'CCt Flag. 



Summit of the scape above the spadix very long and leaf-like. — Grows in 

 wet soils throughout the U. States. The thick, prostrate, creeping rhizoma is 

 highly valued for its aromatic flavor, its warm and pungent taste. The long, 

 sword-shaped leaves are readily distinguished by the ridge running their 

 whole length. The cylindrical spadix is about 3' long and '3" diam., covered 

 with small, green flowers, and bursting from the side of the leaf-like scape in 

 June and July. 



5. SYMPLOCARPUS. Salisb. 



Gr. cvfinXoKo, connection, Kapnos, fruit. 



Spathe ventricose ; spadix oval, covered with perfect flowers ; 

 perianth deeply 4-parted, segments cucuUate, cuneate, truncate, per- 

 sistent, becoming thick and spongy ; berries globose, 2-seeded, im- 

 bedded in the spadix. — % Aquatic, acaulescent herbs. 



S. FCETiDus. Nutt. (Pothos fcctida. Michx. Ictodes. Dw.) Skunk Cabbage. 



Lvs. cordate-oval, acute ; 5j!?afi'za; subglobose, preceding the leaves. — A com- 

 mon plant, Can., N. Eng., Mid. and "W. States, growing in swamps, meadows 

 and ditches, renowned for its odor, which is scarcely less ofTensive than that of 

 the animal whose name it bears. Early in spring, the swelling spathe is seen 

 emerging first from the ground or water, more or less covered with purplish 

 spots, its edges partly infolded, and its point incmved. It encloses the spadix, 

 which is oval, covered with flowers of a dull purple. The leaves, which arise 

 after the flowers, are of a bright green, numerous, becoming verv large Coften 

 20' by 12'.) ^ 



Order CXXXV. LEMNACE^.— Duckmeats. 



Plants mostly floating, cellular, annual, con-^isting of a frond (stem and leaf in one). 

 F/8. bursting from the margin of the fronds, 2 or 3, achlamydeous, enclosed in a spathe. 

 Sterile/Is.— Sfa. defmite. often moiiadelphous. 



Fertile Jls.— Ova. l-cellcd. with 1 or more erect ovules. Stij. short. Siig. simple. 

 Fr. — Utricle 1— several-seeded. Sds. with a fungous testa. 



Genera 6. species 26, widely dift'u.sed. They are almost entirely destitute of spiral vessels. Some of 

 them may be regarded as the simplest of Phanogamous planta, 



LEMNA. 



Gr. Xf/(/^a. a .«cale or husk ; from the resemblance of the frond. 



Sterile and fertile floAvers in the same spathe, the former of -2 col- 



