133 BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AXD PRODUCTIONS. 



cjllaciej:. 



Flowers lieDiiiiphroditc, or male and fem(tle on the same spadi.c, aehlamydeous or not. 



Section CALLIX.E. 

 Spathe coloured. Flowers aclilaraydeous. 



CnAM^LOCLADOX. 



C. ovATUii, Scliott. Great Nicobar (K.). 



ScixDAPsus, Schott. 



S. pTEEoroDus, T. et B. Great Nicobar (K.). 



The family of Aroidew is of no p-eat value to man, thougli many species yield 

 edible roots, which, liowever, arc chiefly in repute anionc; the poorer classes. Some 

 species are cultivated for tlie beauty and the variety of colour of their smooth cordate 

 leaves [Caladium). whilst otliers are notorious for their repulsive odour. The Arum 

 maculatum of our English hedges is a familiar example of this family, and is known by 

 a variety of popular names, many of the older and now obsolete ones being of a highly 

 indelicate character, and referring to the supposed amatory virtues of the plant, or the 

 shape of the spadix. One of them, however, Aaron, is a mere vulgar corruption of 

 the word Arum.^ The most curious point, perhaps, about this family is the great 

 amount of heat the floweiing spadix of many AriDits gives ofl:', varying fi'om 7" to 12° 

 above that of the atmosphere, and even 22'"^ according to some observers. 



Section 0K0XTIX..13. 



Spathe persistent, herbaceous or sometimes coloured, rarely wanting, covered 

 ■with hermaphrodite flowers. 



Poxnos, Linn/ius. 



Flowers hermaphrodite, in a globular or cylindric spike, usually stipitato above the 

 convolute or concave spathe. Perianth of 6 small concave scales or segments. 

 Stamens 6, opposite the perianth scales. Filaments flat. Anthers 2-celled. Ovary 

 l-celled with 1 to 3 erect ovules. Stiijma ses.sile. Berries 1- or 2-seeded. Albumen 

 none. Stem, usually creeping or clindjing. Leares entire, coriaceous, usually articulate 

 on the more or less dilated petioles. Peduncles axillary, often bracteate below the 

 spathe. 



P. .SCAXDEXS, L. The Xicobars (K.). India. S. China. Ceyhm. 



P. Seemanni, Schott. Prod. Aroid. p. 564, "and probably the whole of the first 

 19 species enumerated in that work." — Bcutham. 



P. riNN.ATIFIDA (P.). 



P. GIGANTEA, lloxb. (JI.). 



Nga-ya-gye. 



P. RECUKSIVA, Eoxb. (P.). 



p. LASiA, Koxb. (p.). 



p. HETEKOPHYLLA, Roxb. (P.). 



Section ACOEIN.'E. 

 Spathe leaf-like, adnate to the peduncle. Floicers hermaphrodite, covering the 

 spadix. Leaves eusit'orm, equitant, sheathing in vernation. 



HoMALONEMA, Liwiaus. 

 H. AROiiATicuM, Schott. Kamorta. Pulu-Milu (K.). 



' Consult "Popular Xames of Briti-h riauts," liy E. C. A. Prior, under '•Arum maculatum," 

 " Wake-pintle,'' and "Lords and LaiUes." 



