440 ARACE^. (arum family.) 



gated and naked above. Calyx and corolla none. Stamens 4 in a whorl, very 

 short : anther-cells 2-4, distinct, opening at the top. Ovary 1-ccllcd, with 5-6 

 erect orthotropous ovules. Stigma sessile. Fruit a 1 - few-seeded scarlet berry. 

 Embn,-o in the axis of mealy albumen. — Root tuberous. Petioles of the com- 

 monly divided and veiny leaves elongated and sheathing the scape. Fruit-clus- 

 ters naked. 



1. A. triphyllum, Torr. (Wake-Eomn.) Leaves two, trifoliate ; leaf- 

 lets sessile, ohlung-ovate, acuminate ; spathe tubular, dilated, flattened and 

 incurved above, acuminate, green, or variegated with white and jiurjile, longer 

 than the club-shaped obtuse often diacious spadix. (Arum trii)liyllum, L.) — 

 Low rich woods, Florida, and northward. March. — Plant 1°- H° high. Leaf- 

 lets 3' - 6' long. Root depressed, rugose, intensely acrid. 



2. A. polymorphum. Leaf solitary, 3 - 5-foliolate ; leaflets varying 

 from oblong to obovate, acute or slightly acuminate, nearly sessile, the lateral 

 ones entire, 2-lobed or 2-parted to the base; spatlic, &c. as in the ])receding. 

 (Arum polymorphum, Buckleij. A. quinatum, Nutl.i) — Mountains of North 

 Carolina. — Plant 1°- 1^° high. 



3. A. Dracontium, Schott. (Dragon-root.) Leaf solitary, pedately 

 9 - 13-foliolate; leaflets petioled, entire, lanceolate or oblong, acuminate ; spathe 

 tubular (green), concave and erect above, much shorter than the very ."lender 

 spadix. (Arum Dracontium, L.) — Rich woods, Florida, and northward. 

 March and April. — Plant 1°- 1|° high. Berries numerous on the flat rhachie, 

 1 - 3-seeded. 



2. PELTANDRA, Raf Arrow-Arum. 



Spathe elongated, fleshy, convolute throughout, wavy on the margins, carved 

 at the apex, persistent at the base. Spadix long, wholly covered by tlie mo- 

 na'cious flowers. Calyx and corolla none. Anthcr-ccUs 5 -6, imbedded in the 

 thick peltate connective, opening by a terminal pore. Ovary 1-celled, with sev- 

 eral orthotropous ovules. Berry 1 - 3-seeded. Seed gelatinous, without albu- 

 men. Embryo large. Plumule conspicuous, curved. — A fleshy stcmless marsh 

 herb, from a creeping rhizoma. Leaves sagittate, with the petiole sheathing the 

 base of the thick scape. Fruit-clusters enclosed in the fleshy persistent base of 

 the spathe. 



1 . P. Virginica, Raf. Leaves several, oblong, acute, finely veined, and 

 with 2-3 intramarginal nerves, the lobes obtuse ; scapes shorter than tlie leaves 

 recurved in fruit ; spathe lanceolate, acute, longer than the cylindrical s|)adix, 

 both early decaying alwvc the fertile flowers ; hemes green, in a globose cluster, 

 I-sceded. (Arum Virginicum, /!,.) — Marshes and wet places, Florida, and 

 northward. April and May. — Plant 1° high. Spathes 2'- 4' long. 



3. XANTHOSOMA, Sdmtt. 



Spathe convolute at the ba-^c, straight. Spadix sterile in the middle. Cnlyic 

 and cvirolla none. Anlhcr-cells numerous, adnate to the conical truncate 



