APRIL. 111 
years. The wood is valuable to our wood engravers, from 
its being extremely hard and close-grained. It is a dwarf 
variety that is used for garden borders. 
Mone@cia. POLYANDRIA. 
PETALOIDE. ARACES. 
ARUM. (Cuckoo pint.) 
Generic Character. lowers arranged on a spadix, which is 
enclosed in a spatha. Flowers without calyx or corolla; those 
with stamens crowded about the middle of the spadiz, and those 
with pistils seated at the base. Berry one-celled, many-seeded. 
Arum MAcuLATUM. Cuckoo pint. ‘This is one of our 
most curious plants, and may be seen in almost every hedge 
and wood. Its large, handsome leaves soon attract atten- 
tion, and its extraordinary flower is quite worthy of exami- 
nation. The leaves all proceed from the base, and are large, 
shining, and often spotted with black. The flowers rise from 
the centre, and are formed of a light green envelope, called 
a spatha. ‘This envelopes the parts of fructification, which 
consist of a ring of germens, and one of anthers, and above 
them another ring of apparently imperfect pistils. Above 
these rises a smooth substance, called the spadix, which 
