Acorns.] AracecB. 365. 



cordate, \-\\ in. diam., membranous, 5-veined and reticulate 

 with cross venules ; spathe i-i|- in., linear-lanceolate, 

 apiculate, striate, base rounded ; spadix as long as the spathe 

 or longer, stipitate, slender, often zigzag ; fl. solitary, distant, 

 spirally disposed ; pet. twice as long as broad ; ov. apiculate ; 

 berries obovoid. 



Var. macrophylla, Hook.f. 



Stem stouter, 1. 6-9 by ii-3| in., oval, shortly acuminate, 

 petiole \-2 in. 



Moist region up to 4000 ft.; rather common, climbing up trunks of 

 trees. Fl. March. Var. /3, Pelawatta Mukelana, March 1887 (Trimen). 



Endemic. 



A very variable species ; the habit and foliage of the young state is 

 that of a creeping species of Piper or Peperomia, totally unlike the 

 mature state. 



15. ACORUS, Li7tn. 

 Aromatic marsh herbs, rootstock stout, creeping ; 1. long, 

 distichous, ensiform, costa stout, sheaths equitant, nerves 

 parallel ; spathe the ensiform elongate, acuminate summit of 

 the leaf-like stem ; spadix sessile, cylindric, densely clothed 

 with bisexual fl. ; sep. 6; fil. linear, flat, anth. reniform, cells 

 confluent above, slits extrorse; ov. conical, 2-3-celled, cells 

 6-ovuled, stigma sessile, minute, ovules pendulous from the 

 top of the cells, orthotropous ; berries 3- or more-seeded ; 

 seeds oblong, embryo axile in copious endosperm. — Sp. 2 ; 

 both in Fl. B. Ind. 



*£l. Calamus, L. Sp. PI. 324 (1753). Wadakaha, S. 

 Herm. Mus. 56. Burm. Thes. 6. Fl. Zeyl. n. 132. Moon, Cat. 25. 

 Thw. Enum. 337. C. P. 3745. 



Rootstock as thick as the middle finger, creeping and 

 branching; 1. 3-6 ft. by §-i|- in., bright green, acute, thickened 

 in the middle, margins waved ; spathe 6-30 in. long, ped. 

 (formed of connate ped. and spathe) ij-i^ in. broad ; spadix 

 2-4 in. by i-| in. diam. obtuse, slightly curved, green ; sep. 

 as long as the ov., scarious ; anth. yellow; fr. turbinate, pris- 

 matic, top pyramidal. 



Cultivated in native gardens and readily established, but I think 

 nowhere indigenous. I have not observed it to flower here. 



Throughout Asia, Europe, and N. America. The ' Sweet flag ' of 

 England, formerly used to strew the floors of apartments. An essential 

 oil is obtained from the 1., and the aromatic rootstock is ui^ed medicinally. 

 The names given by Hermann are ' Vazabu' and 'Vazumbo.' 



