NAT. ORDER. 

 AroidecB. 



SYMPLOCARPUS AUGUSTISPATHA. NAE.ROW-SPATHED SKUNK-CABBAGE. 



Class III. Triandria. Or(kr I. Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. — Stemless and Sub-aquatic. Calyx, four-parted. Seg- 

 inejits, cucuUate. Leaves, ovate, cordate. Spadix, oval, shorter 

 than the spatha. Stamens, four. Filaments, subulate. An- 

 thers, oblong, with parallel cells. Spadix, pedunculate. Floio- 

 ers, tesselately imbricate. Petals, none. Style, four-angled, 

 pyramidal. Stigma, minute. Seed, globular, pilumule, near 

 the base. 



*^e. Char. Root, thick, descending, and abruptly terminating in 

 numerous fibres. Spadix, an inch long, on a short, thick pe- 

 duncle; ovoid, globose. Leaves, with four-leaved perianth. 

 Spathe, cucuUate, shell-form. Seed, with a large fleshy globular 

 embryo, consisting chiefly of radical, with one or sometimes 

 several plumules ; numerous. 



The above plant, a native of North America, retains so close a 

 resemblance to the S.fcetida, as hardly to allow of any other appel- 

 lation than that of a variety, as distinguished from a distinct spe- 

 cies. It is, however, opposed in several particulars. The generic 

 term Symjjlocaipus is derived from the Greek symploke, connection, 

 and karpos, fruit ; signifying here, united berries. The species has, 

 with some moderns, and those not the least enlightened, shared, and 

 with equal right, the ominous fame of the fJpas, the deadly influence 

 of which has for so many ages been the theme or quickening image 

 of Eastern fable and the world's song. Its places of growth, which 



Vol. jii.— 84. 



