NAT. ORDE R. 



AracecE. 



ARUM TRIPHILLUM. WILD TURNIP— WAKE ROBIN, 



Class XXI. MoNCEClA. Order VII. Polyandria. 



Gen. Char. Si)athe one-leafed, cowled. Spadix naked above, 

 female below, stamineous in the middle. Berry one-celled, 

 many-seeded. 



Spe. Cluir. Stemless. Leaves ternate. Leajlefs ovate, acumi- 

 nate, entire. /S/jarf/:?: clavate. )S/ja/7?e ovate, acuminate, convo- 

 lute below, flat and bent above. 



The root is perennial, round, flattened, tuberous, with many- 

 white fibres around the base ; skin dark, loose, and wrinkled ; the 

 leaves are usually three or four, growing from each root ; these 

 are arrow-shaped, of a deep green or jiurplish color, beset with 

 many veins and dark spots, and stand upon long grooved, and 

 somewhat triangularly shaped footstalks ; the jlower-stalk is very 

 short and channelled ; the calyx is a sheath of one leaf, large, oval, 

 nerved, and enclosing the spadix, which is round, club-shaped, 

 fleshy, above of a purple color, below whitish, standing in the cen- 

 tre of the sheath, and supporting the parts necessary to fructifica- 

 tion : on tracing it towards the base we first discover the necta- 

 ries, or several oval corpuscles, which are terminated by long, 

 tapering points ; next to these are placed the anthers, which are 

 quadrangular, united, and of a purple color; under these we find 

 again more nectaries ; and lastly the ger77iens, which are very nu- 

 merous, round, without styles, and crowned with small bearded 

 stigmas. This curious species of inflorescence displays itself 

 early in spring, but the berries do not ripen till late in the summer, 



Vol. a.— 35 



