412 THE BITLRUSH FAMILY. 



the unexpanding part of the spathe, there is a zone of fine white hairs. 

 Underneath this there is a dense band of sessile anthers, of a reddish- 

 purple colour ; and below this again a band of pale yellow and sessile 

 ovaries, resembling little beads. The club, which is sometimes of a 

 pretty buff coloui-, when it is called a "lady," is merely ornamental. 

 As the summer advances, the leaves, spathe, and club die away and 

 disappear, and the ovaries grow into scarlet berries the size of currants, 

 the entire cluster being as large as a walnut, and of similar form. 



HABITATS AND LOCALITIES. 

 Common Aeum — {Arum maculdtum.) 

 In all the woods about Ashley and Cotterill abundant. Plentiful 

 also in Newbridge Hollow, between Bowdon and Rostherne ; about 

 Lymm, especially towards Thelwall ; and in the Reddish Valley, 

 Sparingly about Prestwich. Fl. May. Berries ripe in August, when 

 the foliage is decayed. 



Curtis, i. 136 ; E. B. xix. 1208 ; Baxter, iv. 201. 

 The most remai'kable of our indigenous plants. (See "Walks and Wild- 

 flowers," p. 30.) 



Few of the Araceae are grown for ornament. The Arum triphyllum and A. 

 trilobatum are sometimes seen, and more rarely the extraordinary plant called 

 the " Dragon Arum," or Arum Dracunculus, the leaves of which resemble those 

 of the hellebore, while the stem is spotted with purple. The favourites of the 

 family are the splendid Caladiums, the leaves of which are often beautifully 

 coloured, and usually of great size. The Calddiiim bicolor is one of the shewiest 

 hot-house plants in cultivation. 



CXL.— THE BULRUSH FAMILY. Typ/idcea. 



Herbaceous plants, growing in ditches, ponds, and swamps, with 

 long, linear, grass-like, and stiff but pliant leaves; and stout cylindrical 

 stems, which are jointless and succulent, and two to four or live feet 

 high, unless submerged. The latter condition is unusual ; in general 

 the stems are elevated considerably. Flowers unisexual, monoecious, 

 small, and incomplete, but clustered into dense globular heads, or 

 cylindrical spikes, that in either case show conspicuously. Spathe 

 absent ; petals absent ; sepals three or six, and very minute, sometimes 

 a mere bundle of hairs. Stamens three or six in each flower, usually 

 with long and thread-like filaments. Ovary single, tapering into a 

 slender and simple style. Fruit a small dry aclieuium, one-celled and 



