148 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



which we have mentioned while noticing the 

 Water-lilies, frequent the Reed-Mace, as well as 

 other water-plants ; and the pale-coloured cater- 

 pillars of more than one species of the ochreous- 

 brown or greyish moths of the genus No?iagria 

 feed on the pith inside the thick stems. The 

 moths measure \h or 2 inches across the wings, and 

 their bodies are moderately stout and long ; they 

 belong to the great group of Noctuae, so called 

 because most of the moths included in it fly in 

 the evening or at night. 



In the species of Sparganium the flower-heads 

 are rounded, and the round prickly seed-clusters 

 of some species have been compared to a hedge- 

 hog. 



Order CI. Aracetz (2 genera) 



This family includes the Arums, which are poorly 

 represented in Europe. The perianth is either 

 wanting or replaced by a few small scales, and are 

 gathered round a flower-spike generally enclosed 

 by broad leaves, called a spathe, which fall away 



when the clusters of red berry-like fruit are ripe. 

 The roots are thickened into tubers. 



Cuckoo-pint — Arum maadatum 



(Plate CVIII) 



This plant is common under hedges in spring, 

 and the green spathe, and, later in the year, the 

 red berries on a bare stalk, make it very con- 

 spicuous. The leaves are on long stalks, large, and 

 shaped like a spear-head, and are often spotted. 

 The club is violet, and the flowers are clustered 

 at the lower end, the male flowers above and the 

 female flowers below. Between them are nectaries. 

 After flowering, the root-stalk swells into a tuber, 

 the club falls off, and the berries only remain. 

 They are first green and then bright red. It is 

 a highly poisonous plant, though the roots are 

 farinaceous, and can be made to yield a whole- 

 some flour, as in the case of the equally poisonous 

 Mandioca (a Euphorbiaceous plant), from which 

 tapioca is obtained. When the root is macerated 

 in water it froths like soap. 



