DRACONTIUM 



TIIK HUT.B 1U)()K 



DHACUNCULUS 



distinctly marked with irregular 

 blotches and bands of dark brown. 



D. anniilatum. — This grows about 

 3 ft. high, the three-parted leaf 

 having bright green leaflets. The 

 stalk is of a dull brown colour, 

 marked \\'ith pale brown and whitish- 

 brown irregular rings. 



D. asperum {D. elatum ; Amor- 

 }>hophallus nivosus ; Sauromatum 

 asperum). — A Brazilian species 5 to 6 

 ft. high, the leaf-stalk being about an 

 inch thick at the base, gradually- 

 tapering upwards, and marked with 

 wavy bands or blotches of purple, 

 mottled with white. The leaf-blade 

 is divided into three or five main 

 portions, often spreading horizontally 

 for 3 to 4 ft. The flowers consist of an 

 erect, purple-brown, boat - shaped 

 spathe enclosing a cylindrical spadix 

 about 2 ins. long. (Gard. Chron. 

 1870, 344; III. Ilort. 1865, t. 424; 

 Ref. Bot. 282.) 



D. Carderi. — A Colombian species, 

 about 3 ft. high, with ilesh-coloured 

 leaf - stalks freely banded with 

 irregular blotchy rings of umber 

 brown. The leaf-blade is three- 

 parted, the divisions being often 

 twice forked, with oblong segments 

 and an irregularly-winged rachis. 

 {Jiot. .Uarj. t. 6523.) 



D. foecundum. — A native of British 

 Guiana, about 6 ft. high, the roundish 

 tubers bearing a profusion of pointed 

 bulbils above the surface of the soil. 

 The three-parted leaf appears after 

 the flower, and has a diameter of 

 about 4 ft., each division bearing 

 several pairs of drooping leaflets. 

 The erect spathes appear in spring, 

 and are about 5 ins. long, dull brown 

 outside, wine-purple within. 



D. gigas {(iodu'inia j/ij/as).— This 

 remarkable plant was introduced 

 from Nicaragua in 1869, and has 

 often attracted considerable attention 

 at Kew. It grows about 10 ft. high, 



the roughish fleshy leaf -stalk, as thick 

 as a man's wrist, being pale or creamy 

 yellow, elegantly and irregularly 

 barred and striped with dark purple. 

 The large leaf -blade is trichotoniously 

 divided and again much subdivided 



Fio. 121. — Dracontiinn gigas. (,'.,.) 



into smaller, confluent, and deeply 

 cut leaflets. The spathe varies from 

 2 to 4 ft. long, and is usually of a 

 deep plum purple passing into pale 

 yellow at the base, while strong 

 nerves traverse the surface from base 

 to apex. (Jht. Mag. t. 6048.) 



DRACUNCULUS (din)inutive of 

 (Iraco, from draron, a dragon ; the 

 leaf-stalks being marked like the 

 skin of a snake). Nat. Ord. Aroideae. 

 — The best-known species of this 

 genus is D. vidfjaris, the Dragon 

 IMant. This is still more generally 

 known in gardens under the name of 

 Anon lJracuncidiis,3ind is so described 

 in this work (see p. 92). 



202 



