ART 



A R U 



the latter may be considered as the tree in a 

 wild state; and that the want of seeds is pro- 

 bably owing to cultivation. The natives of 

 Otaheite reckon at least eight varieties of that 

 without stones, differing in the form of the 

 leaf and fruit. One of these they name Urn or 

 Eoroo: this has a globular, smooth, even fruit, 

 and is the most common. A second, named 

 Maira, has an oval, smooth fruit, with the 

 leaves more deeply cut. A third, called Falea, 

 has the fruit oblong and rugged, as it were 

 scaly. A fourth, Tatarra, has an oval fruit, 

 with mammillary germs muricated by the per- 

 manent st\ie. The same writer remarks, that 

 probably by extending the culture to distant 

 countries ^\e shall hereafter lind the varieties 

 much increased. 



The parts of fructification in those trees 

 which bear fruit without stones are said to be de- 

 tective. The ainentum never expands; the styles 

 are likewise deficient. 



In the former variety the fruit contains a 

 considerable quantity of seeds, almost as large 

 as Chestnuts, oblong, somewhat angular, pro- 

 duced into a point at each end, separated by se- 

 veral little membranes or coats, formed by the 

 abortion of some of the germs : they are at- 

 tached to a fleshy and very considerable placenta, 

 which occupies the centre ; are farinaceous, 

 like the Chestnut, and eaten in some places by 

 the savage inhabitants, either boiled, or roasted 

 in embers. It will easily be supposed that this 

 fruit, abounding less in pulp, and being both 

 more fibrous and less juicy than that which has 

 no seeds, must be much inferior, as an article 

 of food : and accordingly, before the discovery 

 of the South Sea Islands the Bread-fruit had not 

 acquired that degree of reputation which it is 

 now found to deserve. 



The second species is about the same size 

 with the foreaoing, or larger : branches alter- 

 nate, spreading : the twigs hirsute with long 

 stiff hairs : the leaves alternate, petioled, ovate- 

 oblong, blunt with a blunt point, obscurely 

 serrate, undivided, nerved ; bright green and 

 very smooth on the upper surface, paler beneath 

 and hirsute with stifl" hairs, spreading, a span 

 in length : the younger leaves are evidently 

 toothed, but the teeth disappear afterwards : 

 sometimes a leaf or two may be gashed : the 

 petiole is somewhat triangular, smooth, an inch 

 in length : stipules as in the foregoing : the 

 flowers male and female distinct on the same 

 stem or branch : the peduncle either simple or 

 branched, pendulous, an inch thick, and a foot 

 long : the pedicels three, five, or more, the 

 length and thickness of a finger : the fruit 



weighs thirty pounds' and upwards : it has within 

 it frequently from two to three hundred seeds, 

 three or four times as big as almonds ; they are 

 ovate-oblone, blunt at one end, sharp at the 

 other, and a little flatted on the sides. It is a 

 native of the East Indies. 



The two species cannot be distinguished with 

 certainty, either by the form of the leaves or 

 the situation of the fruit ; for the leaves in this 

 are sometimes lobcd, as in that ; and the situa- 

 tion of the fruit varies with the age of the tree, 

 being first borne on the branches, then on the 

 tmnk, and finally oit the roots. When culti- 

 vated here their growth is much restricted. 



Culture. — In those varieties which bear seeds, 

 each of the species may be propagated either 

 by seeds, suckers, or layers. They may be 

 sown in a pot of rich earth, and plunged in the 

 bark-bed. Those which have no seed in the 

 fruit may be increased from suckers, in which 

 they abound very much, or by layers. In hot 

 climates they succeed best in a rich soil; for 

 though thev will grow in an indifferent one, 

 yet they bv no means arrive at that magnitude, 

 nor is their fruit so well flavoured, as when they 

 are planted in a good one. Where the suckers 

 are made use of, they should be taken off in 

 the spring, and planted in pots in the stove. If 

 the layer mode be employed, the young shoots 

 should be laid down in the spring or summer, 

 which may be taken oft" in the following sprintr, 

 and placed in ])ots in the stove. The management 

 is afterwards tiie same as in other exotic trees. 



ARUM, a genus comprehending plants of 

 the herbaceous, perennial, and exotic kinds. — 

 The Cuckow-Pint. 



It belongs to the class and order Gynnndria 

 Polyandria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Plpentce. 



The characters of which are : that there are 

 male and female flowers oii the same spadix, 

 being closely set together between a double row 

 of threads : the calyx is a one-leafed spathe, 

 very large, oblong, and convolute at the base, 

 converging at the top, the belly compressed and 

 coloured within : the spadix club-shaped, quite 

 simple, a little shorter than the spathe, coloured 

 and fenced at the bottom with germs, shrivel- 

 lins above them ; no proper perianthium ; no 

 corolla : the nectaries are thick at the base, end- 

 ing in threads or tendrils, in iwo rows, issuino- 

 from the middle of the spadix : the stamina have 

 no filaments ; the antherae are sessile and four-cor- 

 nered : the female flowers are on the lower part of 

 the spadix, close to each other : the calyx being 

 a common spathe and spadix, as in the males ; 

 no proper perianthium; no corolla ; the pistillum 



