382 ARACE^E. 



Wet woods. Can. to Car. W. to Miss . April, May, 7J.. Scape 6 12 inches 

 or more high, with a fleshy corraus at the base. Leaves 1 or 2, on long petioles ; 

 the leafets variable in breadth. Spathe ovate ; the upper portion arched over 

 at the top, greenish, dark purple, or variegated. Berries forming a dense ovoid 

 head. The recent tuber is very acrid, and almost caustic, but it becomes mild 

 by boiling or drying. Big. Med. Bot., i. 52. Indian Turnip. 



2. A. Dracontium Scholt: leaf mostly solitary, pedate; the leafets lance- 

 oblong, acuminate, entire ; spadix subulate, much longer than the oblong 

 acuminate convolute spathe, (Torr. N. Y. Fl.) Arum Dracontium 

 Linn. 



Banks of streams. N. Y. to Flor. June, July. 7L. Scape about a foot 

 long, with roundish corms, often clustered. Leaf on a petiole 8 15 inches 

 long. Spadix greenish; the upper part tapering into a slender point, which 

 rises 2 4 inches above the top of the spathe. Berries reddish-orange when ripe, 

 forming an ovoid cluster. Darlington. Green Dragon, 



2. PELTANDRA. Raf. Arrow Arum. 



(From the Greek TreArrj, a shield; and avtjp, a stamen ; in allusion to the form 

 of the sterile organs.) 



Spathe elongated, convolute, undulate on the margin, curved 

 at the apex. Spadix covered with flowers. Perianth none. 

 Anthers sessile, covering the upper part of the spadix in a tes- 

 selated manner. Ovaries 1 -celled, on the lower part of the 

 spadix. Berries ovoid, forming a dense cluster. 



P. Virginica Raf. Arum Virginicum Linn. Calla Virginica Mich. 

 Lecontia Virginica Torr. Camp. Rensselaeria Viginica Beck Bot. 1st. Ed. 



Swamps. N. Y. to Car. June, July. 9}.. Scapes, several from one root, 

 12 18 inches long. Leaves all radical, and with the petiole about as long as 

 the scape, oblong, hastate- sagittate, acuminate, the lobes spreading and usually 

 obtuse. Spathe 3 5 inches long, narrow and somewhat fleshy. Spadix nearly 

 as long as the spathe. Berries 1 3-seeded, green when ripe. 



Arrow-leaved Arum. 



3. CALLA. Linn. Water Arum. 

 (An ancient name of some plant allied to Arum.) 



Spathe ovate, somewhat flattened. Spadix covered with 

 flowers, which are destitute of a perianth, and consist of pistils 

 surrounded by stamens. Anthers with slender filaments. Ber- 

 ries distinct, depressed, few-seeded. 

 C. palustris Linn. 



Sphagnous swamps. Can. to the southern part of N. Y. July, Aug. Ij.. 

 Rhizoma thick, jointed. Scape 6 8 inches high. Leaves on long petioles, cor- 

 date, abruptly acuminate, with an involute point. Spathe oval, green on the 

 outside, white within. Spadix oblong, covered with crowded flowers. The 

 root is acrid, but the pungency disappears in drying. Linnaeus states that the 

 Laplanders use it for bread. Common Water Arum 



