ARACE^E. 383 



4. SYMPLOCARPUS. Salisb. Skunk Cabbage. 



(From the Greek ffufurXo*??, connection, and *ap7ruj, //*< , the berries being 

 united.) 



Spathe ventricose-ovate, acuminate. Spadix roundish, cov- 

 ered with perfect flowers. Perianth deeply 4-parted, persist- 

 ent ; segments cucullate, truncate, becoming thick and spongy. 

 Stamens 4. Style pyramidal, 4-sided. Stigma simple, minute. 

 Berries numerous, globular, imbedded in the spadix. 



S. fatidus Salisb. : leaves cordate-ovate ; spadix oval, much shorter than 

 the spathe. Ictodes fcetidus Dig. Pothos fcetida Mich. 



Wet meadows. Can. to Car. Feb. April. 1}.. Rhizoma large, with nu- 

 merous thick fibres. Leaves appearing after the spathe, very large, petiolate, 

 cordate-ovate, smooth. Spathe ovate-convolute, purple, spotted with green and 

 yellow, bent over at the summit. Spadix about an inch long, peduncled, densely 

 covered with purplish flowers. Whole plant very fetid. Medicinal. Big. Med. 

 Bot. ii. 41. Common Skunk Cabbage. 



5. ACORUS. Linn. Sweet Flag. 



(From the Greek a without, and icoprj, the pupil of the eye ; a supposed remedy 

 for sore eyes.) 



Spathe leaf-like, continuous with the scape. Spadix cylin- 

 dric, covered with flowers. Perianth glumaceous, 6-leaved. 

 Stamens 6. Ovary 1. Stigma minute, sessile. Fruit baccate 

 or capsular. 



A. Calamus Linn. : scape ancipital, with an ensiform point rising above 

 the spadix. 



Swamps. Can. to Car. June. %. Rhizoma horizontal, creeping, aromatic. 

 Leaves 23 feet long, and 6 10 lines wide. -Scope similar to the leaves, some- 

 what triangular below the spadix. Spadix sessile on the side of the scape, 2 3 

 inches long, terete, covered with minute greenish flowers. 



Common Sweet Flag. 



G. ORONTIUM. Linn. Orontium. 

 (An ancient name, supposed to refer to the river Orontes.*) 



Spathe none. Spadix cylindric, covered with flowers. Per- 

 ianth of 4 6 truncate concave sepals. Stamens 4 6. Ovary 

 superior. Stigma sessile, subumbilicate. Utricle 1 -seeded. 



O. aquaticum Linn. 



Ponds and marshes. Can. to Flor. 31ay. Q^.. Scape 818 inches long, cla- 

 vate. Leaves on long petioles, floating, the lamina varying from oblong-lance- 

 olate to elliptic-lanceolate, deep-green above, paler beneath. Spadix 1 2 inches 

 long, yellow, somewhat taperiner ; the flowers crowded and sessile. 



Water Orontmm. Golden Club. 



