372 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



case of children, even death. The Thoinsonia napalensls of India, according 

 to Major Kirtikar, is an acrid poison but its deleterious properties may be 

 removed by roasting. The arrow arum (Pcltandra virginica) of eastern 

 North America is an irritant. 



Arisaema. Mart. 



Perennial herbs with tuberous rootstock or corm, having acrid properties; 

 leaves simple or compound, scape simple ; spathe convolute, generally arched 

 above ; spadix with flowers near the base ; floral envelopes none ; flowers mon- 

 oecious or dioecious; stamens 4; anthers 2-4-celled; pistillate flowers with a 

 2-celled ovary containing many ovules ; fruit a globose, red berry ; seeds with 

 copious endosperm. About 50 species found in temperate climate. 



Arisaema triphylhun. (L.) Schott. Indian Turnip 



Corm turnip-shaped, farinaceous ; leaves generally 2, divided into 3-f oliate 



leaflets, ovate; spadix mostly dioecious, 

 club-shaped, much shorter than the arched 

 spathe, which is green and purple striped : 

 ovules 5-6; berries shining, forming a 

 dense head. The dragon head (A. Dra- 

 contium) with solitary leaf pedately di- 

 vided into 7-11 oblong lanceolate leaflets, 

 and spadix tapering to a long slender 

 point, is common in rich woods from 

 Minnesota and Iowa, eastward. 



Distribution. The Indian Turnip occurs 



in moist woods from Kansas and Minne- 



sota to Nova Scotia and Florida. 



Poisonous properties. The corm of In- 

 dian Turnip is so extremely acrid that a 

 decoction made from it has been used to 

 kill insects. 



The family Lcmnaccac is allied to the 

 Araceae. It contains the Duckweeds, 



PARINOSAE 



Herbs with endogenous stems and most- 

 ly narrow leaves ; flowers usually complete, 

 parts usually in 3's or 6's ; corolla reg- 

 ular or nearly so; ovary compound, superior; endosperm of the seed mealy. 

 This series contains the Xyridaceae, of which the yellow-eyed grass is an 

 example; the Eriocaulaceae, of which the pipewort (Eriocaulon septangular e) 

 of the Atlantic seashore is a good illustration; the pine-apple family (Broiuch- 

 aceae) of 350 species, in tropical and warmer regions, represented in the south 

 by the Spanish moss (Tillandsia usncoides) which hangs in long festoons 



Fig. 159. Indian Turnip (Arisaema 

 triphylluin). A common plant of our 

 woods. Corm contains an acrid 

 poison. 



