ARACEAE 227 



late, acuminate, 7-12 cm. long, erose-ciliolate, bright green : spathe green throughout, 

 the dilated portion deeper green than the convolute part, over twice as long as broad, 

 long-acuminate. 



In low rich woods, eastern and peninsular Florida. Spring. 



4. Arisaema quin&tum (Nutt. ) Schott. Corms often 3-7 cm. in diameter: leaves 

 2, or often solitary, quite large ; segments 5, erose, otherwise entire, the lateral ones 

 sometimes partially united, or rarely only 3, oval to elliptic, apiculate, glaucous beneath ; 

 lateral nerves uniting and forming 2-3 marginal nerves : scapes about as long as the 

 petioles : spathe 6-10 cm. long, acute or acuminate : spadix 3-4 mm. thick : fruits 6-7 

 mm. in diameter, red, crowded in a globose or oblong head. \_A. polymorphism ( Buckl. ) 

 Chapm. ] 



In woods and rich soil, North Carolina and Tennessee to Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. 

 Spring. 



2. MURICAUDA Small. 



Acaulescent herbs, with corms. Leaves basal, erect : blades several, pedately divided, 

 the segments variable in size. Scape erect, overtopped by the leaves. Spadix more or 

 less flattened or 2-edged, bearing flowers all over its slightly differentiated fertile portion, 

 the sterile portion slender or filiform, long-exserted beyond the top of the spathe. 

 Spathe convolute throughout, narrowed above. Flowers monoecious or dioecious : perianth 

 wanting. Ovary turbinate. Ovules 6-8, bottle-shaped. Fruits in dense bright-colored 

 heads. Endosperm present. 



1. Muricauda Dracontium (L. ) Small. Foliage deep green. Leaves usually soli- 

 tary, 3-10 dm. tall ; blades pedately divided, the segments 5-17, oblong, oblanceolate or 

 cuneate, 1-3 dm. long, abruptly pointed or acuminate, entire, or the lateral ones lobed : 

 spathe white or greenish, 3-10 cm. long : spadix prolonged into a slender whip-like long- 

 exserted tip, 5-20 cm. long, that of staminate plants, with the flowering part about 

 as long as the tubular part of the 'spathe ; that of monoecious plants with the pistillate 

 part near base of spadix : fruits bright red, 6-8 mm. in diameter. [Arisaema Dracontium 

 (L.) Schott.] 



In moist woods, Maine to Ontario, Minnesota, Florida and Texas. Spring. GREEN DRAGON. DRAGON 

 ROOT. 



3. FELTANDRA Eaf. 



Swamp-inhabiting herbs. Leaves basal : blades shorter than the petioles, entire, 

 sagittate or hastate. Scapes shorter than the leaves, at length recurved. Spathe greeri or 

 petal-like, wholly convolute or expanding above, often undulate or crisped. Spadix 

 covered by the monoecious flowers. Perianth wanting. Flowers inconspicuous : staminate 

 uppermost, at first shield-like scales, in whose edges are imbedded 6-10 anthers, these open- 

 ing by apical pores and finally nearly free : pistillate flowers merely 1 -celled carpels sur- 

 rounded by 4-5 scale-like staminodia. Ovules 1 or few, amphitropous. Fruits green or 

 crimson, in heads surrounded by the leathery base of the spathe. Seeds 1-3, surrounded 

 by a tenacious jelly. Endosperm wanting. ARROW-ARUM. 



Spathes C9nvolute throughout, narrow, green : fruits green. 1. P. Virginica. 



Spathes dilated and spreading above, mainly white : fruits crimson. 2. P. sagittaefolia. 



1. Peltandra Virginica ( L. ) Kunth. Foliage dark green. Leaves erect or ascend- 

 ing, 2-3 dm. tall, often numerous ; blades sagittate or hastate-sagittate, ovate or oblong- 

 ovate in outline, 1-3 dm. long, acute or acuminate, undulate, the lateral nerves spreading : 

 scapes about as long as the petioles, recurving and often immersing the fruit at maturity : 

 spathe green, 8-20 cm. long, enveloping the spadix, elongated, pale and crisped along the 

 edges : spadix tapering, shorter than the spathe, ^ pistillate, f staminate : fruits slightly 

 angled, 1-1.5 cm. in diameter, green. Staminate part of spadix and upper part of spathe 

 decaying at maturity. 



In swamps or shallow pools, Maine to Ontario, Michigan, Florida and Louisiana. Spring and 

 summer. 



2. Peltandra sagittaefolia (Michx.) Morong. Foliage deep green. Leaves basal, 

 3-5 dm. tall, few ; blades sagittate, 1.5-2 dm. long, acute or acuminate, thinnish, the basal 

 lobes about \ as Ipng as the middle lobe, obtuse : scapes sometimes as long as the leaves : 

 spathes white, or green merely at the base, 4-10 cm. long, dilated above : spadix over \ as 

 long as the spathe, \ pistillate, \ staminate : fruits irregularly globose, about 1 cm. in 

 diameter, crimson. [Peltandra alba Kaf.] 



In bogs or springy places, Virginia to Florida and Alabama. Spring and summer. 



