ORONTIACE.E. SWEET SEDGE TRIBE. 641 



woods, common in most parts of England. A succulent, 

 herbaceous plant, with large, glossy, arrow-shaped leaves, 

 which are often spotted with dark purple. The upper 

 part of the spadix is club-shaped, and of a light pink, 

 dull purple, or rich crimson colour, which is easily 

 rubbed off; about the middle of the spadix is a ring of 

 glands, terminating in short threads, the use of which 

 is unknown ; below this is a ring of sessile anthers, 

 and yet lower down another row of sessile ovaries. 

 The upper part of the spadix soon falls off, leaving 

 the ovaries, which finally become a cylindrical mass of 

 scarlet berries, which are conspicuous objects when all 

 the rest of the plant has withered and disappeared. 

 The spadix with its sheath may be discerned wrapped 

 up in the young leaf-stalks, even before the leaves have 

 risen above the surface of the ground. Fl. May, June. 

 Perennial. 



OED. XCVL OBONTIACE^E. SWEET SEDGE 

 TRIBE. 



Flowers perfect, arranged on a central column or 

 spadix, at first enclosed in a sheath ; perianth of 4 8 

 scales ; stamens equalling the scales in number ; ovary 

 superior ; fruit a berry. A tribe of plants nearly allied 

 to the Aracece, and resembling them in properties. 

 Calla ^Ethiopica is, under the name of Egyptian Lily, 

 perhaps better known than the only British species, 

 Acorus Calamus, or Sweet Sedge. This last plant is 

 said to have supplied the " rushes " with which, before 

 the use of carpets had been introduced into England, it 

 was customary to strew the floors of the great. As 

 it did not grow in the neighbourhood of London, but 

 had to be fetched at considerable expense from Norfolk 

 and Suffolk, one of the charges of extravagance brought 

 against Cardinal Wolsey was that he caused his floors 

 to be strewed with rushes too frequently. It is still 

 T T 



