HETERANTHERA ARACE^E 667 



LYSICHITON 



by a spathe. Lobes of the perianth nearly or quite equal, linear. 

 Stamens 3, inserted on the throat of the perianth. Ovary fusi- 

 form, completely or incompletely 3-celled by the intrusion of the 

 placentae : ovules numerous: stigma 3-lobed. Fruit an ovoid 

 many-seeded capsule enclosed in the marcescent tube of the 

 perianth. Seeds ovoid, striate. 



H. dubia Mac M. Met. Miun. 138. Schottera graminifolia Willd. 

 Aquatic perennial : stem slender, forked, often rooting at the nodes. 1-4 

 feet long ; leaves linear, flat, acute, their sheaths thin, furnished at the top 

 with small acute stipule-like appendages : spathes 1- or 2-flowered : flowers 

 light yellow : perianth-segments narrow, 3-4 lines long, the tube 1-3 inches 

 Iqng ; capsule 1-celled, torulose, 3-4 lines long. In ponds, Oregon to Cali- 

 fornia and the Atlantic States. 



ORDER C ARACE^E Neck. Act. Acad. Theod. Palat. ii, 462. 



Glabrous perennial herbs with all radical or alternate leaves 

 and perfect, monoecious or dioecious flowers sessile and crowded 

 upon a spadix which is surrounded by a simple spathe. Peri- 

 anth none, or of 4 scale-like segments. Stamens 4 in our spe- 

 cies: filaments very short: anthers 2-celled, opening by pores 

 or slits. Ovary one- to several-celled, with one to several ovules 

 in each cell. Style short or wanting: with terminal mostly 

 minute and sessile stigina. Seeds various, mostly minute and 

 albuminous. 



1 LYSICHITON Schott Prodr. Aroid. 421. 



Acaulescent swamp herbs with large flat leaves from a thick 

 horizontal rootstock and numerous small flowers on a spdix sur- 

 rounded by a spathe with a sheathing base that at first envelopes 

 it but at length becoming long exserted upon a stout peduncle. 

 Flowers perfect, crowded and covering the spadix, with 4-lobed 

 perianth and 4 stamens opposite to the lobes. Filaments short 

 and flat : anthers 2-celled, opening upward. Ovary conical, 2- 

 celled, with 2 horizontal orthotropous ovuls. Stigma depressed. 

 Fruit fleshy, somewhat immersed in the rachis and coalescent. 



L. Kamtschatcensis Schott 1. c. Leaves 1-4 feet long, 3-18 inches 

 wide, oblong to oblong -lanceolate, acute, narrowed below to a short mar- 

 gined petiole or sessile : spathe yellow, with a broad acute blade 2-6 inches 

 long, narrowed below to a sheathing petiole 3-10 inches long: peduncle 

 very stout, 8-12 inches long ; spadix broader, 2-4 inches long, densely 

 flowered. Common in swamps, California to Alaska and Kamtschatka. 



ORDER CI TYPHACE^ J. St. Hil. Expos. Fam. i, 60. 



Aquatic perennial herbs with creeping rootstocks, cylindrical 

 solid stems, alternate linear entire sessile leaves and monoecious 

 flowera in heads or on a spadix without perianth, the upper 

 staminate, the lower pistillate. Stamens and ovaries intermixed 

 with bristles or scales. Anthers linear, longitudinally dehis- 

 cent. Ovaries one- or two-celled, one-ovuled, with slender style 

 and one-sided stigmas. Fruit nut-like. Seeds pendulous, ana- 



