534 ARACEJE. 



next the hilum. Herbaceous or shrubby plants, often with tubers or 

 creeping rhizomes, leaves sheathing at the base, and having parallel 

 or branching veins (fig. 239, 1). They occur in dry and marshy places, 

 and in lakes in various parts of the world, abounding in the tropics. 

 The order has been divided into four suborders: 1. Arineae, Cuckoo- 

 pint tribe (fig. 239); naked flowers with a spadix and spatha, J $ , 

 anthers sessile, ovules several, fruit succulent, seeds pulpy. 2. Ty- 

 phinese, Bulrush-tribe; marsh or ditch plants, with nodeless stems, 

 flowers J $ , with a scaly or hairy perianth, arranged on a spadix with- 

 out a spatha, anthers wedge-shaped on long filaments, ovule solitary, 

 fruit dry, seed with adherent pericarp. 3. Acorese, Sweet-flag tribe; 

 flowers $ , having usually a scaly perianth, arranged on a spathaceous 

 spadix, ovules 1 or more, fruit a berry. 4. Pistiese, Duckweed tribe; 

 flowers J $ , naked, enclosed in a spatha without a spadix, ovary 

 1 -celled, ovules 2 or more, fruit membranous or capsular. The order 

 includes 47 genera, and 273 species. Examples Arum, Caladium, 

 Colocasia, Calla; Typha, Sparganium; Acorus, Orontium, Pothos; 

 Pistia, Lemna. 



1091. The general property of the order is acridity. Sometimes 

 the plants are dangerous irritant poisons. In some instances the 

 rhizomes yield much starchy matter, and when boiled or roasted, are 

 used as substitutes for yams, under the name of Coco. The starch 

 may be separated and used as Arrow-root. Thus, Portland Sago is 

 prepared from the rhizome of Arum maculatum, common Cuckoo-pint, 

 or Wake-Kobin. Dieffenbachia seguina (Caladium seguinum], is called 

 Dumb-cane, on account of the swelling of the tongue caused by 

 chewing the plant. Many of the plants of this order give out heat in 

 a marked degree during flowering (^[ 475). Some send out aerial 

 roots, by means of which they climb upon trees. Dracontium pertusum 

 has perforated leaves (^[ 137). Symplocarpus fcetidus, Skunk-cabbage, 

 has a very disagreeable odour. Its rhizome and seeds have been used 

 as anti-spasmodics. Richardia qfricana, with its white spatha, is 

 commonly cultivated under the name of ^Ethiopian Lily. The root- 

 stock of Acorus Calamus, Sweet-flag, has an aromatic odour, combined 

 with a bitterish acrid taste. It has been used as a stimulant and tonic. 

 In Typha latifolia, Great Eeed Mace, the pollen is abundant and 

 easily collected, and from its inflammable nature has been used as a 

 substitute for the Lycopodium spores. The young shoots of T. latifolia 

 and angustifolia are eaten by the Cossacks like asparagus. The large, 

 fleshy, amylaceous rhizomes are eaten by the Kalmucks. Lemnas, 

 Duckweeds, are common in ditches in temperate regions. Their 

 flowers are very simple, one male, and the other female, without a 

 perianth, enclosed in a membranous bag; their roots are simple 

 fibres, covered with a sheath. Pistia Stratiotes floats in lakes in 

 tropical countries. 



