XANTHOSOMA SAGITTIFOLIA. ARROW-LEAVED SPOONFLOWER. I 23 



Aracccr are founded on characters that relate to sexual pecul- 

 iarities, and are open to about the same objections as the sexual 

 system of Linnaeus, which prevailed before the present natural 

 system of botany was introduced. Under the old sexual system 

 our plant would have been associated with an Orchid, or with, 

 perhaps, even a Papaw (Aszmiua triloba), all on account of the 

 peculiar relations of stamens with pistils. Now those plants 

 which are alike in general characters are brought together, and 

 the order which results — Aracccz or the Arum family in this 

 case — i s a very natural-looking one, which the youngest student 

 can scarcely fail to recognize ; but when we come to divide 

 the order into genera, we have still to take into consideration 

 the sexual relations ; and the result is that we can hardly 

 tell, when we examine a plant of the order, in which genus 

 to place it. The spaclix — the central body — has the flowers 

 variously arranged over its surface, and this is regarded as a 

 matter of great importance in determining the genus. In 

 some the spadix is quite naked at its end ; in others it is 

 clothed, generally to the apex, and here we find one great 

 difference between the Calla Lily and our plant, for the latter 

 would be placed in the first section, while the Calla belongs 

 to the last. The differences in structure, and the relations of 

 the anther with the connective, are also taken into consideration 

 in determining the genera. In one great division, in which we 

 find the true Arums and our Indian Turnip, the cells of the 

 anthers are larger than the connective; in another in which our 

 plant is found, they have a very thick connective ; while m the 

 section which contains the Richardia, they are embedded in 

 the connective, which is very thick and fleshy. We see 

 by this that plants, which must be closely allied from then- 

 natural appearances, are still almost as widely separated as 

 when we were under the sway of the very defective sexual 

 system. It thus happens that plants of the order Aracea are 

 given various names, according to the different views which 

 botanists take of the value of characters. The botanists of 



