I08 ORONTIUM AQUATICUM. GOLDEN CLUB. 



has left the parent plant, and while it is still within its carpellary 

 coverinors. 



o 



Our species is the only representative of the genus found in 

 America, and the only other one known grows in Japan; but it 

 seems to be inclined to vary. Pursh found a form with the 

 leaves almost linear in the salt marshes near New York. Gen- 

 erally speaking, the plant occurs only on the Atlantic coast of 

 the United States, and in marshes accessible to tide water. But 

 the specimen from which our drawing was made grew wild near 

 Philadelphia, in a swampy meadow on the grounds of the writer, 

 situated some three hundred feet above the level of the Delaware 

 River, and therefore inaccessible to the tides. Kalm, in his 

 " Travels in America," says that the Indians call the plant 

 " Taw-kee," and that they eat the dried seeds like peas, boiling 

 them repeatedly to make them fit for food, or that they boil 

 them in milk or butter, and use them instead of bread. Barton 

 remarks that the Indians also use the roots after they have been 

 roasted, as, in common with those of most aroid plants, they are 

 poisonous when raw. If Barton's information is correct, the 

 Indians must have much more of the spirit of industry than they 

 usually get credit for, as these roots are generally deep down in 

 the mud, and it requires great labor to get at them. 



The peculiar, dark, glaucous green of the leaves of the Golden 

 Club is very striking. When the plant grows under water, the 

 leaves float on the surface, like those of the Potamogeton, but in 

 swampy ground they erect themselves somewhat until they fall 

 by their own weight. It is also interesting to note that the 

 upper portion of the scape, which is white in the flowering 

 season, turns as green as the other parts of the plant before fall ; 

 and Dr. Peyre Porcher is undoubtedly correct when he says 

 that there is very much in the Orontitim aquaticuin " worthy of 

 microscopic examination." 



Explanation of the Plate. — i. Upper portion of a leaf, from a swampy meadow, taken 

 in May. — 2. Spadix, with portion of tlae scape, taken at the same season. — 3. Nearly 

 mature seed-vessels, taken in September. 



