442 



ARACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



Flowers perfect. 

 Flowers with a perianth. 



Spadix enclosed in a shell-like fleshy spathe. 



Spadix naked, terminating the scape. 



Spadix naked, borne at the base of a leaf-like spathe. 



3. Calla. 



4. Spathyema. 



5. Orontium. 



6. Acorus. 



i. A. triphyllum. 



A. pusilhim. 



A. Stezvardsonii. 



A. Dracontiuni. 



i. ARISAEMA Mart. Flora 14: 459. 1831. 



Perennial herbs with acrid corms, simple scapes and i to 3 slender-petioled divided 

 leaves unfolding with the flowers. Spadix included or exserted, bearing the flowers near its 

 'base. Spathe convolute, open or contracted at the throat. Flowers dioecious or monoe- 

 cious, without any perianth, the staminate of 4 almost sessile 2-4-celled anthers which open 

 by confluent slits at the apex, the pistillate with an ovoid or globose i-celled ovary contain- 

 ing i or many orthotropous ovules ; style short or none, stigma peltate-capitate. Fruit a 

 cluster of globose red berries, conspicuous when ripe. Seeds with copious endosperm and an 

 axial embryo. [Greek, referring to the red-blotched leaves of some species.] 



About 50 species, mostly natives of temperate and subtropical Asia. Besides the following, 2 

 other species occur in the Southern States. Type species : Arum nepenthoides Wall. 

 Spathe hooded, open at the throat, enclosing the spadix. 

 Leaves pale beneath ; spadix club-shaped. 

 Leaves green on both sides ; spadix cylindric. 



Spathe smooth, deep brown to black. 2. 



Spathe fluted, green or striped. 3. 



Spathe cojivolute ; summit of the spadix exserted. 4. 



i. Arisaema triphyllum (L.) Torr. Jack-in- 

 the-pulpit. Indian Turnip. Fig. mi. 



Arum triphyllum L. Sp. PI. 965. 1753. 



Arisaema atrorubens Blume, Rumphia i : 97. 1835. 



Arisaema triphyllum Torr. Fl. N. Y. 2 : 239. 1843. 



Leaves i or 2, nearly erect, io'-3 high, usually 

 exceeding the scape, 3-foliolate, the segments ovate, 

 entire, or sometimes lobed, acute rounded or nar- 

 rowed at the base, $'-7' long, i4'-3i' wide, sessile 

 or very short-stalked ; flowers commonly dioecious, 

 yellow, borne on the basal part of the spadix; spadix 

 2'-3' long, its naked summit blunt, colored ; spathe 

 green, and purple-striped, curving in a broad flap 

 over the top of the spadix, acuminate ; filaments very 

 short and thick; ovaries crowded; ovules 5 or 6; 

 berries smooth, shining, about 5" in diameter, form- 

 ing a dense ovoid head I'-T,' long. 



In moist woods and thickets, Nova Scotia to Florida, 

 Ontario, Minnesota, Kansas and Louisiana. Ascends to 

 5000 ft. in North Carolina. April-June. Fruit ripe June- 

 July. The acrid bulb made edible by boiling. Three- 

 leaved Indian turnip ; Marsh, Pepper or Wild turnip. 

 Bog-onion. Brown-dragon. Wake-robin. Starchwort. 



2. Arisaema pusillum (Peck) Nash. 

 Peck's Jack-in-the-pulpit. Fig. 1112. 



Arisaema triphyllum pusillum Peck, Rep. N. Y. 

 State Mus. 51 : 297. 1898. 



Arisaema pusillum Nash ; Britton, Man. 229. 1901. 



Leaves 2 or sometimes I, erect, mostly 8'-is' 

 high, 3-foliolate, the segments elliptic, ovate 

 or ovate-lanceolate, entire, mostly dull, acumi- 

 nate, or sometimes merely acute at the apex, 

 narrowed at the base, 2'-$' long, f'-if wide, 

 sessile or nearly so; spadix i'-2' long, the 

 upper portion cylindric; spathe deep brown to 

 black, the lower portion even, the apex short- 

 acuminate; berries shining, 2"-2$" in diameter, 

 forming an ovoid head less than i' in di- 

 ameter. 



In bogs, New York to Georgia and Kentucky. 

 May-July. 



