MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 23 



flowers are usually somewhat less enclosed by bracts than 

 those of grasses ; the perianth is absent or rudimentary ; 

 stamens generally 3 ; style 2-cleft or 3-cleft. 



The flower cluster and the flower may be understood from 

 an inspection of Fig. 4. 



The species are even more difficult to determine than those 

 of grasses. 



ARA'CEJE. ARUM FAMILY 



Smooth, perennial herbs, generally growing in wet places. 

 Leaves large, radical or alternate. Flowers sessile, crowded 

 on a spadix which is surrounded by a broad sheathing spathe. 

 Perianth in our representative with 4 divisions. Ovary 

 2-celled and 2-ovuled. Fruit consisting of berries which 

 coalesce on the spadix. 



LYSICHI'TON, Skunk Cabbage 



Leaves large, 1-3 ft. long and often a foot broad, growing 

 from a thick rootstock. Spadix at first covered by a yellow- 

 ish green spathe, later extending beyond it on a stout 

 peduncle. Flowers covering the spadix. Stamens 4, oppo- 

 site the segments of the perianth, with 2-celled anthers 

 opening upwards. 



L. Kamtschatcen'sis Schott. This is found in swamps from 

 northern California to Alaska. It blooms in May and June. It is 

 a beautiful plant with large, broad leaves, covering the swamps, but 

 it has a strong and disagreeable odor, from which the common 

 name is derived. 



LILIA'CEJE. LILY FAMILY 



Her.bs. Flowers regular and symmetrical, with their parts 

 3 or some multiple of 3. Ovary 3-celled, free from the 

 perianth. Fruit a capsule or berry. Seeds with endosperm 

 (/.Fig. 5; e. Fig. 8,1). 



