120 THE STORY OF THE PLANTS. 



common English arum, known to children as 

 cuckoo-pint or " lords and ladies " (Fig. 25). 



The structure of the cuckoo-pint is very pe- 

 culiar. What looks like the flower is not really 

 any part of the flower at all, but a large outer 



FiG. 25. The common arum, or cuckoo-pint, showing the spathe 

 which surrounds the flowers, and the spike sticking up in the 

 middle. 



leaf or spathe surrounding a group of very tiny 

 blossoms. You can understand this leaf better 

 if you look at a narcissus stalk, where a very 

 similar leaf is seen to enclose a whole bunch of 



