Stmplocarpus. ARACEyE. 243 



1. Symplocarpus fcetidus, Salisb. Common Skunk Cabbage. 



Leaves ovate, cordate ; spadix oval, much shorter than the spalhe. — Nutt.gen. 1. p. 105 ; 

 Bart. veg. mat. med. t. \0 and 11 ; Torr. fl. \. p.\Q\; Hook, in hot. mag. t. 3224 ; Bech, 

 hot. p. 382; Darlingt. Jl. Cest. p. 112; Hook. Jl. Bar-Am. 2. p. 168; Kunth, enum. 3. 

 p. 84. Dracontium foetidum, Linn, sp, 2. p. 967. Pothos fcetidus, Michx. fl. 2. p. 186; 

 PursJi, fl. 2. p. 398 ; Bot. mag. t. 836. Ictodes foelida, Bigel. med, hot. t. 24, and/. Bost. 

 p. 59. 



Rhizoma thick, descending, abmplly terminating in whorls of numerous fleshy fibres. 

 Leaves appearing several weeks after the spathe, and forming large bunches, petiola'.e ; the 

 lamina from 8-18 inches or more in length, with large oblong sheaths. Spathe ovate, 

 convolute, spotted and striped with purplish brown, green and yellow, incurved at the summit, 

 of a thick and fleshy texture. Spadix about an inch long, densely covered with purplish 

 flowers. Leaflets of the perianth cuneate, truncate, fleshy. Stamens a little exserted ; the 

 anthers oblong, with parallel cells. Ovaries immersed in the spadix ; the style straight, 4-sided 

 and tapering to a point. Seed the size of a large pea, purplish and green ; the plumule near 

 the base. 



Low wet grounds : common. Fl. February - March. Fr. September. This plant is 

 universally known for its rank odor, and, as remarked by Dr. Bigelow, " it is exceedingly 

 meritorious of the name it bears." It contains a volatile principle which has not been insulated, 

 besides the acrid matter which is common to many of the Arace^. The plant is a domestic 

 remedy for asthma and other spasmodic diseases. A second species {S. Kamtschaticus) 

 grows on the Northwest Coast. 



5. ORONTIUM. Linn.; Nutt.gen. 1. p. 226; Endl. gen. 1706. GOLDEN-CLUB. 



[An ancient name, supposed to allude to the river Oronies,] 



Spathe none. Spadix cylindrical, continuous with the scape, covered with perfect flowers. 

 Sepals 4-6, truncate, concave. Stamens 4 - 6 ; the filaments broad : anthers 2-celled ; 

 the cells opening from the summit obliquely downward. Ovary one-celled, amphitropous, 

 transverse. Fruit an utricle. Seed without albumen ; the embryo large and fleshy. 

 Plumule lying in a groove on the outside of the thick radicle. — An aquatic herb, with 

 entire floating leaves, and the spadix on a long terete peduncle. 



1. Orontium aquaticum, Linn. Golden-club. Floating Arum. 



Linn, sp, (ed. 2.) 1. p. 463 ; Amcen. acad, 3. p. 17. t. 1. /. 3 ; Michx. fl. 1. p. 194 

 Pursh, fl. 1. p. 235 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 404 ; Bart. fl. Am. Sept. 2. t. 37 ; Hook, exot.fl, t. 19 

 Lodd. bot. cab. t. 402 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 358 ; Beck, bot. p. 381 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 226 

 Kunth, enum. 3. p. 85. 



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