INDIAN TURNIP 73 



ARACEJE, OR ARUM FAMILY 



A family of mostly tropical plants characterized by an inflor- 

 escence consisting of a spadix placed within a spathe. There are 

 about 900 species mostly of tropical and sub-tropical countries, only 

 about 1 per cent growing in temperature regions. The latter are 

 mostly perennial herbs possessing rhizomes or acrid corms. The 

 inner morphology is not constant, some genera containing character- 

 istic spicular cells; a few contain tannic acid; others contain oil 

 cells as in calamus, and quite a number contain laticiferous cells. 

 Some of the plants are highly ornamental and are extensively culti- 

 vated as the Caladiums. One of the species, Caladium sequinum, of 

 the West Indies and South America, possess a very acrid principle 

 and when chewed causes the tongue to swell and produces temporary 

 dumbness, whence the name " Dumb Cane " is derived. 



RHIZOMA ARONIS. Aronwurzel, Calf's Foot Root, Cuckow 

 Pint Root. The carefully dried rhizome (corm) of the European 

 Arum, Arum macula turn and its varieties (Fam. Aracese), perennial 

 herbs growing in middle and southern Europe. The tubers are 

 gathered in the fall or spring, preferably the latter, the outer layers 

 removed, cut transversely into slices and carefully dried. 



Description. In discs from 2 to 5 cm. in diameter and 4 to 8 

 mm. in thickness, whitish; fracture mealy, somewhat horny; scat- 

 tered, somewhat irregular fibro vascular bundles; taste pungent. 



Inner Structure. A brown corky layer; numerous thin-walled 

 starch-bearing parenchyma and a few cells containing long raphides 

 of calcium oxalate; fibrovascular bundles scattered and distributed 

 irregularly; starch grains mostly single and from 2- to 4-compound, 

 the individual grains spheroidal from 0.005 to 0.010 mm. in diam- 

 eter and with a small central circular marking. 



Constituents. From 0.004 to 0.005 per cent of a liquid alkaloid 

 resembling coniine; 0.1 per cent of a glucoside, arin, which appears 

 to be in the nature of a saponin; 70 per cent of starch; and calcium 

 oxalate, sugar, mucilage and a fixed oil. 



Allied Plants. The drug is sometimes prepared from the corms of 

 Arum Dracunculus and A. italicum, which are larger in size than the 

 genuine article. 



ARUM. Indian Turnip, Jack-in-the-Pulpit. The corm of 

 Arisaema triphyllum, a common plant of the Araceae growing in 

 rich woods in eastern North America. The corms are gathered, cut 

 transversely into pieces and dried. 



