328 



THE KINDS OF PLANTS 



S. fcetidus, Nutt. Spathes purple, arising in the earliest spring: leaves 

 very large (often 2 ft. long), simple and entire, ovate, in tufts. The tufted 

 leaves and fetid odor give the plant the name of skunk cabbage. 



RICHARDIA. Calla Lily. 



Leaves several from each short rootstock, their pe- 

 tioles sheathing the flower-scape: flowers naked and 

 diclinous, the stamens above and the 3-loculed ovaries 

 below on the spadix: spathe large and showy, the top 

 flaring and the base rolling about the spadix. Several 

 species are cultivated, but the following is the only com- 

 mon one. 



R. africana, Kunth. Calla or Calla lily of gardens. 

 Fig. 486. Leaf-blades broadly arrow-shaped, simple and 

 entire, cross-veined, glossy: spathe white and wax-like. 

 Cape of Good Hope. 



n 



486. Richardia 

 africana. 



4' CALLA. Water Arum. 



Differs from the above in having a spathe which does not inclose the 

 spadix, and mostly perfect flowers (the upper ones sometimes staminate), 

 each of 6 stamens and 1 ovary: fruit a red berry. One species. 



C. paliistris, Linn. True calla. Fig. 487. Leaves about 1 ft. high, the 

 blades arrow-shaped: spathe about 2 in. long, white on the upper face. 

 In cold bogs, north. 



5. ACORUS. Sweet Flag. Calamus. 



Erect, having long, horizontal, branching root-stocks, thick and aromatic : 

 leaves sword-shaped, rising from the rootstocks: scapes 3-angled, bearing 

 each a cylindric spadix, but much prolonged and leaf-like, causing the 

 spadix to appear as if borne on the side of the leaf -like scape: flowers on a 

 very dense spadix: ovary oblong, 2-4-celled, with 2-8 

 ovules in each cell. 



A. Calamus, Linn. Sweet flag. Calamus-root. Along 

 the margins of streams, in swamps and wet soils. 

 Leaves 2-3 ft.: flowers greenish-yellow, very small. 

 May to July. The rootstocks supply "sweet flag roots" 

 of the druggists. 



IV. LILIACE^E. Lily Family. 



Herbs, with bulbs, corms, or large rootstocks: 



fls. mostly regular and showy, the perianth of 6 

 separate or coherent parts, the stamens usually 6 and standing in front 

 of the parts of the perianth: ovary superior, usually 3-loculed, ripen- 

 ing into a capsule or berry. About 200 genera, including more than 



