I I I.I.-. I 



OROM I I \( I. I 





Orobb L1X. ORON1 I \< I. 1 



Vtiettm, . i.ootiam, Link Handb. \ in .\ 



I )i \ . ^ . i~ ! ,. ./,,,,. .,/ / ;,. _ 



Herbaceous plants, with broad entire or deeply dividi 1 hich ho* 



onallj sword-shaped and equitant Some of them ai 

 over trees, to which the} adhere by creeping roots ; :» f. \\ are 

 aqua t ics. Flowers , , ou a simple Bpadix, furnished with a 

 Bpathe, white, green, or purple. Calyx and corolla absent, 

 <.r consisting ol 4, S, 6, 8 scali b. Stamens of the same num- 

 ber, either bypogynous oi perigynous ; anthers 2-celled, 

 opening longitudinally or transversely. Ovarj free, with 1 

 or more cells ; ovules erect, anatropal or campylotropal, or 

 pendulous and orthotropal ; stigma capitate, sessili , or fur- 

 nished with a subulate Btyla Fruit a berry. Embryo slit 



He aide, in the axis of fleshy, or horn) , "i- mealy albumen. 



(Albumen .-tl ■-. -i 1 1 in Scindapsus, Dracontium, Symplocarpus, 

 Orontium. EndL) 



The greater part of these plants have the habit of Arads, 

 with which they are usually associated, and from which in 

 fad they differ only in having hermaphrodite flowers, which 

 have usually :i scaly perianth. For this reason other Botanists 

 si parate them, and it seems more especially desirable t<> • t • • 

 because there is no tendency among them t" :i separation <>f 

 the sexes. Acorese are indeed usualrj regarded as the type 

 <>t a peculiar t trder ; and if this opinion is corn ct, the « >ron- A 



tiads must certainly accompany them, for they differ in j 1 L i 

 nothing except the form of their haw-, which, in Aeon \*/ 



are sword-shaped and Btraight-veined. In fact, A cm- seems 

 t.> bear the same relation to Orontiads as Pandanus and 

 Freyoenetia v> Cyclanths. Blume considers these plants to 

 be aUied, on the one hand, by Pothos to Peppers and Sau- 

 raracesB, unci, on the other, t<> Lilyworts. Rumphia 2. 74. 

 in which lii- i-i probably right ; for Aspidistrese form :i conn 

 ing link between Orontiads and Lilies. Brown has remarked 

 thai in Dracontium polyphyllum and fcetidum, in which there 

 i- no albumen, the plumule consists of imbricated scales, and 

 that it is sometimes double or even triple. In the former of 

 these plants the external scales, in germination, quickly w ither awaj , wh 

 n:il and larger ones appear, and remain for some lime round th< 

 leaf, before the development of which no rootlets are i mitted. P mikr 



economy has been noticed by Du Petit Thouars, in his genus Ouvirandra in '» 



The plants of ihi> Order chief!) occupj « (land Btations within the u 



hemispheres, but many are found in colder latitudes : for Symi I car] i 

 the Bwamps of the United States ; Calla palustris inhabits th 

 marshes ol S. Lapland, in 64 N., and on the Andes, Pothos i 

 vras rise to the height of 8400 feel above the sea. 



The fresh leaves of tdonstera pertusaare employed bj th 

 vesicatories or rubefiants in cases of dropsy. Thi n ot and - 

 Symplocarpus foatidus, a most foetid species, are powerl ! • 

 torants ; they have considerable reputation in N. Ami 

 of asthma. Dracontium polyphyllum, said t.> be th 

 reputed to possess similar properties. Orontium aquaticum is 



dried rout can be eaten without inconvenience. The oorni .nl« 



africana, with its snowy Bpathe and golden ^p.tii\. • 

 name of Radix Axi /Ethiopu. The rhizomes of Oalla 

 caustic in the highest degree, are, according to Linn.. > ■ >n 



i '\\\n. Calla palustris ; 1 . a flowei 



>>f tin- rij.o fruit ; I. ■ s> nt ; .). it.- loagitudina 



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