GREEN GROUP 



grows taller than the flower, the divisions being long and narrow. 

 The spadix tapers above into a long, narrow tip. The spathe, 

 whitish or greenish, is long, narrow, acutely pointed. Staminate 

 and pistillate flowers in different plants. Berries reddish orange, 

 appearing in late summer. 



Both species are found in all the Atlantic States. 

 Green Arrow Arum 



Peltandra. <virginica. — Family, Arum. Leaves, arrow-shaped, 

 large, the largest 2 J feet long, the lobes at base long and sharp, 

 margins rolled inward, long petioled. May and June. 



A common plant, growing in shallow water or in bogs. 

 The flowers are without calyx and corolla, being a collecti< m 

 of stamens and ovaries crowded on a long spadix, covering 

 it nearly to the top. The leaf forming the spathe is long, 

 4 to 8 inches, tapering, curving, closely infolding the spadix, 

 fleshy at base. Fruit, a green berry. Plant springing from 

 tufted fibrous roots, the flowering scape but little shorter 

 than the leaves. Maine to Florida and westward. 



Skunk Cabbage 



Symptocirpus foetidus. — Family, Arum. Color of spathe, green, 

 striped with purple and yellow. Leaves, large, broad, ribbed, 

 heart-shaped. March and April. 



This coarse and singular plant, with its ill odor, is yet of 

 interest because it has the reputation of being the earliest 

 bloom of spring. In March you may look for the singular, 

 lumpy flowers which precede the big, coarse leaves. The 

 flowers crowd and cover a thick, fleshy spadix, which becomes 

 green and purplish, long-stalked. The enveloping spathe is 

 large, broad, at first completely covering the spadix; after- 

 ward, as the fruit matures, decaying and falling off. The 

 fruit itself is a singular, repellent-looking mass, being the 

 spadix enlarged, soft, spongy, with the seeds formed under- 

 neath the epidermis. Later these drop to the ground like 

 small bulbs. 



The plant leaves are clustered at the root. They are from 

 1 to 2 feet long, and nearly as broad. 



Notwithstanding the skunk and garlic combination 

 odor which this plant possesses, and which often permeates 

 the atmosphere around, insects, including flies, buzz and 

 hum over the flowers with seeming pleasure. Small ii 



