ARUM. 



25 



the flowering organs. The anthers are sessile on the middle 

 of the lower half of the spadix ; above and below them is a ring 

 of abortive stamens, terminated by filaments, called by Linnaeus, 

 nectaries. The germens are placed at the base of the spadix ; 

 they are numerous, obovate, and of a greenish yellow colour. 

 The fruit consists of several globular berries, collected into an 

 oblong spike, which remains during winter after the leaves and 

 spadix have decayed ; the berries are of a bright scarlet colour, 

 globose, succulent, one-celled, and contain one or more hard, 

 roundish seeds. Plate III., fig. 2, {a) the ripe fruit; (6) berry 

 detached from the spadix ; (c) the same cut vertically to shew 



the seed. 



The common Arum, familiar to children by the name of lords 

 and ladies, is found under almost all climates ; it is frequent m 

 most parts of England, rare in Scotland and Ireland. It grows 

 in damp shady places in groves and hedges, flowering in April 

 and May, and ripening its fruit in autumn. 



The generic name is supposed to be derived from the Hebrew 

 jaron, a dart, in allusion to the shape of the leaves ; or from an 

 Egyptian word by which some plant of the kind was designated. 

 The vernacular names are not pecuharly expressive, but it is some- 

 times called caZ/'5-/oo^, from the shape of the leaf, and is known 

 by the same appellation in many of the European languages. 



There are nearly fifty species of Arum described, the majority 

 of them natives of the tropics. The Arum Dracunculus, or 

 common Dragon Arum, brought from the south of Europe, is 

 a very remarkable plant ; the leaf-stalks are spotted like the 

 belly of a snake, and the flower exhales a putrid odour equal 

 to that of carrion. The root of A. Colocasia is eaten in Egypt 

 and the Levant, and the leaves of A. Esculentum and some 

 other species are similarly used in the West Indies. 



Qualities and general Uses.— Every part of the common 

 Arum is acrid, styptic and pungent, and contains a juice which 

 turns syrup of violets green, reddens litmus paper, and is coagu- 

 lated by the mineral acids. Vauquelin has detected malate of 

 lime in the expressed juice. The leaves are so acrimonious, 

 that applied to a delicate skin they irritate and inflame it, and 

 sometimes produce blisters. The roots, however, are the most 

 powerful ; when recent they are nearly white and inodorous, 

 almost insipid to the taste at first, but soon produce a sensation 

 of burning and pricking as if by needles, which lasts fov several 



