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 ARROW ARUM (Peltandra virginica [L.] Kunth.) ARUM FAMILY. 



The arrow arum is a stemless plant found in shallow water in Ontario. 

 It has arrow-shaped leaves, a long green spathe, green berries and thick, 

 fibrous roots. The berries are poisonous. 



WATER ARUM (Calla palustris L.) ARUM FAMILY. 



This plant of bogs and shallow waters is sometimes called "the wild 

 calla" because of its resemblance and close relation to the well-known 

 cultivated calla. It is a low perennial with a long creeping rootstock 

 bearing long-stalked, heart-shaped leaves, and a solitary scape. It has 

 a short spadix and a white spathe almost as wide as long. The berries 

 are bright red, subtended by the dried white spathe. This plant, which 

 is native to Canada from Nova Scotia to Hudson Bay, also contains 

 poisonous properties. The rootstock is particularly acrid. 



SKUNK CABBAGE (Symplocarpus foetidus [L.] Nutt.) ARUM FAMILY. 

 (Spathyema foetida [L.] Raff. ) 



COMMON NAMES : The skunk cabbage is known by a variety of names, 

 the most familiar being polecat-weed, swamp-cabbage, clump-foot cabbage, 

 stinking poke. 



DESCRIPTION: It is a perennial herb with a very strong, disagreeable 

 odour. The short, broad spathe appears very early in the spring before 

 the leaves. The spathe is swollen, thick, leathery, pale-green, closely- 

 streaked and spotted with purple or reddish brown, pointed, enveloping 

 the short, round spadix covered with small purple flowers. The leaves, 

 which appear much later, are large, bright green, heart-shaped, short- 

 stalked, veiny, and clustered on the short ridged stem. The spadix 

 enlarges in fruit, and the round seeds are imbedded. 



DISTRIBUTION: The skunk cabbage is a native of Canada, and is 

 found in bogs and moist land from Nova Scotia to Ontario. 



POISONOUS PROPERTIES: The whole plant contains acrid and noxious 

 properties and has a strong, unpleasant odour. Cattle avoid it. 



WESTERN SKUNK CABBAGE (Lysichiton camtschatcense Schott.) 



The skunk cabbage of British Columbia is a very conspicuous plant 

 at all times of the season; in the springtime by its large bright yellow 

 spathe, in the summer by its leaves mostly three feet long and over a foot 

 wide, and in the autumn by its long, stalked, large head of fruit. 



