426 



GENERAL BOTANY 



the nourishment is stored in the base of the corm for the early 

 growth of the bud which produces the annual aerial stem. The 

 new corm is therefore formed above the old corm each season, 

 and the tissues of the latter disappear as the new corm is 

 formed above on its remains. Large conns also produce lateral 



buds, similar to 

 those of the gladio- 

 lus (Fig. 80), which 

 give rise to a circu- 

 lar cluster of corms 

 around the mother 

 corm. 



Sexual reproduc- 

 tion. The flowers 

 are borne on a 

 fleshy axis called 

 the spadix, which 

 is included in a 

 bractlike structure 

 called the spathe 

 (Fig. 271, B, a). 

 The entire struc- 

 ture is often mis- 

 taken for a flower, 

 although it is really 

 an inflorescence. 



Cross-pollination 

 is assured, since 

 male and female 



Anther 



FIG. 271. Habit and flower of jack-in-the-pulpit 

 (Arisaema) 



A, plant with flowers and corm ; B (a, spathe, spadix, and 



staminate flowers ; 6, cluster of stamens; c, pistil). Copied 



from Curtis's " Nature and Development of Plants " 



flowers are usually borne on separate plants. The male plants 

 are also smaller, as a rule, than the female plants, which is -an 

 advantage, since the female plants must produce seed and fruit 

 and so need the great store of reserve food contained in the 

 larger corms. The production of pistillate flowers from the larger 

 corms is supposed to be connected with the abundant food 

 supply. The fruit is composed of a cluster of beautiful red 

 berries borne on the lower, fleshy portion of the spadix. 



