25 



The greatest \ariati()n is st-i-n in llie coloring. Usually this 

 ranges fromadeep purpHsh-nd, almost black, to a pale yellowish 

 green. Spathes may he found showing the different colors and a 

 complete gradation shown from the light to the dark. The 

 lighter spathes are rarely e\-er pure pale green, hut more fre- 

 quently are mottled with the deeper purple. In some instances 

 the inner side of the spathe is deeper colored than the outer. 

 The mottling is such that it closely resembles the flickering 

 lights and shades often seen on the undergroMth, as the sun 

 filters through the leaves of the trees overhead. " This frequently 

 makes it hard to find them on the forest floor. Reed suggests 

 that this variation is due to age, the younger blooms being those 

 lighter in color, while those which are darker are the older ones. 

 This did not seem to hold true as regards the plants observed 

 by me. Out of about fifty examined for this peculiarity, 

 withering and decay was not limited to the dark ones alone, 

 but was seen in spathes of all intermediate shades of coloring. 

 Again it was suggested that the water content of the soil might 

 lead to this variation. Some time spent on this study did 

 not seem to prove this to hold true, as two spathes from the same 

 plant, side by side, showed one a deep reddish purple and the 

 other quite pale. 



The flowers themselves are crowded together on a short stalk 

 or spadix. They are really quite inconspicuous. It is the spathe 

 that is the attractive portion, as far as coloring and conspicuous- 

 ness are concerned. The flowers themselves are closely crowded 

 on the spadix, so closely crowded that they hardly appear as 

 individual flowers. The stamens and pistil only are conspicuous. 

 The flower cluster varies in size and in the number of flowers 

 produced. Showing this variation we have the following table. 



Size relatively Size in inches No. of flowers 



Small 5/8" 38 



Medium 7/8" 73 



Large 7/8" 69 



Very large 13/16" 61 



The.flowers as shown by the figures are closely crowded together. 

 In this case, the spadix of medium size had the greatest number 

 of flowers. And the largest spadix had only 61 flowers. 



