CHAP. IV.] REPMODUCTION OF PLANTS. 157 



in the arum family (Aroidece), and is a striking feature 

 in our "lords and ladies/' the "Nile lily" {Richardia 

 JSthiopica), where it is white, and the species of Cala- 

 dium, where it is often bright vermilion or crimson, 

 and performs an attractive as well as a protective 

 function. 



A spathe also protects the flowers in the snowdrop, 

 daffodil, etc., and remains as a shrivelled brown mem- 

 brane, after the expansion of the inflorescence. In the 

 cow-parsnip the large inflorescence is at first inclosed 

 within the inflated leaf-stalk. 



